In the Name of Science: the Conceptual and Ideological Background of Charles Richet’s Eugenics

The French physiologist and Nobel Prize winner Charles Richet was the author of an impressive quantity of writings, including novels and poetry. He was an out–and–out eugenicist, convinced that an “intentional, conscious, scientific, and methodical” selection could achieve “any result, provided we had enough patience”. He believed that the quantitative and qualitative increase of population was a vital matter for France. In La sélection humaine (1913) and other writings, he dreamed of a conscious selection creating “intellectual élites”. The process would be crowned by the production of a “higher human nature, a real surhumanité”. A staunch believer in the inheritance of acquired characteristics, Richet combined Darwinism and Lamarckism

Organic vs. Mechanic. Notes on the History of an Antithesis

The contrast between organic and mechanic arose as part of the reactions against the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. It ran throughout the 19th, it fuelled “Romantic” reactions to Newtonian science and the antithesis between Kultur and Zivilisation. This contrast is still evident, to a greater or lesser extent, in many of the present criticisms of industrial society and technology. There is an interesting continuity between the arguments used by the early critics of what Carlyle would call the «age of machines» and some of the arguments and ways of thinking that are current today. The paper is devoted to stress this continuity by considering some representative authors, including Burke, Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Carlyle, Ruskin, Sombart, Spengler, Scheler, T. Mann. Their interactions with political and social thought are also discussed

Les métaphores favorisent-elles la compréhension d’une théorie scientifique ? Le cas des images darwiniennes de « lutte pour la vie » et de « sélection naturelle »

On pense généralement que les métaphores ne figurent dans le discours scientifique qu’à titre d’exemples, de suggestions rhétoriques ou d’images favorisant la représentation intuitive de concepts difficiles ; bref, elles relèveraient plutôt du domaine de la stratégie communicative et de la vulgarisation que de celui de la construction des théories. Cela n’est vrai que partiellement : l’histoire des sciences nous présente beaucoup de cas où les métaphores ont aidé le savant lui-même à penser sa théorie, ou, autrement dit, elles ont rempli une fonction auto-didactique aussi bien que didactique, ainsi que le montre l’analyse d’un cas très important, celui des métaphores darwiniennes de « lutte pour la vie » et de « sélection naturelle ». Elles ont engendré des méprises non seulement chez les adversaires mais aussi chez bien des défenseurs de Darwin. La diffusion n’a donc pas coïncidé avec la compréhension. C’est paradoxal, mais c’est normal dans l’histoire des idées

De Darwin au débat sur le problème de la souffrance animale

Darwin a donné le coup de grâce à ce que Freud appela le narcissisme de l’homme. Parmi les raisons de son refus du design, ou du moins de sa remise en cause de l’ordre providentiel de la nature, il y avait non seulement des raisons scientifiques, mais aussi des raisons morales : à quoi bon « l’immense quantité de souffrance » chez les animaux ? Sur ces questions, il préférait « hisser le drapeau blanc ». Mais beaucoup d’auteurs essayèrent de concilier la lutte pour la vie avec la croyance en un progrès biologique et moral : l’évolution avançait à travers la destruction des êtres vivants ; la souffrance était le prix de l’avènement de l’esprit. Par contre, on trouve chez l’écrivain et poète Thomas Hardy l’expression la plus frappante d’une compassion pour les animaux, destinés à souffrir autant que les humains dans un univers dépourvu de sens. Ces notions de sympathie et de compassion sont aujourd’hui au centre des débats sur les droits des animaux

Lamarckisme et solidarité

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Considerazioni sull'enciclica di Papa Francesco "Laudato si'"

Remarks on the encyclical by Pope Francis Laudato si’ (“Praise be to you”). The encyclical Laudato si’ by Pope Francis in June 2015 is undoubtedly an important document. The Roman Catholic Pontiff exhorts “all persons of good will” to take care of our «common house». He declares that the narrow-minded, arrogant anthropocentric conception of nature, for which many Christians have thought to find justification in the Scriptures, is wrong. He proposes a «comprehensive ecology», embracing both the relationship between man and nature and the relationship between peoples and generations. He condemns the «dominant technocratic paradigm», the «consumer culture», the «logic of finance», the «magical conception of the market», «utilitarian pragmatism» and «logic lying beneath present-day culture». He states that the cry coming from the South of the world merges with the cry of the Earth violated and exploited. «Care» and «custody» must be correlated with «justice». The encyclical text deals with many topics and raises many questions, but also several doubts. The latter concern the image of nature, which is implicit in the encyclical, and there is some vagueness in many of the practical suggestions resulting from it. Parole chiave: Papa Francesco, ecologia, enciclica, degrado ambientale, etica Key words: Pope Francis, ecology, encyclical, deterioration of the environment, ethic

L’animal : un objet d’étude

Homo animal est : l’être humain appartient lui-même au règne animal, mais il est le seul à projeter sur les autres membres de ce vaste ensemble un regard analytique. Prendre l’animal comme objet d’étude, c’est le propre de l’homme. « Chez absolument tous il y a quelque chose de naturel, c’est-à-dire de beau » : Aristote, s’apprêtant à détailler les Parties des animaux, prévient son lecteur que les animaux les plus répugnants méritent eux aussi l’attention du scientifique, car ils témoignent des règles auxquelles se conforme la nature, que le philosophe a à cœur de percer. Cette longue tradition d’étude du monde animal, renouvelée aujourd’hui par les découvertes sur le génome, a pris de multiples formes au travers des âges ; mais elle a toujours suscité d’amples questionnements, non seulement sur la nature des animaux eux-mêmes, mais aussi, plus largement, sur leur place dans le monde et, en retour, sur celle de l’homme lui-même. Le Congrès national des sociétés historiques et scientifiques rassemble chaque année universitaires, membres de sociétés savantes et jeunes chercheurs. Ce recueil est issu de travaux présentés lors du 141e Congrès sur le thème « L’animal et l’homme »

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Natura, evoluzione, etica

Il concetto di natura dopo Darwin. Le forme del naturalismo moderno e le loro ripercussioni sulla riflessione etica