This volume focuses on the question of whether it is appropriate and inevitable that higher education systems are becoming so large and so diverse that the only realistic way they can be analysed is as aggregates of market-like transactions.

The European Union Commission’s whitepaper on Artificial Intelligence proposes shaping the emerging AI market so that it better reflects common European values. It is a master plan that builds upon the EU AI High-Level Expert Group guidelines. This article reviews the masterplan, from a culture cycle perspective, to reflect on its potential clashes with current societal, technical, and methodological constraints. We identify two main obstacles in the implementation of this plan: the lack of a coherent EU vision to drive future (...) decision-making processes at state and local levels and the lack of methods to support a sustainable diffusion of AI in our society. The lack of a coherent vision stems from not considering societal differences across the EU member states. We suggest that these differences may lead to a fractured market and an AI crisis in which different members of the EU will adopt nation-centric strategies to exploit AI, thus preventing the development of a frictionless market as envisaged by the EU. Moreover, the Commission aims at changing the AI development culture proposing a human-centred and safety-first perspective that is not supported by methodological advancements, thus taking the risks of unforeseen social and societal impacts of AI. We discuss potential societal, technical, and methodological gaps that should be filled to avoid the risks of developing AI systems at the expense of society. Our analysis results in the recommendation that the EU regulators and policymakers consider how to complement the EC programme with rules and compensatory mechanisms to avoid market fragmentation due to local and global ambitions. Moreover, regulators should go beyond the human-centred approach establishing a research agenda seeking answers to the technical and methodological open questions regarding the development and assessment of human-AI co-action aiming for a sustainable AI diffusion in the society. (shrink)

There is wide research about the Philosophy for/with Children program. However, there is not any known attempt to investigate how a philosophical discussion can be implemented through a museum workshop. The present research aims to discuss aesthetic and epistemological issues with primary school children through a temporary art exhibition in a museum in Cyprus. Certainly, paintings have been used successfully to connect philosophical topics with the experiences of the children. We suggest, though, that this is not as innovative as the (...) conduction of a dialogue in a museum. Results were mostly positive. Pupils participated in the discussion and they gave intensive definitions of beautiful paintings and counterexamples for given definitions. The structure of inductive arguments and the difference between belief and knowledge were discussed. Progress in the analysis of inductive arguments was slightly noticeable, but it is likely that this was due to limited time spent on analysing those arguments. Furthermore, more sessions are needed to make generalisations for the effectiveness of the Philosophy for Children program in a museum instead of a traditional classroom. Even though there is discussion about the different stimuli of the discussion, it might be worth considering the effectiveness of different contexts where the discussion can take place. (shrink)

This paper analyses the successive waves of penetration of oriental goddesses, assimilated to Aphrodite, by Greeks coming from the Near East (Syria, Phoenicia) to the Greek colonies on the Black Sea. The first stage, that of the cuit of Syrian Aphrodite, is assigned to the 6th c. BC in the Greek towns of Olbia, Berezan and perhaps Istros. In the 4th c. a second wave arrived, chiefly in the Kingdom of the Bosphorus, which introduced the cuit of Aphrodite Ourania. (...) The analysis is based on ancient texts, graffiti, inscriptions, reliefs and terracottas. (shrink)

Dans les corpus épigraphiques grecs apparaissent des dédicaces à des divinités que l’on pourrait appeler « composites » ou « doubles », e.g. Isis Aphrodite. Des dieux « composites » internes à la culture grecque sont également attestés, comme Héra Aphrodite à Sparte ou Zeus Arès en Arcadie. L’objectif de cette étude est d’analyser trois cas où des dieux de cultures différentes sont combinés, en des exemples complexes qui incluent des épiclèses. Ces cas proviennent de la Délos hellénistique : Astarté (...) Palaistine Aphrodite Ourania attestée deux fois (dans un des deux cas, elle est aussi Epekoos) et Isis Soteira Astarte Aphrodite Euploia Epekoos, une déesse cultuellement associée au regroupement masculin Éros Harpocrate Apollon. Comme on peut s’y attendre, ces divinités ont souvent été qualifiées de « syncrétiques » et conçues comme le produit de processus de mise en parallèle, d’assimilation, d’identification, ou même simplement de traduction de divinités d’une culture à l’autre. L’article examine cette terminologie et tente de caractériser ces divinités d’une manière plus spécifique. Il s’avère que, davantage que des « dieux syncrétiques », nous devons plutôt aborder l’attitude « syncrétique » des dédicants et le milieu « syncrétique » dans lequel ils vivent. (shrink)