In his treatises Hero of Alexandria describes a range of devices for producing spectacles and generating wonder that have frequently been treated as marginal by historians of technology and science. In this paper I shall show that these devices and Hero’s emphasis on wonder-making are of central importance to the image that Hero presents of mechanics. Hero uses the concept of wonder to add an intellectual component to the utility of mechanics, to strengthen the epistemological claims of mechanics and to (...) relate mechanical expertise to divine cunning. He is thereby able to present mechanics as a form of knowledge which is epistemically on a par with philosophy, but which still maintains powerful practical consequence.Author Keywords: Hero of Alexandria; Wonder; Automata; Ancient Mechanics; Ancient Science. (shrink)

La figure complexe et même contradictoire du démiurge dans le Timée de Platon a suscité plusieurs interprétations de l’Antiquité jusqu’à nos jours, même si habituellement le démiurge est considéré comme un intellect : intellect de l’âme du monde, activité productrice des Formes, Premier Moteur, divinité réalisant un plan déterminée comme le dieu de la Genèse, instrument du Bien. Le débat se poursuit, mais il est important d’insister sur l’originalité du Timée : c’est la première cosmologie dans l’Antiquité, qui fait intervenir (...) un dieu qui travaille, et qui utilise les mathématiques comme instrument par excellent de la mise en ordre du sensible. (shrink)

La conception américaine de la convergence technologique, promue par le programme NBIC (Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno), est orientée vers la recherche d’une intégration de tous les domaines du réel (la nature, la vie, l’esprit, la société) dans la représentation unitaire d’un monde constitué de systèmes hiérarchiques complexes et couplés entre eux. Il s’agit par conséquent d’une vision totalisante, témoignant d’un idéal de contrôle et de maîtrise que rien ne paraît devoir limiter. Les Grecs avaient un...

The Greek word mētis (μῆτις) traditionally refers to a particular form of wily intelligence associated with the arts of deception (dolos) and the knowledge of tricks (kerdē), subterfuges, and traps. Mētis evokes innovative and ground-breaking solutions, based on the capability to understand, anticipate, and possibly violate the others’ expectations. Most importantly, mētis presupposes practical wisdom, or prudence (phrόnesis), a dispositional quality that underpins all the virtues that deserve to be cultivated by sportspersons and that is pivotal to perfect sportspersons’ moral (...) character. Not only is prudence required to apply mētis profitably for winning a game, but it is also indispensable to perform consistently with the game’s norms—cognizant of sport values. This analysis of mētis is key to illuminate the embodied dimension of tactical and moral reasoning in contemporary sport practice. In this paper, we first argue that the strategic effectiveness of mētis proves that not only sensorimotor control but also higher forms of intelligence, like strategic reasoning, are embodied and inform skilful performance; second, we argue that relying on mētis is necessary not only to interpret the rules of the game in one’s own favor but also to respect the shared values that these rules uphold in the sport practice. (shrink)