I will propose that the combination, or even opposition, of the simplifying general laws of life (simplexity), and the remarkable diversity and flexibility of possible mechanisms and solutions (vicariance) is one of the fundamental sources of the creativity of our "practical knowledge". I'll give some examples from neuroscience. I will suggest that Act is at the root of the most "rational" processes, and that emotion is a tool for creating possible worlds by putting the sensitive body in a state conducive to the elaboration and anticipation of action scenarios linked to the past through "mental travel". I'll refer briefly to the theories of Husserl, Merleau Ponty, and the recent work of E. Danblon on the rhetoric of practicality.
Publications
BERTHOZ, A. (1997): "Le Sens du Mouvement", Odile Jacob, Paris, pp.345.
BERTHOZ, A. (2000): "The brains sense of movement (Perspectives in cognitive Neuroscience)", Harvard University Press, pp.352.
BERTHOZ, A., RECHT, R. (eds), (2005): "Les espaces de l'homme", Odile Jacob, Paris, pp.394.
BERTHOZ, A., JORLAND, G. (2005) : "L'empathie", Odile Jacob, Paris, pp.308.
BERTHOZ, A. (2003) : "La décision", Odile Jacob, Paris, pp.391.
BERTHOZ, A. (2006): "Emotion and reason: the cognitive neuroscience of decision making", trans. G.Weiss, Oxford University Press, pp.312.
BERTHOZ, A., PETIT, J.-L. (2006): "Physiologie de l'action et Phénoménologie", Odile Jacob, Paris, pp.368.
BERTHOZ, A. & PETIT, J.-L. (2008): "The Physiology and Phenomenology of Action", trans. C.MCCANN, Oxford University Press, pp.288.
BERTHOZ, A. AND CHRISTEN Y. (2009): "Neurobiology of "Umwelt". How Living Beings Perceive the World" Series: Research and Perspectives in Neurosciences. Berthoz, A., Christen, Y. (Eds.), 2009, XII, 158 p. 22 illus.
ANDRIEU, B., BERTHOZ, A. (EDS) (2009): "Le corps en acte. A l'occasion du centenaire de la naissance de Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961)", 2009, Nancy, PUN, Epistémologie du corps.
BERTHOZ, A., OSSOLA C., STOCK, B. (DIR.) (2010): "La pluralité interprétative" ("Lectures"), online, published June 24, 2010, https://books.openedition.org/cdf/1431.
BERTHOZ, A. (2009): "La simplexité"; Collection Science, O. Jacob, 2009, Paris, 256 p. BERTHOZ A. (2011) La Simplessita. Ed. Codice
BERTHOZ A. ( 2011) Simplexity . How to deal with a Complex world. Yale Univ. Press
BERTHOZ A. La vicariance O. Jacob (2013) BERTHOZ A. LaVicarianza CODICE 2015