The effects of aging on the cognitive and affective dimensions of theory of mind , and on the latter’s links with other cognitive processes, such as information processing speed, executive functions and episodic memory, are still unclear. We therefore investigated these effects in young , middle-aged and older adults , using separate subjective and objective assessment tasks. Furthermore, a novel composite task probed participants’ abilities to infer both cognitive and affective mental states in an interpersonal context. Although age affected the (...) objective ToM tests, results revealed a direct aging effect on the second-order ToM, but an indirect one on the first-order cognitive ToM, mediated mainly by age-related declines in executive functions. This study supports the notion of an age-related distinction between subjective and objective assessments of ToM, and confirms that ToM is a complex mental ability with several characteristics reliant to some extent on executive processes. (shrink)

This essay aims to show that implicit biases should not be conceived of as “inside the head” of individuals, but rather as embodied and social. My argument unfolds in three stages. First, I make the case for conceiving of implicit biases as perceptual habits. Second, I argue that we should think of perceptual habits and, by extension, implicit biases, as located in the body. Third, I claim that individual habits are shaped by the social world in which we find ourselves (...) and that the social world is itself shaped by our habitual ways of interacting with and perceiving others. This suggests that implicit biases are part of the fabric of the social world. Thus, I conclude that implicit biases should be understood as embodied and social. (shrink)

There are two main approaches within classical cognitive science to explaining how humans can entertain mental states that integrate contents across domains. The language-based framework states that this ability arises from higher cognitive domain-specific systems that combine their outputs through the language faculty, whereas the language-independent framework holds that it comes from non-language-involving connections between such systems. This article turns on its head the most influential empirical argument for the language-based framework, an argument that originates from research on spatial reorientation. (...) I make the case that neuroscientific findings about spatial reorientation in rodents and humans bolster the language-independent framework instead. (shrink)

Objectives—While clinical practice is complicated by many ethical dilemmas, clinicians do not often request ethics consultations. We therefore investigated what triggers clinicians' requests for ethics consultation. Design—Cross-sectional telephone survey.Setting—Internal medicine practices throughout the United States.Participants—Randomly selected physicians practising in internal medicine, oncology and critical care.Main measurements—Socio-demographic characteristics, training in medicine and ethics, and practice characteristics; types of ethical problems that prompt requests for consultation, and factors triggering consultation requests. Results—One hundred and ninety of 344 responding physicians (55%) reported requesting ethics (...) consultations. Physicians most commonly reported requesting ethics consultations for ethical dilemmas related to end-of-life decision making, patient autonomy issues, and conflict. The most common triggers that led to consultation requests were: 1) wanting help resolving a conflict; 2) wanting assistance interacting with a difficult family, patient, or surrogate; 3) wanting help making a decision or planning care, and 4) emotional triggers. Physicians who were ethnically in the minority, practised in communities under 500,000 population, or who were trained in the US were more likely to request consultations prompted by conflict. Conclusions—Conflicts and other emotionally charged concerns trigger consultation requests more commonly than other cognitively based concerns. Ethicists need to be prepared to mediate conflicts and handle sometimes difficult emotional situations when consulting. The data suggest that ethics consultants might serve clinicians well by consulting on a more proactive basis to avoid conflicts and by educating clinicians to develop mediation skills. (shrink)

Many species rely on the three-dimensional surface layout of an environment to find a desired goal following disorientation. They generally do so to the exclusion of other important spatial cues. Two influential frameworks for explaining that phenomenon are provided by geometric-module theories and view-matching theories of reorientation respectively. The former posit a module that operates only on representations of the global geo- metry of three-dimensional surfaces to guide behavior. The latter place snapshots, stored representations of the subject’s two-dimensional retinal stimulation (...) at specific locations, at the heart of their accounts. In this paper, I take a fresh look at the debate between them. I begin by making a case that the empirical evidence we currently have does not clearly favor one framework over the other, and that the debate has reached something of an impasse. Then, I present a new explanatory problem—the representation selection problem—that offers the pro- spect of breaking the impasse by introducing a new type of explanatory consideration that both frameworks must address. The representation selection problem requires explaining how subjects can reliably select the relevant representation with which they initiate the reorientation process. I argue that the view-matching framework does not have the resources to address this problem, while a certain type of theory within the geometric-module framework can provide a natural response to it. In showing this, I develop a new geometric-module theory. (shrink)

Cet article entend montrer que Nietzsche conçoit l’histoire comme n’étant pas simplement une pure discipline théorique, mais comme une dimension spécifique de l’existence humaine, impliquant une manière singulière de se rapporter au réel. Pour cette raison, elle doit être repensée en tant que « sens historique », plutôt que seulement comme science historique. À condition d’être convenablement pensé et maîtrisé, le sens historique est aux yeux de Nietzsche tout à la fois une condition du possible retour à la santé de (...) l’homme moderne, et une vertu nécessaire du philosophe authentique, vertu qui apparaît pour finir comme un élément constitutif de la notion de « généalogie » que Nietzsche met en place en 1887. (shrink)

Companies face a dilemma between what society as a whole demands and the necessity of being economically efficient and creating value for all stakeholders. Why some companies take it upon themselves to be socially responsible while others not? I argue that companies act in a socially responsible way when social necessity is combined with a global low reputation. This paper provides a theoretical insight into reflection on the roles of companies within a society.

This article explores the ongoing obsession with the thigh gap ideal in certain pockets of Western societies. A thigh gap is the space some women have between their inner thighs when they stand with their feet together. The thigh gap ideal is flaunted on “thinspo” websites, which compile diet and exercise tips and display pictures of fashion models and “real women” in their efforts to inspire women to become thinner. I aim to identify what is wrong with the thigh gap (...) obsession and to suggest a way to overcome it. I begin by describing the genesis of the obsession. I then argue that the relation women in the grip of this preoccupation have to their bodies is an instance of what I call bodily alienation. Next, I consider responses to the thigh gap phenomenon. I claim that a viable response, besides broadening standards of beauty, lies in pursuing bodily activities for their own sake. I call the view I articulate “sensualism.” I conclude by discussing the merits of an individual response of the type I advocate, in light of the structural character of women’s oppression through standards of beauty. (shrink)

This study investigates how one important accounting professional authority—CPA Canada—discusses accounting ethics and exhorts its members to think about ethics-related issues. To do this, we rely on empirical evidence of the types of arguments used by CPA Canada to describe what they consider acceptable moral justifications in a variety of practical situations that accountants may encounter. We argue that the articles contained in the profession’s primary publication for all members, CPA Magazine, offer a wealth of such evidence. We analyze 237 (...) articles about accounting ethics that were published in CPA Magazine from January 2000 to December 2017, and find evidence of moral pluralism. Six categories of justifications dominate: private commitments, utility, perfectionist ends, general duties, and specific obligations, plus self-interest. Of these categories, the specific obligations logic is the most widely used. We offer a tentative explanation, and discuss the implications of our findings for a better grasp of the complexities of accountants’ practical conflicts and a rethink of the ongoing tension between professionalism and commercialism. (shrink)

The singular position of Montesquieu's political philosophy seems to raise the question: Isn't the opposition between republicanism and liberalism a largely artificial one? On the one hand, the description of the republican vivere civile in the Spirit of the Laws testifies to the important ties that exist between Montesquieu and the tradition of ?civic humanism?. However, this apparent theoretical proximity between Montesquieu and the British Neo-Harringtonians ought not to be taken too far, obscuring the deep divergences that differentiate their respective (...) positions, notably when it comes to the interpretation of history. Montesquieu's break from the republican tradition is exemplified by his rejection of its conception of freedom rooted in the citizens' necessary participation in power. But in the end, this does not enable us to conclude that he subscribes to a purely liberal theory. The British model shows that even if direct participation in the exercise of power is not necessary for the existence of liberty, a certain level of civic involvement and public awareness is needed. The liberal opposition between positive and negative liberty, political autonomy and enjoyment of rights without interference must therefore be transcended. (shrink)

Le nom atypique chose intègre, en tant que noyau de syntagme démonstratif, la place de pivot autour duquel s’installent deux séquences, interdépendantes aux niveaux syntaxique, sémantique et pragmatique. Sur le plan sémantico-référentiel, l’interprétation de telles configurations repose sur des processus cataphoriques concomitants à une hypostatisation. A quels types de contraintes est soumis un tel site? En répondant à cette question, nous montrerons que le N chose, pour pallier sa pauvreté sémantique, nécessite que soient respectées, dans son proche environnement, un certain (...) nombre de paramètres d’ordre sémantico-pragmatique et syntaxique. Ce faisant, il agit comme un véritable facteur de cohésion textuelle. (shrink)

Depuis les années soixante-dix et le corpus de Montréal (Sankoff et al., 1976), les corpus oraux et multimodaux ont été au cœur des transformations technologiques, méthodologiques et théoriques de la linguistique sur corpus numériques, reconfigurant les attentes en matière de conservation des documents sonores. Les outils et instruments de transcription, d’annotation, de traitement du signal, de textométrie, de visualisation, et plus généralement tous les outils du TAL et du traitement de don...

Comment passer de la réflexion esthétique sur les atmosphères à une pratique architecturale des atmosphères? En suivant les Leçons d’esthétique du philosophe allemand Gernot Böhme, nous analysons la façon dont leur esprit est mis en œuvre par l’architecte suisse Peter Zumthor. Comment le sentiment fondamental de la présence est-il principiel dans le projet du plus grand musée d’art de Los Angeles? Composée de propositions concrètes, l’enjeu de l’esthétique envisagée ici tient moins de la détermination de l’œuvre d’art que du sentiment (...) de liberté qu’éprouvent des sujets dans le site qui leur est offert. (shrink)

La réception de la théologie politique schmittienne a été différente en Allemagne et en Italie, en particulier dans le groupe de philosophes connu sous le nom de « l’École de Ritter » et chez les postmarxistes italiens issus de l’opéraïsme, dans les années 1970 et 1980. Cet article examine cette réception philosophiquement et politiquement contrastée. Il expose aussi les emprunts essentiels que les philosophes italiens comme Tronti, Marramao ou Esposito ont faits à leurs collègues allemands. Alors qu’outre-rhin l’École de Ritter (...) interprète la théologie politique schmittienne comme une simple enquête généalogique et considère que la dépolitisation de la religion est l’un des pricipaux acquis des Lumières, aux philosophes italiens cette dépolitisation semble en partie un mythe politique. Les uns se tournent vers le paradigme du droit naturel ou de la religion civile, les autres engagent une réflexion métapolitique qui souligne le lien entre théologie politique et philosophie politique. (shrink)

This paper intends to highlight the philosophical and ethical implications of cultural theory as initiated in the seventies by the British anthropologist, Mary Douglas. The first part will present cultural theory, mainly through her early works. We will particularly insist on the originality of this functionalist theory based on four interpersonal relationships patterns – defined according to grid and group dimensions – and their associated cultural biases, namely the egalitarian bias, the hierarchical, the insulated and the individualist one. In the (...) second part of our study, we will show that in each of these biases, people behave and perceive differently and we will concentrate on these differences regarding risk. Finally, we will focus on one essential implication of this theory, its conception of rationality. Indeed, cultural theory implies a framework of plural rationalities, which is of paramount importance if we consider its ethical consequences. We will try to lighten these and show how it might influence risk management. (shrink)

Cette contribution entend appliquer aux institutions européennes la méthode généalogique élaborée par Rousseau dans le Discours sur l’origine et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les hommes. Elle entend retracer dans ses grandes lignes l’histoire d’un détournement des institutions qui peut s’interpréter en termes de corruption ou d’usurpation. La nécessité de concevoir la génération des institutions, leur « esprit », prend sens dans cette perspective – non pour évoquer une théorie du complot en vertu de laquelle certains politiques alliés aux économistes (...) néolibéraux auraient « mis la main » sur une institution noble pour la tourner exclusivement à leur profit, mais pour montrer la variété des forces d’emblée à l’œuvre dans l’histoire, et les contingences ou les effets de structure qui ont dévié les intentions fondatrices. Car il ne faut pas simplifier la causalité historique : les institutions n’ont pas d’emblée été conçues dans un esprit néolibéral, qui n’aurait fait que s’accentuer dans les années 1980-1990 avec la dérégulation économique imposée à l’échelle mondiale. Il convient donc de distinguer, dans le projet européen et l’évolution des institutions, ce qui relève des intentions initiales et ce qui ressort des événements qui les ont altérées en profondeur dans les grandes scansions de la construction européenne. (shrink)

We adapted the Bubbles procedure [Vis. Res. 41 (2001) 2261] to examine the effective use of information during the first 282 ms of face identification. Ten participants each viewed a total of 5100 faces sub-sampled in space–time. We obtained a clear pattern of effective use of information: the eye on the left side of the image became diagnostic between 47 and 94 ms after the onset of the stimulus; after 94 ms, both eyes were used effectively. This preference for the (...) eyes increased with practice, and was not solely due to the informativeness of the eyes for the task at hand. The bias for the eye on the left side of the image is explained in terms of hemispheric specialization. Although there were individual differences, most participants exhibited this pattern of effective use of information. An intriguing finding is that most participants displayed a clear sinusoidal modulation of effective use of attention through time with a frequency of about 10.6 Hz. (shrink)

Conceptual engineering takes a distinctively normative and reconstructive approach to our conceptual repertoire. This approach is congenial to the ideas defended by philosophers belonging to the multifaceted tradition of American and Cambridge Pragmatism. This special issue is devoted to the investigation and development of these connections. Our introduction maps some of the historical and theoretical entanglements between the two fields and gives a short overview of the contributions to the special issue.

In this article, I draw an important distinction between two kinds of inquiry. “Framed inquiries” take for granted and use a conceptual framework in order to ask and answer questions, while “framing inquiries” require the creation, revision, or expansion of the conceptual framework itself in order to address the problem at hand. This distinction has been largely ignored in epistemology, and collapsed by two radically opposed philosophical camps: representationalism and antirepresentationalism. While the former takes all inquiries to be in the (...) business of discovering mind-independent facts, the latter takes all inquiries to be primarily governed by pragmatic considerations. Against the objections raised by both camps, I defend a pragmatist and substantive distinction between framed and framing inquiry, inspired by Rudolf Carnap’s distinction between internal and external questions and reformulated in terms of John Dewey’s theory of inquiry. (shrink)

This paper analyses the nature of the relationship between risk and responsibility. Since neither the concept of risk nor the concept of responsibility has an unequivocal definition, it is obvious that there is no single interpretation of their relationship. After introducing the different meanings of responsibility used in this paper, we analyse four conceptions of risk. This allows us to make their link with responsibility explicit and to determine if a shift in the connection between risk and responsibility can be (...) outlined. (1) In the engineer’s paradigm, the quantitative conception of risk does not include any concept of responsibility. Their relationship is indirect, the locus of responsibility being risk management. (2) In Mary Douglas’ cultural theory, risks are constructed through the responsibilities they engage. (3) Rayner and (4) Wolff go further by integrating forms of responsibility in the definition of risk itself. Analysis of these four frameworks shows that the concepts of risk and responsibility are increasingly intertwined. This tendency is reinforced by increasing public awareness and a call for the integration of a moral dimension in risk management. Therefore, we suggest that a form of virtue-responsibility should also be integrated in the concept of risk. (shrink)

Après le scientisme triomphant du 19ème siècle, le 20ème siècle est marqué par la prise de conscience progressive de l'absence de coïncidence entre progrès scientifique et progrès humain. Depuis le début des années 90, dans la continuité du développement des préoccupations environnementales, se précise une nouvelle configuration des implications des savoirs scientifiques dans la société, en liaison avec la notion de risque : suite à une série de catastrophes technologiques -dont Tchernobyl, l'affaire du sang contaminé ou la crise de la (...) vache folle n'ont été que les plus médiatisées-, les sciences et techniques sont mises en cause en tant que sources d'innovations ; cependant, elles apparaissent plus que jamais indispensables pour faire face à ces risques. L'expertise scientifique à destination politique , consistant à solliciter, dans un processus de décision publique, les capacités de la science à diagnostiquer et à réguler les risques, apparaît donc comme un point clef de cette nouvelle configuration. Notre objectif sera d'une part, sans prétendre aucunement à l'exhaustivité, de reconstituer, depuis les années 60, quelques éléments importants de la filiation de la problématique de l'expertise, conçue au sens large comme l'intégration de savoirs scientifiques dans un processus de décision politique ; d'autre part, de préciser les principaux angles d'approche et enjeux de cet objet qui donne actuellement lieu à une multiplication de réflexions et de travaux, dans un champ pluridisciplinaire. (shrink)

Clinical Study Agreements can have profound effects both on the protection of human subjects and on the independence of investigators to conduct research with scientific integrity. Sponsors, institutions, and even investigators may fail to give adequate attention to these issues in the negotiation of CSAs. Despite the key role of CSAs in structuring ethically important aspects of research, they remain largely unregulated and unreviewed for adherence to ethical norms. Academic institutions routinely enter into research contracts that fail to meet adequate (...) ethical standards. This is a failing that can have serious consequences.Accordingly, it is necessary that some independent body have the authority both to review research contracts for compliance with norms of subject protection and ethical integrity, and to reject studies that fail to meet ethical standards. Such review should take place prior to the start of research, not later. Because of its expertise and authority, the institutional ethics review board is the appropriate body to undertake such review. Much recent commentary has focused on contractual restrictions on the investigator’s freedom to publish research findings. The Olivieri experience, and that of other investigators, has brought freedom of publication issues into sharp focus. Clinical study agreements also raise a number of other ethical issues relating to human subjects and research integrity, however, including disclosures relating to patient safety, data analysis and reporting, budget, confidentiality, and premature termination of the study. This paper describes the ethical issues at stake in structuring such agreements and suggests ethical standards to guide institutional ethics review. (shrink)

The practice of nonphysician ethicist-consultants giving ethics advice concerning the appropriate medical treatment of patients in hospitals is a relatively recent development. Although only a minority of hospitals make substantial use of any formal ethics consulting service, the number is growing and apparently will continue to do so. Indeed, at least among urban teaching hospitals, some sort of ethics consulting service is increasingly commonplace.

Many philosophers have adopted epistemic expressivism in recent years. The core commitment of epistemic expressivism is that epistemic claims express conative states. This paper assesses the plausibility of this commitment. First, we raise a new type of problem for epistemic expressivism, the epistemic motivation problem. The problem arises because epistemic expressivists must provide an account of the motivational force of epistemic judgment (the mental state expressed by an epistemic claim), yet various features of our mental economy seem to show that (...) they can’t do so. Second, we develop what we take to be the most promising response to that problem for expressivists. We end by noting that this response faces an important challenge pertaining to the psychology of epistemic criticism and praise. (shrink)

The French Revolution, and certain ideas of the Enlightenment, produced a radical change in the meaning of the term geming (revolution) that, becoming a slogan, spawned a new current of thought at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Known belatedly in China, it was first presented as a negative term to preach urgent political reform, then became the subject of polemical debate between reformers and revolutionaries. At the same time, the term geming, which originally referred to "change of heavenly mandate", (...) never ceased to provoke various interpretations depending on the period and the political position of the commentators. The objective of this article is to question the process of transformation of this notion and its adaptation to Chinese reality, in order to better measure what constitutes the legacy of the French Revolution in the construction of modern China. (shrink)

The ethical matrix is a participatory tool designed to structure ethical reflection about the design, the introduction, the development or the use of technologies. Its collective implementation, in the context of participatory decision-making, has shown its potential usefulness. On the contrary, its implementation by a single researcher has not been thoroughly analyzed. The aim of this paper is precisely to assess the strength of ethical matrixes implemented by a single researcher as a tool for conceptual normative analysis related to technological (...) choices. Therefore, the ethical matrix framework is applied to the management of high-level radioactive waste, more specifically to retrievable and non-retrievable geological disposal. The results of this analysis show that the usefulness of ethical matrixes is twofold and that they provide a valuable input for further decision-making. Indeed, by using ethical matrixes, implicit ethically relevant issues were revealed—namely issues of equity associated with health impacts and differences between close and remote future generations regarding ethical impacts. Moreover, the ethical matrix framework was helpful in synthesizing and comparing systematically the ethical impacts of the technologies under scrutiny, and hence in highlighting the potential ethical conflicts. (shrink)

The ability to reflect on and monitor memory processes is one of the most investigated metamemory functions, and one of the important ways consciousnesses interacts with memory. The feeling-of-knowing is one task used to evaluate individual’s capacity to monitor their memory. We examined this reflective function of metacognition in older adults. We explored the contribution of metacognition to episodic memory impairment, in relation to the idea that older adults show a reduction in memory awareness characteristic of episodic memory. A first (...) experiment showed that age affects the accuracy of FOK when predictions are made on an episodic memory task but not on a semantic memory task, suggesting a particular role for episodic memory awareness in metacognitive evaluations. A second experiment showed that the age-difference in episodic FOK accuracy was removed if one took into account subjective reports of memory awareness, or recollection. We argue that the FOK deficit specific to episodic memory is based on a lack of memory awareness manifest as a recollection deficit. (shrink)

Le Bureau international des poids et mesures fait partie en 1940 des quelques organisations intergouvernementales dont le siège est en zone occupée. Pendant toute la durée de la guerre, il est soumis à la pression du Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich (MbF), le commandement militaire allemand, et entretient des relations continues avec le gouvernement de Vichy et de nombreuses institutions françaises. Cette contribution a pour ambition d’apporter une vue d’ensemble sur l’histoire de cette organisation sous l’Occupation en analysant son fonctionnement et ses (...) points d’appui dans ce contexte particulier. Elle examinera la trajectoire de son directeur, Albert Pérard (1880-1960), et de son réseau, les stratégies déployées pour s’adapter aux contraintes de la période et plus généralement pour maintenir une coopération scientifique à l’échelle internationale dans un monde fracturé par la guerre et une Europe sous domination nazie. Quelles conséquences de la « parenthèse Vichy » peuvent-elles être identifiées au niveau institutionnel et sur la construction des carrières de ses figures emblématiques? (shrink)

The context of climate change and the reactions of young people have raised questions for the public authorities and in particular for the national education system. The issue of sustainable development has recently been revived in the French curriculum and is now included at all levels of students' education via eco-delegates, the latest initiative (2019) aimed at teaching responsibility for the preservation of the planet. Our aim is to explore the issues, objectives, and aims of such an education of the (...) future citizen between conditioning, emancipation, and responsibility. (shrink)

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to validate the computerized Symbol Digit Modalities Test in a Swiss pediatric cohort, in comparing the Swiss sample to the Canadian norms. Secondly, we evaluated sex effects, age-effects, and test–retest reliability of the c-SDMT in comparison to values obtained for the paper and pencil version of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test.MethodsThis longitudinal observational study was conducted in a single-center setting at the University Children’s Hospital of Bern. Our cohort consisted of 86 children aged from (...) 8 to 16 years. The cohort included both healthy participants and patients hospitalized for a non-neurological disease. Forty eight participants were assessed during two testing sessions with the SDMT and the c-SDMT.ResultsTest–retest reliability was high in both tests. A reliable change index was calculated for the SDMT and the c-SDMT corrected for practice effects. While a significant age effect on information processing speed was observed, no such effect was found for sex. When data on the c-SDMT performance of the Swiss cohort was compared with that from a Canadian cohort, no significant difference was found for the mean time per trial in any age group. Norm values for age groups between 8 and 16 years in the Swiss cohort were established.ConclusionNorms for the c-SDMT between the Swiss and the Canadian cohort were comparable. The c-SDMT is a valid alternative to the SDMT. It is a feasible and easy to administer bedside tool due to high reliability and the lack of motor demands. (shrink)

Dans les années 1980 et 1990, le concept de communauté était au cœur des débats entre les communautariens et les libéraux anglo-saxons. En France, il a joué (et joue encore) un rôle important dans les débats sur la république et le « communautarisme ». Le contexte dans lequel il est remis en scène aujourd’hui est celui de la résurgence du nationalisme et des revendications identitaires. La crise de l’idéal cosmopolitique et de l’idée du multicul...