Philosophy All books
Giulia Sissa
The Soul is a Feminine Being
Do women have a soul ? Philosophers have historically doubted this, refusing to accord women rationality. However, at the same time, they have been unable to imagine the soul without the help of feminine metaphors : the soul conceives, it is pregnant with knowledge, it gives birth in pain and distress but always with the help of someone. In reading classic texts such as Derrida, and deconstructing them while drawing comparisons with others and focusing on what may seem paradoxical, such as the many Freudian slips, Giulia Sissa leads us to interrogate ourselves on the exclusively feminine attributes of the Western soul. A radical questioning of the difference between the sexes which leads us to the most profound aspects of our culture.
Élisa Brune, Paul Qwest
Life as an Event What Art and Science Expand in Us
In this final book, Élisa Brune and Paul Qwest share a reflection that is as rich as it is stimulating on our relationship with knowledge. A reflection based on 66 strokes of genius in the arts and sciences.
Pierre-Henri Tavoillot
Better and better and worse and worse Understanding our world better, and using it with optimism
An antidote to the pessimistic discourse on decline, it shows that the only lucid and worthwhile attitude is to accept the limits of progress without renouncing confidence in the future. A book which reconnects with the idea of progress without falling either into naïvete or into demagogy.
Daniel C. Dennett
Evolutionist theory of freedom
Billions of years ago, there was no freedom on earth, for the simple reason that there was no life. What forms of freedom have evolved since the first stirrings of life? Can freedom and free will exist in a deterministic universe? If we are free, are we responsible for our freedom, or is it governed by chance? Drawing on evolutionary biology and the cognitive sciences, Daniel Dennett provides a series of unorthodox replies to these traditional philosophical questions. It is generally held that what is determined is inevitable and that freedom can only exist in a non-deterministic universe. This is untrue, says Dennett. It is also held that in a pre-determined universe, we have no real choices: all we have is the illusion that we can choose. This too is false, argues Dennett. He then goes on to explain how, some day, we will be able to create robots endowed with free will. In this groundbreaking book, written in a striking, lively style, Dennett interweaves philosophical creativity with the latest scientific developments, and challenges a series of philosophical orthodoxies. Daniel C. Dennett is University Professor and Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University, Mass., U.S.A. He is the author of Consciousness Explained and Darwin's Dangerous Idea.
Marc Crépon
The Desire to Resist A Critical Mind for Our Times
The struggle against all forms of authority, a critical mind, and the ability to think for ourselves, are the best weapons against those who want to convince us of our insignificance.