A consciousness that is too horizontal

Abstract: The hierarchy works poorly because it is represented too horizontally in our minds. Defect inherent in the synthesis carried out in the conscious space. At this level of the neural network, the model flattens a social universe that is actually endowed with vertical complexity. Two mental dimensions In this chapter I use a notion … Read more

Overwhelming ideals

Abstract: Many of our motivations are wrongly considered natural. I take 3 examples: staying healthy, protecting nature, upholding equal rights. Behind them lie artificial ideals: Eternal Life, the Natural History Museum, Democratic Equality. Confused with principles truly constitutive of human nature, these ideals crush with their weight many aspects of our lives. They flatten our … Read more

When does a power have authority?

Abstract: Power is a mechanism and authority its acceptable, freely consented form. The complexity of modern societies sees power move away from the base, and therefore lose authority. Rather than destroying collective power to the detriment of one’s own, the only way to escape submission is to increase one’s own authority, through personal re-hierarchization. Power … Read more

Do without hierarchy?

Abstract: The etymology of ‘hierarchy’, the sacred order, remains relevant: there are always laws to which one must submit, if only the natural, new sacraments. I show that the collapse of hierarchies is natural, too, but that this disappearance is disastrous. It is not the hierarchical principle that poses the problem but its dysfunctions, its … Read more

A chancellor and a philosopher debate labor

Abstract: Debate between Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor, and Axel Honneth, philosopher author of ‘Le Souverain au travail’, on the problem of the recognition of work in contemporary society. The interest of the debate is that it is the archetype of dodging the fundamentals of the problem. Social ontology is not even mentioned. Surprisingly, the philosopher … Read more

Is the rise of esotericism and pseudo-science worrying?

Esotericism and the whimsical use of scientific discoveries —French talk of patasciences— are booming commercially. Enough for scientific magazines and news weeklies to look into the subject, with a major dossier in L’Express this week. Should we really worry about it, or is it just a necessary and transitory phase of our social evolution? The … Read more

Ecoterrorism: George Monbiot vs Andreas Malm

Is infrastructure sabotage deemed ecocidal productive or counterproductive? The need to repair the damage at an even greater cost to the planet marks these acts as imbued with crass stupidity. However, before concluding, let’s look at the debate between two ecologists, George Monbiot, British journalist, and Andreas Malm, Swedish geographer author of ‘How to sabotage … Read more

How do you really assess animal suffering?

Abstract: Between the sterile positions of the denigration of animal suffering and the human-animal analogism, the truth is that the experience of suffering is strictly individual and connoted “atrocious” according to moral rather than physical criteria. Exacerbated animal suffering is our neglected human suffering. Pain sensors are universal, not what feels them How do you … Read more

Stratium, a theory of mind and personality

This article is a presentation of Stratium for the professional readership, which complements the previous article for the general public. Intended for publication in specialized journals, it addresses more technical points in the first part, and in the second part provides a detailed test of current competing theses on consciousness. Abstract: Stratium is a body-mind … Read more

The fundamental vice of anarchy

Abstract: This article is part of those surrounding the presentation of the universal political regime. It takes stock of the value of anarchy as a political system, explains its advantages and its limits, which appear as soon as the population expands, due to a fundamental flaw in the concept of solidarity. True political system, false … Read more