This article offers a new theory about how using lotteries to distribute scarce benefits satisfies beneficiaries' claims. In the first section of the article I criticize John Broome's view and on the basis of these criticisms set out four desiderata for a philosophically adequate account of claim satisfaction by lottery. In section II I propose and defend a new view called the dual structure view, so called because it posits that claimants have two types of claims in the relevant scarce (...) benefit distribution cases under discussion. This view meets all the desiderata set out in section I. Section III draws out the practical implications of my view for a variety of temporally extended cases, including the distribution of corneas to patients who have suffered corneal degeneration. (shrink)

Essays dealing with the question of how "sense of place" is constructed, in a variety of locations and media.

Le mérite le plus patent de Zur Kritik der Gewalt de Benjamin consiste à défaire toute représentation innocente de la violence et de ses usages, toute compréhension de la violence qui n’y verrait que l’innocuité d’un moyen neutre légitimé, ou pas, par les fins qu’il vise, les intérêts qu’il sert ou les classes qui le mobilisent. « Dans cette perspective, la violence est un produit naturel, en quelque sorte un matériau brut dont l’utilisation ne pose aucun problème ». S’interroger sur (...) la viole... (shrink)

In the first comprehensive and full-length study of the English historical economists, Gerard Koot traces their revolt against the theory, policy recommendations and academic dominance of classical and neoclassical economics in Britain between 1870 and 1926. English Historical Economics, 1870–1926 shows how these historical critics challenged the deductive method and mechanistic assumptions of the economic orthodoxy, developing an historical and inductive method for economic studies and laying the foundation for the professional study of economic history. The author examines the effect (...) of this new methodology upon English politics, discussing the intellectual framework that the historical economists provided for the conservative attack on laissez-faire philosophy in links between such larger social, economic, political and intellectual controversies and the origin and growth of English historical economics. (shrink)

Dans son article de 1915 sur l'inconscient, Freud pose la question suivante: « Nous disions qu'il y avait des représentations conscientes et des représentations inconscientes; mais y a-t-il aussi des motions pulsion-nelles, des sentiments, des sensations inconscients, ou bien, dans leur cas, de telles alliances de mots sont-elles dénuées de sens?».

Dans son article de 1913, «L’intérêt de la psychanalyse», Freud déclarait que la philosophie pouvait profiter des lumières de la psychanalyse parce que celle-ci peut dévoiler la motivation subjective et individuelle de doctrines philosophiques prétendument issues d’un travail logique et impartial, et ainsi désigner à la critique les points faibles du système d’un philosophe. Mon texte présente quelques exemples de l’utilisation de la psychanalyse pour identifier l’impact de l’inconscient sur la pensée de certains philosophes tels que Parménide, Berkeley, Kant, Sartre. (...) À la lumière de ces exemples, j’examine brièvement quelques questions à propos du conseil de Freud : Est-il praticable ? Quand peut-on l’appliquer ? Comment en rendre l’application moralement acceptable ? Selon quels critères juger de la valeur de vérité d’interprétations psychanalytiques de ce genre ? Quels sont les bénéfices, et en valent-ils la peine ?In his article of 1913, " The Claims of Psycho-Analysis to Scientific Interest", Freud stated that philosophy could profit from psychoanalysis because it can indicate the subjective and individual motives of philosophical theories which are ostensibly based on impartial logical work, and in this way it can draw critical attention to the weak spots in a philosopher’s system. This paper presents a few examples of the use of psychoanalysis to identify the impact of the unconscious on the theories of certain philosophers, e.g., Parmenides, Berkeley, Kant, Sartre. In the light of these examples, I examine briefly a number of questions concerning Freud’s recommendation : Can it be put into practice ? In what circumstances ? How can it be applied in a way that is morally defensible ? By what criteria can one evaluate the truth value of such psychoanalytic interpretations ? What are the advantages, and are they worth the effort required ? (shrink)

There is hardly any university, college, or even high school left where they do not teach Darwinism—and rightly so. Yet, most of these places do more preaching than teaching. They teach more than they should, and at the same time, they teach less than they should. This book wants to evaluate Darwin’s legacy from a philosophical viewpoint by trying to analyze the strong points as well as the weak points of what came to be known as neo-Darwinism.

The Belgian scientific literature dealing with political parties has four main characteristics. First it pays great attention to party doctrines and to parliamentary struggle. Indeed, in the nineteenth century political parties do not strike by their organization, which is still undeveloped, nor by their functions, which are still limited, but by the public debate they are stimulating in Parliament and in the press. Only from the end of the century, when the suffrage is extended, the organization of the parties wilt (...) get more articulated and their functions more complicated. Secondly the literature pays great attention to the legitimation of the political parties, which are still controversial particularly because they should threaten the national union. The authors exert oneselves to prove that parliamentary government is by definition a party government. They distinguish parties from factions in order to make the first acceptable. Thirdly the literature deals with the party system.The Belgian authors take the two party system which exists in Great Britain as example and try to prove that the alternation of two parties, the party of conservation and the party of progress, is necessary for the good working of the institutions. Fourthly, the literature, particularly the historica!, is rather descriptive and is characterized by a lack of comparisons, generalizations and hypothesis.Two periods can be distinguished in the literature. In the first period, 1830-1894, the suffrage is limited and the political scene is dominated by two parties.This period is marked by the publications of Emile de Laveleye, one of the most prolific writers of the second half of the nineteenth century. In the second period, 1894-1914, the advent of the socialist party disturbs the working of the classical party government. Maurice Vauthier is the main author of this period. He tries to establish the characteristics of the party government and its chances in the future. (shrink)

Journal Name: Philologus Issue: Ahead of print.

Using the latest scientific discoveries and theories of astronomy and genetics, the author discusses the nature of life and the universe and asks big questions like, 'Why are we here?' It is both a critique of scientific atheism, and a scientific argument for the "unknown" that people call 'God'.

Shoah, Evil and Philosophy. To speak of the philosophy of the Shoah presupposes a philosophy of philosophy -that would stand in the pre- or post-position of a meaning and the subsumption of an object under a concept. But there is no concept of the Shoah because there is no intelligibility that could justify it. Of this «incomprehensible incontestable» as Victor Hugo said of God, literature can only approach the massive enigma. The «banality of Evil» prevents one from thinking that Evil (...) thinks, and with such a radicality that it demands of the existence itself, and a fortiori of that of the Shoah, irrefutable proofs. By blurring the hypothesis of a flawless equivalence of intelligibility and existence, the Shoah questions the question of meaning. RÉSUMÉ. Parler de philosophie de la Shoah présuppose une philosophie de la philosophie qui se tiendrait dans la pré- ou post-position d’un sens et la subsomption d’un objet sous un concept. Or il n’y a pas de concept de la Shoah parce qu’il n’y a nulle intelligibilité qui pourrait en rendre raison. De cet « incompréhensible incontestable » comme disait de Dieu Victor Hugo, la littérature peut seule approcher l’énigme massive. La « banalité du Mal » empêche quant à elle de penser que le Mal pense, et avec une telle radicalité qu’il exige de l’existence elle-même, et à fortiori de celle de la Shoah, des preuves irréfutables. En brouillant l’hypothèse d’une équivalence sans faille de l’intelligibilité et de l’existence, la Shoah met en question la question du sens. Mots-clés: Evil, Meaning, Philosophy, Shoah, Thought. (shrink)

Le relevé des affleurements de la référence explicite à Pascal, dans les textes de Heidegger, montre que celle-ci n’est nullement aussi erratique qu’il y paraît. Ce gisement de références se concentre autour de quelques thèmes fondamentaux, tels : l’excédentarité de l’« Être » ; la description du caractère mouvementé de la « condition humaine » ; mais aussi : la « logique du cœur » ; et surtout : la place singulière de Pascal, eu égard à Descartes et à l’inflexion (...) décisive que celui-ci apporte à la configuration des Temps modernes, dans un épisode majeur de l’histoire de la métaphysique occidentale. – Mais rien de la thématique pascalienne de la révélation du « Dieu caché » n’y est expressément relevé. – Pourtant, une puissante et quelque peu énigmatique analogie pourrait devoir venir s’y nouer et s’y faire jour – quoique sur un mode « sigétique » – entre la « théologie » pascalienne de la révélation du « Dieu caché », d’une part, et la méditation heideggerienne de la structure paradoxale du « retrait de l’Être », d’autre part, avec l’étrange révélation qui s’y annonce de la fugitive parution du « signe de la passée du dernier Dieu » des Compléments à la philosophie [Beiträge zur Philosophie].Texte intégral Searching for the outcrops of explicit references to Pascal’s thought in Heidegger’s writings, it clearly appears that these references are by far not so erratic as it could have seemed at first sight. They concentrate – for the most part – on a few essential topics, such as Pascal’s taking into account of the irreducibility of « being » to any possible definition, or Pascal’s vivid, passionate description of human « condition » ; such as Pascal’s « Logic of the Heart » too, or the significant historical « situation » of Pascal’s thought in regard to Descartes’ bold renewal of the whole way of thinking of that time, as a pioneer of a new European Age, at the turning point of a major episode of the History of Metaphysics. – Nevertheless, Heidegger does not even hint at Pascal’s meditation of the paradoxical revelation of the Jansenistic « Deus absconditus »: the « Hidden God ». – An enigmatically tight analogy, however, might have been woven there – in a « sigetical », silent way – between Pascal’s theology of the « Hidden God » and Heidegger’s thought of the « withdrawal of Being » and the inherent fugitive revelation of the mysterious « hint of the passing of the Last God », in Heidegger’s Complements to Philosophy [Beiträge zur Philosophie]. (shrink)

Lloyd Bitzer’s passing came as deeply sad news. He was an exceptional person in all respects. I was fortunate to have been his student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and to have experienced Lloyd in my life as a mentor, a colleague in the discipline, a confidant, a friend, and a role model. The discipline of rhetoric was fortunate to have had him among its ranks as a leading theorist. He was among those most responsible for pushing rhetorical studies into (...) new territory during the latter part of the twentieth century. Lloyd was the principle investigator on and driving force behind the National Developmental Project on Rhetoric, which involved forty scholars from philosophy, rhetoric, communication... (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:In Memory Thomas FarrellOn June 12, 2006, Thomas Farrell died after a long illness. Tom was Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University and a long-standing member of the journal's editorial board. He was appointed by the journal's founding editor, Henry Johnstone, and Henry regarded him as among the most talented minds writing about our common subject. Tom also was a publishing author in Philosophy and Rhetoric. His research (...) refl ected a deep understanding of the intersections of philosophical thought and rhetoric with respect to argumentation, language, speech acts, and political theory. His award-winning book, Norms of Rhetorical Culture (Yale, 1993), is a testament to the insights afforded by the rapprochement between philosophy and rhetoric that has been the journal's defi ning character. With his passing, the inter-discipline has lost one of its most eloquent and accomplished voices, the journal has lost a contributor and editorial advisor of the first rank, and those of us who knew Tom have lost a dear friend, whose intellect and wit always brightened our moments together.Copyright © 2006 The Pennsylvania State University... (shrink)

SEXUALITY IN THE ANALYTICAL CURE TALK LOVE TO ME Given the freedom of tone that is the rule, we might well imagine that the analytical session moves on to talk about sexuality. In fact, it is not so much sexuality that is addressed as sex, and sex in the sense of identity, to describe what assigns the subject within a gender or in the other. The article shows that sex, indeed, is not just a partial object, of the phallic type, (...) or a genital organ, but also an object of the ideal type embodying the potentialities specific to each of the two sexes. This explains why, in analysis, the ideal sexuality, based on that idealisation of sex, prevails outright over the two other forms. In “transfer love”, the analyst or the analysis firstly embody the ideals in question and it becomes problematic if the analysand does not manage to detach them from their person or from the situation, so as to invest them in full knowledge – a necessary evolution too in married life. (shrink)

Danielle Cohen-Levinas (DCL) : Qu’est-ce qui se trouve pour Rosenzweig définitivement achevé après la guerre? C’est par cette question à bien des égards brutale, que j’aimerais entrer avec vous dans l’œuvre de Franz Rosenzweig, une œuvre complexe, qui déplace les interprétations hégéliennes de l’histoire, mais qui toutefois reste encore confidentielle, confinée à quelques cercles de savants, érudits, ou intellectuels qui ont trouvé chez ce philosophe un « agir » de la philosophie. Que ma pre...

Dans la quasi-définition hyperbolique qu’en donne Derrida, la circoncision s’effectue toujours sans (mémoire, événement, moi, sujet). Là où, pour Hegel, la négation se nie et l’aliénation s’aliène, le sans vient inciser chirurgicalement la texture même de la langue spéculative, laquelle assure continûment la « reprise dans le concept ». La différance consigne ainsi l’impossibilité de la guérison dialectique et de l’accomplissement salutaire où s’annuleraient le différemment, l’attente, la non-venue. La circoncision nomme donc une coupure, une séparation, un disjointement, dont elle (...) fournit dans l’œuvre de Derrida le philosophème le plus propre. (shrink)

Ce texte analyse l’opération heideggérienne telle qu’elle se déploie en particulier dans les quatre volumes publiés des Cahiers noirs comme une introduction de la philosophie dans le nazisme. Pour en comprendre les contenus effectifs, l’auteur repère et décrit deux facteurs intensifs qui forment ensemble l’armature théorique de l’antisémitisme heideggérien et la condition de son énonciation comme relevant de la Seynsgeschichte : la traduction métapolitique d’une part, par où la fin de la métaphysique s’accomplit destinalement dans le peuple historial porteur de (...) l’estre, les Allemands ; le « même quant à l’essence » d’autre part qui discerne, à travers ce qui se présente dans la multiplicité ontique des étants intramondains, cela qui est le même et qui est assigné au peuple historique porteur du triomphe de l’étant sur l’être, les Juifs. Quelle est alors l’essence du judaïsme mondial? C’est « le principe de destruction dans l’espace-temps de l’Occident chrétien, c’est-à-dire de la métaphysique », retourné en son « essence » contre lui-même. L’autodestruction du judaïsme serait ainsi l’aboutissement du déploiement d’un principe métaphysique qui finit dans l’anéantissement des anéantisseurs. (shrink)