This article presents the dualist perception of the ‘I’ of the woman phenomenologist, Hedwig Conrad-Martius (1880–1966) as a radical attempt to respond critically to Husserl’s turn towards transcendentalism. Conrad-Martius’s peculiar view of the I (ichhaftes Sein) appears as a remarkable refutation of one of the widespread criticisms of the phenomenological realism contemporary with Edmund Husserl regarding the lack of discussion of the issue of the ego or the I. My main argument is that the dualism not only signifies the structure (...) of the I inHCM’s philosophy but also provides the essential framework for its phenomenological deciphering, in which it transpires as a genuine philosophical problem that as such is unresolved. (shrink)

After a quarter of a century in print, Capra's groundbreaking work still challenges and inspires. This updated edition of The Tao of Physics includes a new preface and afterword in which the author reviews the developments of the twenty-five years since the book's first publication, discusses criticisms the book has received, and examines future possibilities for a new scientific world.

During the last two decades, a new understanding of life emerged at the forefront of science.The development of complexity theory, technically known as nonlinear dynamics, has allowed scientists and mathematicians to model the complexities of living systems in new ways that have yielded many important discoveries. In this article, the author reviews the basic concepts, current achievements and status of complexity theory from the perspective of the new understanding of biological life. Models and theories discussed include the theory of dissipative (...) structures for nonlinear chemical systems, the application of bifurcation theory to genetic networks and cell differentiation, the study of the origin of biological form (morphology), a new approach to the understanding of developmental stability in embryology, and a model of the ‘origin of life’ and prebiotic evolution in tiny, membrane-bounded vesicles in the primeval oceans. (shrink)

Science does not need mysticism and mysticism does not need science, but man needs both. --Fritjof Capra, Ph.D. Their paths to the truth could not be more different--but the amazing thing is that, in their own ways, the mystics and the scientists are discovering the same truths about our world. In non-technical language, with no complex mathematics or formulae, this thought-provoking program explores the main concepts and theories of modern physics, the revelations coming from particle accelerators and laboratories--and compares (...) them with the ancient tenets of Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism. In the process, we gain a clear and fascinating picture of how such seemingly disparate areas of thought are ultimately quests for the same kind of understanding. (shrink)

"We are trying to apply the concepts of an outdated world view--the mechanistic world view of Cartesian-Newtonian science--to a reality that can no longer be understood in terms of these concepts.

The Relevance Criterion of confirmation gained prominence as the underlying principle of the class-size approach (CSA) to Hempel's paradoxes of confirmation. The CSA, however, yields counter-intuitive results for (c) instances, and this failing cast serious doubt on the acceptability of the Relevance Criterion. In this paper an attempt is made to rescue the Relevance Criterion from this embarrassment. This is done by incorporating that criterion into a new resolution of the paradoxes, a resolution based on a theory of selective confirmation (...) and a distinction between mere confirmation in principle and evaluative confirmation (E-confirmation). (shrink)

Fritjof Capra, scientist, educator, activist, and accomplished author, presents the evolution of his thought over five decades in Patterns of Connection. First introduced in the late 1950s to the work of Werner Heisenberg, a founder of quantum mechanics, Capra quickly intuited the connections between the discoveries of quantum physics and the traditions of Eastern philosophy--resulting in his first book, the bestselling The Tao of Physics. This synthesis, representative of the change from the mechanistic worldview of Descartes and Newton to (...) a systemic, ecological one, went on to inform Capra's thinking about the life sciences, ecology, and environmental policy. (shrink)

Le systeme cartesien est enracine dans la metaphysique qui s'impose avant (non plus apres: meta) la physique. Pourtant, Descartes decouvre avec Beeckman la physico-mathematique, qui applique une methode mathematique a toute la nature. Optique, dioptrique et meteores occupent ses annees parisiennes. Aux Pays-Bas, il consacre neuf mois au commencement de la metaphysique, mais l'abandonne quand il apprend l'existence de faux soleils. Leur explication lui fait elargir la science a l'ensemble du Monde a partir de la lumiere. Il fera connaitre sa (...) methode dans le Discours, avec un resume de sa metaphysique. Comment Descartes avait-il ete incite a demontrer que l'existence de Dieu est plus certaine que les mathematiques? Quels furent les themes nouveaux des Meditations? Alors, l'arbre de la philosophie va deployer ses branches, jusqu'a ce dernier fruit, la generosite. Seule la mort interrompt La Recherche de la Verite, son principal bien en cette vie. (shrink)

Dortous de Mairan ne put obtenir de Malebranche la réfutation du spinozisme mais il se tourmentait de ne pouvoir trouver les failles de la doctrine, ce qui semble peu compatible avec une acceptation réelle du système. En histoire il n'est guère spinoziste : il tente obstinément de subordonner l'histoire de la Chine à celle de l'Egypte afin de concilier sa trop longue chronologie avec celle du Pentateuque. Dortous de Mairan failed to secure from Malebranche a refutation of Spinozism and was (...) worried not to be able to find out the defaults of the doctrine, an attitude which does not seem in line with a true acceptance of the system. As for as history is concerned, he is not much of a Spinozist : he insists on trying to subordinate the history of China to Egyptian history in order to reconcile the former's chronology, too extended in time, with that of the Pentateuch. (shrink)

Cette édition numérique a été réalisée à partir d'un support physique, parfois ancien, conservé au sein du dépôt légal de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, conformément à la loi n° 2012-287 du 1er mars 2012 relative à l'exploitation des Livres indisponibles du XXe siècle. G. Rodis-Lewis a poursuivi une patiente et multiple recherche sur le domaine propre de l'homme incarné et concret. « Copyright Electre » Pages de début Introduction I - La conception de L'Homme dans le cartésianisme II - (...) Le domaine propre de l'homme chez les cartésiens III - Le paradoxe cartésien IV - Augustinisme et cartésianisme V - Le dualisme platonisant au début du XVIIe siècle et la révolution cartésienne VI - Limites du modèle mécanique dans la « disposition » de l'organisme VII - Liberté et égalité chez Descartes VIII - L'âme et la durée d'après une controverse cartésienne IX - L'écrit de Desgabets sur la transfusion du sang et sa place dans les polémiques contemporaines X - Langage humain et signes naturels dans le cartésianisme XI - Un théoricien du langage au XVIIe siècle : Bernard Lamy XII - L'Art deparler et l'Essai sur l'origine des langues Pages de fin. (shrink)