This paper proposes a pragmatic solution to utterances where the various indicators of time and aspect (tenses, lexical-conceptual features of Aktionsart, adverb phrases and contextual cues) seem to have divergent temporal reference and aspectual properties. This type of cases is usually treated at the semantic level as ‘mismatches’ and resolved compositionally through logical operations of ‘aspectual coercion’. We suggest on the contrary that no such effect of ‘mismatch resolution’ or ‘coercion’ is at work: these utterances are worked out inferentially according (...) to the various pieces of evidence they provide for their relevance, in line of Deirdre Wilson’s and Dan Sperber’s (1995) relevance theory. Such utterances give rise to cognitive effects that are hardly attainable by apparently more literal formulations, while being cost-effective. Our analysis follows the work ofEscandell-Vidal and Leonetti (2011)about the rigidity and thus prevalence of computational linguistic expressions, called ‘procedural expressions’ byBlakemore (1987)withinSperber and Wilson’s (1995[1986])framework, relevance theory. (shrink)

Les troubles de mémoire sont un motif fréquent de consultation dans les services de gériatrie, psychiatrie ou neurologie. Ils sont pour beaucoup synonymes d’un mot terrible : Alzheimer. Dès l’apparition de troubles mnésiques, chacun s’interroge : « Est-ce l’âge, ou bien la maladie? Puis-je panser ma mémoire, ou vais-je dériver avec elle? » Les docteurs Emmanuelle Candas et Bruno Le Dastumer, gériatres, spécialistes des troubles de la mémoire, font un état des lieux de la maladie d’Alzheimer et répondent à ces (...) interrogations : comment faire la différence entre le vieillissement naturel du cerveau et les troubles mnésiques pathologiques? Existe-t-il un traitement pour soigner la maladie d’Alzheimer? Et surtout, comment accompagner le malade, dès le diagnostic établi? (shrink)

RésuméAprès avoir rappeléľorigine et le sens de la notion de compleAmentarité introduite par Bohr en Physique quantique et avoir fait allusion aux diverses extensions qui en ont déjàété proposées, ľauteur cherche à appliquer ľidée de complémentarité aux relations qui existent entre les constituants ?un système et le système entier. La perte ?individualité subie par les constituants ?un système et traduîte en Mécanique classique par la notion ?énergie potentielle s'accentue au fur et à mesure que la liaison des constituants dans le (...) système devient plus étroite. Ľétude de la mécanique ondulatoire des systèmes confirme ľidée qu'il existe une sorte de complémentarité entre ľidée de constituant autonome et celle de système. L. de B. (shrink)

This collection sheds new light on the nature, role and practice of philosophy and science in the renewed Berlin Academy from the mid-1740s to the 1790s, and in so doing provides a robust new instalment of materials for the broader task of constructing a historiography of philosophy at this important Enlightenment institution. The collection ranges from discussions of the roles of philosophy and natural philosophy in the formation of the reinvigorated Academy in the mid-1740s, to conceptions of the correct philosophical (...) methodology to be deployed by the Academy. It provides the first ever study of the nature and arrangement of the new classes of the Academy, and a fresh appraisal of the Academy's methodological eclecticism. One recurring theme is the status of metaphysics: there are studies of both special metaphysics, including the study of the soul; general metaphysics, that is, the study of being in general; and foundational metaphysical principles and concepts, such as Maupertuis's Principle of least action, Euler's concept of space and Lambert's notion of an experimental metaphysics. The collection also takes the study of the Academy in new directions through focused studies of important figures whose writings deserve to be better understood, such as Jean Bernard Merian, Louis de Beausobre, Jean Henri Samuel Formey and Johann Georg Sulzer. (shrink)

Linguists and philosophers examine the representation of temporal reference; the interaction of the temporal information from tense, aspect, modality, and context; and the representation of the temporal relations between facts, events, states, propositions, and utterances. They link this to current research in psychology and anthropology.

For several centuries prior to the founding of the Theosophical Society in 1875, individual 'theosophers' in Britain and Europe were quietly in touch with one another all seekers of the inward way. Theosophic Correspondence (1792 1797) is a series of inspiring letters, personal and philosophic, exchanged during the climactic days of the French Revolution between Kirchberger, member of the Sovereign Council at Berne, Switzerland, and Saint-Martin, whom Kirchberger regarded as 'the most eminent writer . . . and most profound of (...) his age'. (shrink)

Montesquieu's The Spirit of Laws is an enduring classic of social and political theory deserving a fresh reading every generation. The modern reader, however, is likely to find a work that ran to over a thousand pages in its two-volume first edition a bit overwhelming. Presented here, therefore, is the first English-language compendium of The Spirit of Laws, together with the first English translation of the posthumously published treatise containing the physiological theory underlying Montesquieu's theory of climate.

Le sens tragique de la vie de l'Esprit chez Hegel implique deux modalités de la vie : une vie sans tragique, qui n'est pas encore la vie spirituelle, et une vie tragique, qui implique la vie éthique. Le tragique est ce qui dissout la pseudo-unité de la nature et de la moralité chez la belle âme. Il s'incarne d'abord dans la tragédie et la tension entre les humains et les dieux, mais la comédie révèle que cette tragédie n'est pas la (...) tragédie absolue, laquelle appartient à la religion révélée, en tant que tragédie de Dieu même, la Passion du Christ étant la tragédie absolue. La forte insistance de Hegel sur l'opposition du Bien et du Mal justifie la mort volontaire du Dieu -homme, l'intériorisation dans la conscience de soi du Mal existant et naturel. C'est dans l'Esprit de la communauté que la mort du Médiateur devient la douleur de la conscience malheureuse. L'histoire de l'Absolu, en tant qu'elle est conçue, devient philosophie, mais, en tant qu'elle est vécue, elle est et reste une tragédie. The tragical meaning of Hegel's life of the Spirit implies two modalities of life : i.e. a life devoid of the tragic, which is not yet a spiritual life and a tragical life which implies ethical life. The tragic is what dissolves the pseudo-unity of nature and morality with the beautiful soul. It first embodies itself within tragedy and the tension between gods and human beings but comedy reveals that such a tragedy is no absolute tragedy, the latter belonging to revealed religion as being the very tragedy of God himself, Christ's passion being the absolute tragedy. The strong instance made by Hegel on the opposition between Good and Evil accounts and justifies the voluntary death of God-Man, the interiorization within self consciousness of existing and natural Evil. It is within the spirit of the community that the Mediator's death becomes the pain of unhappy conscience. The history of the Absolute, conceived as it is, becomes true philosophy, but so long as it becomes experienced, turns out to be and remains tragedy. (shrink)

Known for his poverty, what does Socrates live on? A careful study of the sources reveals that he could satisfy his needs in three different ways: by begging, by the generosity of his friends and by the gifts promised by powerful men. However, regarding these means, the sources are ambivalent: some indicate that Socrates used them, but others that he firmly rejected them in order to preserve his independence.

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

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:BOOK REVIEWS 133 The Foundations of Mysticism. Vol. I of The Pl'.esence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism. By BERNARD McGINN. New York: Crossroad, 1991. Pp. xxii and 49. Index and bibliography. $39.00 (cloth). With this work Bernard McGinn delivers the first of a projected four volume History of Western Christian Mysticism. The Foundations in· cludes, as one might expect, the Scriptural tradition, Neoplatonic phi· losophy, early (...) Greek Fathers who influenced the Latins, as well as the early "Founders" Ambrose and Augustine. Judged by the quality of its start, this work promises to become a standard history for years to come. The author displays a stunning acquaintance with the sources of a subject that extends over full twenty centuries. Though " spe-·cialized " in the spirituality of the high and late Middle Ages (he has written substantial studies on Joachim de Fiore and Eckhart), the Chi· cago professor has admirably succeeded in mastering the mass of per· tinent literature of this early period, as the 150 pages of notes and bibliography testify. His ideas are clearly presented, his evaluations of others critical yet generous, his overall judgment impressively balanced. Moreover, he ventures well beyond the usual territory. His work in- -eludes subjects rarely discussed hut often alluded to in the history of.early Christian spirituality: e.g. Gnosticism, which appears here not as a " heresy ", but as a spiritual movement in its own right. The thorough discussion of Philo together with the introductory chapter on 4 ' The Jewish Matrix" (somewhat improperly entitled since it deals only with the Hebrew Bible) display an unusual appreciation of the underestimated influence of Jewish mysticism. One would have been happy to read more about Marius Victorinus, hut is grateful to find him present at all. A historical survey of this scope may easily degenerate into an enumeration of titles and trends, whereby ideas are treated as facts. Professor McGinn has judiciously avoided that. Entire sections of his history are rich monographs about spiritual systems treated for their intrinsic interest rather than as transitory moments of an indifferent history. The sections dealing with Origen, Evagrius, and Ambrose in particular deserve to be read as independent treatises. The long concluding chapter on Augustine also presents a marvelous synthesis, though one primarily written from the point of view of its later impact. In a study of this nature the definition of its formal object presents.a unique problem. Before the late Middle Ages the concept of a purely private spiritual experience remained largely unknown in Christian 134 BOOK REVIEWS spirituality and until the seventeenth century even the substantive " my,;· ticism ", referring to a separate activity, did not exist. H what we now take to be characteristic were to serve as normative concept, almost all spiritual writers of the :first Christian millennium and a good many after that would he excluded. Moreover, the subjective mystical ex· perience remains inaccessible to the historian. McGinn has wisely confined his subject to the spiritual text in its social and ecclesiastical context. But this choice leads to a further, equally difficult question: What constitutes a mystical text? Obviously not all religious or theo· logical writings are mystical. Protestant theologians of the nineteenth century tended to consider a genuine Christian faith incompatible with mysticism, while prominent students of mysticism in this century (such as Underhill, Butler) :remained highly suspicious of speculative theology, including the so-called "mystical" one, But friend and foe of mysticism agree that the mystical, however conceived, cannot simply he identified with the religious. Some scholars, such as von Hiigel, distinguish the mystical from other aspects of religion, but leave its positive content vague and controvertible. Avoiding a precision which the nature of the subject precludes, McGinn nevertheless goes to the heart of the matter in :referring to the mystical as to the dynamic power that drives the religious mind toward the experienced presence of God, without necessarily bringing it to the state of full union. The author's position appears in the felicitous choice of the general title: The Presence God. All religious life aims at entering into the presence of God. But " mystical " religious texts speak of a particular mode of divine presence, not ordinarily... (shrink)

RésuméLa sémiotique a inventé ou utilisé plusieurs modèles logiques pour représenter la structure élémentaire de la signification. Le carré sémiotique est sans doute l’un des plus célèbres de ces modèles. Il faut se demander, devant l’importance des phénomènes triadiques, si les modèles dyadiques sont (toujours) adaptés à leur description ou s’il ne faudrait pas se tourner (aussi) vers des modèles triadiques. Or, les modèles triadiques de la structure élémentaire de la signification nous apparaissent bien moins nombreux. À notre connaissance, seule (...) la sémiotique de Peirce et le templum de Boudon occupent cet espace autrement laissé vacant. Nous voulons ici à la fois présenter et exemplifier le templum et le compléter, en nous inspirant du carré sémiotique, pour le faire évoluer vers un « prisme sémiotique ». Nous proposerons également d’autres modèles logiques, comme le pentalemme et le cube sémiotiques. Au passage, nous étudierons plusieurs questions et problèmes – dont la décidabilité – entourant les modèles logiques. Nous ferons quelques applications sommaires de certains modèles, sur le temps, l’espace et la transcendance principalement. (shrink)

Excerpt from Le Philosophe Themistios Devant l'Opinion de Ses Contemporains Il ne veut pas seulement amener les philosophes a sortir de leurs ecoles pour entrer en contact avec la foule, il reve d'une association definitive et feconde entre la philosophie et'le pouvoir. Lui-meme donne l'exemple de cette double activite, en faisant en public des conferences et en accep tant des charges publiques. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This (...) book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

RÉSUMÉNous proposons une théorie compatibiliste du libre arbitre, dans la tradition de la philosophie naturalisée, qui tente : 1) de fournir une synthèse de théories bien connues, capable de résoudre certains problèmes de ces dernières; 2) de tenir compte du fait que le libre arbitre a des degrés; 3) d’établir des liens avec la neurobiologie. Nous arguons que le libre arbitre d'un agent varie par degrés en fonction de la capacité de l'agent à faire des hypothèses et à utiliser des (...) théories. Notre modèle met en évidence que des actions «libres» sont consciemment surveillées par l'agent, à travers des croyances, des hypothèses et finalement des théories — d'où l'expression «modèle CMT» (pour Conscious-through-Monitoring-through-Theories). (shrink)

Looking at the esprit de corps in the light of Bourdieu and Spinoza’s work gives an account of the phenomenon of loyalty based on social (habitus) and affective dispositions. In this matter, the Bourdieusian reference to Pascal is undoubtedly the most significant and assumed. Allusions to Spinoza, which are quite frequent, are often only strategic or circumstantial borrowings. However, a detour through a Spinozist analysis of the affective – which does not mean psychological – motives behind the esprit de corps (...) not only helps to highlight what loyalty owes to passions but also to reveal the precariousness of this loyalty, for this very reason. Such a detour leads to a fresh and different reading of Bourdieu’s analyses, particularly in La noblesse d’État. Far from being the thinker of pure reproduction, he is attentive to the threat of disintegration facing by social bodies and institutions. (shrink)

Montrer que le rapport de la conversion au Souverain Bien chez Pascal nous invite à ausculter philosophiquement la notion d'émotion : c'est ce que Jean-Louis Bischoff entend montrer dans la présente étude. L'enjeu de son enquête est clair : il entend affoler et subvertir l'approche commune du mot « émotion ». Pour mener à bien son projet, l'auteur mobilise les lumières de philosophes comme Marion, Levinas, Ricoeur, Greisch ou Romano.

Ce texte a pour but de mettre en confrontation la conception ruyérienne de la philosophie avec la conception wittgensteinienne. L’opposition majeure consiste dans l’idée défendue par Ruyer selon laquelle on ne saurait concevoir ce qu’est l’esprit sans définir un domaine, intérieur au sujet, qu’on peut identifier avec sa subjectivité. Une telle idée est comprise par Ryle comme un mythe, celui de l’intériorité. Il y a en revanche une volonté commune à Ruyer et Wittgenstein de s’émanciper de la science. Deux thèmes (...) permettent alors de comparer les objectifs de Ruyer et ceux des philosophes wittgensteiniens : le thème des mythes en philosophie et celui de la traduction. (shrink)