Is blindsight possible under signal detection theory? Comment on Phillips (2021).MathiasMichel &Hakwan Lau -2021 -Psychological Review 128 (3):585-591.detailsPhillips argues that blindsight is due to response criterion artefacts under degraded conscious vision. His view provides alternative explanations for some studies, but may not work well when one considers several key findings in conjunction. Empirically, not all criterion effects are decidedly non-perceptual. Awareness is not completely abolished for some stimuli, in some patients. But in other cases, it was clearly impaired relative to the corresponding visual sensitivity. This relative dissociation is what makes blindsight so important and interesting.
The Ontology for Biomedical Investigations.Anita Bandrowski,Ryan Brinkman,Mathias Brochhausen,Matthew H. Brush,Bill Bug,Marcus C. Chibucos,Kevin Clancy,Mélanie Courtot,Dirk Derom,Michel Dumontier,Liju Fan,Jennifer Fostel,Gilberto Fragoso,Frank Gibson,Alejandra Gonzalez-Beltran,Melissa A. Haendel,Yongqun He,Mervi Heiskanen,Tina Hernandez-Boussard,Mark Jensen,Yu Lin,Allyson L. Lister,Phillip Lord,James Malone,Elisabetta Manduchi,Monnie McGee,Norman Morrison,James A. Overton,Helen Parkinson,Bjoern Peters,Philippe Rocca-Serra,Alan Ruttenberg,Susanna-Assunta Sansone,Richard H. Scheuermann,Daniel Schober,Barry Smith,Larisa N. Soldatova,Christian J. Stoeckert,Chris F. Taylor,Carlo Torniai,Jessica A. Turner,Randi Vita,Patricia L. Whetzel &Jie Zheng -2016 -PLoS ONE 11 (4):e0154556.detailsThe Ontology for Biomedical Investigations (OBI) is an ontology that provides terms with precisely defined meanings to describe all aspects of how investigations in the biological and medical domains are conducted. OBI re-uses ontologies that provide a representation of biomedical knowledge from the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) project and adds the ability to describe how this knowledge was derived. We here describe the state of OBI and several applications that are using it, such as adding semantic expressivity to (...) existing databases, building data entry forms, and enabling interoperability between knowledge resources. OBI covers all phases of the investigation process, such as planning, execution and reporting. It represents information and material entities that participate in these processes, as well as roles and functions. Prior to OBI, it was not possible to use a single internally consistent resource that could be applied to multiple types of experiments for these applications. OBI has made this possible by creating terms for entities involved in biological and medical investigations and by importing parts of other biomedical ontologies such as GO, Chemical Entities of Biological Interest (ChEBI) and Phenotype Attribute and Trait Ontology (PATO) without altering their meaning. OBI is being used in a wide range of projects covering genomics, multi-omics, immunology, and catalogs of services. OBI has also spawned other ontologies (Information Artifact Ontology) and methods for importing parts of ontologies (Minimum information to reference an external ontology term (MIREOT)). The OBI project is an open cross-disciplinary collaborative effort, encompassing multiple research communities from around the globe. To date, OBI has created 2366 classes and 40 relations along with textual and formal definitions. The OBI Consortium maintains a web resource providing details on the people, policies, and issues being addressed in association with OBI. (shrink)
International Consensus Based Review and Recommendations for Minimum Reporting Standards in Research on Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation.Adam D. Farmer,Adam Strzelczyk,Alessandra Finisguerra,Alexander V. Gourine,Alireza Gharabaghi,Alkomiet Hasan,Andreas M. Burger,Andrés M. Jaramillo,Ann Mertens,Arshad Majid,Bart Verkuil,Bashar W. Badran,Carlos Ventura-Bort,Charly Gaul,Christian Beste,Christopher M. Warren,Daniel S. Quintana,Dorothea Hämmerer,Elena Freri,Eleni Frangos,Eleonora Tobaldini,Eugenijus Kaniusas,Felix Rosenow,Fioravante Capone,Fivos Panetsos,Gareth L. Ackland,Gaurav Kaithwas,Georgia H. O'Leary,Hannah Genheimer,Heidi I. L. Jacobs,Ilse Van Diest,Jean Schoenen,Jessica Redgrave,Jiliang Fang,Jim Deuchars,Jozsef C. Széles,Julian F. Thayer,Kaushik More,Kristl Vonck,Laura Steenbergen,Lauro C. Vianna,Lisa M. McTeague,Mareike Ludwig,Maria G. Veldhuizen,Marijke De Couck,Marina Casazza,Marius Keute,Marom Bikson,Marta Andreatta,Martina D'Agostini,Mathias Weymar,Matthew Betts,Matthias Prigge,Michael Kaess,Michael Roden,Michelle Thai,Nathaniel M. Schuster &Nico Montano -2021 -Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 14.detailsGiven its non-invasive nature, there is increasing interest in the use of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation across basic, translational and clinical research. Contemporaneously, tVNS can be achieved by stimulating either the auricular branch or the cervical bundle of the vagus nerve, referred to as transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation and transcutaneous cervical VNS, respectively. In order to advance the field in a systematic manner, studies using these technologies need to adequately report sufficient methodological detail to enable comparison of results between (...) studies, replication of studies, as well as enhancing study participant safety. We systematically reviewed the existing tVNS literature to evaluate current reporting practices. Based on this review, and consensus among participating authors, we propose a set of minimal reporting items to guide future tVNS studies. The suggested items address specific technical aspects of the device and stimulation parameters. We also cover general recommendations including inclusion and exclusion criteria for participants, outcome parameters and the detailed reporting of side effects. Furthermore, we review strategies used to identify the optimal stimulation parameters for a given research setting and summarize ongoing developments in animal research with potential implications for the application of tVNS in humans. Finally, we discuss the potential of tVNS in future research as well as the associated challenges across several disciplines in research and clinical practice. (shrink)
La PraxisMichel Henry.Mathias Gibert -2013 -Revue Internationale Michel Henry 4:139-161.detailsCette étude tente d’analyser la place que tient l’action dans une phénoménologie de la vie. L’auteur montre comment Maine de Biran et Marx sont relus (et parfois modifiés dans leur trajectoire herméneutique) au prisme d’une phénoménologie de l’immanence radicale et d’une théorie ontologique de la passivité, en insistant sur les rapports entre corps originaire et corps organique, eux-mêmes relus dans le cadre historique des « philosophies spiritualistes ». Si M. Henry insiste sur le rôle des pouvoirs dans la compréhension de (...) la corporéité, c’est parce que celle-ci est perçue comme un « pathos immédiat qui détermine notre corps de fond en comble avant qu’il se lève vers le monde ». L’auteur de cette étude pense voir ici une « dé-mondanéisation » de l’ego et sans doute un processus de subjectivisation radicale, au point qu’il souhaite ouvrir un dialogue avec ce qu’il nomme un point de vue matérialiste ou, à tout le moins, les besoins dits « matériels ». (shrink)
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Governmentality and Statification: Towards a Foucauldian Theory of the State.Mathias Hein Jessen &Nicolai von Eggers -2020 -Theory, Culture and Society 37 (1):53-72.detailsThis article contributes to governmentality studies and state theory by discussing how to understand the centrality and importance of the state from a governmentality perspective. It uses Giorgio Agamben’s critique ofMichel Foucault’s governmentality approach as a point of departure for re-investigating Foucault as a thinker of the state. It focuses on Foucault’s notion of the state as a process of ‘statification’ which emphasizes the state as something constantly produced and reproduced by processes and practices of government, administration and (...) acclamation. As a result of this, the state appears as a given entity which is necessary for the multiplicity of governmental technologies and practices in modern society to function. Only by reference to the state can governmental practices be effective and legitimized. Finally, the article conceptualizes the centrality of the state through Foucault’s (preliminary) notions of the state as a ‘practico-reflexive prism’ and a ‘principle of intelligibility’. (shrink)
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Le Marx deMichel Henry : une phénoménologie critique de la valeur?Mathias Gibert -2022 -Alter: revue de phénoménologie 29:137-153.detailsEn 1990, lors de l’effondrement de l’URSS, Henry publie Du communisme au capitalisme, dans lequel, loin des célébrations de la « fin de l’histoire » ou du « triomphe de la liberté » et sans complaisance pour le marxisme, il dénonce une victoire de « l’empire de la mort », c’est-à-dire de l’univers « techno-économique » sur le monde de la vie, reprenant sa critique de l’idéologie techno-scientifique, élaborée quelques années auparavant dans La barbarie. Or, si la philosophie de Henry (...) est souv... (shrink)
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Principle or constructive relativity.Mathias Frisch -2011 -Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 42 (3):176-183.detailsI examine Harvey Brown’s account of relativity as dynamic and constructive theory andMichel Janssen recent criticism of it. By contrasting Einstein’s principle-constructive distinction with a related distinction by Lorentz, I argue that Einstein's distinction presents a false dichotomy. Appealing to Lorentz’s distinction, I argue that there is less of a disagreement between Brown and Janssen than appears initially and, hence, that Brown’s view presents less of a departure from orthodoxy than it may seem. Neither the kinematics-dynamics distinction nor (...) Einstein’s principle- and constructive theory distinction ultimately capture their disagreement, which may instead be a disagreement about the role of modality in science and the explanatory force of putatively nomic constraints. (shrink)
Myriam Bienenstock et Michèle Crampe-Casnabet (dir.), Dans quelle mesure la philosophie est pratique. Fichte, Hegel, avec la collaboration de Jean-François Goubet Lyon, ENS Éditions (Theoria), 2000, 275 p., 22 euros. [REVIEW]Mathias Goy -2006 -Astérion 4 (4).detailsDans sa présentation, Myriam Bienenstock évoque l’interrogation qui fait l’unité philosophique de ce recueil, issu d’un colloque qui s’est tenu en avril 1999 à la maison Heinrich Heine et à l’ENS de Fontenay/Saint-Cloud, associant des chercheurs français et étrangers autour d’une question posée par Hegel dans un fragment de 1801 (publié en 1998). Il s’agit pour Hegel d’interroger la relation de la philosophie avec la vie, le besoin de philosophie ne portant « en fin de compte, sur rien d’autr..
The Uses and Abuses of Apology.Mihaela Mihai &Mathias Thaler (eds.) -2014 - Palgrave MacMillan.details"Recent decades have witnessed a sharp rise in the number of state apologies for historical and more recent injustices, ranging from enslavement to displacement and from violations of treaties to war crimes, all providing the backdrop to displays of official regret. Featuring a host of leading authors in the field, this book seeks to contribute to the growing literature on official apologies by effectively combining philosophical reflection and empirical analysis. It achieves two interrelated goals: it enriches the theoretical debates on (...) the nature and functions of apologies while bringing forth new insights from hitherto unexamined normative horizons. It further addresses often overlooked aspects of political apologies, such as their non-verbal dimension as well as religious overtones, while testing theoretical reflections through encounters with real practices of state apologies. Finally, the book explores the obstacles to, and the limitations of, political apologies. The result is an excellent interdisciplinary volume that affords the reader a better understanding of conditions for a legitimate and successful state apology. -/- TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction PART I: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS 2. Beyond the Ideal Political Apology; Alice MacLachlan 3. Political Apologies and Categorical Apologies; Nick Smith PART II: RITES AND RITUALS OF REGRET 4. From Mea Culpa to Nostra Culpa: A Reparative Apology from the Catholic Church?; Danielle Celermajer 5. The Power of Ritual Ceremonies in State Apologies: An Empirical Analysis of the Bilateral Polish-Russian Commemoration Ceremony in Katyn in 2010;Michel-André Horelt 6. Confessing the Holocaust: The Evolution of German Guilt; Stefan Engert PART III: CHALLENGING CASES 7. Revisiting the 'Membership Theory of Apologies': Apology Politics in Australia and Canada; Melissa Nobles 8. The Canadian Apology To Indigenous Residential School Survivors: A Case Study of Re-Negotiation of Social Relations; Neil Funk-Unrau 9. What Makes a State Apology Authoritative? Lessons from Post-Authoritarian Brazil; Nina Schneider PART IV: OBSTACLES AND LIMITATIONS 10. The Apology in Democracies: Reflections on the Challenges of Competing Goods, Citizenship, Nationalism and Pluralist Politics; Michael Cunningham 11. An Apology for Public Apologies; Juan Espindola 12. Reasoning Like a State: Integration and the Limits of Official Regret; Cindy Holder". (shrink)
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"Discipline and Punish.Michel Foucault -1975 - Vintage Books.detailsIn the Middle Ages there were gaols and dungeons, but punishment was for the most part a spectacle. The economic changes and growing popular dissent of the 18th century made necessary a more systematic control over the individual members of society, and this in effect meant a change from punishment, which chastised the body, to reform, which touched the soul.
The molecular vista: current perspectives on molecules and life in the twentieth century.Mathias Grote,Lisa Onaga,Angela N. H. Creager,Soraya de Chadarevian,Daniel Liu,Gina Surita &Sarah E. Tracy -2021 -History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 43 (1):1-18.detailsThis essay considers how scholarly approaches to the development of molecular biology have too often narrowed the historical aperture to genes, overlooking the ways in which other objects and processes contributed to the molecularization of life. From structural and dynamic studies of biomolecules to cellular membranes and organelles to metabolism and nutrition, new work by historians, philosophers, and STS scholars of the life sciences has revitalized older issues, such as the relationship of life to matter, or of physicochemical inquiries to (...) biology. This scholarship points to a novel molecular vista that opens up a pluralist view of molecularizations in the twentieth century and considers their relevance to current science. (shrink)
John Coltrane, la Musique Sans Raison: Esquisses d'Une Philosophie Imaginaire, Essai Pour Une Phénoménologie du Jazz.Michel Arcens -2012 - Alter Ego.detailsDe quoi s'agit-il donc dans ces pages ? De rien moins que de " comprendre ", au sens premier, Coltrane et sa musique et, à travers celui-ci et celle-là (c'est tout un, Arcens le démontre), d'atteindre à l'ipséité même du jazz. Vaste programme pour lequel l'auteur mobilise écrivains, poètes, philosophes - singulièrementMichel Henry et sa phénoménologie. Tant il est vrai, assure-t-il, qu'" une philosophie esthétique, une philosophie tout entière fondée sur l'esthétique est, au fond d'elle déjà, une phénoménologie. (...) " C'est aussi un voyage auquelMichel Arcens convie son lecteur... et qui n'est pas de tout repos. II se mérite. II est de l'ordre du pèlerinage, semé d'aspérités, d'apories contournées avec une maîtrise confondante. Mais la clarté nouménale, dans le sens husserlien du terme, sur laquelle il débouche, vaut qu'on l'entreprenne et le mène à son terme. Impossible, après la lecture de ce livre, d'écouter John Coltrane (ou n'importe quel autre musicien de jazz) avec les oreilles d'antan. (shrink)
Vom Nutzen und Nachteil der politischen Theorie und Ideengeschichte: Rainer Schmalz-Bruns zum Gedenken.Oliver Flügel-Martinsen &Dirk Jörke (eds.) -2022 - Baden-Baden: Nomos.detailsDie Beiträge des vorliegenden Bandes gedenken Rainer Schmalz-Bruns', indem sie drei wesentliche Dimensionen seines Denkens weiterverfolgen: In Teil I stehen Anschlüsse an Rainer Schmalz-Bruns' Werk im Zentrum. Teil II dient einer umfassenden und kontroversen Diskussion der Politischen Theorie und Ideengeschichte und ihrer Beziehung zur Politikwissenschaft. Teil III schreitet Forschungsfelder und Gegenstände der Politischen Theorie und Ideengeschichte ab. Ein Anhang versammelt Nachrufe und Erinnerungen. Mit Beiträgen vonMathias Albert, Harald Bluhm, Hauke Brunkhorst, Hubertus Buchstein, Alex Demirovic, Oliver Eberl, Karsten Fischer, (...) Oliver Flügel-Martinsen, Rainer Forst, Dirk Jörke, Ansgar Klein, Michèle Knodt, Bettina Koch, Regina Kreide, Claudia Landwehr, Marcus Llanque, Franziska Martinsen, Peter Niesen, Frank Nullmeier, Emanuel Richter, Thomas Saretzki, Andreas Vasilache und Michael Zürn. (shrink)
Surfaces of action: cells and membranes in electrochemistry and the life sciences.Mathias Grote -2010 -Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 41 (3):183-193.detailsThe term ‘cell’, in addition to designating fundamental units of life, has also been applied since the nineteenth century to technical apparatuses such as fuel and galvanic cells. This paper shows that such technologies, based on the electrical effects of chemical reactions taking place in containers, had a far-reaching impact on the concept of the biological cell. My argument revolves around the controversy over oxidative phosphorylation in bioenergetics between 1961 and 1977. In this scientific conflict, a two-level mingling of technological (...) culture, physical chemistry and biological research can be observed. First, Peter Mitchell explained the chemiosmotic hypothesis of energy generation by representing cellular membrane processes via an analogy to fuel cells. Second, in the associated experimental scrutiny of membranes, material cell models were devised that reassembled spatialized molecular processes in vitro. Cells were thus modelled both on paper and in the test tube not as morphological structures but as compartments able to perform physicochemical work. The story of cells and membranes in bioenergetics points out the role that theories and practices in physical chemistry had in the molecularization of life. These approaches model the cell as a ‘topology of molecular action’, as I will call it, and it involves concepts of spaces, surfaces and movements. They epitomize an engineer’s vision of the organism that has influenced diverse fields in today’s life sciences. (shrink)
Climate Modelling: Philosophical and Conceptual Issues.Elisabeth A. Lloyd &Eric Winsberg (eds.) -2018 - Springer Verlag.details1. Introduction; Elisabeth A. Lloyd and Eric Winsberg.- Section 1: Confirmation and Evidence.- 2. The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change: How Do We Know We’re Not Wrong?; Naomi Oreskes.- 3. Satellite Data and Climate Models Redux.- 3a. Introduction to Chapter 3: Satellite Data and Climate Models; Elisabeth A. Lloyd.- Ch. 3b Fact Sheet to "Consistency of Modelled and Observed Temperature Trends in the Tropical Troposphere"; Benjamin D. Santer et al..- Ch. 3c Reprint of "Consistency of Modelled and Observed Temperature Trends (...) in the Tropical Troposphere"; Benjamin D. Santer et al..- 4. The Role of ’Complex’ Empiricism in the Debates about Satellite Data and Climate Models; Elisabeth A. Lloyd.- 5. Reconciling Climate Model/Data Discrepancies: The Case of the Trees That Didn’t Bark; Michael Mann.- 6. Downscaling of Climate Information; Linda O. Mearns et al..- Section 2: Uncertainties and Robustness.- 7. The Significance of Robust Model Projections; Wendy S. Parker.- 8. Building Trust, Removing Doubt? Robustness Analysis and Climate Modeling; Jay Odenbaugh.- Section 3: Climate Models as Guides to Policy.- 9. Climate Model Confirmation: From Philosophy to Predicting Climate in the Real World; Reto Knutti.- 10. Uncertainty in Climate Science and Climate Policy; Jonathan Rougier andMichel Crucifix.- 11. Communicating Uncertainty to Policy Makers: The Ineliminable Role of Values; Eric Winsberg.- 12. Modeling Climate Policies: A Critical Look at Integrated Assessment Models;Mathias Frisch.- 13. Modelling Mitigation and Adaptation Policies to Predict their Effectiveness: The Limits of Randomized Controlled Trials; Alexandre Marcellesi and Nancy D. Cartwright. (shrink)
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On a Certain Blindness in Political Matters.Michel Weber -2011 -Cosmos and History : The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy 7 (2):204-235.detailsThis essay argues for two complementary theses, one pertaining to epistemology and the other to politics. First, unless philosophy adopts a radical empiricist standpoint and seeks the uttermost generalities, it cannot differentiate itself from yet another form of limited expertise and becomes useless. Second, both radical empiricism and imaginative pragmatism lead the philosopher towards the left end of the political spectrum, i.e., to a radically progressive politics.
Théorie et pratique du collectivisme oligarchique: le complot de la grande réinitialisation n'aura pas lieu.Michel Weber -2021 - [Brussels]: Les Éditions Chromatika.detailsLa crise covidienne se poursuit depuis plus d'un an, laissant un sentiment d'inquiétante étrangeté chez chacun.
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La science en question(s).Michel Wieviorka (ed.) -2014 - Auxerre: Éditions Sciences humaines.detailsSouvent, la science est associée à l'idée de progrès et d'émancipation des peuples. Il en fut ainsi au temps des Lumières, puis sous la Révolution française. Elle est parfois aussi contestée en raison même du progrès et de ses conséquences: destruction de la nature, productivisme à outrance... Les scientifiques sont alors considérés comme indifférents aux valeurs humanistes, acteurs d'une " science sans conscience " au service des pires projets, totalitaires, racistes, brutalement colonisateurs. A quelles conditions la science peut-elle aujourd'hui avancer (...) et faire avancer l'homme? Faut-il généraliser le principe de précaution? Dans un monde où la science est financée, organisée ou stimulée d'une part par la puissance publique et d'autre part par le marché, qui décide in fine? Comment faire vivre le lien entre liberté des scientifiques et progrès social? Quels sont les rapports entre démocratie et science? Et, si la science a encore un avenir, quel est-il? (shrink)
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Pythagore juste et parfait: philosophie ou ésotérisme?Michel Weber -2018 - [Mazy]: Les Éditions Chromatika.detailsQuel est le secret de Pythagore? On pourrait avancer que, par défi nition, s'il y a secret, il est caché et n’est pas dévoilable, ou ne sera pas dévoilé. Le vrai secret est celui dont on ne soupçonne même pas l’existence. On peut toutefois approcher tangentiellement le coeur du pythagorisme à partir d’un idéal qui a traversé les âges.
Purple Matter, Membranes and 'Molecular Pumps' in Rhodopsin Research (1960s–1980s).Mathias Grote -2013 -Journal of the History of Biology 46 (3):331-368.detailsIn the context of 1960s research on biological membranes, scientists stumbled upon a curiously coloured material substance, which became called the “purple membrane.” Interactions with the material as well as chemical analyses led to the conclusion that the microbial membrane contained a photoactive molecule similar to rhodopsin, the light receptor of animals’ retinae. Until 1975, the find led to the formation of novel objects in science, and subsequently to the development of a field in the molecular life sciences that comprised (...) biophysics, bioenergetics as well as membrane and structural biology. Furthermore, the purple membrane and bacteriorhodopsin, as the photoactive membrane transport protein was baptized, inspired attempts at hybrid bio-optical engineering throughout the 1980s. A central motif of the research field was the identification of a functional biological structure, such as a membrane, with a reactive material substance that could be easily prepared and manipulated. Building on this premise, early purple membrane research will be taken as a case in point to understand the appearance and transformation of objects in science through work with material substances. Here, the role played by a perceptible material and its spontaneous change of colour, or reactivity, casts a different light on objects and experimental practices in the late twentieth century molecular life sciences. With respect to the impact of chemical working and thinking, the purple membrane and rhodopsins represent an influential domain straddling the life and chemical sciences as well as bio- and material technologies, which has received only little historical and philosophical attention. Re-drawing the boundary between the living and the non-enlivened, these researches explain and model organismic activity through the reactivity of macromolecular structures, and thus palpable material substances. (shrink)