Utopia and its Discontents: Dreams of Catastrophe and the End of 'the End of History'

The institutionalization of Utopia Studies in the last decade is premised upon a specifically aesthetic reception of Ernst Bloch’s theory of the “utopian impulse” during the 1980s and 1990s. A postmodern uneasiness to both left and right formulations of the "End of History" during this period imposes a resistance to concepts of historical and political closure or totality, resulting in a "Utopianism without Utopia". For all the attractiveness of this pan-utopianism, its failure to consider the relation between historical representation and fulfillment renders it consummate with liberalism as a merely inverted conservatism. In contrast to this specific recuperation of a Bloch, the continuing importance of Walter Benjamin’s theory of the dialectical image and the speculative concept of historical experience which underlies it becomes apparent. The intrusion of the historical Absolute is coded throughout Benjamin’s thought as the eruptive and mortuary figure of catastrophe, which stands as the dialectical counterpart to the utopian wish images of the collective dream. Indeed, the motto under which the Arcades Project was to be constructed derives from Adorno: “Each epoch dreams of itself as annihilated by catastrophe”.

Les trajectoires des footballeurs africains à la lumière de la mondialisation

Depuis la promulgation de l'arrêt « Bosman  » en 1995, le nombre de joueurs expatriés recensés dans les principaux championnats européens a considérablement augmenté. Cet article montre que cette augmentation a surtout concerné les joueurs originaires d'Afrique et d'Amérique latine. Leur mobilité intervient dans un contexte très spéculatif au sein duquel de nombreux intermédiaires interagissent pour construire les canaux migratoires permettant aux joueurs de circuler à travers différents pays. Les trajectoires idéales - typiques de joueurs africains en Europe - permettent d'illustrer les logiques sociales, géographiques et économiques à la base de ces flux. Since the "Bosman" law in 1995, the number of expatriate players in the best European leagues has strongly increased. This paper shows that this increase has above all concerned players from Africa and South America. The mobility of these footballers occurs in a highly speculative context in which numerous intermediaries intervene to build up the migratory channels that allow players for circulating between many countries. The ideal-typical career paths of African footballers in Europe permit to illustrate the social, geographic and economic logics underlying flows.

Thrombolysis in ischemic stroke without arterial occlusion at presentation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: None of the randomized trials of intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator reported vascular imaging acquired before thrombolysis. Efficacy of tissue-type plasminogen activator in stroke without arterial occlusion on vascular imaging remains unknown and speculative. METHODS: We performed a retrospective, multicenter study to collect data of patients who presented to participating centers during a 5-year period with ischemic stroke diagnosed by clinical examination and MRI and with imaging evidence of no vascular occlusion. These patients were divided into 2 groups: those who received thrombolytic therapy and those who did not. Primary outcome measure of the study was excellent clinical outcome defined as modified Rankin Scale of 0 to 1 at 90 days from stroke onset. Secondary outcome measures were good clinical outcome (modified Rankin Scale, 0-2) and perfect outcome (modified Rankin Scale, 0). Safety outcome measures were incidence of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage and poor outcome (modified Rankin Scale, 4-6). RESULTS: A total of 256 patients met study criteria, 103 with thrombolysis and 153 without. Logistic regression analysis showed that patients who received thrombolysis had more frequent excellent outcomes with odds ratio of 3.79 (P<0.01). Symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage was more frequent in thrombolysis group (4.9 versus 0.7%; P=0.04). Thrombolysis led to more frequent excellent outcome in nonlacunar group with odds ratio 4.90 (P<0.01) and more frequent perfect outcome in lacunar group with odds ratio 8.25 (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides crucial data that patients with ischemic stroke who do not have visible arterial occlusion at presentation may benefit from thrombolysis.

E-Cigarettes: A Review of New Trends in Cannabis Use.

The emergence of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) has given cannabis smokers a new method of inhaling cannabinoids. E-cigs differ from traditional marijuana cigarettes in several respects. First, it is assumed that vaporizing cannabinoids at lower temperatures is safer because it produces smaller amounts of toxic substances than the hot combustion of a marijuana cigarette. Recreational cannabis users can discretely "vape" deodorized cannabis extracts with minimal annoyance to the people around them and less chance of detection. There are nevertheless several drawbacks worth mentioning: although manufacturing commercial (or homemade) cannabinoid-enriched electronic liquids (e-liquids) requires lengthy, complex processing, some are readily on the Internet despite their lack of quality control, expiry date, and conditions of preservation and, above all, any toxicological and clinical assessment. Besides these safety problems, the regulatory situation surrounding e-liquids is often unclear. More simply ground cannabis flowering heads or concentrated, oily THC extracts (such as butane honey oil or BHO) can be vaped in specially designed, pen-sized marijuana vaporizers. Analysis of a commercial e-liquid rich in cannabidiol showed that it contained a smaller dose of active ingredient than advertised; testing our laboratory-made, purified BHO, however, confirmed that it could be vaped in an e-cig to deliver a psychoactive dose of THC. The health consequences specific to vaping these cannabis preparations remain largely unknown and speculative due to the absence of comprehensive, robust scientific studies. The most significant health concerns involve the vaping of cannabinoids by children and teenagers. E-cigs could provide an alternative gateway to cannabis use for young people. Furthermore, vaping cannabinoids could lead to environmental and passive contamination.

An examination of existential faith in the writtings of Søren Kierkegaard

This thesis takes seriously the proposition that existentialism is a lived philosophy. While Descartes' proof for the existence of God initially sparked my interest in philosophy, the insights of existentialism have allowed me to appropriate philosophy as a way of life. I apply the insights of Kierkegaard's writings to my spiritual and philosophy development. Philosophy is personal, and Kierkegaard's writings deal with the development of the person in his aesthetic, ethical and religious dimensions. Philosophy is a struggle, and this thesis, reveals the existential struggle of the individual in despair. The thesis argues that authentic faith actually entails faith. The existential believer has this faith whereas the religious believer does not. The subjectively reflective existential believer recognizes that a leap of faith is needed; anything else, is just historical, speculative knowledge. The existential believer or, the Knight of Faith, realizes that a leap of faith is needed to become open in inwardness to receive the condition to understand the paradoxes that faith presents. I will present Kierkegaard's "Analogy of a House" which is in essence, the backbone of his philosophy. I will discuss the challenge of moving from one floor to the next. More specifically, I will discuss the anxiety that is felt in the very moment of the transition from the first floor to the second floor. I will outline eight paradoxes that must me resolved in order for the individual to continue on his journey to the top floor of the house. I will argue that Kierkegaard's example of Abraham as a Knight of Faith is incorrect, that Abraham was in fact not a Knight of Faith. I will also argue that we should find our own exemplars in our own lives by looking for Knight of Faith traits in people we know and then trying to emulate those people. I will also discuss Unamuno's "paradoxical faith" and argue that this kind of faith is a strong alternative to those who find that Kierkegaard's existential faith is not a possibility.

The nature of avidyÄ in Buddhism and VedÄ nta

This thesis deals with the nature of ignorance as it was interpreted in the Upani~adic tradition, specifically in Advaita Vedanta, and in early and Mahayana Buddhism , e specially in the Madhyamika school of Buddhism. The approach i s a historical and comparative one. It examines the early thoughts of both the upanis.a ds and Buddhism abou t avidya (ignorance), shows how the notion was treated by the more speculative and philosphically oriented schools which base d themselves on the e arly works, and sees how their views differ. The thesis will show that the Vedinta tended to treat avidya as a topic for metaphysical s peculation as t he s chool developed, drifting from its initial e xistential concerns, while the Madhyamika remained in contact with the e xistential concerns evident in the first discourses of the Buddha. The word "notion" has been chosen for use in referring t o avidya, even though it may have non-intellectual and emotional connotations, to avoid more popular a lternatives such as "concept" or "idea". In neither the Upani,ads, Advaita Vedanta, or Buddhism is ignorance merely a concept or an idea. Only in a secondary sense, in texts and speech , does it become one. Avidya has more to do with the lived situation in which man finds himself, with the subjectobject separation in which he f eels he exists, than with i i i intel lect ual constr ucts . Western thought has begun to r ealize the same with concerns such as being in modern ontology, and has chosen to speak about i t i n terms of the question of being . Avidya, however, i s not a 'question' . If q ue stions we r e to be put regarding the nature of a vidya , they would be more of t he sort "What is not avidya?", though e ven here l anguage bestows a status t o i t which avidya does not have. In considering a work of the Eastern tradition, we f ace t he danger of imposing Western concepts on it. Granted t hat avidya is customari ly r endered i n English as ignorance, the ways i n which the East and West view i gno rance di f f er. Pedagogically , the European cultures, grounded in the ancient Greek culture, view ignorance as a l ack or an emptiness. A child is i gnorant o f certain t hings and the purpose o f f ormal education , in f act if not in theory, is to fill him with enough knowledge so that he can cope wit h t he complexities and the e xpectations of s ociety. On another level, we feel t hat study and research will l ead t o the discovery o f solutions, which we now lack , for problems now defying solut i on . The East, on the o t her hand, sees avidya in a d i fferent light.Ignorance isn't a lack, but a presence. Religious and philosophical l iterature directs its efforts not towards acquiring something new, but at removing t.he ideas and opinions that individuals have formed about themselves and the world. When that is fully accomplished, say the sages , t hen Wisdom, which has been obscured by those opinions, will present itself. Nothing new has to be learned, t hough we do have t o 'learn' that much. The growing interest in t he West with Eastern religions and philosophies may, in time, influence our theoretical and practical approaches to education and learning, not only in the established educati onal institutions, but in religious , p sychological, and spiritual activities as well. However, the requirements o f this thesis do no t permit a formulation of revolutionary method or a call to action. It focuses instead on the textual arguments which attempt to convince readers that t he world in which they take themselves to exist is not, in essence, real, on the ways i n which the l imitations of language are disclosed, and on the provisional and limited schemes that are built up to help students see through their ignorance. The metaphysic s are provisional because they act only as spurs and guides. Both the Upanisadic and Buddhist traditions that will be dealt with here stress that language constantly fails to encompass the Real. So even terms s uch as 'the Real', 'Absolute', etc., serve only to lead to a transcendent experience . The sections dealing with the Upanisads and Advaita Vedanta show some of the historical evolution of the notion of avidya, how it was dealt with as maya , and the q uestions that arose as t o its locus. With Gau?apada we see the beginnings of a more abstract treatment of the topic, and , the influence of Buddhism. Though Sankhara' S interest was primarily directed towards constructing a philosophy to help others attain mok~a ( l iberation), he too introduced t echnica l t e rminology not found in the works of his predecessors. His work is impressive , but areas of it are incomplete. Numbers of his followers tried to complete the systematic presentation of his insi ghts . Their work focuses on expl anat i ons of adhyasa (superimposition ) , t he locus and object of ignorance , and the means by which Brahman takes itself to be the jiva and the world. The section on early Buddhism examines avidya in the context o f the four truths, together with dubkha (suffering), the r ole it p l ays in t he chain of dependent c ausation , a nd t he p r oblems that arise with t he doctrine of anatman. With t he doct rines of e arly Buddhism as a base, the Madhyamika elaborated questions that the Buddha had said t e nded not t o edi f ication. One of these had to do with own - being or svabhava. Thi s serves a s a centr e around which a discussion o f i gnorance unfolds, both i ndividual and coll ective ignorance. There follows a treatment of the cessation of ignorance as it is discussed within this school . The final secti on tries to present t he similarities and differences i n the natures o f ignorance i n t he two traditions and discusses the factors responsible for t hem . ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Sinha for the time spent II and suggestions made on the section dealing with Sankara and the Advait.a Vedanta oommentators, and Dr. Sprung, who supervised, direoted, corrected and encouraged the thesis as a whole, but especially the section on Madhyamika, and the final comparison.

The Effects of Periodic Quotas Limiting the Stock of Imports of Durables

Analyses of trade quotas typically assume that the quota restricts the flow of some nondurable good. Many real-world quotas, however, restrict the stock of durable imports. We consider the cases where (1) anyone is free to export against such quotas and where (2) only those allocated portions of the total quota are free to export against such quotas. Recent econometric investigations of such quotas have focused on the price of the durable as an indicator of tightness induced by the quota. We show why this is an inappropriate indicator and suggest alternatives.

The Discipline of Economics and Economic Cycles

In This Article, It Is Argued That the Long International, Financial and Economic Cycle (50-60 Years) Is More Than a Statistical Aberration, and Is the Result of Institutional Political, Financial and Economic Conditions Which Are Recurrent. It Is Proposed As an Hypothesis That the Breakdown of International Monetary Systems Is At the Origin of Hte Financial and Economic Long Cycle. Such a Breakdown Starts a Process of Unexpected Inflation, of Balance of Payments Imbalances and of International Indebtedness in a Key-Currency. the Last Stage of This Process Is Characterized by Disinflation, a Speculative Stock Market Boom and a Period of Debt-Liquidation Which Negatively Affect the Real Side of the Economy. Without an International and Automatic Mechanism to Correct the Financial and Economic International Imbalances, the World Economy Runs the Risk of Getting More and More Unstable Until the Turning Point. International Monetary Cooperation Could Contribute in Alleviating the Negative Spillovers Accompanying Hte Adjustment of These Imbalances.

Combien de temps le développement peut-il encore durer ?

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La critique de la raison pure, une œuvre inachevée

RÉSUMÉ: Selon Kant, il faut rendre la Critique plus compréhensible. Cela revient à doter son exposition d’un plus haut degré de lucidité (Helligkeit), c’est-à-dire combiner la clarté discursive avec une clarté intuitive. Pour ce faire, nous représentons les grandes lignes de la structure discursive de la Critique sous la forme d’un modèle emprunté à la description de la formation du caractère moral esquissé dans l’Anthropologie. Ainsi, la raison est d’abord régie par son « instinct de connaissance » (Wißbegierde, Erkenntnistrieb), qui la plonge dans un état de vacillement (Schwankender Zustand). Ensuite, elle réagit par du dégoût (Überdruß), ce rejet ouvrant la voie à l’introspection (Selbsterkenntnis) proprement critique. La raison entreprend alors une révolution de son mode de pensée spéculatif (Revolution der Denkungsart) consistant à passer, sous l’égide du devoir moral (Pflicht), de la malhonnêteté à l’honnêteté, envers soi-même ainsi qu’envers autrui. Il s’agit, en un mot, d’une « renaissance » (Wiedergeburt) morale.

La crise du logement en Algérie : des politiques d'urbanisme mésadaptées

La crise du logement est généralement appréhendée comme une simple disparité entre une disponibilité de logements abordables et les besoins de la population. Ce mémoire a pour objectif de dépasser ce raisonnement en s’interrogeant sur l’adéquation entre la conception des logements publics et les besoins des populations ciblées, qui sont déterminés par les spécificités socioculturelles en évolutions complexes et dynamiques. Des logements sociaux d’une grandeur inadéquate, pour des considérations de rentabilité, entraînant l’apparition d’une surpopulation, ne pouvaient qu’engendrer leur détérioration rapide et leur bidonvilisation. Ce mémoire aborde donc le thème anthropologique de l’influence de l’organisation de l’habitat et des espaces de vies privées et collectives sur les sociétés humaines. Le cas particulier de l’Algérie est intéressant par sa virulence et par l’importation des politiques françaises au moment de la colonisation, politiques visant l’assimilation des Algériens aux habitudes de consommation et aux modes de comportement occidentaux. Ce mémoire tente de démontrer que les différents gouvernements issus de l’indépendance auront réactivé les politiques coloniales en matière d’urbanisme. De plus, l’augmentation de la fréquence des pratiques informelles de captation à la source des biens stratégiques rares à des fins spéculatives, dont les logements sociaux, accélérée par la libéralisation du marché immobilier et la privatisation des logements publics, a fait en sorte que très peu de logements sociaux furent attribués aux familles qui en avaient besoin qui se retrouvèrent donc de plus en plus marginalisées et devaient à leur tour se tourner vers des pratiques informelles pour espérer améliorer leurs conditions de logement.

Le pessimisme dans trois romans de Catulle Mendès : Le roi vierge, Méphistophéla et Le chercheur de tares

Cette étude tente de saisir l’ambiguïté du propos pessimiste dans trois romans de Catulle Mendès (1841-1909). D’un côté, la construction du héros suggère une critique psychopathologique du pessimisme conforme au moralisme de la doxa fin-de-siècle qui dénie à cette pensée toute valeur spéculative. De l’autre, la représentation d’une société dissimulatrice contre laquelle le héros est en lutte confère à celui-ci un pouvoir de dévoilement. Cette tension se trouve condensée dans le concept de monstre qui fait l’objet d’une double lecture, à la fois pathologique et herméneutique. La conscience du héros étant conforme par sa stérilité à la conscience décadente telle qu’elle est définie par Jankélévitch, le système de pensée qu’elle féconde peut être assimilé à un monstre. Or, le sens premier du monstre pessimiste est le caractère inhumain de la vérité, autant comme quête que comme révélation. Seul un monstre peut porter la vérité car celle-ci est à sa mesure, intolérable. Elle renvoie l’homme à la toute-puissance de l’instinct dont découlent ses idéaux. Partant d’une conception pessimiste, le propos de Mendès débouche ainsi sur une morale idéaliste qui prône contre l’universelle tare le mensonge universel.

Le rapport de l'Un et de l'intellect dans la centurie de Calliste Cataphygiotes

La présente étude est une analyse et une reconstruction interprétative de la centurie de Calliste Cataphygiotès, intitulée De l'union avec Dieu et de la vie contemplative, chapitres syllogistiques et hauts. Notre approche à ce texte pluridisciplinaire est prioritairement philosophique. Dans le but de mettre en valeur l'intérêt philosophique qu'il représente, nous avons concentré notre analyse sur les problèmes liés au rapport de l'intellect avec l'Un, sur l'étude du concept de l'infini, sur son rôle dans la contemplation et sur la méthode dialectique dont Calliste Cataphygiotès s'en sert. Nous avons reconstruit la doctrine de la contemplation, implicite au texte de Calliste et nous avons tenté une reconstruction globale de la centurie qui permettra au lecteur d'apprécier les qualités spéculatives et l'esprit synthétique de ce mystique byzantin presque inconnu.

Identité narrative et temporalité chez Christian Bobin : l'écriture du care comme réplique poétique au désenchantement

Cette thèse sur l’oeuvre de Christian Bobin (1951-) porte aussi et avant tout sur le lyrisme et le désenchantement contemporains. En posant pour horizon ces deux objets de discours, j’interprète le discours éthique et poétique sur l’« enchantement simple » chez l’auteur français. Dans une perspective herméneutique, il s'agit d'éprouver l'hypothèse selon laquelle les oeuvres de Bobin véhiculent un discours poétique « répliquant » (Ricoeur) à un certain discours intellectuel dominant, s'énonçant contre lui, mais aussi en réitérant plusieurs de ses credo. La première partie annonce la posture théorique et la méthode (comparatiste), puis définit le lyrisme et le désenchantement comme horizon d’interprétation. La seconde partie, qui interroge l’identité « poéthique » (Pinson) de l’auteur (entendu comme catégorie du texte), dévoile la manière dont l’auteur prend acte du désenchantement et du nihilisme : en masculinisant le désenchantement, le reliant au logos, et en féminisant l’enchantement, l’associant au muthos. Le parti pris du temps authentique est soutenu par la valorisation de conduites et d’attitudes temporelles relevant de l’éthique de l’authenticité (Rousseau), alors que le parti pris du féminin correspond à la valorisation d’attitudes relevant de l’éthique de la bonté (Levinas). Puisque la première éthique mise sur le temps du sujet et que la seconde favorise le temps de l’autre, un premier paradoxe émerge au coeur des messages spéculatifs véhiculés, dont on prend la mesure grâce au discours de l’auteur sur le temps, les hommes, les femmes et la bonté. Dans la troisième partie, je mets au jour le grand projet éthique dont l’auteur investit son oeuvre : écrire pour prendre soin, soigner. Après avoir défini ce que j’appelle « l’écriture du care » chez Bobin, je m’attarde aux figures féminines fondatrices de l’oeuvre et constate que l’ambition est triple chez l’auteur : premièrement, prendre soin du présent, deuxièmement, protéger les femmes de la misogynie et troisièmement, revaloriser les attitudes care qui leur sont traditionnellement reconnues et comprendre, dédramatiser, esthétiser leur « folie ». Apparaît alors un second paradoxe : la valorisation simultanée de figures charnelles inscrites dans la temporalité (maternité) et de figures atemporelles, hors temps (extase). Enfin, un regard sur les « femmes à venir » bobiniennes montrera trois figures promises à la pratique du soin promue par l’auteur. Au final, c’est non seulement la poéthique bobinienne qui est mise en lumière, mais aussi des postures éthiques et poétiques centrales en Occident, que plusieurs poètes lyriques adoptent « en temps de détresse » (Hölderlin).

Role of manganese in the pathogenesis of portal-systemic encephalopathy.

Amongst the potential neurotoxins implicated in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy, manganese emerges as a new candidate. In patients with chronic liver diseases, manganese accumulates in blood and brain leading to pallidal signal hyperintensity on T1-weighted Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging. Direct measurements in globus pallidus obtained at autopsy from cirrhotic patients who died in hepatic coma reveal 2 to 7-fold increases of manganese concentration. The intensity of pallidal MR images correlates with blood manganese and with the presence of extrapyramidal symptoms occurring in a majority of cirrhotic patients. Liver transplantation results in normalization of pallidal MR signals and disappearance of extrapyramidal symptoms whereas transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunting induces an increase in pallidal hyperintensity with a concomitant deterioration of neurological dysfunction. These findings suggest that the toxic effects of manganese contribute to extrapyramidal symptoms in patients with chronic liver disease. The mechanisms of manganese neurotoxicity are still speculative, but there is evidence to suggest that manganese deposition in the pallidum may lead to dopaminergic dysfunction. Future studies should be aimed at evaluating the effects of manganese chelation and/or of treatment of the dopaminergic deficit on neurological symptomatology in these patients.