Esprit
2010-06-15
Abstracts for Esprit 6/2010
Esprit
Editorial: A world that does not make sense?
Feature Articles
Olivier Mongin
This is a much more serious crisis than in 2008!
On 7 May 2010, the international economic crisis rebounded and, this time round, hit straight at the European Union and the euro, as well as to government ability to manage national economies. Commentators in 2008 were all-too eager to note that 'government was back', but today the dangers involved by government debt are all-too visible. But then, how come we have been caught short, when the symptoms of our woes had been visible for a long time?
Alexandre Dupeyrix
Towards a tax-payer revolt? On some untimely reflections by Peter Sloterdijk.
Having been collared into saving the banking system and plugging budget deficits, will the tax-payer accept forthcoming tax rises? In Germany, this question was at the centre of a broad public debate after the philosopher Peter Sloterdijk queried the rationale behind this commonality, which came as a symptom of forthcoming tax-payer disaffection. Sloterdijk stigmatizes "tax stealth" and claims he is standing for a "gift economy"; but how can he do that, and how are we to understand his paradoxical defence of solidarity?
Michaël Fœssel
Everything goes faster but nothing changes.
Discussing the sense of accelerated pace that seems to pervade modern society, German historian Hartmut Rosa pinpoints its effect on technological and social change as well as on life cycles. We feel like we are carried away by this endless movement, and one which globalization can only amplify just when social or political institutions -- those modern-day, collective time-management instruments -- seem to be so weak. Is there no way we could slow down, though?
Zaki Laïdi
Climate, biotechnologies, finance and war: Is Europe risk-averse?
On the international scene, Europeans stand out for their stance on climate change mitigation, caution in the face of biotechnologies, a willingness to regulate the financial sphere and an avoidance of war. Should these be seen as symptoms of Europe's powerlessness and its inability to face up to the challenges of the future? From a more positive angle, can this be taken as a more lucid awareness of risks? Or even some form of political identity that might be specific to Europe?
Henri Prévot
The new carbon geopolitics.
Energy consumption and CO2 emissions are two major controversial issues for international diplomacy in the forthcoming future. Against this background, how is France to secure her energy supplies while curbing consumption? Are we to allow oil and gas producing countries to determine our own consumption through the control they have over prices? Better instead for us to develop carbon control instruments, all by ourselves and as soon as possible.
Vernon Bogdanor and Alexis Tadié
Now who exactly won the election in the UK?
After 13 years of New Labour, Britain decided that was enough but the future of the new coalition government (conservatives and liberal democrats) is already looking unsure. Is a coalition compatible with a British institutional framework where the rules remain largely tacit for lack of a formal constitution? One of the best experts on British political life, Vernon Bogdanor differs with a good many of his peers when he claims that the coalition is there to stay and can even be seen as an asset in a time of financial and public spending crises.
Annick Jamart
Belgium as a microcosm of Europe?
Why is political paralysis so protracted in Belgium? Although the prospect of a confederation seems to be inevitable, the path leading to it is both a chaos and a trauma, with every stage a golden opportunity for irresponsible behaviour. Still, if Belgium were to strike a proper balance between central and federal government, this would come as an interesting model for the European Union, whose powerlessness the country rather looks like a mirror image.
Ahmet Insel
"In the name of humanity, that behaviour was a crime."
When Turkish intellectuals beg forgiveness from Armenians.
In the face of the their government's inability to make any progress towards a formal recognition of the country's historic responsibility vis-a-vis Armenians, a group of Turkish intellectuals in 2008 publicly recognised the reality of the genocide. In order better to understand the "whys" and "wherefores" of that inititative, one of its instigators looks back.
Jean-Hugues Déchaux
What "individualism" cannot account for : The case of the family.
Individualism is gaining ground in modern society: whereas this finding is broadly shared, does it really account for what is currently going on? Family is often reported as falling to pieces as egotism takes over, but then the author sees it as good example of the shortcomings of the individualistic perspective on society. Does the problem lie with the fact that everyone wants to behave as they fancy, or then is it that it has become more difficult to describe personal links as they are found within any given institution and in connection with a number of set rules?
What can we learn from animals
Esprit
Questions about animal ethology. Introduction.
An interview with Dominique Lestel
Man vis-a-vis animals: Scrutinising another form of intelligence.
Why should scientific research into animal behaviour be of interest to philosophers? The build-up of observations does more than compel us to reassess animals' capacities (including cuttlefish or crickets just as well as great apes): we must also review our views on emotions, communication, transmission, and intelligence itself.
Louis Lefebvre
Break-ups and continuities in the animal world.
Research into animal intelligence may be at risk from a major inconsistency: human performance remains the standard for any comparative purposes, and therefore so does man's definition of intelligence. But then a review of available literature shows that a convergence in findings makes it possible to escape this double bind (where man scrutinizes what s//he has decided was worthy of scrutiny) and instead to view human intelligence as one form of intelligence among others, and one which the theory of evolution can account for.
Vinciane Despret
Animal intelligence: The answer depends on the question.
Perusing research on animal behaviour, one must wonder, faced with their performance capacities, why we want to remain blind to them. This is why we should take the reverse perspective: instead of wondering whether animals can do as well as we humans do, we should rather ask why we find it so difficult to recognize their abilities for what they are.
Paul Shepard
How animals make us human.
Based on the many English verbs that use animal names to refer to human actions or feelings ('to bear', 'to hound'), the author highlights the tight links between our rapport with animals and our imagination, metaphors and mental constructs. In this sense, and ever since prehistoric times, the animal world is part and parcel of man's reflexive capacities and, therefore, of our ability to determine our place in the natural realm and to develop a human society. Now, is this capacity eroding as our link to the animal world becomes looser?