Imagination et perception morale

Dans cette thèse en psychologie morale, je m’intéresse au rôle de l’imagination dans la perception morale. Je soutiens que l’imagination y a une fonction épistémique dans la mesure où – en s’accompagnant ou non d’émotions – elle nous révèle des normes, des valeurs ou des vertus morales qui seraient autrement passées inaperçues. En simulant des croyances et des perceptions, l’imagination nous permet d’accéder à ces caractéristiques d’une situation moralement pertinentes, mais perceptuellement non saillantes. J’identifie trois modes de « perception morale imaginative » : 1) la prise de perspective qui consiste à endosser le point de vue d’autrui, 2) le cadrage imaginatif qui désigne le fait de voir un élément d’une situation comme autre qu’il n’est et, 3) la comparaison imaginative qui, grâce à la pensée contrefactuelle, éclaire le monde actuel à partir d’un monde possible imaginé. Chacun de ces modes contribue à enrichir notre connaissance morale, et partant, à améliorer notre délibération morale. J’appuie ma démonstration sur des travaux récents en philosophie de la psychologie, en psychologie cognitive et sociale, en neuropsychologie et, bien évidemment, en psychologie morale.My thesis focuses on the role of imagination for moral perception. I argue that imagination – whether accompanied by emotion or not - has an epistemic role inasmuch as it can reveal moral norms, values, and virtues that might otherwise go un-noticed. On the simulationist account, belief-like imaginings and perception-like imaginings give us access to the morally relevant but perceptually non-salient features of a situation. I identify three types of “imaginative moral perception”: 1) the perspective taking that consists of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes; 2) the imaginative framing, which refers to seeing an element of a situation as something else; 3) the imaginative comparison, which sheds light on the actual world by using counterfactuals thinking that give us access to a possible world. Each of these types of moral perception contributes to enhancing our moral knowledge hence to improving our moral deliberation. My argument appeals to recent contributions from the fields of philosophy of psychology, cognitive and social psychology, neuropsychology and, of course, moral psychology

¿Sirve el trabajo penitenciario para la reinserción? : un estudio a partir de las opiniones de los presos de las cárceles de Cataluña

Este texto se basa en una investigación realizada en el «Centre de Recerca de la Vida Quotidiana i el Treball » (QUIT), de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, sobre el trabajo en las prisiones en Cataluña. Nuestras hipótesis de partida han sido: el trabajo y la adquisición de un oficio contribuyen a la reinserción laboral y, con ello, a la futura inserción social de los presos; y cuantos más medios ponga el sistema penitenciario en esta cuestión, mejor cumplirá con la función que la sociedad le encomienda. Para la realización del estudio nos hemos basado en una encuesta a una muestra aleatoria, representativa de los internos que trabajan en los talleres de las nueve cárceles de Cataluña, que hemos complementado con entrevistas en profundidad a expertos y responsables del sistema penitenciario y con visitas a varios talleres y entrevistas exploratorias con presos de cada taller. El resultado del estudio ha permitido constatar que el trabajo adquiere varias funciones. De entrada, proporciona un salario a los reclusos, que les permite cubrir necesidades personales o de ayuda a la familia. El trabajo contribuye a pasar mejor el tiempo en prisión y evitar situaciones conflictivas. Asimismo, proporciona hábitos laborales y mejora las relaciones sociales. Pese a que son pocos los empleos en talleres que aportan aprendizaje de un oficio, los internos lo valoran positivamente por cuanto les ayuda a «normalizar » la vida cotidiana en la cárcel, al mismo tiempo que les abre expectativas de futura reinserción.This paper is based on a research project carried out by the «Centre de Recerca del Treball i la Vida Quotidiana» (QUIT) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona on prison work in Catalonia. Our starting hypotheses were as follows: working and learning a trade contribute to reintegration into the labour market and thereby to the future social integration of inmates; and the more resources the penitentiary system in question provides, the better it will fulfil the duty that society entrusts to it. For the basis of our study we used a representative survey of inmates who work in the nine prisons of Catalonia. In addition, we conducted in-depth interviews with experts and people in charge of the penitentiary system, and visited various prison workshops to observe the inmates at work and conduct interviews with them. The result of the study has allowed us to confirm that prison work acquires several functions. Firstly, it provides inmates with earnings that enable them to meet personal or family needs. Working in prison allows them to make better use of their time and helps to avoid conflictive situations. It also provides working habits and improves social relationships. In spite of the fact that only a few of the jobs enable inmates to learn a trade, they appreciate the work they do inasmuch as it helps them to «normalise» everyday life in prison, while at the same time offering them prospects for future reintegration

Human evolution in Siberia: from frozen bodies to ancient DNA

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Yakuts contrast strikingly with other populations from Siberia due to their cattle- and horse-breeding economy as well as their Turkic language. On the basis of ethnological and linguistic criteria as well as population genetic studies, it has been assumed that they originated from South Siberian populations. However, many questions regarding the origins of this intriguing population still need to be clarified (e.g. the precise origin of paternal lineages and the admixture rate with indigenous populations). This study attempts to better understand the origins of the Yakuts by performing genetic analyses on 58 mummified frozen bodies dated from the 15^thto the 19^thcentury, excavated from Yakutia (Eastern Siberia).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>High quality data were obtained for the autosomal STRs, Y-chromosomal STRs and SNPs and mtDNA due to exceptional sample preservation. A comparison with the same markers on seven museum specimens excavated 3 to 15 years ago showed significant differences in DNA quantity and quality. Direct access to ancient genetic data from these molecular markers combined with the archaeological evidence, demographical studies and comparisons with 166 contemporary individuals from the same location as the frozen bodies helped us to clarify the microevolution of this intriguing population.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We were able to trace the origins of the male lineages to a small group of horse-riders from the Cis-Baïkal area. Furthermore, mtDNA data showed that intermarriages between the first settlers with Evenks women led to the establishment of genetic characteristics during the 15^thcentury that are still observed today.</p

Data series subtraction with unknown and unmodeled background noise

LISA Pathfinder (LPF), ESA's precursor mission to a gravitational wave observatory, will measure the degree to which two test-masses can be put into free-fall, aiming to demonstrate a residual relative acceleration with a power spectral density (PSD) below 30 fm/s$^2$/Hz$^{1/2}$ around 1 mHz. In LPF data analysis, the measured relative acceleration data series must be fit to other various measured time series data. This fitting is required in different experiments, from system identification of the test mass and satellite dynamics to the subtraction of noise contributions from measured known disturbances. In all cases, the background noise, described by the PSD of the fit residuals, is expected to be coloured, requiring that we perform such fits in the frequency domain. This PSD is unknown {\it a priori}, and a high accuracy estimate of this residual acceleration noise is an essential output of our analysis. In this paper we present a fitting method based on Bayesian parameter estimation with an unknown frequency-dependent background noise. The method uses noise marginalisation in connection with averaged Welch's periodograms to achieve unbiased parameter estimation, together with a consistent, non-parametric estimate of the residual PSD. Additionally, we find that the method is equivalent to some implementations of iteratively re-weighted least-squares fitting. We have tested the method both on simulated data of known PSD, and to analyze differential acceleration from several experiments with the LISA Pathfinder end-to-end mission simulator.Comment: To appear Phys. Rev. D90 August 201

A preliminary taxonomy and a standard knowledge base for mental-health system indicators in Spain

Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Comparative genome and phenotypic analysis of Clostridium difficile 027 strains provides insight into the evolution of a hypervirulent bacterium

A genome comparison of non-epidemic and epidemic strains of Clostridium difficile reveals gene gains that could explain how a hypervirulent strain has emerge

Beyond the required LISA free-fall performance: new LISA pathfinder results down to 20 μHz

In the months since the publication of the first results, the noise performance of LISA Pathfinder has improved because of reduced Brownian noise due to the continued decrease in pressure around the test masses, from a better correction of noninertial effects, and from a better calibration of the electrostatic force actuation. In addition, the availability of numerous long noise measurement runs, during which no perturbation is purposely applied to the test masses, has allowed the measurement of noise with good statistics down to 20  μHz. The Letter presents the measured differential acceleration noise figure, which is at (1.74±0.05)  fm s^{-2}/sqrt[Hz] above 2 mHz and (6±1)×10  fm s^{-2}/sqrt[Hz] at 20  μHz, and discusses the physical sources for the measured noise. This performance provides an experimental benchmark demonstrating the ability to realize the low-frequency science potential of the LISA mission, recently selected by the European Space Agency