Catalog All books
Alain Boureau
Satan, the Heretic History of demonology in Medieval Europe, 1260-1350
Alain Boureau is one of the most original French medievalists. In his earlier, best-selling book on the droit du seigneur, he showed that such a custom had never actually existed. The present work is not about Satan and Satanism, but about the birth of demonology, i.e. about the demons that inhabit Satan's Court - a fascinating topic for a medievalist. Before the end of the thirteenth century, theology had shown little interest in demons, according to Boureau. But Saint Thomas Aquinas' Treatise on Evil, written in 1272, changed all this. Boureau tries to find an explanation. He is not concerned with why people believe in demons - he has not written a social history of demonology. Instead, he sets out to understand why theologians became interested in the subject - for this is a history of theological ideas about demons. The author summarises his explanation as follows: I propose that the date of the invention of demonology be moved forward by more than a century, not because a new doctrine was established and enforced then, as was the case in the fifteenth century, but because of the considerable procedural changes that assimilated witchcraft and invocations of the devil with the crime of heresy, which in turn led to new legal developments and more revelations. In addition, the injection of doctrinal content into the ancient theme of the devil's pact explained demoniac activity in the world. The issue that lies at the heart of these discussions about a pact with the devil, evil and evidence is obviously the emergence of our legal system. Alain Boureau is a director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.
Olivier Morin
How Traditions Are Born And Die Cultural Trans
A new approach to how culture is transmitted that helps us understand the multicultural society in which we live
Joël Dehasse
Everything About Dog Psychology
Joël Dehasse’s programme combines in varying proportions the six major types of exercise that dogs need daily: feeding activities, motor activities, vocal activities, chewing activities, game playing, and intellectual activities.
Salikoko S. Mufwene , Cécile Vigouroux
Colonisation, Globalisation and the Dynamism of the French Language
The future of the French language in the world, as seen by two internationally renowned experts
Pierre Roubertoux
Existe-t-il des gènes du comportement ?
Recent advances in genetic research have had widespread and far-reaching influences in fields as varied as animal and plant biology and medicine. They have also upset some ethical rules. Genetics today is in a triumphant, seductive phase, but its limits are yet to be defined. In this book, the eminent French geneticist Pierre Roubertoux argues that genetics has strayed too far from its justifiable areas of application. Soon, genetics may even be applied to the mind and to consciousness, just as it is already being applied to behaviour by scientists who contend that each type of conduct has its corresponding gene (this is tantamount to saying a specific gene is responsible for each virtue and each vice). Scientists who defend this theory say that they have discovered genes linked to various degrees of activity in mice and flies. Thus, intemperance and gluttony would be linked to a genetic partiality to alcohol, sugar or fats. Pride could be explained by a gene for dominance which has allegedly been found in mice. Greed, too, could be explained by a gene. The supposed existence of an infidelity gene was much in the news three years ago. This is a sound scientific synthesis which will enable readers to grasp the contribution of genetics to our comprehension of who and what we are. It should also help them resist the temptation of reducing everything to genetics. Pierre Roubertoux is a professor at the University of Aix-Marseille and a research fellow at the Institute of Physiological and Cognitive Neuroscience at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).
Françoise Héritier, Margarita Xanthakou
Body and Affects
The articles gathered here, written by eminent French anthropologists, present a novel angle on the way societies function. The writers argue that because societies are not abstract intellectual constructions, they cannot be dissociated from the physical individuals that constitute them, or from the affects (feelings and emotions) expressed by them. Included here are studies of Western and non-Western societies on such subjects as skin colour, religious rituals involving animals, witchcraft and flying sorcerers, passion in traditional North African cultures, and breast-feeding (both induced lactation to breastfeed infant girls and spontaneous lactation to breastfeed infant boys) in parts of Italy. Françoise Héritier is an anthropologist and teaches at the Collège de France. She is the author of Les Deux Soeurs et leur mère and Masculin/Féminin I and II, published by Editions Odile Jacob. Margarita Xanthakou, an anthropologist, is a research fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).
Philippe Moati
The Future of Large-Scale Distribution
Few phenomena have changed our urban centres as much as the birth of large-scale distribution: our towns ans cities have been transformed, as have our methods of purchasing, and even our places of social interaction have moved. This is perhaps only the beginning. In this book, Philippe Moati reviews the development of large-scale distribution during the three decades of prosperity that followed World War II and the economic crisis that succeeded them. He analyses the problems encountered by large-scale distribution today and examines the development strategies that are currently being put into practice and the revolutions which are perhaps to come. Philippe Moati teaches economics at the University of Paris-VII and is a director of research at CREDOC.
Jacques Lesourne, Denis Randet
The Research and Innovation in France FutuRIS 2013
The latest on research and innovation in France, described in the 2013 edition of FutuRIS’s annual opus
Dominique Wolton
Forms of Indiscipline
A brilliant, authoritative synthesis of Dominique Wolton’s thought and work
Michel Offerlé
A History of France’s MEDEF Employers’ Association
Organisation, power structure, lobbies, secrets: a history of the Movement of French Enterprises (MEDEF)
Jean-Pierre Changeux
The Life of Forms and the Forms of Life
Under the editorship of Jean-Pierre Changeux, a brilliant group of scientists and academics tackle the question of form
Christian de Duve
Seven Lives in One Nobel Prize winner's Memoirs
The life of an exceptional Nobel Prize winner, from childhood to scientific recognition and acclaim