Mathematics and the Divine seem to correspond to diametrically opposed tendencies of the human mind. Does the mathematician not seek what is precisely defined, and do the objects intended by the mystic and the theologian not lie beyond definition? Is mathematics not Man's search for a measure, and isn’t the Divine that which is immeasurable? The present book shows that the domains of mathematics and the Divine, which may seem so radically separated, have throughout history and across cultures, proved to (...) be intimately related. Religious activities such as the building of temples, the telling of ritual stories or the drawing of enigmatic figures all display distinct mathematical features. Major philosophical systems dealing with the Absolute and theological speculations focussing on our knowledge of the Ultimate have been based on or inspired by mathematics. A series of chapters by an international team of experts highlighting key figures, schools and trains of thought is presented here. Chinese number mysticism, the views of Pythagoras and Plato and their followers, Nicholas of Cusa's theological geometry, Spinozism and intuitionism as a philosophy of mathematics are treated side by side among many other themes in an attempt at creating a global view on the relation of mathematics and Man’s quest for the Absolute in the course of history. (Elsevier). (shrink)

Numerous countries are heading toward digital infrastructures. In particular this new technology promises to help support methods for elections. However, one should be careful that such an infrastructure does not hinder the voting and representation issues. On the contrary, it should support those issues and help citizens have a clearer picture of the underlying mechanisms. This paper deals with the limits of voting procedures as they are described in classical collective choice theory and reflects on ways to aggregate electronic votes (...) stemming from various individuals that would be at the same time democratic, decisive and rational which is not feasible when candidate rankings alone are taken into account. This paper shows how electronic voting procedures could improve the situation by introducing preference-based votes. (shrink)

Depuis plus d'un siècle les éditions et les études sur Vauvenargues sont fondées sur l'édition Gilbert (1857), édition incomplète et fautive en de nombreux endroits. Après de longues recherches et des travaux ardus, D Acke, L Bove, J Dagen et J Vercruysse, quatre dix-huitiémistes connus, ont entrepris de concert une édition enfin complète, critique et authentique. Le tome IV, celui de la correspondance (largement augmentée) et de documents personnels inconnus à ce jour, permet d'ouvrir de nouvelles perspectives sur l'élaboration de (...) la pensée du jeune moraliste et les liens qu'il entretenait avec les siens. (shrink)

The Abidjan School is a school of thought that developed in the 1980s and 1990s in the Côte d'Ivoire inspired by the work of Louis-Joseph Lebret and Amartya Sen. It follows the empirical approach i...

Is “philosophy after automation” a theme or a question? One might hesitate about this, because we may wonder whether or not it implies that philosophy could disappear after automation, or at least be subject to serious revision. Philosophy could be read as a historical movement towards self-determination [autodétermination] as well as the exposition of the limit of such a program of archi-autonomy. The Cartesian event is essentially ambivalent, and man alone in the world is undoubtedly also the one who can (...) but alter, in the long run, the sufficiency of the auto. This is what we can now begin to understand. (shrink)

What does the word “value” mean? On the one hand, absolute value is an excellence that is beyond measure. On the other hand, value can also be interpreted as price, as what can be measured and exchanged. In both cases, value lies in relation and is of the same order as sense. But what is the relation between these two senses of value? And why is it so difficult to hold the two apart?

On the one hand, freedom is said to be the property of a subject. On the other, freedom only happens in the space of being-in-common. Freedom, then, is the place of a conflict between the “self” and the “with,” between independence or autonomy and dependence or sharing. Resolving this apparent antinomy requires showing how the with ontologically constitutes the self. This, in turn, allows for a rethinking of freedom beyond what liberal democracy and political economy have to offer, as the (...) renewed opening of existence onto nothing, or onto an “outside” that the opening itself constitutes. (shrink)

Le 17 juillet 2017, Werner,Werner, toi ici avec nous, toi si proche et si lointain, aussi lointain que proche,Werner, plus loin…Werner je suis sans parole – et tu dis aussitôt : « Qui est sans parole a dans sa privation même quelque chose de la parole ».Quelque chose ou peut-être tout vas-tu dire car on ne parle qu’à partir du manque de parole et on cherche sa propre disparition.Parce que je suis sans parole, je me trouve là où tu veux. (...) Là où il est question de « l’aphasie structurelle du lan... (shrink)

There seems to be an overall agreement that parents qua parents are, almost by definition, in need of support and hence that there is always a ‘parental deficit’. In order to help parents out many initiatives are taken, predominantly drawing from a technical conception of parenting. This particular conception defines the deficit as a shortage of practical and theoretical knowledge, and conceives of the predicament of parenting or upbringing as something that can be successfully dealt with. Two criticisms are developed (...) in this article. First, this conception of parenting is exposed as a ‘frictionless fiction’ that makes a very strong appeal to many of us, inhabitants of late modern Western societies, perhaps because it promises answers where there are none to be given. Second, a different conception of the parental deficit is developed following Ramaekers and Suissa who spelled out a parental hermeneutical-existential deficit drawing upon Cavell. This specific kind of deficit picks out another kind of support. I develop this alternative by sketching a figure of strong engagement that provides parent support. (shrink)

How was the Neoplatonic School of Athens able to maintain itself for more than a century at Athens, in a hostile environment, while being the target of the opposition of the Christians who were not only in the majority, but also held political power? These are the questions this text seeks to answer. Although it does not promise any earth-shaking discovery, it will try to sketch a clear and precise portrait of the Neoplatonic School of Athens on the family, political (...) and economic level. (shrink)

The subject of this essay is the thing itself, examined through the fantastic character of phenomenality, that is, through the coming into being or opening up of the world. The world of appearance emerges from a simple, absolute nothing: there is nothing behind or before the world. There are right away many things, a world: one thing implies others, since for one to be it must distinguish itself from another. Thus, if `to be' means `to distinguish,' Being begins with the (...) parting of things that makes their connection possible. Thus the thing in itself is straightaway the undergoing of its own parting; being is a passion. The Imago , then, is not a picture or figure, but the arriving in presence, which imagination elicits or welcomes by advancing in response. Imagination, then, is not first of all open to an image, but to world. It opens itself to the Thing, to the possibility of something, to parting, and in so doing brings itself toward creation. (shrink)

Comment une formation politique répond-elle, au XXIème siècle, à son électorat? Comment faire face aux défis futurs autrement que par le biais d'un débat politique bipolarisé? Cela passe nécessairement par la mise en avant d'un discours résolument démocrate... et toujours écologiste! A chaque instant, la recherche du positionnement juste doit être notre fil conducteur. Sur l'équité, la solidarité et l'engagement en faveur d'une transformation réelle de notre société, nous avons tous notre mot à dire afin de préparer l'avenir! Tel est (...) l'enjeu! Aux niveaux européen, national, régional et local, nous sommes invités à réagir. Parfois pour saluer certaines avancées courageuses, souvent pour rappeler l'existence de certaines lignes rouges déjà allègrement franchies et dénoncer les égarements des responsables politiques en place. Doucement mais sûrement, une autre voie se dessine! Cet ouvrage se propose de mettre en lumière les thèmes sur lesquels les démocrates français et européens doivent désormais avancer de manière significative. Sans avoir la prétention d'apporter toutes les réponses, Jean-Luc Bennahmias contribue au débat à travers des textes, réflexions et entretiens récents faisant sens dans son parcours politique. Il rappelle un certain nombre de ses prises de position historiques sur des questions essentielles, telles que l'action à mener envers les jeunes, les libertés, les minorités ou bien encore l'Union européenne. Et il réaffirme la vigueur de son combat pour une écologie omniprésente dans nos politiques publiques. (shrink)

Platão foi o primeiro a utilizar o termo mito no sentido que continuamos a dar a esse termo nas linguas modemas. Utilizando mito Platão descreve um certo tipo de discurso, fabricado pelos poetas na sociedade onde ele vive, a fim de substituí-lo por um outro, o Aóyos produzido pelos filósofos. Mesmo se mostrando muito crítico a respeito dos poetas que fabricam os mitos, Platão reconhece que os filósofos não podem viver sem os mitos. Assim, ele se inspira nos poetas para (...) desenvolver certos pontos de sua doutrina, chegando mesmo a fabricar mitos, porque reconhece sua eficácia no dominio da ética e da política. (shrink)

Neste artigo, tenciono mostrar que é impossível concluir, como fez André Grabar, que há uma mudança da atitude de Plotino em relação à obra de arte. Plotino coloca sob o vocábulo tékhne toda uma série de atividades humanas associando artes, ofícios e inclusive ciências que não apresentam nenhum traço comum além daquele da competência. Além do mais, a tékhne não é associada à produção artística. Enfim, em Plotino assim como em Platão, a natureza precede sempre a tékhne; com efeito, somente (...) a natureza tem uma ação espontânea, contínua e dispensadora de vida e de potência. (shrink)

Neoplatonic Demons and Angels is a collection of studies which examine the place reserved for angels and demons not only by the main Neoplatonic philosophers, but also in Gnosticism, the Chaldaean Oracles and Christian Neoplatonism.

A collection of essays (the first appearing in 2001, the second and third, appearing in expanded form (the form translated here) in 2006), translated into English.

Probabilistic models have much to offer to philosophy. We continually receive information from a variety of sources: from our senses, from witnesses, from scientific instruments. When considering whether we should believe this information, we assess whether the sources are independent, how reliable they are, and how plausible and coherent the information is. Bovens and Hartmann provide a systematic Bayesian account of these features of reasoning. Simple Bayesian Networks allow us to model alternative assumptions about the nature of the information sources. (...) Measurement of the coherence of information is a controversial matter: arguably, the more coherent a set of information is, the more confident we may be that its content is true, other things being equal. The authors offer a new treatment of coherence which respects this claim and shows its relevance to scientific theory choice. Bovens and Hartmann apply this methodology to a wide range of much discussed issues regarding evidence, testimony, scientific theories, and voting. Bayesian Epistemology is an essential tool for anyone working on probabilistic methods in philosophy, and has broad implications for many other disciplines. (shrink)

This volume is the direct result of a conference in which a number of leading researchers from the fields of artificial intelligence and biology gathered to ...

This interview given by Luc Foisneau to Florent Guénard is the most complete about the editorial project of the Dictionnaire des philosophes français du XVIIe siècle, published in 2015, Classiques Garnier, Paris.

Ce texte a déjà paru dans J. Lageira & G. Lamarche-Vadel, Appropriations créatives et critiques, Sesto San Giovanni, Mimesis, 2018, pp. 137-161. Nous remercions Luc Gwiazdzinski de nous avoir autorisé à le reproduire ici. La saturation, il y a un moment où cela vient dans ce repas qu'on appelle vie : il ne faut qu'une goutte alors, pour faire déborder la coupe du dégoût. Sainte Beuve « Sans lumière, pas de ville la nuit mais trop de lumière tue la nuit (...) ». Cette sage pensée issue d'une - Géographie – Nouvel article. (shrink)

La première partie de ce texte expose quelques-unes des principales tendances actuelles de la recherche scientifique : l’affaiblissement rapide et massif du poids des universités dans la production scientifique, la contractualisation croissante de la recherche universitaire et son instrumentalisation par les pouvoirs économiques et politiques, son internationalisation et enfin la diffusion massive et l’individualisation des savoirs grâce aux systèmes électroniques d’information et de communication. La question de la responsabilité de la recherche universitaire ne se pose pas dans l’abstrait mais au (...) regard de ces tendances. C’est l’objet de la deuxième partie du texte. L’auteur cible comme responsabilité spécifique l’étude des systèmes de pouvoir qui s’excluent eux-mêmes des recherches qu’ils instrumentalisent et dont la science est elle-même aujourd’hui partie prenante. Il montre également que la responsabilité de la recherche universitaire ne prend sa pleine mesure que lorsqu’elle s’accomplit en liaison étroite avec l’enseignement. Il prône enfin une vision plus dissensuelle de l’université dont la collaboration et la confrontation interdisciplinaires constitueraient la principale clé. (shrink)

Cet article est l'introduction d'un dossier de la revue Cambo, « Les rythmes de la ville », n° 17, mai 2020, pp. 29-33. « Sans rythme pas de vie » Millet, 2001 Un long et étrange oubli La dimension temporelle a longtemps été négligée par les chercheurs, les édiles et les aménageurs, bien qu'elle constitue un aspect essentiel de la dynamique urbaine. Peu de travaux en recherche urbaine ont encore été consacrés au temps, à la relation espace-temps et à ses (...) représentations. Ce levier reste également assez - Géographie – Nouvel article. (shrink)

Political power in Brussels is not distributed randomly over its area. There is hardly any political power situated in districts with a very low socio-economic status, white there is an overconcentration of political power in districts with a high SES in relation to their population. The residents of very low SES districts are deprived in two ways : almost no power is situated in their districts and the office bolders who do live in them are generally among the least powerful.It (...) is noted that the power of the Dutch-language parties is distributed over the Brussels agglomeration in another way than the French-language parties. The power of the Dutch-language parties is situated primarily in low SES districts, while French-language parties have their power mainly in districts with a high SES.The lack of political power of very low SES districts is not new. Since World War II, there has never been much power located in the zones where the part of the population that occupies the base of the production process lives. Democracy is still not able to prevent the formation of areas within the Brussels agglomeration in which the residents have a very small share in the power of the political parties. (shrink)

Based upon the electoral results from the 17/4/1977 general election this study examines how the introduction of a system of single majoritarian representation might «reshuffle the cards» among the various politica! parties.Furthermore, one has examined which might be the consequences of the introduction of majoritarian representation for the over-all functioning of the Belgian political system. One bas also explored the possibilities to counterbalance the possible negative consequences of such a representation system.