Human Sciences All books
Jean-Baptiste de Foucauld
The 3 Cultures of Human Development Resistance, Regulation, Utopia
Today, economic growth has taken off again, creating jobs and making full employment a feasible goal. And yet, at a time when we seem to be at the brink of a new recession, nothing seems to have really changed. Modernisation may exclude fewer members of our society than had been previously feared, but, if we are not careful, their exclusion will be all the greater. It is no longer possible to retain a soft procedural approach to democracy. Democracy needs to return to its origins; it must be given a goal, based on a strong vision of humanity and of humanity as part of society. It is necessary to construct human development along the lines of three political and spiritual cultures which represent our common heritage : resistance, regulation and utopia. Jean-Baptiste de Foucauld is a senior official in the French Treasury. Until 1995 he was a commissioner of Frances economic plan. He is active in numerous think-tanks and associations that struggle against social exclusion and unemployment.
Xavier Fontanet
Pull Together, Everyone! We can succeed and rise again
Through his columns in Les Echos, of which he offers us an enriched and updated selection, Xavier Fontanet finds substantial resonance in the media and among economic and political circles. A fundamentally optimistic book, which considers that everyone — citizen, consumer, entrepreneur — can take control of their destiny and contribute to the collective good.
Yves-Alain Fontaine
The Sentimental Evolution
In the course of development, our way of living is fashioned by the world around us, but it is also shaped by discrete characteristics such as nature and the intensity of emotions like anxiety and egoism. From this point of departure, the author draws analogies about the ways in which we are human individuals and members of a species, and proffers the theory that, in the evolutionary process, there is also a sort of anxiety and egoism at work. Evolution, he suggests, might very well be both sentimental and selective. Yves Alain Fontaine is an honorary professor at the National Museum of Natural History.
Yves-Alain Fontaine
Eels and Man
In this book, the author, an expert in his field, describes the most fascinating stages in the eels biological cycle, its migrations and the modifications it undergoes during its life. Eels interest us not only because of their life and breeding cycles, but also because of the questions they raise concerning our ideas about evolution. Does the notion of adaptation suffice to explain everything the eel has become? Doesnt a living creature maintain a certain amount of independence in relation to the world that surrounds it? Or is the relationship between a living creature and the environment which surrounds it more complex that we have generally realised ?
Jerry Fodor
The Mind Doesn't Work That Way The Scope and Limits of Computational Psychology
In this book, one of the most eminent figures in the field of cognition reviews his most recent views on the subject, and questions the validity of recent attempts to combine the computational theory of mind with psychological nativism and with biological principles borrowed from Darwinian evolutionary theory. Fodor goes on to examine the question that has remained unanswered for the past fifty years: is the mind a computer? This is a fascinating lesson of philosophical and scientific modesty. Jerry Fodor is a professor of philosophy at Rutgers University.
Claude Fischler, Véronique Pardo
Special Diets
In many countries, restrictive diets are changing individual eating habits — and profoundly altering the way we relate to one another.
Claude Fischler
Of Wine
The true wine lover is a rare breed. He doesnt pontificate, instead he asks questions and reflects. When faced with a pompous connoisseur he shuts his eyes so he can sip and taste undisturbed. Which of the two categories do you belong to, reader? Are you a true lover of Bordeaux or a connoisseur of burgundy? What is it that you like about wine? Is it the knowledge that surrounds it or the pleasure it affords? Is it the prestige of a label or the authenticity of its origin? What do all these categories really stand for? The mythology of wine is examined and deciphered in loving detail. Claude Fischler is a sociologist and researcher at Frances Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Luc Ferry, Axel Kahn
Legalize Euthanasia?
Based on a comparison of euthanasia legislation in several countries and an analysis of specific cases revealing the paradoxes of contemporary individualistic values...
Nicolas Bouzou, Luc Ferry
Youth Today
Reflections on youth today and on how to improve its future, by two major experts