La critique du nationalisme de la "Semaine Sociale de Bordeaux" à la "Lutte pour la civilisation et la philosophie de la paix"

Over a long period the philosopher, Maurice Blondel, was an outspoken critic of exaggerated nationalism. The series of articles that appeared in 1909-10 in the Annales de philosophie chrétienne under the title of « La Semaine sociale de Bordeaux », and later were published in book form, contained a philosophically and theologically motivated critique of the early support shown by French Catholics for the doctrinaire nationalism of Charles Maurras. In 1928 Blondel returned to a critique of this same nationalism in his detailed article « Patrie et Humanité ». But the further criticism of nationalism contained in parts of his book Lutte pour la civilisation et philosophie de la paix, which was published in 1939 (and anew in 1947 in a slightly revised edition), was of a different order, being focused on the nationalism associated with what Blondel termed totalitarisme in its then German or Nazi form. Despite this record, it would be a mistake to assume that Blondel was an internationalist fitting clearly into the Briand mould. After the First World War Blondel favoured the hard-line foreign policy advocated by Poincaré and Foch, in particular over the future of the Rhineland. And he remained a conservative Catholic. His book of 1939 denounced not only totalitarisme in both its Nazi and Soviet forms, but also, on an opposing front, liberalism in the social and economic sphere. As to the deleterious effect of nationalism on international relations, he was an advocate of strengthening international law, notably the corpus of law emanating from The Hague. Maurice Blondel was greatly admired by Robert Schuman, the prominent French foreign minister under the Fourth Republic and a key figure for post-war European integration.

Zwei Wege zur 'Aufhellung der Finsternisse in der Welt'. Zum untergründigen Wechselverhältnis von Literatur & Malerei bei Thomas Bernhard & Francis Bacon:for subterranean exchange relationship between literature and painting in Thomas Bernhard & Francis Bacon

This chapter undertakes the first examination of the role the fine arts play in Thomas Bernhard’s prose works. Though not as prominent as the role of music, painting and the fine arts play a crucial role in Frost and Alte Meister; these two novels coincidentally also happen to be the first and last novels written by Bernhard. This chapter takes its cue from the positive role awarded to Francis Bacon in the novel Das Kalkwerk. Comparing and contrasting the relation and influence between the art of Bacon and the literature of Bernhard, I am able to demonstrate a number of surprising analogies. Following a brief biographical synopsis, I focus on four aesthetic operations that are crucial to both artists. Using the key terms of ‘middle way’, ‘variation’, ‘vibration’ and ‘mediation’, I am able to uncover surprising similarities between the novels and the paintings. These hidden connections are further confirmed by looking at the two artists’ shared major motifs, namely the slaughterhouse, the scream, the relation between animals and humans, and pain. This bleak outlook on the state of human civilisation that these two major artists of the end of the 20th century share, embodies both a warning and a prophesy for the 21st century.

Epiphanien unter eiskaltem Himmel. Zum Prosawerk von Klaus Böldl:for prose work of Klaus Böldl

This essay undertakes the first critical assessment of Klaus Böldl's prose works and discusses the position his three published books hold within the context of contemporary German literature. After an introductory examination of Böldl's contribution to the literary portrayal of the peripheral, in this instance the North European/Scandinavian hemisphere, a contrastive analysis of the plots identifies recurring patterns and motifs. In the main part of the essay, the two focal characteristics of Böldl's writings are explored in depth: the narrative destruction of the threshold between natural history and civilisation, as well as the function of transcendental experiences reminiscent of epiphanies. With reference to theoretical writings by Walter Benjamin and George Steiner these literary epiphanies are interpreted as moments of transcendancy's 'profane presence'. © Springer 2005.

The interaction between metabolic disease and ageing

Two of the greatest crises that civilisation faces in the 21st century are the predicted rapid increases in the ageing population and levels of metabolic disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. A growing amount of evidence now supports the notion that energy balance is a key determinant not only in metabolism but also in the process of cellular ageing. Much of genetic evidence for a metabolic activity-driven ageing process has come from model organisms such as worms and flies where inactivation of the insulin receptor signalling cascade prolongs lifespan. At its most simplistic, this poses a conundrum for ageing in humans – can reduced insulin receptor signalling really promote lifespan and does this relate to insulin resistance seen in ageing? In higher animals, caloric restriction studies have confirmed a longer lifespan when daily calorie intake is reduced to 60% of normal energy requirement. This suggests that for humans, it is energy excess which is a likely driver of metabolic ageing. Interventions that interfere with the metabolic fate of nutrients offer a potentially important target for delaying biological ageing.

Legibility, privacy and creativity:linked data in a surveillance society

This paper looks at the issue of privacy and anonymity through the prism of Scott's concept of legibility i.e. the desire of the state to obtain an ever more accurate mapping of its domain and the actors in its domain. We argue that privacy was absent in village life in the past, and it has arisen as a temporary phenomenon arising from the lack of appropriate technology to make all life in the city legible. Cities have been the loci of creativity for the major part of human civilisation. There is something specific about the illegibility of cities which facilitates creativity and innovation. By providing the technology to catalogue and classify all objects and ideas around us, this leads to a consideration of semantic web technologies, Linked Data and the Internet of Things as unwittingly furthering this ever greater legibility. There is a danger that the over description of a domain will lead to a loss in creativity and innovation. We conclude by arguing that our prime concern must be to preserve illegibility because the survival of some form, any form, of civilisation depends upon it.