Philosophy All books
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.
Jean-Pierre Changeux, Paul Ricœur
What Makes Us Think Nature and Rules
'The intention of this book was to put a scientist and a philosopher face to face and spark a dialogue between them on neuroscience, on their results and projects, and their ability to carry out a debate on ethics, its norms, and on peace. In France, ideas are rarely openly discussed. Serious debates are too often hindered by dogmatic statements, one-sided criticisms, incomprehensible discussions and glib mockery, with little or no thought for the solidity of the arguments, which aim only to appear plausible or worthy of being argued, rather than convincing. A totally free and open dialogue between a scientist and a philosopher is necessarily a highly unusual experience for both.' Paul Ricur and Jean-Pierre Changeux Paul Ricur is an honorary professor at the University of Paris-X and an emeritus professor at the University of Chicago. Jean-Pierre Changeux, a member of the French Academy of Science, teaches at the College of France and the Pasteur Institute.
Rita Levi Montalcini
Against All the Odds
What do Primo Levi, the author of one of the most powerful accounts of life in a Nazi death camp, and Max Delbrück, one of the founding fathers of molecular biology, have in common? The answer is that they--as well as the others described in this book--were able to face the trials and tribulations of their lives with exceptional courage, and without losing their sense of humanity. Through a series of portraits, drawn with great warmth and restraint, Rita Levi Montalcini recounts the course of several exemplary lives. Rita Levi Montalcini taught neurobiology at Washington University for thirty years.
Christian Delacampagne
Of Indifference An Essay on the Banalization of Good and Evil
What can we forget, and what had we best remember? What is "good" and what is "bad" indifference? Christian Delacampagne proposes a re-evaluation of genocide and of crimes against humanity in the face of an intellectual confusion that leads, according to Hannah Arendt, to a real "banalization of evil." Christian Delacampagne is a philosopher and a journalist at Le Monde.
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.
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.
Roger-Pol Droit, Dan Sperber
Ideas on the Way
What ideas can we expect to see develop in the coming years? And how will they modify our conceptions of thought? What impact will they have on our personal existence, our daily reality, our rules for life? Will the intellectual models that are now emerging soon be influencing policy decisions? At a moment as symbolic as the beginning of a new millenium, we wanted to bring together the elements of thought which permit us to better respond to these questions." Roger-Pol Droit and Dan Sperber Both authors work at the Centre National de Rècherche Scientifique.
Daniel Sibony
Giving Yourself or Sharing Yourself ?
How can one be oneself without denying others? How can one consider others without negating oneself? How can one avoid the two extremes of complete selfishness and total self-sacrifice ? What if the ethics of the other, of responsibility for others which can lead us to risk our lives for others resulted not only in a dead-end (inefficient action, lack of action, justification of past actions) but also kept us from knowing ourselves and, consequently, others and the true nature of our relations with them? Daniel Sibony was trained as a philosopher and is a practising psychoanalyst.
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.
