Catalog All books
Alain Berthoz, Gérard Jorland
The Empathie
Empathy is the ability to put oneself in the position of others, and thus to understand and know them. Ever since Darwin, empathy has been regarded as the basis of all human social behaviour, and most notably of ethics. Some major psychological disorders - autism, for example - can be described as the inability to empathise. Certain types of perverse behaviour, such as the torture of defenceless victims, have been explained as distortions of empathy. This book offers an overview of studies on empathy for the past 250 years. It also describes the latest research on the subject in a variety of fields: cognitive psychology, philosophy, ethology and ethics. Alain Berthoz is a professor at the Collège de France and a member of the French Academy of Sciences. He is the author of Le Sens du mouvement and La Décison, both published by Editions Odile Jacob. Gérard Jorland is a director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and the author of Les Paradoxes du capital (Editions Odile Jacob) and La Science dans la philosophie.
Alain Berthoz
The Vicariance The Brain as Creator of Universes
A new concept, invented by Alain Berthoz, to explain the mechanisms governing human creativity
Alain Berthoz, Fabienne Verdier
Thought in Action A Painting Session Between Art and Science
An original discussion around the artistic process, combining philosophy and history of art, brain physiology and mathematics.
Alain Berthoz, Claude Debru
Anticipating and Predicting A Colloquium — From Thought to Mental Journey
What are the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms that enable humans to anticipate events and actions?
Alain Berthoz, Carlo Ossola
The Freedoms of the Improbable
A dozen high-level international researchers for a multidisciplinary approach to the improbable, a powerful factor of creativity in between the possible and the impossible.
Stéphanie Bertholon
Coping With a Stressful World
How to adopt a sufficiently detached attitude to resist the stress of constant change
Léo Bersani
Homos Reassessing the Identity
What does it mean to be homosexual today ? Is it necessary to form communities and if so, why ? Is the primary aim equality in society such as it is, or the challenging of society itself ? Up to what point do homosexuals distinguish themselves ? Must there be a link between sexual claims and political dispute ? The gay and lesbian communities necessarily ask themselves these questions. On a wider scale, they also encourage a redefinition of the human being in contemporary societies. Already considered a classic in the United States, Homos presents an innovative, critical reflection on identity and the dangers in the withdrawal of a community from society. An expert in French literature, Leo Bersani is a professor at the University of California. He has notably published Baudelaire and Freud, and Theory and Violence.
Gérard Berry
The Hyperpower of Computer Science
An attractive (color illustrations) and very instructive book for which Gérard Berry has made use of his experience as a lecturer and a teacher of children 9-12 years-old at a Montessori school. A book that fills a gap in knowledge: quite simply, it helps to understand and better anticipate the great changes that are occurring right before our eyes.