The problem of measurement is often considered an inconsistency inside the quantum formalism. Many attempts to solve it have been made since the inception of quantum mechanics. The form of these attempts depends on the philosophical position that their authors endorse. I will review some of them and analyze their relevance. The phenomenon of decoherence is often presented as a solution lying inside the pure quantum formalism and not demanding any particular philosophical assumption. Nevertheless, a widely debated question is to (...) decide between two different interpretations. The first one is to consider that the decoherence process has the effect to actually project a superposed state into one of its classically interpretable component, hence doing the same job as the reduction postulate. For the second one, decoherence is only a way to show why no macroscopic superposed state can be observed, so explaining the classical appearance of the macroscopic world, while the quantum entanglement between the system, the apparatus and the environment never disappears. In this case, explaining why only one single definite outcome is observed remains to do. In this paper, I examine the arguments that have been given for and against both interpretations and defend a new position, the “Convivial Solipsism”, according to which the outcome that is observed is relative to the observer, different but in close parallel to the Everett’s interpretation and sharing also some similarities with Rovelli’s relational interpretation and Quantum Bayesianism. I also show how “Convivial Solipsism” can help getting a new standpoint about the EPR paradox providing a way out of the seemingly unavoidable non-locality of quantum mechanics. (shrink)

A large number of physicists now admit that quantum mechanics is a non-local theory. The EPR argument and the many experiments showing the violation of Bell’s inequalities seem to have confirmed convincingly that quantum mechanics cannot be local. Nevertheless, this conclusion can only be drawn inside a standard realist framework assuming an ontic interpretation of the wave function and viewing the collapse of the wave function as a real change of the physical state of the system. We show that this (...) standpoint is not mandatory and that if the collapse is not considered an actual physical change it is possible to recover locality. (shrink)

A large number of physicists now admit that quantum mechanics is a non-local theory. The EPR argument and the many experiments showing the violation of Bell’s inequalities seem to have confirmed convincingly that quantum mechanics cannot be local. Nevertheless, this conclusion can only be drawn inside a standard realist framework assuming an ontic interpretation of the wave function and viewing the collapse of the wave function as a real change of the physical state of the system. We show that this (...) standpoint is not mandatory and that if the collapse is not considered an actual physical change it is possible to recover locality. (shrink)

A large number of physicists now admit that quantum mechanics is a non-local theory. The EPR argument and the many experiments showing the violation of Bell’s inequalities seem to have confirmed convincingly that quantum mechanics cannot be local. Nevertheless, this conclusion can only be drawn inside a standard realist framework assuming an ontic interpretation of the wave function and viewing the collapse of the wave function as a real change of the physical state of the system. We show that this (...) standpoint is not mandatory and that if the collapse is not considered an actual physical change it is possible to recover locality. (shrink)

A large number of physicists now admit that quantum mechanics is a non-local theory. The EPR argument and the many experiments showing the violation of Bell’s inequalities seem to have confirmed convincingly that quantum mechanics cannot be local. Nevertheless, this conclusion can only be drawn inside a standard realist framework assuming an ontic interpretation of the wave function and viewing the collapse of the wave function as a real change of the physical state of the system. We show that this (...) standpoint is not mandatory and that if the collapse is not considered an actual physical change it is possible to recover locality. (shrink)

In a recent paper (Zwirn in Phys Essays 30: 3, 2017), I argued against backward in time effects used by several authors to explain delayed choice experiments. I gave an explanation showing that there is no physical influence propagating from the present to the past and modifying the state of the system at a time previous to the measurement. However, though the solution is straightforward in the case of delayed choice experiments involving only one particle, it is subtler in (...) the case of experiments involving two entangled particles because they give rise to EPR-like situations. Considering that a measurement is not an actual change of the physical state of a system and is relative to the observer allows to understand that there is neither backward in time effects nor instantaneous collapse of the second system when the first one is measured, as is often postulated. This allows also to get rid of any non-locality (Zwirn in Found Phys 50:1–26, 2020). In this paper, I want to go further into the consequences of this way of considering the measurement, that I have called Convivial Solipsism, and show that even if, in the usual sense, there is no physical effect of the present or of the future on the past, we must nevertheless consider that the observer’s past is sometimes not entirely determined and that it becomes determined only when certain measurements are done latter. This apparent contradiction disappears if one understand that each observer builds, through her own measurements, her own world (that I call the phenomenal world in Convivial Solipsism) which is different from what we are used to consider as the common world shared by everybody. (shrink)

Karl Popper et David Miller ont soutenu l'idée selon laquelle le soutien probabiliste positif = p − p > 0) que e apporte á h, lorsque de h on déduit e, ne justifie en rien l'espoir de pouvoir construire une logique inductive fondée sur le calcul des probabilityés.

Despite its importance in various fields, analogical reasoning has not yet received a unified formal representation. Our contribution proposes a general scheme of inference that is compatible with different types of logic (deductive, probabilistic, non-monotonic). Firstly, analogical assessment precisely defines the similarity of two objects according to their properties, in a relative rather than absolute way. Secondly, analogical inference transfers a new property from one object to a similar one, thanks to an over-hypothesis linking two sets of properties. The belief (...) strength in the conclusion is then directly related to the belief strength in this meta-hypothesis. (shrink)

In this largely nontechnical book, eminent physicists and philosophers address the philosophical impact of recent advances in quantum physics. These are shown to shed new light on profound questions about realism, determinism, causality or locality. The participants contribute in the spirit of an open and honest discussion, reminiscent of the time when science and philosophy were inseparable. After the editors' introduction, the next chapter reveals the strangeness of quantum mechanics and the subsequent discussions examine our notion of reality. The spotlight (...) is then turned to the topic of decoherence. Bohm's theory is critically examined in two chapters, and the relational interpretation of quantum mechanics is likewise described and discussed. The penultimate chapter presents a proposal for resolving the measurement problem, and finally the topic of loop quantum gravity is presented by one of its founding fathers, Carlo Rovelli. The original presentations and discussions on which this volume is based took place under the auspices of the French "Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques". The book will appeal to everybody interested in knowing how our description of the world is impacted by the results of the most powerful and successful theory that physicists have ever built. (shrink)

Abduction was first introduced in the epistemological context of scientific discovery. It was more recently analyzed in artificial intelligence, especially with respect to diagnosis analysis or ordinary reasoning. These two fields share a common view of abduction as a general process of hypotheses formation. More precisely, abduction is conceived as a kind of reverse explanation where a hypothesis H can be abduced from events E if H is a good explanation of E. The paper surveys four known schemes for abduction (...) that can be used in both fields. Its first contribution is a taxonomy of these schemes according to a common semantic framework based on belief revision. Its second contribution is to produce, for each non-trivial scheme, a representation theorem linking its semantic framework to a set of postulates. Its third contribution is to present semantic and axiomatic arguments in favor of one of these schemes, ordered abduction, which has never been vindicated in the literature. (shrink)

RésuméEn dépit de son importance dans divers domaines, le raisonnement analogique n'a pas encore reçu de représentation formelle unifiée. Notre contribution propose un schéma d'inférence général, compatible avec différentes logiques (déductive, probabiliste, non monotone). Premièrement, un énoncé analogique définit précisément la similarité entre deux objets en fonction de leurs propriétés, de façon relative et non absolue. Deuxièmement, une inférence analogique transfère une propriété nouvelle d'un objet à un objet similaire, grâce à une hypothèse d'arrière-plan qui relie deux ensembles de propriétés. (...) Le degré de croyance dans la conclusion est alors directement relié au degré de croyance dans cette méta-hypothèse. (shrink)

Ce premier volume de La Nuit des Olympica. Essai sur le national cartésianisme (deux livres en quatre tomes) inaugure l'une des plus saines entreprises de la pensée contemporaine : que cesse le mythe Descartes! Finissons-en avec l'imagerie nationale. Suivons René Descartes dans les moments clés de sa vie, ancrons-le dans son époque de reconquête catholique et de consolidation de l'absolutisme. Traquons en ses feintes le premier de ces hommes en qui Nietzsche dénonçait un " prêtre masqué ", le philosophe. Multipliant (...) points de vue et rapprochements, enrichissant le texte de très abondantes notes, souvent surprenantes, l'auteur instruit le procès de cette source vive de la tradition française, rationaliste et spiritualiste, tant avec insolence et humour que dans une écriture aux antipodes de tout académisme. (shrink)

Means–ends decoupling, the institutionally induced implementation of ineffective practices, has become increasingly common. Extant theory suggests that means–ends decoupling has real consequences, which makes it unstable and difficult for organizations to sustain. Yet little is known of how, and with what outcomes, firms organize such means–ends decoupling. We examine organizing via multiple qualitative and longitudinal case studies of how Swedish fast fashion retailers implement and manage the collection of used garments. We find that firms combine two organizational arrangements: structural and (...) temporal core–compartment separations, which mitigate consequences of means–ends decoupling by obscuring and justifying efficiency gaps. Thereby we provide a theoretical explanation for how means–ends decoupling can persist over time. (shrink)

L'oeuvre de Pascal livre un problème majeur : l'homme se sauvera-t-il à l'aide de ses seules forces, ou son salut se réalisera-t-il avec le secours de Dieu, à savoir la grâce? Dans ses ¤¤Ecrits sur la grâce¤¤, il se révèle être le penseur de la grâce qui, face au défi de la modernité, opppose à la conception anthropocentrique de l'homme la vision christocentrique, héritée de saint Augustin.

Qu’est-ce que l’art? Qu’est-ce que le beau selon la philosophie de Hegel? La définition cherchée ne peut être donnée de suite, elle sera le résultat d’un processus. Pour aller vers cette définition il faut donc commencer ce processus de définition. Le point de départ ne peut tenir qu’à l’usage des mots ici et maintenant. La philosophie ne peut faire que cela. Le commencement du raisonnement visant à définir commence au sens du mot pris aujourd’hui et qui se donne dans un (...) usage. Cet usage ne... (shrink)

André Jacob ne s'est pas contenté de diriger la rédaction de l'Encyclopédie philosophique universelle. Il a poursuivi une œuvre personnelle, dont les trois derniers ouvrages forment une trilogie originale concernant l'anthropo- logique et l'éthique qu'il veut fonder sur elle. Après un rapide coup d'œil sur les Cheminements et une attention plus soutenue portée à l'Anthropologie du langage, on s'attarde davantage sur L'Homme et le Mal, livre dont la brièveté expose à des objections, mais qui devrait être suivi d'un ouvrage plus (...) développé. André Jacob did not content himself leading the compiling of the Encyclopédie philosophique universelle.He carried out his own personal work whose three latest books represent an original trilogy about the anthropologies and ethics which he wishes to ground on it. After a quick glance on the Cheminements and a more careful look at the Anthropologie du Langage, one lingers more on L'Homme et le Mal, a book whose briefness is indeed liable to objections but which should be followed by afar more developed one. (shrink)

Eigenfeatures are created by the principal component approach (PCA) used on objects described by a low-level code (i.e., pixels, Gabor jets). We suggest that eigenfeatures act like the flexible features described by Schyns et al. They are particularly suited for face processing and give rise to class-specific effects such as the other-race effect. The PCA approach can be modified to accommodate top-down constraints.

Restituer la pensée d'Aristote c'est retrouver les problèmes qu'il s'était lui-même posés, sans avoir le souci de ce que la postérité pourrait y trouver par la suite pour éclairer ses propres problèmes. Le Corpus de l'œuvre d'Aristote est constitué de notes de cours inédits, qui furent probablement corrigées et augmentées tout au long d'une carrière d'un enseignant chercheur. Elles n'étaient pas destinées à la publication. Quand on les étudie aujourd'hui, il faut donc s'armer de la conviction qu'Aristote, même s'il a (...) dépassé son temps, puisque son œuvre a été exhumée presque trois siècles après sa mort, appartient néanmoins à son époque, à la fois par sa formation et par les auditeurs ou lecteurs qu'il pouvait y trouver. Son œuvre, élaborée dans un climat platonicien qu'elle critique, propose une réforme de la pensée, qui est intéressante en elle-même, même si elle s'est trouvée reprise ou, au contraire, rejetée au cours des âges qui l'ont suivie. Pour l'apprécier vraiment, il faut se garder de tout anachronisme, c'est-à-dire de la projection des problèmes d'un temps sur un temps antérieur, où ces problèmes n'étaient pas apparus. Si un auteur est grand, c'est sans doute parce que la postérité peut s'y instruire, mais on se ferait une fausse idée de cette grandeur si on la réduisait à l'usage qu'on a pu déjà en faire ou qu'on peut en faire aujourd'hui. La vraie grandeur réside dans les pas que cet auteur a accomplis en son temps, et qui ne dispensent pas d'en fournir d'autres, même si l'exemple ancien est digne d'être retenu. (shrink)

Examinant la pertinence des travaux d’Edgar Morin dans la gestion des organisations productives et, plus particulièrement pour l’accroissement de l’efficacité collective, cet article propose des outils de réflexion opérationnels aux responsables d’organisations, s’appuyant sur six notions de la pensée complexe exposée dans La Méthode : les principes hologrammatique, d’auto-organisation, de la variété requise, de co-évolution, dialogique et de récursivité.Examining the relevance of the work of Edgar Morin in the management of productive organizations, and in particular for increasing collective efficacy, this (...) article proposes tools for reflection operational managers of organizations, based on six concepts complex thinking outlined in Method: hologrammatic principles, self-organization, requisite variety, co-evolution, dialogic and recursion. (shrink)

Avec la mondialisation des communications, la responsabilité de chaque journaliste se trouve décuplée, sachant qu'il a pour lecteur le monde entier. Cela confère au journaliste francophone, en particulier, une vocation singulière, dans un monde où les courants d'information convergent: il doit être le défenseur de la diversité des sources d'information. L'information est devenue l'une des armes les plus redoutables. Les journalistes francophones ont donc une mission propre: celle de faire prévaloir l'objectivité, de conserver la distance critique nécessaire pour constater ce (...) qui doit l'être, contre l'exclusion et l'intolérance.With the globalization of communication, journalists have wider responsibilities because they have the whole world as their readership. This situation particularly confers a singular vocation on French-speaking journalists in a world where information flows converge. They must broadcast the diversity of information sources. Information has become one of the most frightening weapons. Therefore French-speaking journalists have a particular mission which is to promote objectivity, keep the critical distance necessary to observe efficiently and to fight exclusion and intolerance. (shrink)

The moral philosophy of Levinas offers a stark prospectus of impossibility for corporate ethics. It differs from most traditional ethical theories in that, for Levinas, the ethical develops in a personal meeting of one with the Other, rather than residing in some internal deliberation of the moral subject. Levinasian ethics emphasises an infinite personal responsibility arising for each of us in the face of the Other and in the presence of the Third. It stresses the imperious demand we experience to (...) be open to, prepared for and impassioned with that which we may not know, or recognise, about ourselves or about the Other. Such a demand transcends our intellectual and/or rational potential; it involves us in a carnal and somatic bodily experience of otherness. If we are to speak of Levinasian ethics in a business context, it cannot be a matter of corporate ethics but only a matter of individual managerial ethics. What such an ethics would be like is yet to be outlined. This paper proposes a series of questions and suggestions that will explicate some key terms of a practice organised around a Levinasian vocabulary of otherness, responsibility, proximity, diachrony and justice. (shrink)

Parce qu’elle s’est élaborée à partir d’un héritage antique, l’avocature dispose d’une culture commune dès la fin du Moyen Âge. Dans la France des XVII e et XVIII e siècles, ces caractères partagés se renforcent par la professionnalisation, l’harmonisation institutionnelle des ordres et le renforcement d’un droit commun du barreau, qui n’est pas le fruit du seul travail des avocats et de leurs structures professionnelles ; l’émergence d’un « barreau français » a également été favorisée par l’État et les tribunaux. (...) Avec l’Empire et la Restauration, la construction nationale du barreau connaît un deuxième temps fort ; dans un premier temps, c’est l’État qui s’impose comme son acteur essentiel. (shrink)

The justification of Bayes' rule by cognitive rationality principles is undertaken by extending the propositional axiom systems usually proposed in two contexts of belief change: revising and updating. Probabilistic belief change axioms are introduced, either by direct transcription of the set-theoretic ones, or in a stronger way but nevertheless in the spirit of the underlying propositional principles. Weak revising axioms are shown to be satisfied by a General Conditioning rule, extending Bayes' rule but also compatible with others, and weak updating (...) axioms by a General Imaging rule, extending Lewis' rule. Strong axioms (equivalent to the Miller–Popper axiom system) are necessary to justify Bayes' rule in a revising context, and justify in fact an extended Bayes' rule which applies, even if the message has zero probability. (shrink)

BackgroundAt the start of 2021, oncologists lacked the necessary scientific knowledge to adapt their clinical practices optimally when faced with cancer patients refusing or reluctant to be vaccinated against COVID-19, despite the marked vulnerability of these patients to severe, and even fatal forms of this new viral infectious disease. Oncologists at Foch Hospital were confronted with this phenomenon, which was observed worldwide, in both the general population and the population of cancer patients.MethodsBetween April and November 2021, the Ethics and Oncology (...) Departments of Foch Hospital decided to investigate this subject, through an empirical and interdisciplinary study in bioethics. Our scientific objective was to try to identify and resolve the principal bio-ethical issues, with a view to improving clinical practices in oncology during future major pandemics of this kind, from a highly specific bio-ethical standpoint. We used a mainly qualitative methodological approach based on questionnaires and interviews.ResultsIn April 2021, 29 cancer patients refused or were reluctant to be vaccinated. Seventeen of these patients said that making vaccination mandatory would have helped them to accept vaccination. In October 2021, only 10 cancer patients continued to maintain their refusal. One of the main reasons for the decrease in refusals was probably the introduction of the “pass sanitaire” in July 2021, which rendered vaccination indispensable for many activities. However, even this was not sufficient to convince these 10 cancer patients.ConclusionWe identified a key bio-ethical issue, which we then tried to resolve: vaccination policy. We characterized a major tension between “the recommendation of anti-COVID-19 vaccination” and “free will”, and the duty to “protect each other”. Mandatory vaccination, at least in France, could resolve this tension, with positive effects on quality of life, or survival, in cancer patients initially refusing or reluctant to be vaccinated, but only if collective and individual scales are clearly distinguished. (shrink)

Résumé Beaucoup de cinéastes et de théoriciens français ont très longtemps clamé que le cinéma ne consistait pas à produire des images, mais des plans – catégorie adossée à la notion de durée et très vague, puisqu’elle désigne une découpe à la fois spatiale et temporelle. Cette réticence au concept d’image a ainsi nourri une sorte de « Yalta » cinéphile, distinguant la lignée des frères Lumière (la vue comme art du réel) et celle de Georges Méliès (le tableau fantasmagorique). (...) Cette opposition entre image (souvent assimilée, ici, à l’imagerie ou au cliché) et plan-durée peut être comparée à la fort ancienne querelle du dessin et de la couleur (ce qui cerne et ce qui déborde). Nous tenterons ici d’étudier l’éventualité d’un « icono-réalisme », en nous appuyant notamment sur les travaux de Gilles Deleuze et de Jacques Rancière (La Fable cinématographique), ainsi que sur un moyen-métrage de Pier Paolo Pasolini, La Ricotta (1963). (shrink)

La reconnaissance accordée en sciences cognitives (Van Gelder et Varela) à l’analyse husserlienne du présent mental en termes de rétention et protension a manqué sa radicalité transcendantale, qui est aussi la limite de cette analyse. Si l’on recherche dans la subjectivité l’origine de notre sens du temps, il ne suffit pas de revenir au présent mental par réduction du temps objectif, il faut élargir aux aspects grammaticaux et aux rythmes biologiques l’éventail des moyens d’accès au temps d’un sujet incarné dans (...) le monde de la vie. (shrink)

BackgroundImplementing responsible conduct of research and monitoring bad practices requires time and tact. In France, it was in 2015 that the wishes of those in charge of research proposed the appointment of research integrity officers (RIOs) in all universities, national higher education schools, and research institutions. Our objectives were to search for information to describe the RI development and to analyze the RIOs’ profiles.MethodsThe OFIS (Office Français de l’Intégrité Scientifique) website lists all public research institutions and universities (RIUs) and their (...) designated RIOs. During the period between 6 and 14 October 2018, and on 2 May 2019 (updating), we entered two keywords (“plagiat” and “intégrité”) into the search engines on the RIU homepages and retrieved the relevant information (including “research” and “scientific” integrity when “intégrité” was entered). We consulted the governance and downloaded the organigram to determine whether the RIO positions and names were mentioned. We searched for the domains of expertise, sex, and age of the RIOs from their CVs (institutional websites), LinkedIn profiles, and various Google links.ResultsThe OFIS website lists 142 RIUs. Searching for the keyword “plagiarism” retrieved 25 RIUs; however, the web information was minimal, and consisted entirely of charters, interviews, and rare training modules. The keyword “integrity” turned up 23 RIUs. Nonetheless, there was little information available beyond notices for seminars, events, and a few training modules. Of the total 142 RIUs, 66.2% (n = 94) had named 96 RIOs. Furthermore, 29.2% RIOs (n = 28) were female and 70.8% (n = 68) were male; 38 RIOs were retired (> 65 years old) 58 were active (< 65 years old), and had a RIO function added to their usual laboratory activities.ConclusionThere is a lack of information about RI on the websites of French universities and research organizations, which may reflect a lack of information and commitment in the institutions themselves. (shrink)