Cet article synthétique tente 1° de comprendre ce qu’est et d’où vient l’IA générative ; 2° d’analyser la conquête du complexe, du cerveau droit et de l’intelligence collective (le general intellect de Marx) par le capitalisme des plateformes et de nouvelles formes de productivité et de créativité qui pourraient devenir l’étalon de mesure de la valeur économique ; 3° de caractériser les segments du travail désormais sur la défensive face à cette conquête du complexe ; et 4° de commencer à (...) interroger le rôle avéré ou possible de l’IA générative dans la création littéraire et artistique. (shrink)

The problem considered in the article that follows has a long and complicated history. The many different solutions proposed reflect the process of development, deepening, and broadening of knowledge as a whole. They correspond to particular levels of knowledge, determining the character of thought both of the times and of particular individuals. Specifically, it is the understanding of the essence of contradiction that governs the entire theoretical exposition that follows, its substance and approximation to truth. Here we shall consider for (...) analysis only one aspect of this fundamental theme — dialectical contradiction in the evolution of knowledge. Thus, for the most part the discussion will be of the laws of thought; only when necessary will we turn to analysis of contradictions in the objective world. It is quite understandable that the process of thought should occur according to the same, more general laws that are operative in the objective world; nevertheless, the manifestation of these laws has its own special features. Therefore, the questions posed by philosophers of antiquity concerning the degree to which reality itself corresponds to the understanding thereof in terms of the exactness, comprehensiveness, and depth of reflection of the objective world by a subject have not lost their timeliness. Such questions include those associated with the phenomenon of contradiction. For example, is contradiction in thought adequate to the contradictions among things ? How does contradiction in thought take shape, and what are its forms and structures? Is the relationship between opposites always a contradiction? Is it possible to solve antinomies, and so forth? An extensive literature has been published on these subjects. There is hardly a philosopher who can avoid them and not express his attitude toward them. As it is impossible, within the confines of an article, to adduce a full list of published works on contradictions, the authors, with an eye to what has been achieved in this sphere, also regard it as undesirable to analyze the diversity of points of view, and will confine themselves to presenting their own understanding of the problem under consideration. (shrink)

The very title of our conference, "Violence in Post-Totalitarian Society," implies the existence of certain expectations. We have always assumed that the communist regime would never fall without violence; an outburst of violence seemed a natural reaction to the demise or weakening of the system. It is extremely difficult to assess today the extent to which these fears have been borne out. Statistics are unreliable at present, and in the past they did not exist for many parameters. Hence it is (...) not always possible to compare current and previous levels of violence on the basis of statistical data. As for the widespread opinion that crime is unlimited, it is determined, like any other social attitude, by a mass of factors among which the real state of affairs does not necessarily head the list. As for the violence originating with the state, although the present regime clearly does not shrink from violence, so far the general level of coercion and cruelty is infinitely distant from that perpetrated for decades under the previous system. (shrink)

When people speak of the precipice on which we are sitting, they often appeal to some particular features of Russian culture, the Russian people, etc. I will not be discussing this point. I do not want to do so mainly because such discourses very often amount to no more than a peculiar type of racism.

There is a very sharp upsurge of interest in the West in the history of Russian conservative thought, particularly in its most outstanding figure, K. Leont'ev. Judge for yourself. In 1948 a monograph on him appeared in West Germany ; one appeared in the USA in 1952 ; and in Italy in 1957 . In 1966 he was inscribed in the "family of the very greatest Russian intellects," to which his large book, Scrittori Russi is devoted. Added to this is (...) N. Berdiaev's book K. N. Leont'ev, which has been translated into English and French, V. Zenkovsky's entire chapters on Leont'ev in his History of Russian Philosophy [Istoriia russkoi filosofii], 1948, and in his book Russian Thinkers and Europe [Russkie mysliteli i Evropa], 1955; and the chapters by the American historian E. Thaden, in his Conservative Nationalism in 19th Century Russia, Seattle, 1964. It thus becomes clear that Leont'ev has been forgotten in a strangely one-sided fashion. As we see, in the West he is not only not forgotten, but his ideas are, ever more obviously, becoming a powerful weapon in a very current ideological struggle. Superficial books written about him find a market. His thoughts are made the basis of very contemporary and dangerous notions. It turns out then that he has been forgotten only in our country. (shrink)

Cette conversation entre l’avocat et écrivain de science-fiction Jean Baret et Ariel Kyrou porte l’idée d’une double nécessité, à la fois d’expérimenter les IA génératives pour ce qu’elles permettent très concrètement et d’en extrapoler les interactions futures par les fictions les plus libres. L’enjeu est en effet d’en mener une critique qui ne soit ni technophile ni technophobe, consciente des défis créatifs et sociétaux de ces IA qui nous parlent comme à un ami en s’excusant de leurs erreurs.

The development of Artificial Intelligence has led to many controversies of philosophical interest involving issues of logic, computer science, software engeneering. The paper goes through the main steps of this development, deals with their philosophical relevance and sketches the unsolved problems, with special emphasis on the AI models of semantic competence. Some criticisms raised to such models in AI, either in its “classical” or “neural networks” format, are examined. On the ground of the discussion of these criticisms, a view is (...) proposed which avoids the inherited gap between the project of AI and naturalistic philosophy and suggests that filling the gap also provides a filter in order to select a definite form of naturalism. (shrink)

Background Regulations on research ethics in France have evolved considerably over the past four years: the implementation of the Jardé law and of the General Data Protection Regulations have changed the landscape of research ethics for research involving or not involving human persons. In a context of creation of an Institutional Review Board at the University of Bordeaux, France, we sought to explore research ethics practices and perceptions in the medical community of our University Hospital. Methods A short questionnaire was (...) sent to all physicians of the University Hospital of Bordeaux. The questionnaire included closed questions and main topics were: physicians’ education in research ethics, ethics practices concerning researches non implying human persons, and physicians’ perceptions about current regulations. Results 86 questionnaires were sent back. If a majority of physicians have validated Good Clinical Practices trainings, there was a low rate of specific training on fundamental references in research ethics and a high proportion of responders do not consider themselves as educated in research ethics after completion of GCPs. Regulations on research ethics have many implications on medical research, especially by inducing changes in protocols in order to alleviate ethical requirements. Malpractices were acknowledged like false mention of positive opinion from an ethics committee. If If a majority of responders considers regulations as a positive answer to research ethics, a large majority considers it as a constraint and a complexification of research process. For 58%, regulations in research ethics are perceived as a hindrance for research initiatives. Conclusion Because of their impact on research process, regulations seem to constitute a scarecrow for physicians. Lack of training, bad representations and questionable practices highlight the need to improve education and to propose concrete guidance for medical researchers. (shrink)

Contrairement à ce que beaucoup imaginent, l’usage de l’intelligence artificielle est devenu banal dans le monde de la bande dessinée. Mieux, le développement des BD en ligne, la quantité de données sur des BD du monde entier que l’IA générative met à disposition des publics et les « bandes dessinées synthétiques » comme Out Side (de K Allado McDowell et Ilan Manouach, 2024), permettent d’appréhender l’importance de ce genre, de ses techniques et du patrimoine qu’il représente pour l’humanité.

L’Intelligenza Artificiale Generativa (IAG) pone sfide inedite all’educazione universitaria. Dalla definizione dei contenuti alla valutazione delle prove e alla determinazione delle modalità di esame, questo nuovo e potente strumento inaugura una stagione di cambiamenti su cui è urgente riflettere. La tecnologia contribuisce da sempre a dare forma al lavoro didattico, il quale evolve anche alla luce delle opportunità e dei rischi che essa introduce. Come far sì che l’evoluzione stimolata dall’IAG sia felice, ovvero serva i valori e gli obiettivi della (...) didattica e delle persone che la vivono? Ne ho discusso con alcuni colleghi dell’Unità di Studi META del Politecnico di Milano – docenti impegnati a vario titolo in corsi di carattere filosofico e sociale rivolti a studenti di formazione tecnica. (shrink)

L’intelligence artificielle (IA) est une notion propice aux fantasmes. En pratique, elle désigne notamment une technologie permettant à des machines de réaliser des choses que les humains qualifient d’intelligentes. Le rapport que l’intelligence artificielle entretient avec le droit se situe essentiellement à deux niveaux. D’une part on peut traiter, grâce à l’intelligence artificielle, le droit comme un objet mathématique, ce qui permet de quantifier l’ aléa judiciaire. Dans ce cadre, la machine ne singe pas le raisonnement du juge mais permet (...) de mieux mesurer les issues possibles et leurs probabilités, dans l’espoir de favoriser les solutions amiables. D’autre part, l’intelligence artificielle est un domaine du droit naissant dont les juristes doivent se saisir. Le droit n’est pas démuni face aux multiples enjeux qui existent en ce domaine, qu’il s’agisse de robotique autonome ou de systèmes experts. La responsabilité du fait des choses et la responsabilité du fait des produits défectueux sont les deux voies à explorer principalement. Les juges devront traiter ces sujets nouveaux dans les prochaines années, en comblant certaines lacunes du droit, lequel évoluera à son tour. (shrink)

Aux initiatives actuelles pour tenter de faire de la musique avec l’intelligence artificielle, par exemple de Google ou des équipes d’Elon Musk, il manque l’essentiel : l’intention artistique et le feedback émotionnel. Telle est l’analyse de Jean-Claude Heudin, chercheur en intelligence artificielle et sciences de la complexité, mais aussi musicien et compositeur qui travaille sur un projet d’IA pour la musique électronique : Angelia.

Du film Her de Spike Jonze à 2001 L’Odyssée de l’espace de Stanley Kubrick, et des androïdes de Philip K. Dick à l’utopie intergalactique de la Culture de l’écrivain Iain M. Banks, il est impossible de comprendre aujourd’hui l’intelligence artificielle sans s’intéresser à ses puissants imaginaires. Ceux-ci, nourrissant bien des fantasmes de la Silicon Valley, sont essentiels à décrypter pour ne pas les subir, voire pour se les approprier et mieux les détourner, en faire des antidotes contre les multinationales du (...) numérique, puis cultiver grâce à eux nos propres machines rebelles de quelque futur. (shrink)

Mené entre septembre 2019 et janvier 2020 par les designers Jürg Lehni et Douglas Edric Stanley au sein du Master Media Design de la Haute École d’Art & Design de Genève (HEAD – Genève), le workshop « Thinking Machines » prend comme point de départ l’automatisation des métiers de la création et le fantasme de machines « pensantes ». Ce projet examine, avec un brin d’ironie, un avenir où les designers seraient en mesure de cultiver les IA et de s’extraire (...) des fantasmes technologiques. En quoi le design pourrait-il contribuer à une critique de la culture dominante de l’IA? Comment inventer, par les pratiques de design, des alternatives soutenables? (shrink)

L’intelligence artificielle est partout, l’air de rien, pour mieux nous contrôler et nous orienter en douceur. Faut-il se rebeller contre cet état de fait, qui s’impose à nos modes de vie sans la moindre délibération démocratique? Est-il encore possible ou même souhaitable de jeter ces IA invisibles, voire indiscernables, à la poubelle du numérique? Ne faudrait-il pas, avant de clamer l’urgence du « danger » qui vient, oser les connaître? L’enjeu est de construire une culture critique de l’IA, qui associerait (...) artistes, écrivains, chercheurs, ingénieurs, mathématiciens, logiciens, penseurs, philosophes, artisans et bien sûr citoyens dans une même dynamique de réflexion. (shrink)

Le roman Génies en boîte de Fritz Leiber a anticipé l’apparition de machines capables d’écrire des romans à la place des humains avec soixante ans d’avance sur le processus d’innovation technologique. En effet, au début des années 2020, les intelligences artificielles génératives promettent de réaliser de telles performances et de remplacer les auteurs humains. Une telle possibilité fut évoquée à plusieurs autres reprises dans la science-fiction, soulignant la dimension prospective de ce genre littéraire. Une telle possibilité pose de nombreuses questions (...) esthétiques. Cet article propose une approche adornienne de la question. L’auteur appartenant à l’École de Francfort s’est notamment interrogé sur l’industrie culturelle et sur l’art comme phénomène social. Ainsi, les œuvres littéraires produites par les IA s’inscrivent dans des luttes de classes. Pourront-elles continuer à imposer un esprit de liberté humaine face à la technostructure, fonction de l’art? Par ailleurs, la légitimité de la révolte néo-luddite contre les IA dans le roman Génies en boîte est interrogée. (shrink)

Cet article part d’un constat : certains objets produits par des IA génératives ressemblent à des œuvres d’art qui existent déjà et renversent de ce fait les problématiques liées à l’indiscernabilité entre l’art et le non-art. La facilité avec laquelle ces objets sont acceptés comme œuvre d’art semble reposer sur cette ressemblance qu’il s’agit dès lors d’interroger. Elle semble en effet subrepticement redonner de l’importance à l’objet et son apparence. Les productions issues d’IA permettent ainsi de réfléchir sur le rapport (...) que l’art contemporain entretient à ses objets. Une question symptomatique des pistes discutées est de savoir s’il est plus pertinent de considérer The Next Rembrandt comme une nouvelle peinture d’un Rembrandt virtuel ou comme une nouvelle œuvre appropriationniste d’une Elaine Sturtevant virtuelle. Une manière de répondre à cette question est d’insister sur la dimension immatérielle des œuvres et la différence à faire avec les objets qui les instancient, et ce afin d’éviter tout fétichisme. (shrink)

Dans son chapitre, Ignace Haaz analyse la pratique littéraire depuis son poste d’observation d’éditeur. Traditionnellement, la publication scientifique est le fruit d’un processus rigoureux de recherche, de vérification et de validation par les pairs. Cependant, avec la capacité de l’IA à générer de manière autonome des textes cohérents et détaillés, il devient plus difficile de distinguer les travaux véritablement innovants de ceux qui ne sont que des répliques ou des compilations automatisées de travaux existants. Comment garantir que l’utilisation de l’IA (...) ne conduira pas à une érosion de la rigueur linguistique ? Pour l’auteur de ce chapitre, une automatisation de la production scientifique poserait des questions cruciales sur l’authenticité et l’originalité du contenu d’un manuscrit. (shrink)

Parmi les effets les plus importants de l’impact actuel des technologies d’IA sur les images et la culture visuelle il y a une réorganisation profonde des liens entre images et mots, entre le visible et le dicible : ce qui peut être vu et ce qui peut être dit. L’article analyse les causes et les enjeux de cette réorganisation, en soulignant le fait que le langage devient aujourd’hui un nouveau médium pour la production et la modification d’images, qu’on peut considérer (...) les prompts comme des nouveaux actes de langage et comme une forme d’« ekphrasis opératoire » et de « remédiation » des médias visuels et de leur histoire. Il souligne aussi le rôle fondamental joué par les « espaces latents » des modèles d’IA générative ( text-to-image et text-to-video ) en formulant dans la conclusion l’hypothèse qu’on puisse les considérer comme une nouvelle forme d’a priori historique. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:A common complaint by academics and practitioners is that the application of international accountability standards (IAS) does not lead to significant improvements in an organization’s social responsibility. When organizations espouse their commitment to IAS but do not put forth the effort necessary to operationally enact that commitment, a “credibility cover” is created that perpetuates business as usual. In other words, the legitimacy that organizations gain by formally adopting the standards may shield the organization from closer scrutiny, thus enabling rather than (...) constraining the types of activities the standards were designed to discourage.There is a lack of research on why certain types of IAS are more prone than others to being decoupled from organizational practices. Applying a neo-institutional perspective to IAS, we theorize that the structural dimensions of the types of standards themselves can increase the likelihood of organizations adopting IAS standards in form but not in function. (shrink)

Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov is one of the most original and as yet inadequately studied Russian thinkers. Neither a professional philosopher, nor a well-known scholar, nor a critical essayist, he led a kind of double existence while working as an ordinary civil servant, developing his original philosophy at his leisure in the hours free from his intensive daily work. Fedorov's life was one of selflessness and self-denial, not at all eventful outwardly. He graduated from the Gymnasium in Tambov and completed three (...) years of study in the Law Department of the Richelieu Lyceum in Odessa, after which he taught for a number of years in the Borovsk, Lipetsk, Podol'sk, and other regional schools. The quarter century he spent working in the Library of the Rumiantsev Museum in Moscow was the most stable period in Fedorov's life. Fedorov's ideas attracted the attention of outstanding cultural figures. F.M. Dostoevskii became acquainted with them in 1878 through Peterson, and on March 24 of that year he wrote: "I am essentially in full accord with these ideas. I read them as if they were my own." L.N. Tolstoy, who knew Fedorov personally, said, "I am proud to be living in the same times as such a man." V.S. Solov'ev, who also associated with Fedorov, wrote to him as follows in the mid-1880s: "Your ‘project’ is the human spirit's first advance along the path of Christ since the advent of Christianity. As for me, I can only acknowledge you as my teacher and spiritual father." A.M. Gorky was especially impressed by the activism in Fedorov's views. But none of this precludes the many and very essential divergences of these authors from Fedorov. One can find some links with his ideas in A.N. Belyi, V. Ia. Briusov, N.A. Zabolotskii, V.V. Maiakovskii, A.P. Platonov, M.M. Prishvin, I.L. Sel'vinskii, O.D. Forsh, and V.N. Khlebnikov. The artist B.N. Chekrygin drafted a large fresco entitled The Resurrection of the Dead [Voskreshenie mertvykh] and a philosophical work entitled The Synod of the Resurrecting Museum [Sobor voskreshaiushchego muzeia], both inspired by Fedorov's teachings. (shrink)

Marion Lee Sanders,1 Anthony James Langone2 1Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 2Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA: Transplantation is the preferred treatment option for individuals with end-stage renal disease. Individuals who undergo transplantation must chronically be maintained on an immunosuppression regimen for rejection prophylaxis to help ensure graft survival. Current rejection prophylaxis consists of using a combination of calcineurin inhibitors, mTOR inhibitors, antimetabolite (...) agents, and/or corticosteroids. These agents have collectively improved the short-term outcomes of renal transplantation, but improvements in late/chronic graft loss and recipient survival have lagged significantly behind challenging the field of transplantation to develop novel prophylactic agents. There have been several clinical trials conducted within the last 5 years in an attempt to bring such novel agents to the commercial market. These trials have resulted in the US Food and Drug Administration approval of extended-release tacrolimus, as well as belatacept, which has the potential to replace calcineurin inhibitors for rejection prophylaxis. Other trials have focused on the development of novel calcineurin inhibitors, costimulation blockade, kinase inhibitors, and inhibitors of leukocyte migration. While these later agents have not been FDA-approved for use in transplantation, they remain noteworthy, as these agents explore pathways not previously targeted for allograft-rejection prophylaxis. The purpose of this review was to consolidate available clinical trial data with regard to the recent developments in rejection prophylaxis in kidney transplantation. Keywords: rejection, prophylaxis, immunosuppression, transplantation. (shrink)

The scientific career of the outstanding Russian physiologist A. A. Ukhtomskii was complex and full of contradictions. A descendant of Prince Vsevolod Big Nest [Bol'shoe Gnezdo] of Suzdal', he was strongly influenced by the traditions and legends of his caste. As a juvenile he was sent to the Nizhnii Novgorod Corps of Cadets where he developed a profound interest in philosophy, psychology, history, and literature. His fellow cadets of the same age were amazed at, and sometimes ridiculed the young Ukhtomskii's (...) attempts to find answers to the burning questions of the day in the books of Shakespeare and Dostoevsky and in scientific works. Ukhtomskii's notebooks and synopses of those years show how this youth, from age 15 to 17, pondered over cardinal problems of world view, the contradictions of Russian society, and the future of science. The barracks life of the cadets, the rigorous schedule and supervision did not suppress Ukhtomskii's persistent desire to get a closer knowledge of the life of Nizhnii Novgorod, a major mill town and river port. He managed to make the acquaintance of members of a group of Marxist workers and maintained contact with one of them, M. Ia. Iakovlev , for over 40 years. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:CATHOLICISM, PUBLIC THEOLOGY, AND POSTMODERNITY: ON RICHARD JOHN NEUHAUS'S " CATHOLIC MOMENT" DAVID L. SCHINDLER University of Notre Dame HAT CATHOLICS should assume.their rightful place m the task of forming a culture, and indeed shaping a public philosophy in and for a pluralistic, dernocrwtic society, is ia suggestion which has not often been heard in the history of American culture, and certainly not from. nonCatholics. It is a suggestion (...) thrut Richard John Neuhaus, a Lutheran pastor, nonetheless makes with eloquence and wit in The Catholic Moment.1 The book makes for enjoyable and even exciting reading. It is difficult for a Catholic, even of a non-itriumphalistic sort, nort rto be moved by his suggestion: not to be stimulated into rserious ~efl.ection upon the meaning of Catholic identity, particularly now in the pT"esent cultural situation in America and indeed the West, which seems-note the subtitle of Neuhaus's book-aptly described in terms of a modernity giving way to posrtmodernity, a modernility searching for genuinely postmodern patterns of thought. Neuhaus is insistent-and the insistence is refresb.ing-,that this reflection be carried through with integri,ty (cf., e.g., p. 150) : the Catholicism. for which our-a postmodern-culture [.g ripe is and must be ·a Caitholicisrn which is fiaithful to the Gospel and to tits own tradition. This double intention of Neuhaus to speak on behalf of a Catholicism which is in and for a postmodern world sets.the context for.the questions I wish to pose in the present inquiry. The meaning of Neuhaus's Catholic moment is twofold: 1 The Catholic Moment: The Parado11J of the Church in the Postmodern World, by Richard John Neuhaus (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987). All references in the text are to this book. 107 108 DAVID L. SCHINDLER [It] is the moment in which the Roman Catholic Church in the world can and should be the lead church in proclaiming and exemplifying the Gospel. This can and should also be the moment in which the Roman Catholic Church in the United States assumes its rightful role in the culture-forming task of constructing a religiously informed public philosophy for the American experiment in ordered liberty (p. 282). In.the light of this ~statement, and indeed of the overarching context md[ca;ted by the suhbitle of his book, I wish to direct attention in whait follows to three issues: what Neuhaus takes to be an authentic Catholic Christianity ·and Catholic Christian rtheology (tha;t is, a Christianity which iis f.aithful in" proc1aiming and exemplifyiing the Gospel ") ; what he takes to be the proper sense (the sense required by Ca.tholic Christianity) of the itask of forming ·a culture and " constructing a religiously informed public philosophy" in and for a plumlistic, democrrutic society such as that of America; and finally what he takes to be the ·appropriate sense of this fask in a world which he distinguishes as postmodern. Now Neuhaus develops his response to these issues in terms of wha;t he calls a paradoxical relation between the Church and the world. My purpose in what follows, therefore, will be to e:x;amine the meaning he accords " Catholic, " public," ·and "postmodern," m terms of this central notion of " paradox." I. In his discussion of the relation betwen rthe Church and the world, Neuhaus provides a sketch of the five types proposed by H. Richard Niebuhr (pp. 16ff.). These are: the Church against the world, the Church of the world, the Church above the world, the Church and the world in paradox, and the Church as the transformer of the wor1cl. The first, "the Church against the world," iis what is often identified as a sectarian model, evident for ex;ample in monasticism and in such communities ·as the Hutterites and Mennonites. The second type, " The Church of the world," can be exemplified in nmeitrenth century l.iberial theology 00:d its promotion of a THE CATHOLIC MOMENT 109 " cultural Protesitantism," wherein " rel[gion W18iS to be placed at the service of the besrt in the evolution of society" (p. 19). The model which views: the- Chur'Ch ia;s a transformer of the world "smacks... (shrink)

Les disciplines philosophiques et scientifiques, les doctrines de la culture en arrivent au moment où certaines mises au point, certaines réflexions s'avèrent nécessaires. Elles s'interrogent volontiers sur leurs démarches et leurs méthodes. Un examen...

The use of the term `honor killing' has elicited strong reactions from a variety of groups for years; but the recent Aqsa Parvez and Aasiya Hassan cases have brought a renewed interest from women's rights activists, community leaders, and law enforcement to study the term and come to a consensus on its validity and usefulness, particularly in the North American and European Diaspora. While some aver that the term `honor killing' is an appropriate description of a unique and particular crime, (...) others deem it as rather a racist and misleading phrase used to promote violent stereotypes of particular communities, particularly Muslim minorities in North America and Europe. This article works to lay the groundwork by presenting both sides of the debate over the term `honor killing' and analyzing the arguments various groups use in order to justify their particular definition of the term, and if and how they support its use in public discourse. I argue two main points: one, that `honor killing' exists as a specific form of violence against women, having particular characteristics that warrants its classification as a unique category of violence. Second, I show that while `honor killings' are recognized as such in many non-Western contexts, there is a trend among advocacy organizations in the North American and European Diaspora to avoid, ignore, or rebuke the term `honor killings' as a misleading label that is racist, xenophobic, and/or harmful to Muslim populations. This is a direct response to the misuse of the term mostly within media outlets and public discourse that serves to further marginalize Muslim and immigrant groups. (shrink)

Pada 11 Oktober 2012 Gereja Katolik merayakan 50 tahun dibukanya Konsili Vatikan II. Namun demikian, 16 dokumen yang dihasilkan selama Konsili itu berlangsung (11 Oktober 1962-7 Desember 1965) belum dikenal oleh semua umat Katolik. Bahkan ada tidak sedikit umat Katolik yang belum pernah melihat dokumen-dokumen tersebut. Ada pula yang mengatakan bahwa kendati sudah membacanya, namun merasakan sangat sulit untuk memahaminya. Ada pula yang ketika melihat buku tebal yang memuat dokumen-dokumen tersebut langsung merasa terintimidasi dan ketakutan (intimadated), lalu tidak berani membukanya. (...) Sudah ada berbagai macam upaya untuk menyampaikan isi dan semangat dari Konsili Vatikan II kepada seluruh anggota Gereja Katolik. Salah satu cara adalah menerbitkan buku untuk mengulas isi dokumen-dokumen tersebut. Salah satu dari sekian banyak buku yang pantas dibaca adalah karya Maureen Sulivan, seorang assistant professor ilmu Teologi di Saint Anselm College, Manchester, New Hapshire, Amerika Serikat. Buku yang ditulis dalam bentuk tanya jawab ini dibagi menjadi 9 bab. Bab 1 berbicara mengenai “Pengumuman” diadakannya Konsili yang menggemparkan para pemimpin Gereja, khususnya anggota Dewan Kardinal dan Kuria di Vatikan, yang merasa bahwa Konsili tidak diperlukan. Dalam bab ini dibicarakan tentang arti dari Konsili yang disebut sebagai ekumenis dan pastoral, alasan perlu diadakannya Konsili, persiapan yang dibutuhkan, serta tujuan yang ingin dicapai dengan diadakannya Konsili Vatikan II. Secara khusus disebutkan peran almarhum Paus Johanes XXIII, yang ketika mengumumkan untuk mengadakan Konsili, beliau baru tiga bulan diangkat menjadi Paus. Lewat Konsili ini beliau menginginkan agar Gereja mampu menemukan cara agar iman Kristiani dapat disampaikan kepada dunia dan dimengerti oleh dunia. Demi tujuan itu Gereja perlu “membuka jendela” agar “angin segar memasuki dirinya (hlm. 29).” Gereja perlu melakukan aggiornemento, pembaruan diri. Bab 2 mengulas mengenai orang-orang yang berperan dalam KonsiliVatikan II, ketegangan-ketegangan yang muncul antara mereka yang ingin mengadakan pembaruan dengan mereka yang ingin mempertahankan status quo Gereja, serta peran media massa. Selain sekitar 2200 peserta (Kardinal, Uskup, dan Abas), juga terdapat ratusan teolog yang berperan sebagai penasihat bagi para peserta Konsili (periti), antara lain dengan memberikan seminar-seminar mengenai topik-topik teologis kepada para peserta Konsili (hlm. 35-36). Selain itu juga terdapat para pengamat dari Gereja Ortodoks, Gereja-gereja Protestan main streams (Lutheran, Episkopalian, Anglikan, Metodis, Presbyteran, dan Quakers), dan Yudaisme. Hadirnya para pengamat dari kalangan khusus ini merupakan sesuatu yang baru dan revolusioner dalam Konsili. Secara khusus ditampilkan seorang tokoh pembaru: Kardinal Bea, ketua Sekretariat untuk Kesatuan Umat Kristiani. Ia begitu dikenal dengan ucapannya yang sangat menggemparkan di depan para wartawan: “Members of the other Christian Churches who are living today never ’left’ the Church. So they cannot ‘return,’ can they? We are talking about going together, hand in hand, toward a new future” (hlm. 33). Tokoh pembaru lain adalah Kardinal Achile Liénart, seorang Kardinal senior dari Prancis, yang pada hari ketiga Konsili menolak untuk memilih dari daftar nama yang sudah disiapkan (kebanyakan adalah anggota Kuria) untuk menjadi ketua dari 10 komisi yang akan mengendalikan agenda Konsili. Ia mengusulkan supaya para peserta Konsili memilih orang-orangnya sendiri. Usulan ini didukung oleh Kardinal Josef Fring dari Jerman, dan kemudian diterima oleh semua perserta Konsili. Tokoh pembaru lain adalah Kardinal Jan Alfrink dari Belanda, dan Kardinal Leo Josef Suenens dari Belgia (hlm. 38-38). Di pihak lain, ada tokoh sangat konservatif yang mencoba menghambat jalannya Konsili: Kardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, seorang anggota Kuria dan ketua The Holy Office (sekarang dikenal sebagi Kogregasi untuk Ajaran Iman), yang terkenal dengan ucapannya “Semper idem” (Selalu sama). Ia antara lain melawan hadirnya para pengamat dalam Konsili (hlm. 33), mencoba melarang kuliah-kuliah yang diberikan kepada para peserta Konsili oleh para Yesuit dari Institut Biblis di Roma, bahkan meminta Paus Yohanes XXIII untuk mengusir teolog Yesuit, Karl Rahner dari Roma, yang tentu saja ditolak oleh Paus (hlm. 35). Ia menolak penggunaan bahasa-bahasa lokal untuk Misa, yang intinya adalah pemindahan kekuasaan dari hierarki kepada Umat (hlm. 43), menghambat disahkannya kolegialitas para Uskup dan menandaskan bahwa Komisi Teologi yang ia pimpin memiliki otoritas di atas Konsili (hlm. 55). Dalam bab ini juga disebutkan hal yang baru dalam Konsili ini adalah hadirnya para wartawan dari pelbagai media massa dari seluruh dunia........................................... Sebagai penutup, dalam bab 9, Sullivan menegaskan bahwa ada dua hal yang benar-benar perlu diperhatikan untuk zaman ini sebagai agenda yang belum selesai dari Konsili Vatikan II: kolegialitas (relasi atara Paus dan Uskup) dan peran kaum perempuan dalam Gereja. Akhirnya, pada awal abad ke-21 ini Sullivan mengajak kita semua untuk bertanya: Apakah Gereja kita sungguh-sungguh dapat menjawab tantangan-tantangan pada zaman ini?; Apakah Gereja kita dapat membuat pesan Injil relevan untuk zaman ini?; Apakah Gereja kita dapat membangkitkan entusisme baru yang dapat membangun sebuah generasi baru?; Apakah Gereja dapat meredakan berbagai macam ketegangan yang akhir-akhir ini menggoncang “bahtera Petrus?” Dengan bijak Sullivan mengatakan bahwa kita perlu terus berharap, dan harapan itu akan menjadi semakin produktif kalau kita selalu berpegang pada nasihat almarhum Yohanes XXIII: “Untuk hal-hal yang mendasar, kesatuan; untuk hal-hal yang meragukan, kebebasan; dan untuk segala sesuatu, cinta kasih” (hlm. 124). Buku ini sangat komprehensif mengulas Konsili Vatikan II dan disampaikan dengan bahasa yang sederhana. Buku ini sangat membantu para pembaca karena dilengkapi dengan daftar isi yang mendetil, daftar semua dokumen yang dihasilkan oleh Konsili Vatikan II beserta dengan waktu promulgasinya, daftar istilah-istilah yang penting berkaitan dengan Konsili Vatikan II, serta indeks subjek. Semoga dengan membaca buku ini para pembaca terdorong untuk membuka dan menemukan pesan-pesan penting dari dokumen-dokumen Konsili Vatikan II. (Ignatius Madya Utama, Program Studi Ilmu Teologi, Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Driyarkara, Jakarta). (shrink)

When someone hosts a party, when governments choose an aid program, or when assistive robots decide what meal to serve to a family, decision‐makers must determine how to help even when their recipients have very different preferences. Which combination of people’s desires should a decision‐maker serve? To provide a potential answer, we turned to psychology: What do people think is best when multiple people have different utilities over options? We developed a quantitative model of what people consider desirable behavior, characterizing (...) participants’ preferences by inferring which combination of “metrics” (maximax, maxsum, maximin, or inequality aversion [IA]) best explained participants’ decisions in a drink‐choosing task. We found that participants’ behavior was best described by the maximin metric, describing the desire to maximize the happiness of the worst‐off person, though participant behavior was also consistent with maximizing group utility (the maxsum metric) and the IA metric to a lesser extent. Participant behavior was consistent across variation in the agents involved and tended to become more maxsum‐oriented when participants were told they were players in the task (Experiment 1). In later experiments, participants maintained maximin behavior across multi‐step tasks rather than shortsightedly focusing on the individual steps therein (Experiment 2, Experiment 3). By repeatedly asking participants what choices they would hope for in an optimal, just decision‐maker, and carefully disambiguating which quantitative metrics describe these nuanced choices, we help constrain the space of what behavior we desire in leaders, artificial intelligence systems helping decision‐makers, and the assistive robots and decision‐makers of the future. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:248 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY be taken from a philosophical point of view. Since it is not certain whether the author of the Prolegomena was or was not a Christian (p. xlix), "god" should not be capitalized, and the translation of T&~ia 5~l~ttovo'f~l~taTa as "God's creation" at IV. 15. 6 is actually misleading. Moreover, for no apparent reason, 0~oX07tz6gis translated as "metaphysical" in the first four chapters, but as "theological" (...) thereafter. Inaccuracies are very few indeed. "Ungrateful" is peculiar for o~5~5t• at I. 2. 25, and so is "adapted state" for ~to~tTe[a~ ~no~ae0g at I. 5.35; X. 26. 38, 40, and 44; at II. 10. 11, there is no need to translate o~Te&0t~6)g bu~yovxctL as "they do not aim at accurate expression," and on p. 32, line 1, "as yet" is not in the Greek of the Prolegomena, although it should have been, if the Anonymous had quoted correctly from Plato, Phaedrus 229 E. But this is trifling criticism of a work which leaves nothing to be desired in any other respect, and which displays the same high qualities of scholarship which we have come to expect of the author on the basis of his earlier achievements. MARTIN OSTWALI) Swarthmore College The Fountain of Life (Fons Vitae). By Solomon ibn Gabirol (Avicebron). Specially abridged edition, translated from the Latin by Harry E. Wedeck, with an Introduction by Theodore E. James. (New York: Philosophical Library, 1962. Unpaged introduction, 133 pp. $4.75.) The romance of the nineteenth-century discovery, by Salomon Munk, that "Avicebron's" Fons Vitae, a major source of neoplatonic thought in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, was actually the work of the eleventhcentury Hispano-Jewish poet, Solomon ibn Gabirol, and has often been retold. It is, indeed, a remarkable story. Perhaps its most noteworthy feature is that it reveals how closely alike Muslim, Jewish, and Christian philosophers were; by implication, then, it indicates that theological considerations were of less importance in medieval philosophy than is suggested by most historical accounts. Although the story of The Fountain of Lqe has now become an oft-told tale, the work itself has never been available in English dress. The present edition remedies this situation in part. It presents Tract III of the original text, a section dealing with the existence of simple spiritual substances. Harry Wedeck's translation is lucid and readable. Theodore E. James's introduction is useful for the beginning student but too elementary to be of much use to a more advanced reader. It is good that there is now this much to recommend to our students; we may hope that the day will come when BOOK REVIEWS 249 larger sections of the work will be translated-preferably not from the Latin, but from the Arabic original. JOSEPHL. B~u Columbia University Commentary on the Metaphysics of Aristotle. By St. Thomas Aquinas. Trans. by John P. Rowan. (Chicago, Illinois: Henry Regnery Company, 1961. Pp. xxiii + 955.2 vols., boxed, $25.00.) Generally speaking, the two Summae of St. Thomas, long available in English translation, contain all that is most personal and most profound in his philosophical thought. Nonetheless, it is quite impossible to get a fully adequate conception of St. Thomas' place in the history of western thought from a consideration of his theological writings alone. Hence, by translating St. Thomas' Commentary on the Metaphysics of Aristotle into English, Professor J. P. Rowan has provided the non-Latin reading student of the history of philosophy an invaluable service. For it is in his r61e as Aristotelian commentator that we see St. Thomas creating for the Schoolmen a version of Aristotle which served to render the Stagirite's thought into terms which became fundamental to the philosophical defense of Christianity. Further, by keeping in mind the fully-developed notions of St. Thomas on the existence of God and the nature of being as these are given us to understand in the Summae, the reader becomes better enabled, by a critical reading of Thomas' Commentary, to grasp the sense in which the Saint's theological writings are said by his enthusiasts to represent a "completing" and "perfecting" of... (shrink)

We prove that the observational equivalence of third-order finitary Idealized Algol is decidable using Game Semantics. By modelling the state explicitly in our games, we show that the denotation of a term M of this fragment of IA is a compactly innocent strategy-with-state, i.e. the strategy is generated by a finite view function fM. Given any such fM, we construct a real-time deterministic pushdown automaton that recognizes the complete plays of the knowing-strategy denotation of M. Since such plays characterize observational (...) equivalence, and there is an algorithm for deciding whether any two DPDAs recognize the same language, we obtain a procedure for deciding the observational equivalence of third-order finitary IA. Restricted to second-order terms, the DPDA representation cuts down to a deterministic finite automaton; thus our approach gives a new proof of Ghica and McCusker’s regular-expression characterization for this fragment. Our algorithmic representation of program meanings, which is compositional, provides a foundation for model-checking a wide range of behavioural properties of IA and other cognate programming languages. Another result concerns second-order IA with full recursion: we show that observational equivalence for this fragment is undecidable. (shrink)

One response to the preface paradox—the paradox that arises when each claim in a book is justified for the author and yet in the preface the author avers that errors remain—counsels against the preface belief. It is this line of thought that poses a problem for any view that places a high value on intellectual humility. If we become suspicious of preface beliefs, it will be a challenge to explain how expressions of fallibility and intellectual humility are appropriate, whether voiced (...) verbally or encoded mentally. Moreover, banning expressions of intellectual humility is especially disturbing in our context, for such a preface claim is just the sort of expression of intellectual humility that is supposed to provide a barrier to the costly damage that can be done by zealous faith found in various forms of fundamentalism. The goal is thus to find a way to express humility without engendering paradox. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:POMPONAZZI'S CRITIQUE OF AQUCNAS'S ARGUMENTS FOR THE :IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL JOHN L. TRELOAR, S.J. Marquette University Milwaukee, Wisconsin I. lntJroWi.wtion IN 'JiHE COURSE of hls discussion on the immortality of the soul, Pietro Pomponazzi systematically critiques the Pfatonic, Avel'IJ'IOist, and Thomistic positions concerning this perennial problem iin the philosophy of human nature. Pomponiazzi's Tractatrus de irnrmortalitate animae 1 is inteirestin!g from three methodological standpoints: (1) the criteria Pomponazzi (...) uses to ev:aluate the various positions, (2) Pomponazzi 's attempt to redefine the probtlem of immortality in fo:gica;l terms, and (8) his analysis of previous positions. In this Renaissance treatise one finds an excellent example of the infliuence of method on the dev:elopment of an idea. This article wiihl eX'amine and ev:aluate Pomponazzi's analy,s:i.s of Thomas A:quiinas's aJ.'gument for the immortality of the soul showing how Pomponazzi''S irefo:rnnula;bion puts the Thomistic argument in a context completely differoort fmm whait Thomas himself intended. Although this ipaper treats a historical pr01blem, its mai:i.n oibject is to show how the fo:tmulation of phifosophical critema and,questions influences how one handles a topic 1 and 1 The standard Latin text of the Tractatus is: Petrus Pomponatus, Tractatus de immortalitate animae, ed. Gianfranco Morra (Bologna: Nanni and Fiammeghi, 1954). The English translations used in this article are from Ernst Cassirer et al., eds. The Renaissance Philosophy of Man (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948). A complete translation of the Tractatus by William Henry Hay II, revised by John Herman Randall, Jr., and annotated by Paul Oskar Kristeller, appears on pp. 280-381. 458 454 JOHN L. TRELOAR, S.J, what one says about prewous solutions to a problem. This article, then, studies a rphi1osophica1l methodology as much as it arppraises Pomrponazzi and Aquinas.2 Eady in the Tractatus de immortalitate animae Pomponazzi 'es'tia;bJishes the dual cr1iter:ia for judging the adequacy of au p!i.'evious arguments ]or the immortaJl~ty of the,soul. First, "Leaving aside revefaition and miracles, and remaining entirely within natmal limits," 3 what can be said concerrning the immortality of the soul? Second, "what... was Aristotle's opin~on on the same question "?4 These criteria function as the limiting conditions that determine the adequacy of any argument :for immortality; Pomponazzi employs these criteria riJgm~ously to test whether previious a1rguments are adeqU'ate. Pomponazzi's attempt to l'edefine immo:rtality in strictly 1ogicail terms also influences his critique of pl'evious authoi's :and his own generail condusions. He picks u:p Fieino'.s notion that the human being is of an ambiguous nature, that is, part spirit 1and pa:rt oorpore1 al.5 This, of course, is new neither with Ficino nor with Pomponazzi, for the concept of a twofold nature goes hack at least as ia1· as Plwto. Plomponazzi',s use of 1this concept of a twofold nature, however, is unique. He casts the whole 2 In his book Renaissance Thought and Its Sources (New York: Columbia University Press, 1979), Paul Oskar Kristeller says, "Among the many problems and concepts that have occupied the thinkers of the past, and especially those of the Renaissance, the doctrine of immortality seems especially remote from the discussions and concerns of our time" (p. 181). He argues in this essay that, "The problem is still with us, and we may hope that it may yet lead to new answers that are more in accordance with our knowledge and our sensibilities than those transmitted to us by the thinkers of the past, especially those of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries" (p. 196). s "Primum scilicet, quid, revelationibus et miraculis semotis, persistendoque pure infra limites naturales, hac in re sentis." Immortalitate, p. 36 (p. 281). All references to the Traatatus de immortalitate animae will appear in this form. The first page reference is to the Latin text and the page number in parentheses is to the English translation cited above. 4 "Alterum vero, quamnam sententiam Aristotelis in eadem materiam fuisse censes." Imrnortalitate, p. 36 (p. 281). 5 See Marsilius Ficino, " Five Questions Concerning the... (shrink)

Adolescence is a developmental stage when adolescents are vulnerable to addictive behaviors, such as Internet addiction, which refers to pathological use of the Internet. Although there are views proposing that the links between IA and adolescent problem behavior may be bidirectional in nature, few studies have examined the reciprocal relationships between IA and other maladjustment indicators, and even fewer studies have simultaneously employed both emotional and behavioral maladjustment indicators in a single study. To address the above research gaps, the present (...) study investigated how IA is associated with both depression and delinquency among Chinese adolescents. Two waves of data were collected at two consecutive years, respectively, with 1year apart, from 3,010 students in four junior high schools in mainland China. These students completed the same questionnaire containing measures of IA, depression, and delinquency at each wave. The proposed cross-lagged panel model fitted the data very well, and there were significant positive reciprocal effects between IA and depression as well as delinquency after controlling for background socio-demographic factors. Gender differences were also observed in multi-group comparisons. Specifically, IA showed a stronger longitudinal impact on delinquency among boys than among girls. While depression significantly predicted IA in 1year among boys, such a prediction was not significant among girls. These findings delineate the bidirectionality of the associations between IA and emotional and behavioral maladjustment indexed by depression and delinquency, respectively. The findings also suggest that researchers and practitioners have to take gender differences as well as different developmental indicators in understanding the bidirectional influences between IA and adolescent behavioral and emotional development. (shrink)

The Hoffmann reflex (H-wave) is produced by alpha-motoneuron activation in the spinal cord. A feature of this electromyography response is that it exhibits fluctuations in amplitude even during repetitive stimulation with the same intensity of current. We herein explore the hypothesis that physical training induces plastic changes in the motor system. Such changes are evaluated with the fractal dimension (FD) analysis of the H-wave amplitude-fluctuations (H-wave FD) and the cross-covariance (CCV) between the bilateral H-wave amplitudes. The aim of this study (...) was to compare the H-wave FD as well as the CCV before and after track training in sedentary individuals and athletes. The training modality in all subjects consisted of running three times per week (for 13 weeks) in a concrete road of 5 km. Given the different physical condition of sedentary vs. athletes, the running time between sedentary and athletes was different. After training, the FD was significantly increased in sedentary individuals but significantly reduced in athletes, although there were no changes in spinal excitability in either group of subjects. Moreover, the CCV between bilateral H-waves exhibited a significant increase in athletes but not in sedentary individuals. These differential changes in the FD and CCV indicate that the plastic changes in the complexity of the H-wave amplitude fluctuations as well as the synaptic inputs to the Ia-motoneuron systems of both legs were correlated to the previous fitness history of the subjects. Furthermore, these findings demonstrate that the FD and CCV can be employed as indexes to study plastic changes in the human motor system. (shrink)

Résumé Cet article aborde les intelligences artificielles génératives visuelles telles que Midjourney et DALL·E afin d’analyser leur fonctionnement sémiotique. Le point de départ est la définition de la discipline sémiotique proposée par Pierluigi Basso Fossali, décrivant celle-ci comme la science qui étudie la gestion sociale du sens, et qui s’articule en quatre sphères fondamentales : la perception, l’énonciation, la communication et la transmission. À partir de ce cadre théorique, l’objectif est de proposer et de décrire deux nouvelles configurations qui caractérisent (...) le fonctionnent sémiotique des IA génératives visuelles : à travers une perception d’archives et grâce à des circuits de composition. Le concept de perception d’archives a pour objectif de décrire la manière particulière dont les IA voient, entendent et apprennent, celle-ci étant réalisée sur de grandes quantités de données et à travers une généalogie d’opérations reconfigurables sur les archives. Les circuits de composition, quant à eux, concernent le couplage entre la logique de la composition visuelle et de la prédication verbale : il s’agit du processus d’énonciation par débruitage visuel réalisé par les IA, guidé par les requêtes en langage naturel fournies par des opérateurs humains. À partir de trois critères élaborés en sémiotique – les catégories plastiques, l’énonciation visuelle, ainsi que la traduction intersémiotique entre textes verbaux et images – une série de tests seront proposés afin d’examiner les circuits de composition des modèles génératifs de Midjourney et de DALL·E. Les IA seront enfin définies en tant que machines co-énonçantes : des entités dépourvues d’intentionnalité et d’initiative, qui produisent pourtant des énoncés en collaboration avec un opérateur humain et sur la base d’archives de données hautement structurées et reconfigurables. (shrink)