The pandemic compels us to ask fundamental questions about our place in the world: the many ways humans rely on one another, how we vitally and sometimes fatally breathe the same air, share the surfaces of the earth, and exist in proximity to other porous creatures in order to live in a social world. What we require to live can also imperil our lives. How do we think from, and about, this common bind? Judith Butler shows how COVID-19 and (...) all its consequences—political, social, ecological, economic—have challenged us to reconsider the sense of the world that such disasters bring about. Drawing on the work of Max Scheler, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and critical feminist phenomenology, Butler illuminates the conditions in which we seek to make sense of our disorientation, precarity, and social bonds. What World Is This? offers a new account of interdependency in which touching and breathing, capacities that amid a viral outbreak can threaten life itself, challenge the boundaries of the body and selfhood. Criticizing notions of unlimited personal liberty and the killing forces of racism, sexism, and classism, this book suggests that the pandemic illuminates the potential of shared vulnerabilities as well as the injustice of pervasive inequalities. Exposing and opposing forms of injustice that deny the essential interrelationship of living creatures, Butler argues for a radical social equality and advocates modes of resistance that seek to establish new conditions of livability and a new sense of a shared world. (shrink)

The presence of general intelligence poses a major evolutionary puzzle, which has led to increased interest in its presence in nonhuman animals. The aim of this review is to critically evaluate this question and to explore the implications for current theories about the evolution of cognition. We first review domain-general and domain-specific accounts of human cognition in order to situate attempts to identify general intelligence in nonhuman animals. Recent studies are consistent with the presence of general intelligence in mammals (rodents (...) and primates). However, the interpretation of a psychometricgfactor as general intelligence needs to be validated, in particular in primates, and we propose a range of such tests. We then evaluate the implications of general intelligence in nonhuman animals for current theories about its evolution and find support for the cultural intelligence approach, which stresses the critical importance of social inputs during the ontogenetic construction of survival-relevant skills. The presence of general intelligence in nonhumans implies that modular abilities can arise in two ways, primarily through automatic development with fixed content and secondarily through learning and automatization with more variable content. The currently best-supported model, for humans and nonhuman vertebrates alike, thus construes the mind as a mix of skills based on primary and secondary modules. The relative importance of these two components is expected to vary widely among species, and we formulate tests to quantify their strength. (shrink)

Language is a cognitively demanding human trait, but it is also a fundamentally cooperative enterprise that rests on the motivation to share information. Great apes possess many of the cognitive prerequisites for language, but largely lack the motivation to share information. Callitrichids (including marmosets and tamarins) are highly vocal monkeys that are more distantly related to humans than great apes are, but like humans, they are cooperative breeders and all group members help raising offspring. Among primates, this rearing system is (...) correlated with proactive prosociality, which can be expressed as motivation to share information. We therefore propose that the unique coincidence of these two components in humans set the stage for language evolution: The cognitive component inherited from our great ape-like ancestors, and the motivational one added convergently as a result of cooperative breeding. We evaluate this scenario based on a review of callitrichd vocal communication and show that furthermore, they possess many of the mechanistic elements emphasized by the mirror system hypothesis of language evolution. We end by highlighting how more systematic phylogenetic comparisons will enable us to further promote our understanding of the role of cooperative breeding during language evolution. (shrink)

The cultural group selection approach provides a compelling explanation for recent changes in human societies, but has trouble explaining why our ancestors, rather than any other great ape, evolved into a hyper-cooperative niche. The cooperative breeding hypothesis can plug this gap and thus complement CGS, because recent comparative evidence suggests that it promoted proactive prosociality, social transmission, and communication in Pleistocene hominins.

This article posits that in Foucault’s later work we find not a forgetting of literature, but a reformulation of the role that literature had come to occupy in his work, and that, in this later work, there is a trace of the texts on literary thought that he wrote from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. Drawing upon Foucault’s later work, I reconsider the key question: What relationship does literature, as literature, have with the political dimension of discourses? This necessarily goes (...) hand-in-hand with the classic question concerning the truth of literature: How does literature tell the truth? (shrink)

Bringing a postcolonial perspective to UK constitutional debates and including a detailed and comparative engagement with the constitutions of Britain’s ex-colonies, this book is an original reflection upon the relationship between the written and the unwritten constitution. Can a nation have an unwritten constitution? While written constitutions both found and define modern nations, Britain is commonly regarded as one of the very few exceptions to this rule. Drawing on a range of theories concerning writing, law and violence, _Constitutions _makes a (...) theoretical intervention into conventional constitutional analyses by problematizing the notion of a ‘written constitution’ on which they are based. Situated within the frame of the former British empire, this book deconstructs the conventional opposition between the ‘margins’ and the ‘centre’, as well as between the ‘written’ and ‘unwritten’, by paying very close, detailed attention to the constitutional texts under consideration. Pryor argues that Britain’s ‘unwritten’ constitution and ‘immemorial’ common law only take on meaning in a relation of difference with the written constitutions of its former colonies. These texts, in turn, draw on this pre-literate origin in order to legitimize themselves. The ‘unwritten’ constitution of Britain can therefore be located and dislocated in postcolonial written constitutions. _Constitutions _is an excellent addition to the bookshelves of all students of the philosophy of law, political theory, constitutional and administrative law and jurisprudence. (shrink)

BURGESS J and PURKIS ME. Nursing Inquiry 2010; 17: 297–308 The power and politics of collaboration in nurse practitioner role developmentThis health services study employed participatory action research to engage nurse practitioners (NPs) from two health authorities in British Columbia, Canada, to examine the research question: How does collaboration advance NP role integration within primary health‐care? The inquiry was significant and timely because the NP role was recently introduced into the province, supported by passage of legislation and regulation and introduction (...) of graduate education programs. In separate and concurrent inquiry groups, the NPs discussed their practice patterns, role development progress and understanding of collaboration and role integration. The inquiry revealed the political nature of the NP role and the extent to which NPs relied on collaborative relations at all levels of the health system to advance role integration. Given that NP role development is still at an early stage in this province, as well as other provinces in Canada, this study provides important insights into the power and politics of role development, and offers direction for future role advancement. (shrink)

RESUMEN El presente texto expone los resultados de un estudio prospectivo, del tipo de intervención comunitaria aplicado en la Clínica Estomatológica Docente La Vigía, provincia Camagüey, con el objetivo de instrumentar una estrategia educativa en pacientes con bruxismo y disfunción temporomandibular en el período de enero de 2017 a enero de 2018. Se diseñó y aplicó una estrategia educativa según la metodología utilizada por la Maestría Nacional de Educación para la salud. Predominó el sexo femenino y las edades comprendidas entre (...) los 24 y 29 años, así como el nivel escolar universitario. Al finalizar la intervención, el nivel de conocimientos fue evaluado de bueno en casi todos los pacientes, la apertura bucal limitada, el dolor muscular y articular aparecieron en menos de la mitad de los individuos; el nivel de satisfacción respecto a la intervención fue alto. Se concluyó que la estrategia generó un impacto positivo en los pacientes estudiados. ABSTRACT The present text exhibits the results of a pilot study, of the type of community intervention applied in the Dentistry University Clinic La Vigía, Camagüey province, with the objective to arrange an educational strategy in patients with bruxism and temporomandibular dysfunction in the period from January, 2017 until January, 2018. It was designed and applied an educational strategy as the methodology used by the National Mastery of Education for the health. It predominated over the feminine sex and the ages understood between 24 and 29 years, as well as over the university school level. On having finished the intervention, the knowledge level was evaluated of good in almost all the patients, the limited mouth opening, the muscular pain and to articulate appeared in less than half of the individuals; the satisfaction level with regard to the intervention was high. It was concluded that the strategy generated a positive impact in the studied patients. (shrink)

This article draws on the results of an inductive qualitative study on the microdynamics of framing corporate community involvement. Insight is provided into these dynamics by using the metaphor of a social movement and drawing on that literature’s framing perspective. Based on accounts of diverse organizational members, we identify several double edges in framing CCI as a strategic issue, and we develop a model that helps to understand why and how strategizing CCI may be controversial.

Moving from the analogy with Spinoza, the essay defines the figure and the work of Foucault as a unique and particular event and as the effect of some specific historical and intellectual processes. The heresy of Foucault is thus unexpectedly preceded by George Lukács' History and Class Consciousness, while at the same time it must be linked with the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty: in both cases there are at stake an “open” history and a dialectics without a possible synthesis. These (...) same elements return in the way Foucault shows the radical historicity of political subjects and of power itself. This story, which is dispelled in the multiplicity of its processes and events, becomes a space for Foucault's political ontology and allows defining him a political philosopher of history. (shrink)

Quand, en 2010, Claude Lefort publie le volume des Œuvres de Merleau-Ponty en collection Quarto, il choisit de placer l’éditorial par lequel Merleau-Ponty inaugure, en 1945, la revue Les Temps Modernes, en tout début de volume. Ce texte, c’est « La guerre a eu lieu », qui ouvre, dans les Œuvres, une première partie, consacrée à « L’intelligence de l’histoire et le jugement politique à l’épreuve des événements ». La seconde partie, consacrée à « L’interrogation philosophique », s’ouvre quant à...

This chapter contains sections titled: Deception and Dishonesty A Right to Know? Media Bias Is Neutrality a Virtue?

This paper examines the controversy that followed the 1987 publication of Joseph Greenberg's book, Language in the Americas, attending to the role of language and linguistic research within overlapping disciplinary traditions. With this text, Greenberg presented a macro‐level tripartite classification that opposed then dominant fine‐grained analyses recognizing anywhere from 150 to 200 distinct language families. His proposal was the subject of a landmark conference, examining strengths and weaknesses, the unpublished proceedings of which are presented here for the first time. For (...) specialists in the anthropological and comparative‐historical study of Indigenous American languages, Greenberg's intervention highlighted the tension between language, conceived as an abstract object of study, and languages, understood to be carriers of specific cultural knowledge. For physical anthropologists and archaeologists, his theory was initially fortuitous on programmatic, substantive, and methodological grounds. The essay will show how interdisciplinary appeals were figured by supporters as a virtue, and by critics as a vice. The essay further highlights ethical reasons for integrating historical narratives of science and the humanities. (shrink)

Anhand exemplarischer Filme verschiedener Genres – vom Western über den Polizei- und Kriegsfilm bis hin zum Animationsfilm – untersucht der Band, wie die Verzahnung von Recht, Gesetz und Gewalt im Kino dramatisiert wird. Mit Beiträgen von Thomas Assheuer, James Conant, Günter Frankenberg, Lisa Gotto, Julika Griem, Klaus Günther, Vinzenz Hediger, Konrad Paul Liessmann, Verena Lueken, Anja Peltzer, Rainer Winter, Hans-Jürgen Wulff sowie den Herausgebern.

The West has lost its traditional spiritual anchors following the rise of science and the social revolution of the sixties. Healing and wholeness begins with reclaiming the spiritual forms that gave rise to Western culture to provide grounding to meet the challenges of meaning in the era global cultural interchange.

Women’s studies began as an outgrowth and direct expression of the feminist movement. It sought to understand the forces that had limited women’s choices and to name the ways in which various academic disciplines had contributed to destructive mythologies about women’s place in society. Anger was a motivating force in feminist studies and activism, a reality captured by Audre Lorde brilliant essay “The Uses of Anger,” which insists on the power of anger as an indispensable tool for change. Over time, (...) women’s and gender studies became more professionalized, and the anger of many of its practitioners dissipated, often dulling the field’s critical and political edge. (shrink)

Philosophie und Psychoanalyse unterhalten seit Sigmund Freuds Lebzeiten ein spannungsvolles Verhältnis. Die damit einhergehenden Diskussionen tendieren dazu, die Disziplinen gegeneinander auszuspielen oder sie aneinander anzugleichen. Das vorliegende Buch stellt sich der Herausforderung, einen disziplinenübergreifenden Standpunkt jenseits solcher Einseitigkeiten zu identifizieren. Philosophische wie psychoanalytische Perspektiven können in Hinblick auf ihr ethisches Denken und ihr kritisches Selbstverständnis hiervon profitieren. Den Ausgangspunkt bildet ein Unbehagen gegenüber philosophischen Ansätzen, die ein Ideal praktischer Vernünftigkeit und Selbstbestimmung propagieren, das sich primär auf die reflexive Distanznahme beruft. (...) Es wird dafür argumentiert, dass dieses Ideal der Vielfalt des Handelns nicht gerecht wird, was auch mit dem Fehlen methodologischer Selbstreflexion zusammenhängt. Der erste Punkt wird anhand praktischer Irrationalität diskutiert, deren Bedeutung von dem Ideal nicht angemessen erfasst wird. Der zweite Punkt führt zu einer Konfrontation des philosophischen Standpunkts mit psychoanalytischer Theorie und Praxis. Dies impliziert eine Perspektive, deren Erkenntnisgewinn sich gerade in der Kritik ihrer Rationalitätsansprüche entfaltet. So legt eine philosophisch-ästhetische Erkundung psychoanalytischer Erzählungen schließlich das Potential von Irrationalität frei, Selbstbestimmungen als Wagnis zu bereichern. (shrink)

Cet ouvrage est une réédition numérique d’un livre paru au XXe siècle, désormais indisponible dans son format d’origine.

John White is one of the leading philosophers of education currently working in the Anglophone world. Since first joining the London Institute of Education in 1965, he has made significant contributions to the landscape of the discipline through his teaching, research and numerous publications. His academic work encompasses a broad range of rich philosophical issues, ranging from questions surrounding the child's mind, through the moral and pedagogical obligations of teachers and schools, to local and national questions of educational policy. In (...) this volume, international contributors address key issues in the philosophy of education, touching on significant contemporary concerns and demonstrating the breadth and influence of John White's work. Each chapter critically examines, builds on, and pays tribute to John White's unique contribution, considering how his work has impacted on the discipline of education as we know it today. Topics covered include: - policy and the role of philosophy of education - liberal education - the aims of education - moral education - leadership. Education, Philosophy and Wellbeing will appeal to postgraduate students and academics in the fields of history, policy, education studies, and philosophy, as well as to policy-makers, educational administrators and teachers. (shrink)