The Liberal Ethics of Non-Interference and the Pareto Principle

We analyse the liberal ethics of non-interference applied to social choice. A liberal principle capturing noninterfering views of society and inspired by John Stuart Mill s conception of liberty, is examined. The principle captures the idea that society should not penalise agents after changes in their situation that do not a��ect others. An impossibility for liberal approaches is highlighted: every social decision rule that satis es unanimity and a general principle of noninterference must be dictatorial. This raises some important issues for liberal approaches in social choice and political philosophy.

La dignit�� de l'animal. Quel statut pour les animaux �� l'heure des technosciences?

A bien des ��gards, comme le philosophe Emmanuel Kant l'avait d��j�� signal��, la mani��re dont nous traitons les animaux nous renvoie en miroir notre propre attitude envers nos compagnons humains. La maladie de la vache folle n'est-elle pas le r��sultat d'une rationalit�� industrielle d��raisonnable et, par l�� m��me, le r��v��lateur des d��rives de la rationalit�� instrumentale et des menaces qui p��sent sur l'��thique ? Les perspectives ouvertes par le g��nie g��n��tique et par les x��notransplantations n'annoncent-elles pas une fuite en avant dans les illusions d'une technoscience sans conscience et sans pr��caution ? Comment trouver un ��quilibre entre les int��r��ts des patients, les finalit��s de la m��decine, le respect de l'animal et les r��alit��s de l'��conomie ou de la politique ? Pour promouvoir une ��thique �� la hauteur de ces questions, faut-il abandonner tout anthropocentrisme, adopter une philosophie centr��e sur la vie et le vivant (biocentrisme) prenant uniquement en compte le crit��re de la souffrance humaine et animale (pathocentrisme) ?Fruit d'un colloque interdisciplinaire tenu �� Lausanne en mai 1999, cet ouvrage donne la parole �� des chercheurs d'horizon tr��s vari��s : des sp��cialistes de la zoologie, de l'��tude du comportement animal, de la douleur animale et humaine et de l'anthropologie culturelle, des juristes, des m��decins, des philosophes et des th��ologiens.

Le rapport des humains aux animaux dans la perspective de l'��thique. Mise en situation sociale

Le statut ��thique et juridique de l'animal fait l'objet de discussions intenses aujourd'hui. Sa r��solution suppose des choix difficiles entre des mod��les argumentatifs en apparence incompatibles. L'auteur compare les deux principales formes de biocentrisme, le biocentrisme ��galitaire et le biocentrisme hi��rarchique, �� l'anthropocentrisme, qui peut lui-m��me ��tre radical ou mod��r��. Il en d��coule que le mod��le anthropocentrique pr��sente des avantages d��cisifs, �� condition de subir une r��vision fondamentale, dans le sens d'une anthropo-relationnalit�� qui distingue la domination violente de l'homme sur l'animal du respect pleinement humain - et donc aussi humanisant - envers les animaux, dont il importe de prendre en compte la dignit�� et la valeur. La voie du pathocentrisme trouve alors une certaine justification, mais sans occulter la perspective humaine seule �� m��me de fonder une ��thique et de la rendre socialement plausible.

Kitcher's Revolutionary Reasoning Inversion in Ethics

This paper examines three specific issues raised by The Ethical Project. First, I discuss the varieties of altruism and spell out the differences between the definitions proposed by Kitcher and the ways altruism is usually conceived in biology, philosophy, psychology, and economics literature. Second, with the example of Kitcher's account, I take a critical look at evolutionary stories of the emergence of human ethical practices. Third, I point to the revolutionary implications of the Darwinian methodology when it is thoughtfully applied to ethics.

The Ismenodora of Plutarch's Eroticus. (Has Western Culture "sexualized" -i. e. "masculinized"- Ethics?)

The aim of this article is to show, by means of an accurate philological analysis of Plautarch's Eroticus, how Western Ethics has been clearly sexualized. Indeed, the specific features of masculine bodies become the suitable ones to define what is really ethical, while the specific features of feminine bodies become in their turn the suitable ones to define what is by no means ethical.

Oscar Wilde. 'Camma', a severe and hedonic aesthetic correction of Plutarch's ethics

The aim of this article is to present an accurate analysis of O. Wilde's poem 'Camma' by referring it to its Greek model: that Camma both in Plutarch's Amatorius (Eroticus) and Mulierum Virtutes. It is precisely this accurate reading which permits us to verify how Plutarch's Ethics is corrected from the parameters of the hedonism which is peculiar to O. Wilde's aestheticism, thus turning Camma into a symbol of a pleasant life.

John Addington Symonds. A Problem in Greek Ethics. Plutarch's Eroticus quoted only in some footnotes? Why?

It is certainly astonishing that an innovating study about the Greek pederasty in England like the one by John Addington Symonds does not quote Plutarch's Eroticus -in fact, it is only cited in some footnotes-, if one bears in mind that this dialogue is an accurate philosophical reflection on Greek eros, in which very often significant ethical themes are approached. The aim of this article is just to reveal the different reasons for such an omission.

John Addington Symonds. A Problem in Greek Ethics. ��El Er��tico de Plutarco reducido a algunas notas a pie de p��gina? ��Por qu��?

Resulta sorprendente que un estudio pionero en Inglaterra sobre la pederastia griega como el de John Addington Symonds no cite el Er��tico de Plutarco, excepci��n hecha de en algunas notas a pie de p��gina, siendo como es este dialogo una seria reflexi��n filos��fica sobre el eros griego, en que a menudo se abordan cuestiones ��ticas. El objetivo de este art��culo es revelar justamente las razones de ��ndole diversa para una tal omisi��n.

John Addington Symonds. A Problem in Greek Ethics. ��L'Er��tic de Plutarc redu��t a algunes notes a peu de p��gina? Per qu��?

Resulta sorprenent que un estudi pioner a Anglaterra sobre la peder��stia grega como el de John Addington Symonds no citi l'Er��tic de Plutarc, llevat de en algunes notes a peu de p��gina, essent com ��s aquest di��leg una seriosa reflexi�� filos��fica sobre l'eros grec, en qu�� sovint s'aborden q��estions ��tiques. L'objectiu d'aquest article ��s revelar justament les raons d'��ndole diversa per a una tal omissi��.

Critique de la raison sourde et ��coute de l'autre et du monde

Suite �� une question initiale du th��ologien catholique Adrian Holderegger, l'auteur s'interroge sur la question du r��le de la raison en th��ologie et en ��thique th��ologique. Il pr��sente et discute la critique de la raison sourde propos��e par Maurice Bellet. Les relations entre la rationalit�� ath��tique, ath��matique et amodale conduisent �� se demander si une conception n��gative et critique de la rationalit�� ne serait pas la condition d'un red��ploiement positif de la raison de l'��tre humain singulier comme capacit�� d'��coute attentive de l'autre, du monde et de Dieu.

Les classiques du soin

On trouvera ici un recueil des grands textes m��dicaux, litt��raires, de philosophie et de sciences sociales sur l'exp��rience de la maladie et du soin. Il r��v��le combien cette exp��rience ��tait d��j�� au coeur de la pens��e la plus classique, mais aussi comment elle est devenue classique dans la pens��e la plus contemporaine. D'Hippocrate �� Georges Canguilhem, de Tolsto�� �� Susan Sontag, de Montaigne �� Michel Foucault et Erving Goffman, ces classiques permettent d'appr��hender les tensions les plus profondes et actuelles du soin : geste technique et relation ��thique ; souci de soi et pr��sence �� l'autre ; qu��te de sens et travail ; solidarit�� et risque d'exclusion ; raison d'��tre ou point aveugle de la m��decine. Chaque texte est suivi d'un commentaire destin�� aux ��tudiants de philosophie et de m��decine (notamment de Premi��re Ann��e Commune des ��tudes de Sant��) et �� tous ceux qu'int��ressent les dimensions scientifiques, ��thiques et sociales du soin.

The Hegel's Vorlesungen ��ber die Philosophie der Religion (1821-1831) sources and critical editions from Marheineke to Jaeschke

In this paper I provide a concise plan about Hegel's Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion critical editions, laying stress on the method followed by editors in order to build a coherent text with the sources at their disposal. The Marheineke's edition (1832) is analysed with special attention since it was the edition that caused the division between a Right and a Left, opening the discussion on speculative theism as a consequence of the difficulty to distinguish the systematic part from the historical one in the reasoning carried out by Hegel.

Essays on Business and Leadership Ethics

As this is a dissertation, an academic thesis, it is important to define the objectives of my research, even if ex post facto, explicitly: - To define, develop and study the concept of business and leadership ethics. - To empirically study the phenomena associated with business and leadership from an ethical perspective. - To create a new framework for the development of responsible business. - To create an ���acid test��� for my body of works, i.e. a test and an evaluation on how well my research and ideas hold up under academic philosophical reflection. The utilitarian reasoning had the most support when the actors justified their actions regarding economic benefit. (=instrumental good). Duty and benefit were often mixed up in people���s speech. Their meaning contents were blurred and the argumentation lines created by the actors were broken. This can be interpreted in a way that supports Frankena���s mixed deontological philosophy as a frame of reference. Deontologica reasoning was used e.g. in describing the personnel management processes of a company. Virtue ethics is a favourable starting point for studying management and leadership ethics. All the actors studied could name virtues for their operations, towards which to aspire to. They also named professional practices already in use that they considered to be virtuous. Finally, I wish to state that normative ethics is an important branch of philosophical ethics, if also very important in applied ethics especially. From the normative standpoint, the results of this dissertation want to lead nations, communities and individuals towards the virtues of democratic leadership and sustainable economic development.