Philosophy All books
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.
Alain Séguy-Duclot
Defining Art
The general consensus is that art is impossible to define and that the evaluation of works of art is always subjective. Countering these affirmations, Alain Séguy-Duclot shows in this work that art can, in fact, be defined. Duchamp's readymades (industrial objects in series, snow shovels, wine racks, etc) constitute a point of departure for this reflection. He argues that, rather than showing that art was undefinable, the readymades proved that art was definable. It is this that Séguy-Duclot sets out to prove in this incisive and passionate work. Alain Séguy-Duclot is a philosopher, and a professor at the University of Tours.
Daniel C. Dennett
Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life
In this book, he confronts this approach with the ideas of Charles Darwin and Darwinism, and addresses the question of evolution. What are the implications of the theory of evolution by natural selection? Why is evolution such a disturbing idea, not only for religious believers but also for philosophers and even for some biologists? How does it affect the concept of mind? In the midst of the current neo-Darwinian wave, this book offers a timely dialogue between the ideas of an important contemporary philosopher and those of the greatest nineteenth-century biologist. Daniel C. Dennett teaches cognitive sciences at Tufts University.
Alain Prochiantz
Darwin: 200 Years
More than an homage to a great scientist, this book, written by eminent specialists, is a perfect introduction to understanding the impact of Darwinism on contemporary thinking and science
Jean-Denis Bredin, Thierry Lévy
Convince A Discussion of Eloquence
Two of France's most celebrated lawyers demonstrate the power of skillfuloration and how it can subordinate the actual facts. Anyone that is fascinated by speech, judicial history, and the art of debate, will truly enjoy gaining the knowledge, power and sense of conquest that this book imparts as they learn from the masters how to use eloquence advantageously. Entertaining, savage and brillant, this dialogue promises to help all with the art of elocution.
Daniel C. Dennett
Consciousness Explained
What is it that transforms a small piece of matter into an animated being? What is it that gives to certain physical structures the enigmatic privilege of feeling sensations and having experiences? Conscience. But what do we know about conscience? Daniel C. Dennet proposes a new explicative model founded on the modern revelations of psychology, neurology, and artificial intelligence. Daniel C. Dennett directs the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He is one of the leaders in the philosophy of the spirit in the United States.
Jean-François Bensahel
Confronting the New World Epistle to Paul and to Our Contemporaries
It so happens that a man was confronted with the same challenges, experienced the same anguish...
Alain Renaut, Geoffroy Lauvau
Conflictions in the Twenty-First Century
A strong and original thesis for an understanding of the new, contemporary social violence. Alain Renaut is a recognized philosopher, and his works, such as his Leçons de la philosophie, have enjoyed long-term sales.
Roger-Pol Droit
The Company of Philosophers
Roger-Pol Droit takes the reader on a voyage through time, spanning the centuries from Antiquity to the present, in a series of intellectual portraits of great and usual or remarkable thinkers, beginning with Socrates and Plato and ending with Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze. A major part of this volume is devoted to modern philosophers, from Kant to Heidegger. The author's goal is to stimulate new thought and to bring to life for the reader the vital ideas of past thinkers.
Roger-Pol Droit
The Company of Contemporaries
In this book, Droit reviews the works of some major contemporary thinkers: Bourdieu, Foucault, Girard, Habermas, Lévi-Strauss, Serres, and Vernant, among others. The interviews included here allow the reader to encounter biologists and sociologists, as well as anthropologists and psychoanalysts. Philosophers are well represented, but all the humanities have been included, and practically all major contemporary issues are considered, from bio-ethics to the end of history, from the construction of Europe to the rise of violence, from globalisation to the environment, from the development of science to political and religious extremism. Roger-Pol Droit is a philosopher and researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Michel Cassé, Edgar Morin
Children of the Sky Between Nothingness, Light and Matter
What is the universe, which we regard as "ours" not only because we live in it but because it produced us? This book is in the form of a dialogue on cosmology between the astrophysicist Michel Cassé and the philosopher Edgar Morin. It is a profound work which revels in the joy of knowledge and restores us to the universe that is in all of us, as it celebrates the "anthropo-cosmos". Michel Cassé is an astrophysicist at the Atomic Energy Commission. Edgar Morin is an internationally renowned writer and thinker.
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.
Régis Debray
Believe, See, Do Crossings
In this work, Régis Debray gives free rein to his thoughts and tackles the varied subject matter provided by daily events encountered " in the news, out of the blue, or through friendship or surprise, at a moments notice and without great forethought. " The subjects he writes about range from " the Gulf War to a photo exhibit, from Tatis Jour de Fête to copyright registration, from a daydream about water to a meditation on road travel. " Other works by Régis Debray published by Editions Odile Jacob include Que Vive la République!, Tous Azimuts, and Transmettre.
Jean-Claude Carrière
Belief
The impact of science is on the wane — while religious belief is omnipresent and all-powerful
François Tavoillot, Pierre-Henri Tavoillot
The Bee (and the) Philosopher An Amazing Journey into the Hive of Wisdom
The history of Western philosophy and culture, seen from the bee’s perspective
John Haugeland
Artificial Intelligence: The Very Idea
At once philosophical and instructive, this work offers a synthesis of a discipline that marks a revolution, both intellectual and technological, in the approach of the human spirit. John Haugeland teaches philosophy at the University of Pittsburg.
Yves Christen
Are Animals Philosophers? Kantian Chickens and Aristotelian Bonobos
Because animals, both human and non-human, are not the passive toys of the surrounding world but, on the contrary, active creators and because they are carriers of weltanschauung, I regard them as philosophers.
Florence Burgat
The Animal, My Relation
On one hand, men exploit, manipulate and slaughter animals. On the other hand, they let animals interfere with their lives, pollute them, and sometimes dominate them. Since the classical Age, Man has sought to define himself in his opposition to animals. Claiming for himself the most noble faculties - consciousness, thought, esthetic sense, morality - he represses his own animal side, notably his sexuality. But Florence Burgat goes beyond this negative statement. She walks in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's steps, claiming that men, like animals are sensitive beings, liable to suffer. On this basis, she proposes a new morality. Florence Burgat is a philosopher, and works at the Laboratory of Social Anthropology of the College of France.
