Scepticism has been the driving force in the development of Greco-Roman culture in the past, and the impetus for far-reaching scientific achievements and philosophical investigation. Early Jewish culture, in contrast, avoided creating consistent representations of its philosophical doctrines. Sceptical notions can nevertheless be found in some early Jewish literature such as the Book of Ecclesiastes. One encounters there expressions of doubt with respect to Divine justice or even Divine involvement in earthly affairs. During the first centuries of the common era, (...) however, Jewish thought, as reflected in rabbinic works, was engaged in persistent intellectual activity devoted to the laws, norms, regulations, exegesis and other traditional areas of Jewish religious knowledge. An effort to detect sceptical ideas in ancient Judaism, therefore, requires a closer analysis of this literary heritage and its cultural context. This volume of collected essays seeks to tackle the question of scepticism in an Early Jewish context, including Ecclesiastes and other Jewish Second Temple works, rabbinic midrashic and talmudic literature, and reflections of Jewish thought in early Christian and patristic writings. Contributors are: Tali Artman, Geoffrey Herman, Reuven Kiperwasser, Serge Ruzer, Giuseppe Veltri, Cana Werman, and Casten Wilke. (shrink)

In 1926, François Machon, a Swiss physician who lived for many years in Argentina, organised the restitution of a religious garment that had been stolen from the cathedral of Paraguay in the late 1860s and was kept in the Swiss Musée d'ethnographie de Neuchâtel (MEN) in exchange for a small part of his ethnographic collection. In the following decade, he donated more of his own collections to the MEN, but also negotiated as a go-between for the donation of his son (...) Roger's collections. On one occasion he managed, again, to arrange the exchange of a proto-historic Swiss lake-dweller axe for a small collection of Amerindian artefacts. The Machons' case sheds light on the logics of donations of a private collection holder, his tactics and strategies of persuasion, and his entangled web of affects, straddling two countries and two networks of fidelity in a context of migration. It also helps us understand the complex rationalities of acquisition and the polysemy of a peripheral municipal cultural institution. This case informs us about the rationales of a peripheral museum and on the criteria used to assess the quality of donators and their collections; it illustrates the asymmetry of the exchange values of European and South American, ancient and contemporary, artefacts, and the unequal vocality of the different actors. Similarly, it gives us a perspective on the rationales that were mobilised to justify giving away parts of its collections. The exchange of artefacts between the Machons and the MEN helps us understand museums not only as patrimonial of scientific institutions, but also as economic actors, whose agents convince, gamble, bargain, and negotiate, and try to make best use of their resources, symbolic and monetary, to increase their assets and social benefits. (shrink)

1Neurology Department and Cyclotron Research Center, University of Lie`ge, Sart Tilman B30, 4000 Liege, Belgium 2Neurorehabilitation Medicine, Hoˆpital Caremeau, CHU Nıˆmes, 30029 Nıˆmes Cedex, France 3Department of Speech Therapy, Hospital Pitie´ Salpe´trie`re, Paris and French Association Locked in Syndrome (ALIS), 225 Bd Jean-Jaures, MBE 182, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt, France 4Neurosciences et Syste`mes Sensoriels Unite´ Mixte de Recherche 5020, Universite´ Claude Bernard Lyon 1 – CNRS, 69007 Lyon, France 5Intensive Care Medicine, Hoˆpital Erasme, Universite´ Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, 1070 (...) Brussels, Belgium 6Anesthesiology, Reanimation and Pain Clinic, CHU University Hospital, Sart Tilman B33, 4000 Liege, Belgium 7German Association Locked in Syndrome LIS e.V., Evangelischen Krankenhaus Ko¨ningin Elisabeth Herzberge gGmbh (Lehrkrankenhaus der Charite´), Haus 30, Herzbergstrasse 79, 10365 Berlin, Germany 8Intensive Care Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Re´gional de la Citadelle, Boulevard du 12e de Ligne 1, 4000 Liege, Belgium 9Biomedical PET Unit, Hoˆpital Erasme, Universite´ Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.. (shrink)

A far-reaching reinterpretation of Plato’s Timaeus and its engagement with time, eternity, body, and soul that in its original French edition profoundly influenced Derrida The Tomb of the Artisan God provides a radical rereading of Timaeus, Plato’s metaphysical text on time, eternity, and the relationship between soul and body. First published in French in 1995, the original edition of Serge Margel’s book included an extensive introductory essay by Jacques Derrida, who drew on Margel’s insights in developing his own concepts (...) of time, the promise, the world, and khōra. Now available in English with a new preface by Margel, this engagement with Platonic thought proceeds from two questions that span the history of philosophy: What is time? What is the body? Margel’s twinned interrogation centers around Plato’s concept of the demiurge (divine artisan or craftsman): its body, its anthropomorphic attributes, its productive capacities and regulatory functions in the ordering/organization/assembling of the world. He posits that this paradoxical figure is not merely a cosmological metaphor for the living body but also the site of its destruction, dissolution, and disappearance. Torn between the finite and the infinite, being and becoming, the concept of demiurge also poses metaphysical questions about time, time before time, and the end of time. The ontological status of the demiurge’s body, Margel argues, would become increasingly decisive in the history of philosophy, particularly in Christianity and the dogma of incarnation. (shrink)

Les médiations de la parole publique par les dispositifs numériques questionnent le renouvellement possible des formes de délibérations collectives au sein des groupes associatifs. Nous examinerons comment, dans un contexte d'émergence de nouveaux collectifs technophiles orientés vers des pratiques d'usage et de politisation des technologies de communication, le mouvement « communautaire » québécois redéfinit son identité, ses aspirations et ses pratiques dans la sphère publique, au prix de vives tensions. Plusieurs éléments semblent structurer les différences et controverses: l'enracinement local du (...) mouvement communautaire, sa structure hiérarchique, son mode de financement et les représentations de la technique.Mediations of public speaking by digital devices can question the renewal of collective forms of deliberation within voluntary groups. We will examine how, in the context of the emergence of new collective-oriented technophiles use practices and politicization of communication technologies, the movement "community" Quebec redefines its identity, its aspirations and practices in the public sphere, the price tensions. Several factors seem to structure differences and controversies: local roots community movement, its hierarchical structure, its funding and representations of the art. (shrink)

Le « néolibéralisme » français est né dans les années 1930, plus précisément lors du Colloque Walter Lippmann de 1938 organisé par le philosophe Louis Rougier, dans le contexte de l’imminence de la guerre. L’objectif de cet article est de comprendre comment, face à la menace totalitaire, la pensée néolibérale française de cette période a conçu la démocratie. On comparera pour ce faire les conceptions de deux fondateurs de ce courant : celle de Rougier, qui préférait parler de « libéralisme (...) constructeur », et celle de Louis Marlio, qui parlait de « libéralisme social ». Ces deux expressions sont-elles équivalentes et sont-elles sous-tendues par une même conception de la démocratie? (shrink)

En 1517, il y a cinq cents ans, la réforme de Luther fracture l'Europe. La même année, les conquistadores espagnols s'en prennent au Mexique, qu'ils colonisent et christianisent. Ils y introduisent aussi notre façon d'écrire l'histoire. Les vainqueurs ignorent tout des sociétés indigènes. Or pour imposer leur loi, ils doivent impérativement connaître les coutumes et donc le passé des vaincus. Mais que sont l'histoire et le temps dans l'esprit des Indiens? Le temps n'est pas encore une valeur universelle. Comment les (...) Espagnols formatés dans une Europe chrétienne où l'histoire est chronologique et orientée auraient-ils pu concevoir et accepter la cosmologie méso-américaine? Civilisés contre barbares? En quelques décennies, la machine à remonter le temps des envahisseurs s'emploie à capturer les mémoires des sociétés amérindiennes pour leur fabriquer un passé qui puisse être rattaché au patrimoine antique de la chrétienté. Du côté des Indiens, le souvenir de leur monde au sein duquel les êtres, les choses et les dieux étaient liés se dilue avec le passage des générations même si, dans les codex ou dans les mystérieux cantares, subsistent quelques pans secrets de leur mémoire. Serge Gruzinski propose ici une exploration inédite des débuts de l'expansion coloniale et nous explique comment, sur le terrain, religieux et Indiens se mettent à écrire l'histoire du monde. (shrink)

En partant de l’observation de patients ayant subi une transplantation hépatique, nous constatons que la réhabilitation est souvent très laborieuse. Le malade se trouve transformé par l’intervention des autres sur lui-même. Pour se réapproprier ce corps, il est nécessaire de redonner un sens propre à ce qui s’est passé, loin des explications techniques qui ont permis aux soignants d’agir. Ces explications ne lui permettent pas de comprendre. La dialectique du comprendre et de l’expliquer est difficile à saisir pour le soignant (...) qui privilégie les explications, alors qu’à cette phase du soin elles sont étranges pour le malade. Pour comprendre il lui est plus simple de recréer sa propre tragédie, avec ses propres rôles, un début et une fin. Ses particularités, son ipséité réapparaissent et il peut dresser le bilan de ce qu’il a subi. Il s’agit de sa première action, un « agir narratif ». S’acceptant tel qu’il est devenu, il peut dès lors se considérer comme un nouvel individu, un être guéri non par décret médical, mais par sa propre action. Pour que ce récit soit accueilli, il est nécessaire que le soignant lui face hospitalité et acte de reconnaissance. C’est l’enjeu éthique de cette réflexion : le soignant qui permet, par l’écoute, une autre écriture. (shrink)

The unified framework for addiction (UFA) formulated by Redish et al. is a tour de force. It uniquely predicts that there should be multiple addiction syndromes and pathways – a diversity that would reflect the complexity of the mammalian brain decision system. Here I explore some of the evolutionary and developmental ramifications of UFA and derive several new avenues for research.

This article aims to define the scope of theology in the multidisciplinary work of Fernand Dumont. Building on Dumont’s intellectual self-definition as a philosopher with no object, the main purpose here is to show that Dumont’s theology remains inseparable, theoretically and practically, from a fundamental reflection on the unpredictable future of culture in our time.

Erik Schokkaert's note presents a very good summary of the theory of macrojustice and a very good list of the directions of research it points to. This is quite fitting since a research programme defines a paradigm, and he sees this proposal as a paradigm shift. This is also very appropriate since his own qualifications are the best for advancing fast in these research topics. I have only a very small number of qualifications to add to his presentation, but I (...) prefer to begin with emphasizing the most important issues. Two aspects can be seen as the most important: the de facto axiomatic derivation of the solution ELIE and its application on the one hand, and the present state of scholarly studies of the optimum or just distribution of income on the other hand. Let us enter by the second door (as opposed to what is done in the book Macrojustice). This will lead us to conclude with a more synthetic and broader view of the basic logic of the paradigms of justice and of the surprising recent history of their interpretations. (shrink)

In this article we study the work and communication practices of two highly connected organizations, the members of which have all access to instant messaging on a professional basis. We document the development of a communicational genre, that of ‘quick questions’, and analyze the sequence organization of such IM conversation threads. We show how ‘quick questions’ enable the collaborative accomplishment of complex, knowledge-intensive tasks by recruiting colleagues constituted as experts capable of quickly answering information requests related to ongoing tasks. ‘Quick (...) questions’ articulate communicative practices, ‘strong’ distribution of tasks and ‘organizing’ in highly connected organizations. We argue that they enact a distinctive cognitive and moral economy based on minimal forms of interaction and exchanges, constituting a more general phenomenon. (shrink)

Le rapport entre culture et politique est l'un des plus débattu sous l'angle des sciences sociales, opposant notamment culture légitime et culture anthropologique ; et ceci selon deux points de vue complémentaires : d'abord quant aux vicissitudes subies par les politiques culturelles des États-nations, à l'exemple de la France du fait de l'échec de l'objectif de démocratisation culturelle, ensuite quant à leur remise en cause frontale par les processus de la mondialisation libérale. C'est dans ce contexte que s'inscrit la diversité (...) culturelle substituée à l'exception culturelle, et comportant la diversité linguistique, défendue par la FrancophonieThe relation between culture and politics represents one of the most discussed topics from the social sciences perspective, particularly the opposition between high culture and popular culture. The question is viewed from two complementary standpoints: firstly, one related to difficulties faced by the cultural politics of Nation States, for example France’s difficulties because of the fact that the objective of cultural democratization has not been achieved; and secondly bringing cultural politics into question by the process of liberal globalisation. It is in this context that cultural exception is replaced by cultural diversity including linguistic diversity as defended by Francophony. (shrink)

How can an enterprise, such as Sloterdijk defines in his You Must Change Your Life and its satellite The Art of Philosophy, be “Enlightenment-conservative”? That is the question leading these reflections on the key terms that contain both works in nuce – practice of course, but also perspective and retrospective, transition, extension, explicitation, turn, return, and quarter turn –, reflections that shed light on Sloterdijk’s non-revolutionary conception of Enlightenment as a continuing modernity, without postmodernity, but in need of a curator, (...) a conservateur, and that expose the ontologico-ethical question of the authoritative or sublime imperative (you must) in its Heideggerian, Nietzschean, and finally pseudo-Kantian, even apocalyptic tones, and in its attempt to preserve not only the Enlightenment, but the Renaissance and Antiquity at the same time. (shrink)

Alors que monte la prise de conscience du péril environnemental, les obstacles à une véritable mutation écologique des sociétés contemporaines restent massifs et les modèles alternatifs peinent à s'imposer. Les traditions intellectuelles de la gauche semblent souvent impuissantes à apporter des réponses. Pire, n'ont-elles pas contribué, par leur culte des "forces productives", à l'impasse actuelle? La généalogie intellectuelle proposée par Serge Audier revient sur des évidences trompeuses, notamment celle qui voudrait que les mouvements émancipateurs n'aient abordé que très tardivement (...) les enjeux écologiques. On redécouvre certes peu à peu des voix minoritaires qui, de Henry D. Thoreau à William Morris, avaient manifesté très tôt un souci inédit de la nature. Mais en les érigeant en héros solitaires, on contribue à occulter une nébuleuse beaucoup plus large et méconnue qui, entre socialisme et anarchisme, a esquissé les traits d'une "société écologique". L'objectif de ce livre est d'exhumer et de reconstituer une pensée sociale de la nature et de l'émancipation, construite aux marges du "grand récit" socialiste et républicain. De fait, cette tendance dissidente a été ignorée, marginalisée, voire combattue par les courants hégémoniques, qui ont souvent vu dans l'écologie un conservatisme traditionaliste ou un romantisme réactionnaire... Si les "ennemis" de la "société écologique" se trouvent bien entendu du côté des forces du capitalisme, il serait faux et dangereux d'oublier qu'ils font aussi partie de l'histoire même de la gauche et du socialisme dans ses orientations majoritaires, encore prégnantes."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Dans cette interview, Birgitta Orfali interroge Serge Moscovici sur la spécificité du regard psychosocial afin de souligner l'importance, non de théories ou de concepts disciplinaires, mais d'un regard qui permet d'appréhender à la fois l'originalité de la psychologie sociale et son impact sur des domaines autres que seulement scientifiques.

While attention to research integrity has been growing over the past decades, the processes of signalling and denouncing cases of research misconduct remain largely unstudied. In this article, we develop a theoretically and empirically informed understanding of the causes and consequences of reporting research misconduct in terms of power relations. We study the reporting process based on a multinational survey at eight European universities. Using qualitative data that witnesses of research misconduct or of questionable research practices provided, we aim to (...) examine actors’ rationales for reporting and not reporting misconduct, how they report it and the perceived consequences of reporting. In particular we study how research seniority, the temporality of work appointments, and gender could impact the likelihood of cases being reported and of reporting leading to constructive organisational changes. Our findings suggest that these aspects of power relations play a role in the reporting of research misconduct. Our analysis contributes to a better understanding of research misconduct in an academic context. Specifically, we elucidate the processes that affect researchers’ ability and willingness to report research misconduct, and the likelihood of universities taking action. Based on our findings, we outline specific propositions that future research can test as well as provide recommendations for policy improvement. (shrink)

This first book in English by Serge-Christophe Kolm provides an overview of his far-reaching vision of distributive justice. Kolm derives justice from considerations of rationality.

Serge Mboukou. – Votre collaboration et votre travail au long cours semblent croiser avec force les fils souvent tendus et tragiques d’une actualité qui ne cesse, s’il en était besoin, de confirmer vos analyses et, en tout cas, d’en souligner la pertinence. Ils en appellent, au fond, à une analyse et une réflexion conséquentes. Si le texte que vous présentez aujourd’hui au public semble fonctionner comme un précipité lié aux accélérations et aux explosions de l’actualité,...

This volume surveys 150 law books of fundamental importance in the history of Western legal literature and culture. The entries are organized in three sections: the first dealing with the transitional period of fifteenth-century editions of medieval authorities, the second spanning the early modern period from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, and the third focusing on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The contributors are scholars from all over the world. Each 'old book' is analyzed by a recognized specialist in (...) the specific field of interest. Individual entries give a short biography of the author and discuss the significance of the works in the time and setting of their publication, and in their broader influence on the development of law worldwide. Introductory essays explore the development of Western legal traditions, especially the influence of the English common law, and of Roman and canon law on legal writers, and the borrowings and interaction between them. The book goes beyond the study of institutions and traditions of individual countries to chart a broader perspective on the transmission of legal concepts across legal, political, and geographical boundaries. Examining the branches of this genealogical tree of books makes clear their pervasive influence on modern legal systems, including attempts at rationalizing custom or creating new hybrid systems by transplanting Western legal concepts into other jurisdictions. (shrink)

The main features of the just society, as they would be chosen by the unanimous, impartial, and fully informed judgment of its members, present a remarkable and simple meaningful structure. In this society, individuals' freedom is fully respected, and overall redistribution amounts to an equal sharing of individuals' different earnings obtained by the same limited 'equalization labour'. The concept of equalization labour is a measure of the degree of community, solidarity, reciprocity, redistribution, and equalization of the society under consideration. It (...) is determined by a number of methods presented in this study, which also emphasizes the rationality, meanings, properties, and ways of practical implementation of this optimum distribution. This result is compared with the various distributive principles found in practice and in political, philosophical, and economic thinking, with the conclusion that most have their proper specific scope of application. The analytical presentation of the social ethics of economics is particularly enlightening. (shrink)