Technology is even more than our world, our form of life, our civilization. Technology interacts with the world to change it. Philosophers need to seriously address the fluidity of a smartphone interface, the efficiency of a Dyson vacuum cleaner, or the familiar noise of an antique vacuum cleaner. Beyond their phenomenological description, the emotional experience acquires moral significance and in some cases even supplies ethical resources for the self. If we leave this dimension of modern experience unaddressed, we may miss (...) something of value in contemporary life. Combining European humanism, Anglophone pragmatism, and Asian traditions, Michel Puech pleads for an "ethical turn" in the way we understand and address technological issues in modern day society. Puech argues that the question of "power" is what needs to be reconsidered today. In doing so, he provides a three-tier distinction of power: power to modify the outer world ; power over other humans ; power over oneself. (shrink)

In the spring of 1956, a comprehensive inventory of the manuscripts from Qumran Cave 4 was prepared which established the manuscript assignments for each of the members of the first editorial team. The manuscripts numbered 4Q521-4Q579 were assigned to Jean Starcky. Unfortunately Père Starcky died before publishing his allotment, which included primarily parabiblical and pseudepigraphic compositions in Hebrew or Aramaic. Though quite amorphous in character, the group reflects the interest in biblical themes and liturgy characteristic of Second Temple period Judaism. (...) In this volume, Émile Puech presents a critical text edition of the Hebrew manuscripts from this corpus. His edition of the Aramaic texts is scheduled to appear as Discoveries in the Judaean Desert Volume XXXI. (shrink)

Résumé Le De rerum natura chante une matière sans frontières afin de permettre à l’homme d’accepter sereinement sa condition mortelle. Le refus lucrétien de l’anthropocentrisme dans l’approche du vivant trouve un large écho dans la pensée de la première modernité. Une lecture attentive des citations du De rerum natura dans l’ “Apologie de Raymond Sebond” montre comment Montaigne s’est approprié les naturae foedera lucrétiens pour penser une relation respectueuse entre l’homme et la nature, fondée sur la notion d’obligation mutuelle. La (...) théorie lucrétienne de la perception et de l’origine du langage informe aussi l’argumentation de Montaigne, qu’il la reprenne à son compte ou s’en démarque. En réfutant le plaidoyer de Pierre Charron en faveur d’une connaissance animale, largement redevable à Montaigne, le médecin Pierre Chanet déclencha une polémique avec Cureau de la Chambre. Bien que non explicite, l’héritage lucrétien pourrait avoir renouvelé l’aristotélisme professé par Cureau. (shrink)

In France, continuing professional training is a national obligation within the framework of lifelong education (Law n° 71-575 of July 16, 1971). Although it is considered an essential tool for adapting skills in the second half of one’s career, older workers benefit less than their younger counterparts (Demailly, 2016). Some specialists also consider this population to be specific when it comes to training (Cau-Bareille et al., 2006; Kern, 2016; Tikkanen and Nyhan, 2009). In order to better understand the interest and (...) the educational issues of this public in terms of training engineering, this article proposes to explore this theme using a multidisciplinary approach. (shrink)

L'interprétation de la Critique de la raison pure, dans son édition de 1781, est ici ordonnée à l'étude des textes publiés par Kant auparavant, ainsi que des nombreux textes non publiés que nous possédons (Nachlass). Ces textes kantiens ne peuvent être interprétés que dans la perspective d'une histoire de la philosophie wolffienne et "post-wolffienne", qui doit elle-même être mise en relation avec la naissance de la science physique aux XVIIème et XVIIIème siècles. La formation et le développement du problème de (...) la causalité (physique et métaphysique) au XVIIIème siècle permettent de suivre la ligne directrice de cette histoire : formation du problème de la causalité, naissance de l'idée de philosophie transcendantale comme solution de ce problème, construction de la critique de la raison pure. (shrink)

This commentary on Gert Goeminne’s paper “Postphenomenology and the politics of sustainable technology” elaborates on the subpolitics of technology as a basis for dealing with sustainability issues. It questions the “sustainable technology” phrasing of the issue and focuses on the political/post-political debate to eventually suggest that the politics of sustainable technology is a possible post-political question. Minor disagreements on some philosophy of science references are briefly expressed.

Several trends in contemporary philosophy have revived the question of the good life. This article addresses the more elaborate notion of an “art of living” in the specific context of the technosphere on the basis of recent works in philosophy of technology. It also brings ideas from Asian philosophy and from Buddhism in particular into the discussion. The focus is on the notion of non-confrontation, which could lead to a decisive change in the methods and scope of technology assessment within (...) the humanities. The art of living in the technosphere emerges as an existential virtuosity that pertains to practical wisdom. (shrink)

Le voyageur marocain Ibn Battuta, né en 1304, a consigné dans sa relation de voyage, connue sous le nom de Rihla, de nombreux éléments sur Constantinople. Le caractère tardif de l’auteur, vivant à une époque où Byzance est censée décliner, a longtemps conduit à négliger son apport. En outre, des invraisemblances chronologiques et les préjugés d’un musulman face à une ville chrétienne ont parfois laissé penser que cette description ne reposait pas sur un séjour réel. Or la confrontation du texte (...) avec les sources byzantines permet d’accréditer plusieurs détails fournis par le voyageur sur la topographie et la vie quotidienne. Bien plus, l’insertion de certaines notations concrètes dans des passages crédibles fait d’Ibn Battuta une source nouvelle précieuse sur certains points. Il apparaît donc que le voyageur s’est effectivement rendu à Constantinople. Il n’en reste pas moins que son regard est marqué par la culture d’un savant musulman. Il importe donc de déceler ce que sa vision doit au jugement porté sur une religion du Livre et à la tradition de la géographie arabe, prolixe sur le monde byzantin. On aboutit finalement à l’idée que la description de Constantinople par Ibn Battuta relève d’un genre double, de deux veines davantage juxtaposées que mêlées: d’une part, un témoignage rapportant des éléments objectifs, et, d’autre part, un regard subjectif imposant une grille de lecture de ces éléments. (shrink)

I agree with my readers on the necessary alliance of personal agency and collective agency. My point is to prioritize the former. The reasons to prioritize the latter were excellent, and it was undoubtedly a sound decision to start with this scenario: political and institutional improvement of the collectives, enlightened by progressive social sciences. My argument for suggesting a different priority—toward personal microactions and their emergent effects—relies on the opinion that we are stuck in a sustainability crisis due to our (...) current approach. In the question “whose agency now?”, my stress is on “now”. (shrink)

Between 1987 and 1997, Thailand experienced a bubble economy. When the bubble economy exploded in 1997, the country suddenly experienced an economic crisis: it was in heavy debt and became financially controlled by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The problem was caused by the country’s desire to rapidly change itself from an agricultural country to an industrial one, without considering its own comparative advantage in that its climate and resources are more suitable for agriculture. Thailand also wanted to become a (...) newly industrialized country and a inancial hub of Southeast Asia without considering its readiness. These ideas came to a halt after the bubble economy explosion. However, just after Thailand managed to solve its debt problem with the IMF, thegovernment once again declared its desire to turn the country into the ‘Detroit of Asia’, to develop the capital, Bangkok, into the region’s fashion hub and to launch a substantial number of mega-projects, albeit with the existence of a widening economic gap between the rural and urban areas. This economic trend became known as “Thaksinomics” with reference to the name of the Prime Minister at that time, Thaksin Shinawatra. On the other hand, there has been a great deal of criticism of such a trend, which has been seen as a capitalist move promoting the consumerist behaviour of Thai people. There is, therefore, a call for Thai society to review itself, especially in its social and economic development aspects, and a change to a new kind of development with an emphasis on self-reliance andmoderation. This call is based on a Buddhist belief which is reflected in the old Thai way of life. This kind of economy is called “Self-Sufficiency Economy” as opposed to a capitalist-consumerist economy. It is believed that this new direction will help lay a strong foundation for the Thai economy and provide it with a high level of immunity for progress towards a more stable and sustainable economy. (shrink)

Experimentation in Technological Wisdom: Can the Political be Kept off the Practice Ground?Gert GoeminneCentre Leo Apostel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, BelgiumCentre for Sustainable Development, Ghent University, Belgiume-mail: [email protected] Welcome VoiceI met Michel Puech for the first time in 2008 at a workshop entitled ‘Artificial Environments.’ In an interdisciplinary Science and Technology Studies spirit, this 2-day event at Roskilde University gathered philosophers and sociologists of science and technology, as well as architecture theorists. Being rather new to the STS-field at that point, (...) I had read the main authors of the Anglo-Saxon tradition, including Andrew Pickering and Peter‐Paul Verbeek, who were present at the workshop. And sure, I had acquainted myself with the work of the French masters such as Bruno Latour, Gilbert Simondon and Bernard Stiegler. I had never heard of the French philosopher of technology Michel Puech, though. But there he was, startin .. (shrink)

Estonia is a democratic, parliamentary republic with a health care system that is built on the principle of compulsory, solidarity-based insurance and the all-round availability of services of private service providers. Estonia has specific biobank legislation as well as oversight via data protection laws. Its population-based biobank, the Estonian Genome Center, established in 2001, is one of the largest biobanks in Europe, and its database may be used only for scientific research, public health research, and statistics. The EGCUT can issue (...) data to a third party, but only in coded form. This comprehensive database of genotypic, phenotypic, health, and genealogical information represents about 5% of Estonia's adult population, and is the largest cohort ever gathered in Estonia. Government approval is required for international data sharing, and sharing can be further limited by the requirement of ethics approval and permission from Estonian government. (shrink)