What Is Conventionalism about Moral Rights and Duties?

A powerful objection against moral conventionalism says that it gives the wrong reasons for individual rights and duties. The reason why I must not break my promise to you, for example, should lie in the damage to you—rather than to the practice of promising or to all other participants in that practice. Common targets of this objection include the theories of Hobbes, Gauthier, Hooker, Binmore, and Rawls. I argue that (1) the conventionalism of these theories is superficial; (2) genuinely conventionalist theories are not vulnerable to the objection; and (3) genuine moral conventionalism is independently plausible.     

The Representation of Imagery of the City: The Impact of Studies and Imagery Ability

This study aimed to assess the impact of the type of undergraduate studies and the ability to form mental images on representations of city imagery. A total of 291 Architecture and Business Studies undergraduates participated in the study. Participants completed a 5‐min task of drawing their own mental map of a city. The number of point marks, line marks, and area marks drawn and the system of representation were assessed. Business Studies undergraduates represented more point marks using a point than Architecture undergraduates, whereas the latter drew more point marks in plan and in 3D than the former. The ability to form spatial images had no influence on the number of point, line, or area marks drawn. Significant differences between women and men were observed in the 3D representations, and in the configuration.     

Are Fast Complex Movements Unimaginable? Pupillometric Studies of Motor Imagery in Expert Piano Playing

Motor imagery (MI; mental simulation of actions) shares certain mental representations and processes with executed movement (ME). This neurocognitive overlap between MI and ME may explain why the systematic use of MI improves skilled performance in numerous domains. Unfortunately, the attentional mechanisms underlying MI remain unresolved. Therefore, the present studies investigated the role of attentional effort (as measured by pupil dilation) in MI. We evaluated the effects of movement complexity and speed on expert pianists' pupil dilation as they physically executed and used MI to perform easy/complex and slow/fast music phrases. Results revealed that easy movements required similar levels of attentional effort during MI and ME. However, during complex movements performed at a fast speed, the correspondence between execution and imagery of movement was disrupted.     

Aristotle on Philosophia

Aristotle uses philosophia (and philosophos, philosophein, philosophôs, sumphilosophein, philosophêteon) in at least ten senses across his oeuvre, as this first study of every instance in his writings reveals. Irrespective of the specific approaches of its practitioners, philosophia may be, for example, an exercise of cleverness; or leisurely study; or the desire to know; or the pursuit of fundamental explanation; or a historically extended discipline. This variety allows us to go some way in reconstructing the complex attitude Aristotle had toward a culturally specific practice in which he located himself and soon helped develop into a specialized discipline. Another benefit is that it allows us to clarify the argumentative method in his Protrepticus, which depends on several senses of philosophia. It also puts up obstacles to determining whether, for example, Aristotle believes philosophia is an epistêmê.     

Vikingism as a Metametaphysical Thesis

This paper aims to be a contribution to the recent discussion on the science‐metaphysics relationship. After drawing a distinction between two aspects of the relationship, it defends the theoretical importance of the proposed distinction and argues for the interconnectedness of the aspects in question. The paper then focuses on one of those aspects: that is, the methodological strategy of some metaphysicians to appeal to scientific findings and practice in the course of discussing various pure metaphysical problems. It discusses the question about the scope of science‐informed metaphysics and its relation to the issue concerning the existence of an autonomous metaphysical possibility. Finally, the paper explores the reasons metaphysicians have for involving science in metaphysical discussions.     

Représentations des pratiques éducatives parentales et estime de soi chez des enfants placés en fratrie versus séparément

Despite abuse, children placed in childcare homes have parental representations which are marked by ambivalence. This ambivalence is characterized by the coexistence of negative and positive representation towards their biological parents. However, the fact that positive representations towards neglecting parents persist can possibly harm self-esteem. Placement aims not only to protect the child, but also to offer him the possibility of reconstructing his self-image with more secure attachment figures. When a placement is decided, the children are entrusted to Child Welfare and are placed either with their siblings or separately. This study aims to examine the parental representations and the self-esteem of 33 children that are placed with siblings and 25 children that are placed alone; all children were between the ages of 10 and 18. Then, the relation between parental representations and self-esteem was examined in each group. Those two dimensions have been respectively measured with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale and the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). The results show that participants placed with their siblings were less depressed and had a better self-esteem than participants placed separately. Moreover, although the two groups had neglecting parents, the participants placed with their siblings had significantly better parental care representations. This study also put into light that the links between parental representations and self-esteem are significantly different whether the participant is placed with his siblings or not. Among children placed with siblings, the more positive the images of the father and the mother, the lower the self-esteem level. These results confirm the hypothesis according to which a positive parental care representation could reinforce the negative image those children have of themselves. The results also question the effects (positive or negative) of the defensive exclusion process on the evolution of self-representations among placed children. Finally, from a therapeutic point of view, they stress the importance of working on self-esteem with placed children.     

Vers un changement de pratique dans une filière céréalière : apport de la modélisation de l’environnement

Project management, especially in the field of sustainable development, requires to take into account not only the working environment stricto sensu, but also supra components of environmental, social, economic, legislative, etc. Ergonomists and psychologists are then led to be interested in, and to develop modeling frameworks to better understand and to make more intelligible this complex environment. The study presented here, which requires taking into account this environment, aims at setting up a novel practice for improving the food safety of a cereal chain in a global context of sustainable development: protection of the environment (flora and fauna) and the health of farmers and consumers. As part of this study, a quick fungal contamination diagnostic tool and a corresponding decontamination process have been developed for an application in the barley-malt-beer food chain. However, the use of these processes may change the agricultural practices in antifungal treatments with the regular and high dose treatments replaced by fine targeted applications only where and when necessary. In relation with this technological development, the challenge is to identify the components of the environment that may become brakes and levers to the implementation of this new practice. In this scope, this investigation mobilizes the modeling of the environment of Thatcher and Yeow (2016). This paper is consequently aimed at presenting the underlying process to this construction, and this in relation with the characteristics of the study. At last, a discussion is initiated concerning the further use of such modelling practices for purposes other than the decision-making processes on ergonomic intervention purposes.     

Contemporary Psychotherapy: Gold Mines and Land Mines

Psychotherapy has a rich past and great potential. However, psychotherapists should be aware of several areas of strength as well as some problem areas. Strengths include the benefits of a strong therapeutic alliance, a diverse range of theories, and quality research that documents the effectiveness of psychotherapy. Weaknesses include conflicting theories, financial matters, and misunderstandings between clinicians and researchers. Hopefully, mental health professionals can focus on mining the gold from the gold mines while also working to understand and disarm the land mines.     

Transcranial magnetic stimulation: neurophysiological applications and safety

TMS is a non-invasive tool for measuring neural conduction and processing time, activation thresholds, facilitation and inhibition in brain cortex, and neural connections in humans. It is used to study motor, visual, somatosensory, and cognitive functions. TMS does not appear to cause long-term adverse neurological, cardiovascular, hormonal, motor, sensory, or cognitive effects in healthy subjects. Single-pulse (<1Hz) TMS is safe in normal subjects. High frequency, high-intensity repetitive TMS (rTMS) can elicit seizures even in normal subjects. Safety guidelines for using rTMS have been published.     

Are transitions in human gait determined by mechanical,kinetic or energetic factors?

It is currently unclear whether it is the need to maintain metabolic efficiency, the need to keep skeletal loading below critical force levels, or simple mechanical factors that drive the walk-to-run (W-R) and run-to-walk (R-W) transitions in human gait. Eighteen adults (9 males and 9 females) locomoted on an instrumented treadmill using their preferred gait. Each completed 2 ascending (W-R) and 2 descending (R-W) series of trials under three levels of loading (0%, 15% and 30% body weight). For each trial, participants locomoted for 60 s at each of 9 different speeds--4 speeds both above and below their preferred transition speed (PTS) plus their PTS. Evidence was sought for critical levels of key kinetic (maximum vertical force, impulse, first peak force, time to first peak force and maximum loading rate), energetic (oxygen consumption, transport cost) and mechanical variables (limb lengths, strength) predictive of the gait transition. Analyses suggested the kinetic variables of time to first peak force and loading rate as the most likely determinants of the W-R and R-W transitions.