La demande éducative ne peut être réduite à une résistance à la psychanalyse. Elle doit être resituée dans la contextualité sociale historique et par rapport au sens et à la fonctionnalité de l’échec scolaire comme syndrome ethnique. C’est dans cette perspective anthropologique et institutionnelle que l’auteur propose de réinterroger les relations entre demandes éducatives et psychanalyse, en illustrant son propos par des observations permettant de repérer les conflictualités et les paradoxes présents dans la clinique contemporaine.

‘Candida avis’ is usually assumed to be the white stork . T. E. Page, the Loeb editors and others give a footnote to this effect. T. F. Royds in The Beasts, Birds and Bees of Virgil says of ‘Candida avis’: ‘This is by common consent ‘Ciconia alba’, the white stork. It is a migrant in Mediterranean countries…a most useful bird feeding chiefly on snakes and other reptiles’ He then cites Pliny and Juvenal ‘serpente ciconia pullos nutrit’ to confirm the snake-eating (...) propensities of the stork. Virgil's ornithological mystery is not, however, quite so easily resolved. There is another contender for ‘Candida avis’, one more convincing both on a textual and an ornithological basis — Circaetus gallicus, the short-toed eagle. The short-toed eagle is the only European snake eagle, its diet being almost exclusively snakes. Lizards, and much less frequently small mammals or birds, may also be taken. (shrink)

Albert the Great’s theological and exegetical-biblical works often reshape naturalphilosophical doctrines derived from his earlier Aristotelian paraphrases. Accordingly, Albert’s caveats, distinguishing the treatment of topics in physicis and in theologicis, are not abstract disciplinary borderlines but point out to his Dominican students that he will return to crucial matters of the peripatetic paraphrases, recontextualizing them in later works. This article illustrates such interdisciplinary dynamics by analyzing Albert’s commentary on Gen., 1, 20-23, the fifth day of creation, as discussed in STh., (...) II, xi, 60. Albert questions the seeming asymmetry arising from a single element, water, giving rise to two different outcomes: birds for the sublunar sky and reptiles for the earth. The arguments put forth by opponents and Albert’s solution draw upon earlier natural-philosophical works of his, namely De animalibus, De vegetabilibus, and De sensu et sensatu. Notably, Albert reuses his doctrine of humiditates in living bodies and generative processes (such as humidum seminale, humidum vaporativum, humidum spirans, humidum manens). Additionally, Albert analyzes the processes of subtiliatio and digestio, which transform siccum terreum into the matter required for the formation of animate bodies. (shrink)

This paper asks whether we can identify a neutral explanandum for theories of phenomenal consciousness, acceptable to all sides. The ‘classic’ conception of qualia, on which qualia are intrinsic, ineffable, and subjective, will not serve this purpose, but it is widely assumed that a watered-down ‘diet’ conception will. I argue that this is wrong and that the diet notion of qualia has no distinctive content. There is no phenomenal residue left when qualia are stripped of their intrinsicality, ineffability, and subjectivity. (...) Thus, if we reject classic qualia realism, we should accept that all that needs explaining are ‘zero’ qualia – our dispositions to judge that our experiences have classic qualia. Diet qualia should, in Dennett’s phrase, be quined. (shrink)

Infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant and lactating women have been described as groups with special needs. Regardless of diet chosen, these groups are at higher risk for nutritional deficiencies than adult males. Vegan diets can be safely used by these groups if foods, and in some instances supplements, are selected which provide a healthful and nutritionally adequate diet. Guidelines have been developed for those choosing to follow vegan diets. In many instances vegan diets offer health benefits. Studies (...) of vegans are limited by factors such as heterogeneity of diets, the size and extent of this type of study, and difficulty in subject identification. There is a scarcity of studies of newer vegetarians who are often more mainstream than the vegetarians of the 1960s and 1970s. In some instances this has led to assumptions about today's vegans which are based on out-dated information. Thorough scientific studies of today's vegetarians, especially of those in groups with special needs, are needed. (shrink)

Individuals exposed to dieting-related environmental cues have been repeatedly shown to be better able to resist tempting food. This especially applies to restrained eaters who hold a chronic dieting goal. Thus far, mainly short-term effects of environmental dieting cues have been examined and the individuals were typically unaware of being influenced. Yet, it is unclear whether individuals can deliberately apply environmental dieting cues for themselves to facilitate the pursuit of the longer-term goal of losing weight. The present longitudinal study applied (...) a 2 × 2 between-subjects design for 6 months. Our results provide preliminary indications that cue, awareness, and restrained eating interact. The results suggest that high restrained eaters could deliberately apply environmental dieting cues for themselves to facilitate losing weight. However, further studies are needed to explore the effects of environmental dieting cues over a longer period of time. (shrink)

The Western diet pattern characterized by high daily intake of saturated fats and refined carbohydrates often leads to obesity and overweight, and it has been linked to cognitive impairment and emotional disorders in both animal models and humans. This dietary pattern alters the composition of gut microbiota, influencing brain function by different mechanisms involving the gut–brain axis. In addition, long-term exposure to highly palatable foods typical of WD could induce addictive-like eating behaviors and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation associated with chronic stress, (...) anxiety, and depression. In turn, chronic stress modulates eating behavior, and it could have detrimental effects on different brain regions such as the hippocampus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and several cortical regions. Moreover, obesity and overweight induce neuroinflammation, causing neuronal dysfunction. In this review, we summarize the current scientific evidence about the mechanisms and factors relating WD consumption with altered brain function and behavior. Possible therapeutic interventions and limitations are also discussed, aiming to tackle and prevent this current pandemic. (shrink)

Autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and gastrointestinal disorders such as stomach ulcers are often treated with drugs. NSAIDs, a common treatment in rheumatoid arthritis, may cause stomach ulcers which call for additional medications, notably antacids in the sense of drugs that suppress acid secretion by the stomach. Infection with Helicobacter pylori also plays a role in the ulcers. The infection is typically treated with antibiotics added to antacids. Considering NSAIDs and antacids, we suspect that overmedication is common to the (...) extent that particular diets are a better option. Current research and current treatments with these drugs are also problematic since circadian rhythms are mostly disregarded. All the processes involved in the disorders treated show marked variations in the course of the day. Hence experiments conforming to the guidelines of evidence-based medicine, and treatments in line with them, have outcomes strongly depending on the time factor. This calls for reforms in medicine with fresh inputs from biology. (shrink)

The diet of expectant mothers was a significant issue of social, political and scientific concern between 1930 and 1960. However, while histories of maternity services and nutritional science are independently available, no existing study addresses the nutrition of expectant mothers in this period. Between 1900 and 1930, maternal mortality rates were rising despite improving clinical antenatal provisions. Breakthroughs in nutritional science resulted in the identification of key dietary components, while changing social attitudes meant hunger was increasingly being seen as a (...) humanitarian issue requiring a modern solution. As a result, the diet of expectant mothers first began to be addressed as a social concern in the 1930s. It subsequently made a transition into official policy as part of wartime rationing. The government entirely changed its attitude to maternal nutrition in a beneficial and successful way during the war; conferring to modern historians another example of war being a generator of change. Diet in pregnancy finally became the concern of the scientific community post-war, as illustrated by the work of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Nutrition Committee for Pregnancy, whose papers are considered for the first time here. This paper charts the rise of diet in pregnancy as a concern and considers the contributions of different communities involved between 1930 and 1960. It also notes that the actual recommended diet stayed the same. Thus while diet is the subject here, discussion focuses on why there were such distinct rearrangements of social, political and scientific forces around an issue that itself remained unchanged. (shrink)

The first chapter of Diet and the Disease of Civilization may be familiar to readers of Utopian Studies. An earlier version of it won Adrienne Rose Bitar the Society for Utopian Studies' Eugenio Battisti Award for the best essay published in the society's journal in 2015. "The Paleo Diet and the American Weight Loss Utopia, 1975–2014" was among several in a special issue that featured essays and book reviews on utopian foodways.The book chapter that emerged from that award-winning essay is (...) even richer within the context of Bitar's engaging longer study. The project places caveman or "paleo" diets alongside what Bitar labels "devotional" or "Eden" diets, "primitive" or "precolonial" diets, and "detox" diets. Books... (shrink)

Se realizó un estudio descriptivo con el objetivo de caracterizar la dieta cetogénica como una alternativa en el tratamiento de la epilepsia refractaria en niños para mejorar su calidad de vida, con la consiguiente disminución de su costo económico. La epilepsia catastrófica o refractaria es un problema social de salud que la padecen pacientes pediátricos, generalmente en los primeros días de vida, de difícil control y con múltiples crisis pese al empleo de fármacos antiepilépticos en dosis tóxica, e incluye diferentes (...) síndromes y enfermedades con características propias. Esta dieta ofrece una esperanza para aquellos pacientes que se resisten al tratamiento con medicamentos y su solución representa un valor social porque su beneficio supera el costo. A descriptive study with objective to characterize the ketogenic diet as alternative in the treatment of the refractory epilepsy in children for elevating their quality of life, with the consequent decreasing of its economic cost, was carried out. The catastrophic or refractory epilepsy is one health social problem that the pediatric patient suffers, generally in the first days of life, the hard control and with numerous crisis despite of the use of antiepileptic drugs in toxic doses, and include different syndromes and diseases with own characteristics. This diet offers one hope, and its solution represents a social value because the benefit overcomes the cost for those patients that resist the drug treatment. (shrink)

The trade in, and private keeping of, reptiles as "pets" raises several ethical concerns regarding animal welfare (associated with handling, storage, transportation, intensive captive breeding, captivity stress, injury, disease, and high premature mortality); public health and safety (associated with zoonotic disease and animal-linked injuries); species conservation and environmental degradation (associated with wild capture); and ecological alteration (associated with invasive alien species). Also, many captive reptiles are fed other animals, raising broader ethical questions. Misperceptions about reptiles by proponents of their captivity (...) mean that these animals are subject to conditions that would likely be considered unacceptable for dogs or cats. (shrink)

Koizumi Junichiro's sweeping victory in the presidential primary of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) represents a palpable change in the national mood that may substantially affect the parliamentary conditions, although its impact on legislation is yet to be seen. In this essay, I briefly review the Diet in the past one year. In particular, the review deals with the legislative records in the 150–152 Diet sessions.

Autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and gastrointestinal disorders such as stomach ulcers are often treated with drugs. NSAIDs, a common treatment in rheumatoid arthritis, may cause stomach ulcers which call for additional medications, notably antacids in the sense of drugs that suppress acid secretion by the stomach. Infection with Helicobacter pylori also plays a role in the ulcers. The infection is typically treated with antibiotics added to antacids. Considering NSAIDs and antacids, we suspect that overmedication is common to the (...) extent that particular diets are a better option. Current research and current treatments with these drugs are also problematic since circadian rhythms are mostly disregarded. All the processes involved in the disorders treated show marked variations in the course of the day. Hence experiments conforming to the guidelines of evidence-based medicine, and treatments in line with them, have outcomes strongly depending on the time factor. This calls for reforms in medicine with fresh inputs from biology. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light significant failures and fragilities in our food, health, and market systems. Concomitantly, it has emphasized the urgent need for a critical re-evaluation of many of the policies and practices that have created the conditions in which viral pathogens can spread. However, there are many factors that are complicating this process; among others, the uncertain, rapidly evolving, and often poorly reported science surrounding the virus’ origins has contributed to a politically charged and often rancorous (...) public debate, which is concerning insofar as the proliferation of divisive discourse may hinder efforts to address complex and collective concerns in a mutually cooperative manner. In developing ethical and effective responses to the disproportionate risks associated with certain food production and consumption practices, we argue that the focus should be on mitigating such risks wherever they arise, instead of seeking to ascribe blame to specific countries or cultures. To this end, this article is an effort to inject some nuance into contemporary conversations about COVID-19 and its broader implications, particularly when it comes to trade in wildlife, public health, and food systems reform. If COVID-19 is to represent a turning point towards building a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient world for both humans and nonhuman animals alike, the kind of fractioning that is currently being exacerbated by the use of loaded terms such as “wet market” must be eschewed in favour of a greater recognition of our fundamental interconnectedness. (shrink)

All organisms live in close association with microbes. However, not all such associations are meaningful in an evolutionary context. Current debate concerns whether hosts and microbes are best described as communities of individuals or as holobionts (selective units of hosts plus their microbes). Recent reports that assortative mating of hosts by diet can be mediated by commensal gut microbes have attracted interest as a potential route to host reproductive isolation (RI). Here, the authors discuss logical problems with this line of (...) argument. The authors briefly review how microbes can affect host mating preferences and evaluate recent findings from fruitflies. Endosymbionts can potentially influence host RI given stable and recurrent co‐association of hosts and microbes over evolutionary time. However, observations of co‐occurrence of microbes and hosts are ripe for misinterpretation and such associations will rarely represent a meaningful holobiont. A framework in which hosts and their microbes are independent evolutionary units provides the only satisfactory explanation for the observed range of effects and associations. (shrink)

Epidemiological evidence supports a health‐promoting effect of the Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet), especially in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. These cardiovascular benefits have been attributed to a number of components of the MedDiet such as monounsaturated fatty acids, antioxidant vitamins and phytochemicals. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Likewise, little is known about the genes that define inter‐individual variation in response to the MedDiet, although the TCF7L2 gene is emerging as an illustrative candidate for determining relative risk of cardiovascular events in (...) response to the MedDiet. Moreover, omics technologies are providing evidence supporting potential mechanisms, some of them implicating epigenetics (i.e. microRNAs, methylation), and certain data suggest that some traditional foods could contribute via microRNAs possibly acting as exogenous regulators of gene expression. Future research should aim at increasing and consolidating the nutrigenetic and nutrigenomic knowledge of the MedDiet in order to provide sound, personalized and optimized nutritional recommendations. (shrink)

If non-human animals have high moral status, then we commit a grave moral error by eating them. Eating animals is thus morally risky, while many agree that it is morally permissible to not eat animals. According to some philosophers, then, non-animal ethicists should err on the side of caution and refrain from eating animals. I argue that this precautionary argument assumes a false dichotomy of dietary options: a diet that includes farm-raised animals or a diet that does not include animals (...) of any kind. There is a third dietary option, namely, a diet of plants and non-traditional animal protein, and there is evidence that such a diet results in the least amount of harm to animals. It follows therefore that moral uncertainty does not support the adoption of a vegetarian diet. (shrink)

En su libro The Way We Eat, Peter Singer pretende concienciarnos sobre la ética del comer y los gastos ocultos, para el medioambiente y para los más pobres, de la dieta típica del primer mundo. A partir del análisis crítico de la industria alimentaria, presenta tres propuestas para el lector concienciado: el consumo local, el comercio justo y el vegetarianismo. A pesar de los beneficios ecológicos del consumo local, otras vías para proteger el medioambiente que no impiden el desarrollo económico (...) de los países más pobres son éticamente preferibles. En la III sección arguyo desde un marco utilitarista que podemos hacer el mayor bien a largo plazo si contribuimos ahora al desarrollo del tercer mundo. Por tanto, nuestra responsabilidad más urgente es la de promover el comercio justo. (shrink)

Dietary changes can alter the human microbiome with potential detrimental consequences for health. Given that environment, health, and evolution are interconnected, we ask: Could diet‐driven microbiome perturbations have consequences that extend beyond their immediate impact on human health? We address this question in the context of the urgent health challenges posed by global climate change. Drawing on recent studies, we propose that not only can diet‐driven microbiome changes lead to dysbiosis, they can also shape life‐history traits and fuel human evolution. (...) We posit that dietary shifts prompt mismatched microbiome‐host genetics configurations that modulate human longevity and reproductive success. These mismatches can also induce a heritable intra‐holobiont stress response, which encourages the holobiont to re‐establish equilibrium within the changed nutritional environment. Thus, while mismatches between climate change‐related genetic and epigenetic configurations within the holobiont increase the risk and severity of diseases, they may also affect life‐history traits and facilitate adaptive responses. These propositions form a framework that can help systematize and address climate‐related dietary challenges for policy and health interventions. (shrink)

This volume collects sixteen essays by contributors who chew on the diet from a number of philosophical angles and a variety of personal perspectives. Here, you can sample essays written by practitioners of the Atkins diet or one of its low-carb cousins; by people who are not on the diet; and by people who choose to keep mum about their own current relationships to carbohydrates. (We made an editorial decision to respect their right to remain silent on the matter of (...) whether or not sliced bread is the greatest thing since, well, since unsliced bread.) Not only do the writers collected here represent a range of personal eating practices; they also represent a considerable diversity of philosophical perspectives. Here you’ll find essays using the Atkins diet to illustrate ideas from such historically important philosophers as Kant, Hume, Nietzsche, Marx, and Dewey. But you’ll also find essays that examine the diet from the perspective of contemporary environmental philosophy, feminist philosophy, critical race theory, philosophy of science, and pragmatism (to mention just a few of the philosophical approaches employed). Some of the essays use Atkins to illuminate philosophy, others use philosophy to illuminate Atkins, and some do a little of both. All of the essays invite you to think—more carefully, perhaps, than you usually do—about why you eat what you choose to eat. They’re not here to tell you what to think—or what to eat, for that matter. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to give you plenty of ideas to digest—at least some of which might leave you feeling bit queasy. Hopefully some of them will also make you laugh—which, as we all know, is a great digestive aid. (shrink)