Descartes et la force de l’imagination

Parmi les notes laissées par le jeune Descartes (1619-1621), on en trouve une qui attribue à l’imagination des poètes des pensées plus profondes et plus frappantes que celles qu’on trouve chez les philosophes. On s’interroge ici sur la portée à attribuer à cette note et sur ce que deviendra chez Descartes la « force de l’imagination ». Jusqu’en 1629, plusieurs textes évoqueront la même espèce de force, en relation avec les premiers âges de la culture. Si, dans la suite de l’œuvre, l’idée d’une imagination productrice semble s’effacer, il y a lieu d’estimer que son pouvoir a été transféré à l’ingenium lui-même, dont le rôle dans la pensée en général devrait être reconsidéré.Among the notes left by the young Descartes (1619-1621), there is one that attributes to the imagination of poets deeper and more striking thoughts than those found in philosophers. The question here addressed is that of the significance of this note and that of the becoming of the « power of imagination » in Descartes’s works. Until 1629, several texts will mention this kind of power, in relation to the first ages of civilization. If, in the rest of the work, the idea of a productive imagination seems to fade away, there is reason to consider that its power has been transferred to the ingenium itself, whose role in thought in general should be reconsidered

Philosophy of education in a critical position. La filosofía de la educación en una posición crítica

Bajo Palabra, Revista de Filosofí

La crise de la culture scolaire - Origines, interprétations, perspectives, 2005.

Este livro contém 505 páginas, da literatura francesa sobre a cultura escolar. O Original pertence ao acervo pessoal do Prof. Dr. Wagner Rodrigues Valente.Este livro organiza-se em cinco partes: 1) HISTOIRE et DÉFINITIONS DE LA CULTURE SCOLAIRE. 2)CULTURE SCOLAIRE, PÉDAGOGIES ET POLITIQUE. 3)LES DISCIPLINES ET LE CHOIX DES NORMES. 4)DÉMOCRATISATION ET CRITIQUE DES HIÉRARCHIES. E 5)TABLES RONDES. Entre os autores apresentam-se André Chervel, Anne-Marie Chartier e Françoise Waquet

Low expression of bcl-2 in Brca1-associated breast cancers

Little data are available concerning the molecular mechanisms of action of Brca1 and Brca2 in breast oncogenesis. Recent experimental results suggest that Brca1 plays a role in the regulation of apoptosis. In order to determine whether the analysis of human tumours would provide data supporting this hypothesis, we have assessed the expression of the antiapoptotic bcl-2 and of the proapoptotic p53 genes in Brca1- and Brca2-associated breast carcinomas. The levels of expression of these genes were compared to those observed in controls and to the mitotic and the apoptotic indexes. Our series were composed of 16 cases of breast carcinoma in women with a germline Brca1 gene mutation, and of four cases with Brca2 mutation. A group of 39 patients aged under 36 years and for whom the search for Brca1 gene mutations was negative, and a group of 36 cases of sporadic cancers without data on their Brca status were used as controls. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect p53 and bcl-2 gene products. Mitotic and apoptotic indexes were higher in Brca1-associated tumours than in controls. No significant difference in p53 immunostaining was observed between the four groups of patients. In contrast, the rate of bcl-2-positive tumours was lower (31%) in Brca1-carcinomas than in carcinomas without Brca1 mutation (90%) (P< 10–3). A strong Bcl-2 expression was found in the four cases of Brca2-associated carcinomas. No significant correlation was observed between p53 and Bcl-2 immunostainings, either in cases or in controls. The association between Brca1 status and Bcl-2 expression remained significant after adjustment for the oestrogen receptor status. Our study shows that a low expression of bcl-2 characterises most Brca1-associated breast carcinomas, a biological trait which seems not to be shared by Brca2-associated tumours nor to be related to oestrogen receptor and/or p53 status.bcl-2 might thus be one of the target genes involved in the oncogenesis related to Brca1 and its down-regulation may account for the increased apoptosis and the high proliferative rate observed in Brca1-associated carcinomas. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig