Human Sciences All books
Annick Le Guérer, Bruno Fourn
Scents and Sound, an Unexpected Association
The mysterious voice-scent synaesthesis
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.
Françoise Héritier
The Salt of Life (Collector)
In this wonderful little book that literally sparkles with wisdom, Françoise Héritier incites us to play a game with our own memories
Françoise Héritier
The Salt of Life
In this wonderful little book that literally sparkles with wisdom, Françoise Héritier incites us to play a game with our own memories
Fouazia Farida Charfi
Sacred Questions A modern and re-imagined Islam
1.The two chapters on Islam explain in easy terms, accessible to all, the essentials of Islam and the reflections of the great Arab thinkers on the texts. A feminine point of view, modern and updated, on Islam: religious education, the meaning of the veil in Tunisia, observing Ramadan… A scientist and Secretary of State in 2011, Farida Faouzia Charfi is a major figure in Tunisian political life.
Jean-Pierre Mohen
Rites of the Afterlife
Humans define themselves in the way they relate to death. Funerary rites are the manifestation of this essential relationship to the afterlife
Christian Saint-Étienne
Rise Again, France State of emergency
What is to be done to make France succeed again?
Mario Bettati
The Right of Interference Transformation of International Order
Inventor of the "right of interference", Mario Bettati, a professor of International Law, explains in this book the precise political circumstances and the legal context under which the right of humanitarian interference came about. This book is divided into four parts which follow both a chronological and a logical order. Beginning with interference as verbal denunciation, following with interference as medical assistance, he speaks of forced interference (Yugoslavia, Somalia and Rwanda) and finishes by dissuasive interference (courts for crimes against humanity and conflicts observatories). A thorough presentation of an important subject.
Patrice Debré
Revolutions in Biology and the Human Condition
A reflection on the prowess and the promises of biotechnologies, this text also casts a critical light on the transhumanist project.
André Lévy-Lang
The Revolution of Finance: Act II
Precise, concrete, this book will enthrall anyone who is interested in economics and finance and in new technologies.
Jacques Lesourne
Rethinking the 21st Century Through Its Crises
Global warming, melting ice caps, the Middle East conflict, Chinese economic development, extreme poverty in Darfur, decreasing biodiversity: hardly a day goes by when these subjects are not in the news...
Marc Augé
Resuscitated
A realistic and almost contemporary story that questions the progress of medicine and our quest for immortality.
Jacques Lesourne, Denis Randet
Research and innovation in France 2016 Futuris 2016
The tenth annual instalment in a series dedicated to research and innovation.
Jacques Lesourne, Denis Randet
Research and Innovation in France FutuRIS 2014-2015
The latest on research and innovation in France, described in the ninth edition of FutuRIS’s yearbook
Jacques Lesourne, Denis Randet
Research and Innovation in France FutuRIS 2010
A standard work for an understanding of innovation in France and of the means at its disposal...
Jacques Lesourne, Denis Randet
Research and Innovation in France FutuRIS 2011
With a view to the 2011 French presidential elections, here are a series of proposals that offer the middle classes the future perspectives they deserve
Jacques Lesourne, Denis Randet
Research and Innovation in France FutuRIS 2009
The present work is proposed by FutuRIS (Future, Research, Innovation, Society), a study programme on research and innovation developed within ANRT.
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
Renaud Lassus
The Renaissance of America foreword to Pascal Lamy
An essential contribution for an understanding of what is at stake in the 2020 presidential election.
Jean Picq
Religious Freedom in the French Republic Restoring the Spirit of French Secularism
‘Laïcité’ has been at the heart of numerous debates in France. The author argues here for a multifaceted, open secularism.
Claude Hagège
Religions, the Word and Peace
A unique and original contribution, both erudite and mordant, from a specialist, on the question of the ties between violence and religions, which is such a crucial one in today’s world.
