Voltaire’s classic novel Candide relates the misadventures of a young optimist who leaves his sheltered childhood to find his way in a cruel and irrational world. Fast-paced and full of dark humor, the novel mocks the suggestion that “all is well” and challenges us to create a better world. This Broadview Edition follows the text of a 1759 English translation that was released concurrently with Voltaire's first French edition. Candide is supplemented by Voltaire's most important poetic and (...) humanistic writings on God and evil, the Poem upon the Destruction of Lisbon and We Must Take Sides. The editor's introduction situates the novel in its philosophical and intellectual setting; the appendices include other writings by Voltaire, as well as related writings by Bayle, Leibniz, Pope, Rousseau, and others that place the work in its poetic, philosophical, and humanistic contexts. (shrink)

The article deals with a unique even within the age of European Enlightenment humanist essence and human rights activity of the great French philosopher, writer, poet Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire. The author focuses his attention on a new aspect of the well-known thinker - the unselfish and persistent protection of victims of religious intolerance, obscurantism, judicial tyranny. According to the author, Voltaire’s advocacy was the result of his political and legal socialization. This idea is supported (...) by the facts of Voltaire’s earlier life: the assistance to the villagers of Ferney, the intercession for the serfs from the oppression of the clergy, the humanist’s poems against tyranny and religious intolerance, against any violence and cruelty. Voltaire’s valuable judgments of natural law, legitimacy, justice and dignity of a person convincingly support the author’s hypothesis. (shrink)

Towards the middle of the 18th century, Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis proposed the “principle of least action” as a fundamental law of physics and as a proof of the existence of God. Samuel König and other contemporary authors criticized Maupertuis’ work. There ensued a fierce discussion concerning this subject, in which Leonhard Euler, the king Frédéric II of Prussia and Voltaire took part. This paper discusses that debate, emphasizing its extrascientific features and analyzing the interests that motivated the actions (...) of the people involved in that episode. Key words: Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, François Marie Arouet Voltaire, Johann Samuel König, Frédéric II – king of Prussia, principle of least action, history of physics, scientific controversies. (shrink)

During the eighteenth century, the specter of atheism was a major concern among many intellectuals in Europe. Many of the leading figures of the period such as François-Marie Arouet de Voltaire refuted atheism at every turn. These debates centered on living organisms, particularly questions about generation. Efforts to explain the process of generation raised biological, religious, and political questions. One popular theory put forward to address the question of generation was preformation, the belief that “germs” had been (...) in existence since God created the world. This chapter first discusses the rise of preformationist thinking in the late seventeenth century before turning to the biological evidence that challenged preexistence in the mid-eighteenth century and analyzing the reaction it triggered among the preformationists. It also examines the work of Voltaire and Denis Diderot to illustrate how the generation debates are linked to the materialism question. The chapter concludes by showing how these controversies about nature and biology became entangled with politics in eighteenth-century France. (shrink)

Voltaire, the pen name of François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), was one of the most influential leaders of the French Enlightenment. His defense of individual freedom of conscience and his criticisms of religious fanaticism and oppressive orthodoxy had a telling effect on Western history, inspiring several leading founders of America's new laws. This is the first English translation of many of his key texts from his famous pamphlet war for tolerance, written from 1750 to 1768, originally published under pseudonyms (...) to avoid imprisonment and to educate the average citizen. Included are "The Sermon of Rabbi Akib" (a searing attack on anti-Semitism), "Prayer to God" (from the famous Treatise on Tolerance), the hugely popular "Catechism of the Honest Man," "The Dinner at Count Boulainvillier's," and other witty, sometimes acerbic pieces that point out the errors in the Bible, the corruption of the clergy, and the religiously-inspired persecutions, both of his day and across the ages. Many of these pamphlets were burned in a losing battle by the authorities. With a lengthy introduction and copious notes by the editor and translator, plus an appendix including first-hand accounts of the battle by noted mathematician and French revolutionary Condorcet, Frederick the Great, Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith, and others, this excellent compilation will be a welcome addition to the libraries of anyone with an interest in human rights and freedom of thought. (shrink)

In the area of investment, responsibility may be expressed via four types of ethical concern: value-based ethics resulting in the exclusion of so-called "vicious" companies from the investment portfolio; fructification-oriented ethics with a view to long-term investment; consequence-based ethics aimed at initiating a behavioural change in the investment target; and ethics envisaged as a discriminating criterion in the search of the best financial performance. No single formula of responsible investment is available, and the "responsible" approach necessarily implies the active involvement (...) of a free acting subject striving to tackle fundamental ethical issues. The practice of responsible investment cannot be reduced to simply applying a particular legal rule or mathematical formula. (shrink)

This enlarged edition of Mario Bunge's Dictionary of Philosophy is a superb reference work for both students and professional philosophers.

Cet article vise à exposer et à examiner la conception de la vérité chez Derrida. Pour ce faire, nous proposerons une rapide définition de la déconstruction dans son ensemble (I). Cette présentation permettra de comprendre, d’une part, la critique derridienne de la vérité comme logos (c’est-à-dire comme une pièce essentielle de la « métaphysique ») (II), mais aussi, d’autre part, l’approche plus positive dont ce concept fait progressivement l’objet, aboutissant à l’idée d’une vérité performative et pragmatique, liée notamment au concept (...) de témoignage (III). Enfin, nous essaierons de montrer que le problème de la vérité révèle une tension entre deux strates de discours qui divisent la déconstruction dans son ensemble, et dont on peut interroger l’homogénéité (IV). (shrink)

Nanomaterials have attracted much interest in the medical field and related applications as their distinct properties in the nanorange enable new and improved diagnosis and therapies. Owing to these properties and their potential interactions with the human body and the environment, the impact of nanomaterials on humans and their potential toxicity have been regarded a very significant issue. Consequently, nanomaterials are the subject of a wide range of cutting-edge research efforts in the medical and related fields to thoroughly probe their (...) potential beneficial utilizations and their more negative effects. We posit that the lack of standardization in the field is a serious shortcoming as it has led to the establishment of methods and results that do not ensure sufficient consistency and thus in our view can possibly result in research outputs that are not as robust as they should be. The main aim of this article is to present how NanoDiaRA, a large FP7 European multidisciplinary project that seeks to investigate and develop nanotechnology-based diagnostic systems, has developed and implemented robust, standardized methods to support research practices involving the engineering and manipulation of nanomaterials. First, to contextualize this research, an overview of the measures defined by different regulatory bodies concerning nanosafety is presented. Although these authorities have been very active in the past several years, many questions remain unanswered in our view. Second, a number of national and international projects that attempted to ensure more reliable exchanges of methods and results are discussed. However, the frequent lack of publication of procedures and protocols in research can often be a hindrance for sharing those good practices. Subsequently, the efforts made through NanoDiaRA to introduce standardized methods and techniques to support the development and utilization of nanomaterials are discussed in depth. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with the partners of this project, and the interviews were analyzed thematically to highlight the determined efforts of the researchers to standardize their methods. Finally, some recommendations are made toward the setting up of well-defined methods to support the high-quality work of collaborative nanoparticle-based research and development projects and to enhance standardization processes. (shrink)

Au temps de Voltaire comme aujourd'hui, la religion est fondamentalement liée à la conscience humaine. Or, il est essentiel de distinguer en elle ce qui relève de l'idéologie, de la politique, de la superstition. Identifier ce qui encourage l'obscurantisme, alimente la division, le repli sur soi, permet de mieux cerner ce qui exhorte au bon sens, à l'ouverture, à la générosité, la compassion, l'empathie et à plus d'humanité. Jorel François invite ici le lecteur à relire quelques textes du Maître (...) de Ferney, éclairants pour notre histoire contemporaine, où la religion redevient source de grands défis."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Patrick Turmel,François Boucher,Marie-Noëlle Carré.

BackgroundThe advent of learning healthcare systems (LHSs) raises an important implementation challenge concerning how to request and manage consent to support secondary use of data in learning cycles, particularly research activities. Current consent models in Quebec were not established with the context of LHSs in mind and do not support the agility and transparency required to obtain consent from all involved, especially the citizens. Therefore, a new approach to consent is needed. Previous work identified the meta-consent model as a promising (...) alternative to fulfill the requirements of LHSs, particularly large-scale deployments. We elicited the public’s attitude toward the meta-consent model to evaluate if the model could be understood by the citizens and would be deemed acceptable to prepare for its possible implementation in Quebec.MethodsEight focus groups, with a total of 63 members of the general public from various backgrounds were conducted in Quebec, Canada, in 2019. Explicit attention was given to literacy levels, language spoken at home and rural vs urban settings. We assessed attitudes, concerns and facilitators regarding key components of the meta-consent model: predefined categories to personalized consent requests, a dynamic web-based infrastructure to record meta-consent, and default settings. To analyse the discussions, a thematic content analysis was performed using a qualitative software.ResultsOur findings showed that participants were supportive of this new approach of consent as it promotes transparency and offers autonomy for the management of their health data. Key facilitators were identified to be considered in the implementation of a meta-consent model in the Quebec LHSs: information and transparency, awareness campaigns, development of educational tools, collaboration of front-line healthcare professionals, default settings deemed acceptable by the society as well as close partnerships with recognized and trusted institutions.ConclusionsThis qualitative study reveals the openness of a sample of the Quebec population regarding the meta-consent model for secondary use of health data for research. This first exploratory study conducted with the public is an important step in guiding decision-makers in the next phases of implementing the various strategies to support access and use of health data in Quebec. (shrink)

Previous studies using the dot-perspective task postulated that people automatically take into account others' perspective even when it prevents them from achieving their own goals. This human ability may be of key importance for the ascription of mental states and social interactions. The cognitive and emotional determinants of automatic perspective taking is still matter of debate. To address this issue, we examined the performance in the Samson et al. APT task in 91 healthy adults who underwent a detailed neuropsychological testing (...) including assessment of their general intelligence, attention and impulsivity, alexithymia, and measures of affective empathy and explicit theory of mind. Univariate and multiple linear regression models were used to explore the association between mean reaction times in the APT task, and the CPT-II parameters, WAIS global score, TAS, and GeSoCS and mini-SEA scores. Only the CPT-II parameters were significantly associated with the mean reaction times. Increased omissions, commissions, and detectability as well as hit reaction time standard error in CPT-II were all related to worse performances both in Self and Other conditions. The mean number of errors was negatively associated with the GeSoCS score. Among the variables studied, only CPT-II parameters had a significant impact on egocentric and altercentric interference. Neither global intelligence nor alexithymia have an effect on dot-perspective task performance. The present findings suggest that people with lower attentional resources and increased impulsivity display worse performances in the APT task and are less responsive to both egocentric and altercentric interference. (shrink)

The objective of the article is to understand how a happiness engineering device centered on knowledge-relationship allows for « transformational training ». The methodology is based on a survey of semi-structured interviews and on a thematic content analysis of the dissertations. It was conducted with CPE trainees and teacher trainees in the Prevention-Health-Environment course. The results analyze the types of knowledge-relations in the realization of the experimental device by the trainees and the formative dimensions associated with learning in such an (...) engineering. (shrink)

Dans le contexte actuel de longs délais d’attente pour accéder aux services de réadaptation, la grande majorité des établissements utilisent la priorisation des demandes de référence pour aider à gérer les listes d’attente. Les pratiques de priorisation varient grandement d’un milieu à l’autre et il y a peu de consensus sur la meilleure façon de prioriser les demandes de référence. Cet article décrit les processus de priorisation de services en physiothérapie au Québec et leurs implications potentielles en termes d’équité dans (...) l’accès aux services. Il s’agit d’une analyse secondaire d’une enquête menée en 2015 auprès des cliniques externes en physiothérapie (n=98 ; la proportion de participation était de 99 %) dans les hôpitaux publics du Québec. Dans de nombreux milieux, les personnes ayant une condition orthopédique aigüe étaient priorisées, tandis que les conditions chroniques recevaient une priorité moindre. Nous avons comptabilisé 72 combinaisons différentes de critères de priorisation utilisées dans les cliniques externes de physiothérapie. Nous avons également observé une variabilité dans le type de personnel impliqué dans le processus de priorisation, le nombre de niveaux de priorité utilisés pour classer les demandes de référence et la source d’information utilisée pour établir la priorisation. Ces résultats mettent en lumière des enjeux potentiels concernant l’équité dans l’accès aux services de physiothérapie : la priorisation des personnes atteintes de conditions aigües au détriment de celles atteintes de conditions chroniques, l’absence de consensus sur un processus de priorisation équitable et la nécessité d’évaluer adéquatement les besoins de traitement des patients. De futures recherches et interventions sur les critères et les processus de priorisation sont nécessaires pour assurer un accès équitable aux services de physiothérapie, en particulier dans le secteur public. (shrink)

In the context of long waiting time to access rehabilitation services, a large majority of settings use referral prioritization to help manage waiting lists. Prioritization practices vary greatly between settings and there is little consensus on how best to prioritize referrals. This paper describes the prioritization processes for physiotherapy services in Québec and its potential implications in terms of equity in access to services. This is a secondary analysis of a survey of outpatient physiotherapy departments conducted in 2015 across publicly (...) funded hospitals in Québec. In many settings, persons with acute orthopaedic conditions were prioritized while chronic conditions were given a lower priority. There were 72 different combinations of prioritization criteria used in outpatient physiotherapy departments. Variability was also observed in the type of personnel involved in the prioritization process, the number of priority levels used to rank the referrals and the source of information used to prioritize referrals. These results highlight potential issues regarding equity in access to physiotherapy services: the prioritization of persons with acute conditions to the detriment of those with chronic conditions, the lack of consensus on a fair prioritization process and the importance to adequately assess patients’ needs for treatment. Further research and interventions on prioritization criteria and processes are needed to ensure equitable access to physiotherapy services, especially in the public sector. (shrink)

Presentation, par Marie-Helene Cotoni Parcours critique : une anthologie R. Pomeau : Histoire d'une oeuvre de Voltaire : le Dictionnaire philosophique portatif Y. Florenne : Voltaire, ou de la raison et de la deraison par alphabet Etiemble : Preface au Dictionnaire philosophique R. Pomeau : La documentation de Voltaire dans le Dictionnaire philosophique J. Cazeneuve : La philosophie de Voltaire d'apres le Dictionnaire philosophique J.Deprun : Le Dictionnaire philosophique et Malebranche M. Delon : Voltaire (...) entre le continu et le discontinu A. Becq : Le "catechisme chinois" Ch. Mervaud : Philosophie et ecriture breve : le Dictionnaire philosophique portatif R. Desne : Voltaire etait-il antisemite? J.-M. Moureaux : Ordre et desordre dans le Dictionnaire philosophique M.-H. Cotoni : Voltaire et la Bible R. Granderoute : Le Bestiaire du Dictionnaire philosophique portatif Ch. Mervaud : Les cannibales sont parmi nous. L'article Anthropophages du Dictionnaire philosophique P. Retat : Le Dictionnaire philosophique de Voltaire : concept et discours du dictionnaire Bibliographie. (shrink)

De 1748, date de L'Esprit des Lois, à 1788, date de décisions royales qui annoncent de profondes réformes du système répressif, l'opinion publique abandonne progressivement, mais rapidement et complètement, la philosophie pénale qu'illustrait l'Ordonnance de 1670, pour s'attacher à des principes nouveaux, largement diffusés par des auteurs tels que Beccaria et Voltaire. L'article s'attache à suivre cette évolution, principalement du point de vue des remises en question de la procédure criminelle.

Femmes intellectuelles, l’épithète, longtemps, parut incongrue : André Gide, quand s’ouvrirent en 1910 les Décades de Pontigny, rassemblement annuel d’intellectuels français et de toutes les nations, aurait en effet souhaité les bannir de cette sociabilité choisie. Cet ouvrage collectif entend précisément interroger les modalités (épouses suivant leurs maris ou le secondant, auditrices plus ou moins connues, conférencières, directrices de colloques) et surtout le sens de la présence féminine...

Developing countries face numerous barriers to conducting effective and efficient ethics reviews of international collaborative research. In addition to potentially overlooking important scientific and ethical considerations, inadequate or insufficiently trained ethics committees may insist on unwarranted changes to protocols that can impair a study's scientific or ethical validity. Moreover, poorly functioning review systems can impose substantial delays on the commencement of research, which needlessly undermine the development of new interventions for urgent medical needs. In response to these concerns, the Drugs (...) for Neglected Diseases Initiative, an independent nonprofit organization founded by a coalition of public sector and international organizations, developed a mechanism to facilitate more effective and efficient host country ethics review for a study of the use of fexinidazole for the treatment of late stage African Trypanosomiasis. The project involved the implementation of a novel ‘pre-review’ process of ethical oversight, conducted by an ad hoc committee of ethics committee representatives from African and European countries, in collaboration with internationally recognized scientific experts. This article examines the process and outcomes of this collaborative process. (shrink)