Les silhouettes ambiguës, comme celle du lapin/canard (Jastrow, 1899), ont été étudiées selon plusieurs approches. Toutefois, les figures prises en exemples dans la large majorité des études sont généralement les mêmes. Cette redondance des images ambiguës utilisées pousse à croire qu'elles sont peut-être assez rares. Certaines observations anecdotiques suggèrent cependant qu’elles seraient au contraire relativement fréquentes. C'est ce que cherche à déterminer cette expérience. Nous avons utilisé des modèles tridimensionnels d'animaux projetés de façon aléatoire afin d'en extraire les silhouettes dont la complexité périmétrique a ensuite été modifiée par lissage. Treize sujets ont dû indiquer ce qu'ils percevaient dans l'image. Nous démontrons qu’une silhouette est classée en moyenne dans 1.9079 catégories de base. Nous avons également démontré qu’une diminution de la complexité périmétrique rend d’abord une silhouette plus ambiguë pour éventuellement atteindre un sommet (équivalent à environ six fois la complexité périmétrique d’un disque) à la suite duquel l’ambiguïté chute. / Ambiguous silhouettes such as the duck/rabbit (Jastrow, 1899) have been studied by several approaches. However, the figures taken as examples in the vast majority of studies are generally the same. This redundancy of the ambiguous images used in litterature implies they may be quite rare. On the other hand, anecdotal evidence suggests that they might be relatively frequent. This is what this experiment is trying to establish. We used three-dimensional models of animals from a random point of view to extract silhouettes whose perimetric complexity was subsequently modified by smoothing. Thirteen subjects were asked to indicate what they saw in the image. We show that silhouettes are classified on average with 1.9079 based categories. We also established that a decrease in the perimetric complexity initially makes a more ambiguous figure but that this effect eventually reaches a peak (at a perimetric complexity of approximately 6 times that of a disk) after which ambiguity drops.

Ce travail prend pour objet la correspondance sur la tragédie échangée par Lessing, Mendelssohn et Nicolai entre 1755 et 1757 selon une double approche. Un volume propose une traduction intégrale des lettres, accompagnées de textes qui en permettent une meilleure contextualisation. Un autre volume en établit une première interprétation, afin de la situer dans la genèse de l’esthétique philosophique en Allemagne. Il s’appuie donc sur une thèse liminaire : l’esthétique n’est pas d’abord une doctrine, mais le résultat, dans le milieu philosophique, du grand mouvement de constitution du système des arts qui traverse l’Europe au XVIIIe siècle. Il montre comment, en se rapportant chaque fois de manière différente à l’héritage baumgartenien et à la théorie de l’art française, chaque auteur se détache de la poétique classique de Gottsched qui constitue la référence intellectuelle en Allemagne à cette période. Abandonnant toute stratégie de légitimation du genre, Nicolai développe une approche critique, qui fait valoir l’autonomie du champ littéraire dans la détermination des règles d’écriture de la tragédie et en réfute toute fonction morale. Lessing, en revanche, développe une approche poétique et critique renouvelée, qui veut défendre à la fois l’autonomie du champ littéraire et l’utilité morale de la tragédie. Elle implique de redéfinir la pitié de manière inédite, puis finalement la nature de la moralité. Mendelssohn, enfin, défend contre Lessing une perspective esthétique : l’autonomie du champ et son absence d’ambition morale. Il en établit alors la légitimité grâce à la notion de plaisir esthétique, plus élevé en dignité que le plaisir sensible car intellectuel. / The topic of the thesis is the 1755-1757 correspondence between Lessing, Mendelssohn and Nicolai about tragedy. One volume does not only contains a full translation of the letters but also some other texts in order to better sketch its historical context. Another volume contains an interpretation of the corpus that aims to highlight its place in the historical genesis of philosophical aesthetics in Germany. This work relies on a preliminary basis : aesthetics is not a doctrine, but rather the result, in the philosophical field, of the constitution of the system of arts that goes through the entire Europe in the XVIIIth century. It shows how each of them leaves the classic poetics of Gottsched – the reference in Germany at that time – and how each of them does it by referring in a different way to the legacy of Baumgarten and the French art theory. Hence, Nicolai gives up any strategy of recognition regarding the tragedy and takes a critical perspective. He underlines the autonomy of the literary field concerning the rules of tragedy. He denies any moral function. Lessing takes a poetical and critical perspective in a new sense. He stresses the autonomy of the literary field as much as the moral function of tragedy. This implies to redefine pity in a way never seen before, if not the essence of morality itself. As for Mendelssohn, he fights Lessing and adopts an aesthetical perspective. The aesthetical field is autonomous and has no moral ambition. What makes it legitimate is then the aesthetical pleasure for it has more dignity than the simple sensitive pleasure as it is more intellectual.

O objetivo desta dissertação é estudar o pensamento trágico e a manifestação do riso trágico como formas de aprovação incondicional da vida, portanto como alternativa às ilusões que determinam valores e condicionam a aprovação da vida à supressão do dado trágico do mundo. Desse modo, elege como principal objeto de investigação a relação entre a escolha trágica e as crenças humanas desde suas bases epistemológicas, morais, éticas etc. A partir dessa relação, podemos verificar o problema e a função das ilusões humanas, que nada mais são do que as próprias bases e crenças provenientes do pensamento não trágico, isto é, do pensamento que aprova a vida em determinadas condições, excluindo certos aspectos da realidade como o nada, o acaso e a desordem, ou simplesmente o dado trágico do mundo. O pensamento trágico emerge como uma intuição desse dado trágico do mundo, que podemos negar ou aprovar. Friedrich Nietzsche, o filósofo que apontou a emergência dessa escolha, desenvolve uma forma de denúncia ao ardil que nega a vida em seu aspecto dionisíaco, cujos maiores inimigos são os princípios e valores dos ideais da tendência socrática, de racionalização da vida, e da moral judaico-cristã, de negação dos instintos em vista de uma vida melhor em outro mundo. Além do próprio pensamento trágico, de inspiração nietzschiana, que culmina na filosofia trágica, desenvolvida em larga medida por Clément Rosset, também o riso trágico se coloca como uma forma de destruição, ainda que isso não seja a sua finalidade. Sua manifestação é expressão de júbilo da vida vivida no instante, sem preconcepções a respeito do que é o certo e o errado, o bem e o mal, o belo e o feio etc. Em vista disso, o percurso expositivo se concentrou primeiramente no pensamento e, posteriormente, no riso trágicos, mas tanto de um modo como de outro o resultado é o mesmo: vemos a destruição das ilusões, ou das bases e das crenças humanas, contra os abismos dionisíacos e a aprovação incondicional da vida, ou amor fati, que nos permite compreender o estado psicológico de celebração e festa mesmo diante da morte. / The aim of this dissertation is to study tragic thinking and the manifestation of tragic laughter as forms of unconditional approval of life, therefore as an alternative to the illusions that determine values and condition the approval of life to the suppression of the tragic data of the world. In this way, it selects as the main object of investigation the relation between the tragic choice and the human beliefs from its epistemological, moral, ethical, etc. bases. From this relation, we can verify the problem and the function of human illusions that are nothing but the very foundations and beliefs derived from nontragic thinking, that is, of the thought that approves life under certain conditions, excluding certain aspects of reality as nothingness, chance and disorder, or simply the tragic data of the world. Tragic thinking emerges as an intuition of this tragic data of the world, which we can deny or approve of. Nietzsche, the philosopher who pointed to the emergence of this choice, develops a form of denunciation to the riddle that denies life in its Dionysian aspect whose greatest enemies are the principles and values of the ideals of the \"Socratic tendency,\" of rationalization of life, and of Judeo-Christian morality, of denying instincts for a better life in another world. In addition to the Nietzschean-inspired tragic thinking that culminates in the tragic philosophy, developed to a large extent by Clément Rosset, also tragic laughter sets itself as a form of destruction, even if that is not the purpose. Its manifestation is the expression of joy of life lived in the instant, without preconceptions with what is right and wrong, good and evil, beautiful and ugly, etc. In view of this, the expository course focused first on tragic thought and then on tragic laughter, but in one way or another the result is the same: we see the destruction of illusions, or human foundations and beliefs, against the Dionysian abysses and the unconditional approval of life, or amor fati, which allows us the psychological state of celebration and party even in the face of death.

This diploma thesis deals with the influence of geometric abstraction and op art on art and the use of new media in video art. Above all, it focuses on selected Czech artists of these directions and their work. The thesis is divided into two main parts, theoretical and practical. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with the beginnings of geometric abstraction and its expansion, especially in the second half of the twentieth century in Bohemia. Important names of this direction are mentioned here, namely Jan Kubíček, Hugo Demartini, Zdeněk Sýkora and Milan Grygar. Following the geometric abstraction, there are tendencies to create geometric optical illusions outlined in the chapter devoted to op art. The work of Vladislav Mirvald and Radoslav Kratina is highlighted here. In addition, it devotes itself mainly to the penetration of new media into video art and overall to the arts as such. Mr and Mrs Vasulka are mentioned as representatives of video art. They have contributed to the development of this direction, primarily through their creativity and inventiveness during their creative work. The text describes the issue not only from a global point of view, but also focuses on the development of Czech art. The practical part reflects the knowledge of the theoretical part and unifies the elements of the above-mentioned directions by creating an authorial video using mainly the principles of geometric abstraction.

Quando colocadas em situações em que os eventos ambientais são independentes do responder, pessoas podem desenvolver uma expectativa inapropriada de que têm controle comportamental sobre o ambiente. Esse fenômeno é conhecido como ilusão de controle. Este estudo investigou os efeitos de consequências culturais sobre as estimativas de controle apresentadas consensualmente por um trio de participantes, que trabalharam em uma tarefa em que pontos foram apresentados independentemente do responder. 38 universitários de diversos cursos de graduação participaram de 2 experimentos: no Experimento 1, quatro Trios realizaram a tarefa experimental e no Experimento 2, duas Culturas envolveram a substituição de participantes. Duas atividades caracterizavam um ciclo completo: (a) em primeiro lugar, uma tarefa individual na qual pontos foram apresentados na tela do computador, em um esquema múltiplo com componentes de tempo variável e extinção (mult VT EXT). Abaixo do rótulo de pontos, havia um retângulo, que mudava de cor a depender do componente do esquema, manipulável pelos participantes por meio de respostas de teclar na barra de espaço do teclado. (b) Em segundo lugar, após o término da tarefa no computador, os participantes responderam consensualmente sobre o controle que tinham na produção dos pontos em uma escala que variou entre depender pouco (0) e depender muito (10). Consequências culturais foram apresentadas a depender da estimativa de controle e da condição vigente. Na condição A, a consequência cultural foi apresentada contingente a estimativas de controle entre 7 e 10. Já na condição B, a consequência cultural foi contingente a estimativas entre 0 e 3. Os resultados encontrados contribuem tanto para os estudos sobre seleção cultural como os que investigam a ilusão de controle, já que demonstram a seleção de estimativas de controle e efeitos da consequência cultural no responder individual, bem como evidenciam a independência entre comportamento verbal e não verbal em uma situação na qual eventos ambientais são apresentados independentemente do responder / When people are exposed to situations with non-contingent events, they may develop an erroneous expectation of having comportamental control over the environment. This phenomenon is known as illusion of control. This study investigated the effects of cultural consequences on the estimate of control presented consensually by a trio of participants who has taken part in a task in which points were presented independently of what they made. 38 undergraduate students from a variety of courses participated in two experiments: in Experiment 1, four trios completed an experimental task, while in Experiment 2 there were two Cultures involving replacement of participants. Two activities characterized a complete cycle: (a) first of all, a basic individuak task, in which points were presented on the computer screen in a multiple schedule with variable time and extinction components (mult VT EXT). Bellow the points counter, there was a retangle manipulated by the participants by responses on the space bar of a keyborad. The retangles colour changed depending on the schedule component. (b) Then, after completing the computer task, participants consensually answered a question about the control they had in the production of points in a scale from low control (0) to high control (10). Cultural consequences were presented depending on the estimate of control and on the manipulated condition. In condition A, the consequence was presented contingent to estimates of control from 7 to 10; while in condition B the cultural consequence was contingent to estimates from 0 to 3. The results contribute to studies about cultural selection and illusion of control, since they have showed the selection of estimates of control and effects of cultural consequence on individual responding as well as evidence the independency of verbal and non verbal behavior in situations in which environmental events are presented non-contigently

Quando colocadas em situações em que os eventos ambientais são independentes do responder, pessoas podem desenvolver uma expectativa inapropriada de que têm controle comportamental sobre o ambiente. Esse fenômeno é conhecido como ilusão de controle. Este estudo investigou os efeitos de consequências culturais sobre as estimativas de controle apresentadas consensualmente por um trio de participantes, que trabalharam em uma tarefa em que pontos foram apresentados independentemente do responder. 38 universitários de diversos cursos de graduação participaram de 2 experimentos: no Experimento 1, quatro Trios realizaram a tarefa experimental e no Experimento 2, duas Culturas envolveram a substituição de participantes. Duas atividades caracterizavam um ciclo completo: (a) em primeiro lugar, uma tarefa individual na qual pontos foram apresentados na tela do computador, em um esquema múltiplo com componentes de tempo variável e extinção (mult VT EXT). Abaixo do rótulo de pontos, havia um retângulo, que mudava de cor a depender do componente do esquema, manipulável pelos participantes por meio de respostas de teclar na barra de espaço do teclado. (b) Em segundo lugar, após o término da tarefa no computador, os participantes responderam consensualmente sobre o controle que tinham na produção dos pontos em uma escala que variou entre depender pouco (0) e depender muito (10). Consequências culturais foram apresentadas a depender da estimativa de controle e da condição vigente. Na condição A, a consequência cultural foi apresentada contingente a estimativas de controle entre 7 e 10. Já na condição B, a consequência cultural foi contingente a estimativas entre 0 e 3. Os resultados encontrados contribuem tanto para os estudos sobre seleção cultural como os que investigam a ilusão de controle, já que demonstram a seleção de estimativas de controle e efeitos da consequência cultural no responder individual, bem como evidenciam a independência entre comportamento verbal e não verbal em uma situação na qual eventos ambientais são apresentados independentemente do responder / When people are exposed to situations with non-contingent events, they may develop an erroneous expectation of having comportamental control over the environment. This phenomenon is known as illusion of control. This study investigated the effects of cultural consequences on the estimate of control presented consensually by a trio of participants who has taken part in a task in which points were presented independently of what they made. 38 undergraduate students from a variety of courses participated in two experiments: in Experiment 1, four trios completed an experimental task, while in Experiment 2 there were two Cultures involving replacement of participants. Two activities characterized a complete cycle: (a) first of all, a basic individuak task, in which points were presented on the computer screen in a multiple schedule with variable time and extinction components (mult VT EXT). Bellow the points counter, there was a retangle manipulated by the participants by responses on the space bar of a keyborad. The retangles colour changed depending on the schedule component. (b) Then, after completing the computer task, participants consensually answered a question about the control they had in the production of points in a scale from low control (0) to high control (10). Cultural consequences were presented depending on the estimate of control and on the manipulated condition. In condition A, the consequence was presented contingent to estimates of control from 7 to 10; while in condition B the cultural consequence was contingent to estimates from 0 to 3. The results contribute to studies about cultural selection and illusion of control, since they have showed the selection of estimates of control and effects of cultural consequence on individual responding as well as evidence the independency of verbal and non verbal behavior in situations in which environmental events are presented non-contigently

Transformation optics, a recently booming area, provides people a new approach to design optical devices for manipulating light. With transformation optics, a lot of novel optical devices are proposed, such as invisibility cloaks, optical wormholes, optical black holes, illusion devices. The present thesis is devoted to investigate transformation optics for manipulating light. Firstly, an introduction to transformation optics is given. This part includes: (1) introducing differential geometry as the mathematical preparation; (2) expressing Maxwell’s equations in an arbitrary coordinate system and introducing the concept of transformation media as the foundation stone of transformation optics; (3) discussing light from the geometry perspective as the essence of transformation optics; (4) showing how to use transformation optics to design optical devices. For our works on invisibility cloaks, we analyze the properties of arbitrary shaped invisibility cloaks, and confirm their invisibility abilities. The geometrical perturbations to cylindrical and spherical shaped cloaks are analyzed in detail. We show that the cylindrical cloak is more sensitive to the perturbation than a spherical cloak. By imposing a PEC (PMC) layer at the interior boundary of the cylindrical cloak shell for TM (TE) wave, the sensitivity can be reduced dramatically. A simplified non-magnetic cylindrical cloak is also designed. We show that the dominant zeroth order scattering term can be eliminated by employing an air gap between the cloak and the cloaked region. We propose a compensated bilayer by a folding coordinate transformation based on transformation optics. It is pointed out that complementary media, perfect negative index lens and perfect bilayer lens made of indefinite media are well unified under the scope of the transformed compensated bilayer. We demonstrate the applications of the compensated bilayer, such as perfect imaging and optical illusion. Arbitrary shaped compensated bilayers are also analyzed. Nihility media known as the media with ε =μ= 0, are generalized from transformation optics as transformation media derived from volumeless geometrical elements. The practical constructions of nihility media by metamaterials are discussed. The eigen fields in the nihility media are derived. The interactions between an external incident wave and a slab of nihility media in the free space background are analyzed. A new type of transformation media called α media is proposed for manipulating light. Light rays in the α media have a simple displacement or rotation relationship with those in another media (seed media). Such relationship is named α relationship. The α media can be designed and simplified to a certain class of diagonal anisotropic media, which are related to certain isotropic media by the α relationship. Several optical devices based on the α transformation media are designed. Invisibility cloaks obtained from the coordinate transformation approach are revisited from a different perspective. / QC 20101102

The aim of this study is to question the relationality between conception of image, social condition of an era and architecture. With acceptance of a transition to a new kind of relationality in contemporary era, a trialectical analysis is carried on, in order to understand changes in this relationality and its effects on contemporary architecture. Image, mainly depicted as the tool for communication, loses its transcendental and ideal status and degrades to an artificial and tricky state under the contemporary social condition. Likewise, current state of both image and social condition manipulates architecture, architectural production and the position of architect. Therefore, in this study, for understanding the new social condition, it is referred to the world constituted as a system of sign in philosophy of French thinker, Jean Baudrillard which originates from new status of image. For comprehension of contemporary architecture, it is referred to the practice of French architect, Jean Nouvel who features special value to image in his architecture. Finally, for consequences of this collision and effects on architecture, it is referred to the analysis of the book of &ldquo / The Singular Objects of Architecture&rdquo / which is composed of dialogues between Jean Baudrillard and Jean Nouvel.

Les silhouettes ambiguës, comme celle du lapin/canard (Jastrow, 1899), ont été étudiées selon plusieurs approches. Toutefois, les figures prises en exemples dans la large majorité des études sont généralement les mêmes. Cette redondance des images ambiguës utilisées pousse à croire qu'elles sont peut-être assez rares. Certaines observations anecdotiques suggèrent cependant qu’elles seraient au contraire relativement fréquentes. C'est ce que cherche à déterminer cette expérience. Nous avons utilisé des modèles tridimensionnels d'animaux projetés de façon aléatoire afin d'en extraire les silhouettes dont la complexité périmétrique a ensuite été modifiée par lissage. Treize sujets ont dû indiquer ce qu'ils percevaient dans l'image. Nous démontrons qu’une silhouette est classée en moyenne dans 1.9079 catégories de base. Nous avons également démontré qu’une diminution de la complexité périmétrique rend d’abord une silhouette plus ambiguë pour éventuellement atteindre un sommet (équivalent à environ six fois la complexité périmétrique d’un disque) à la suite duquel l’ambiguïté chute. / Ambiguous silhouettes such as the duck/rabbit (Jastrow, 1899) have been studied by several approaches. However, the figures taken as examples in the vast majority of studies are generally the same. This redundancy of the ambiguous images used in litterature implies they may be quite rare. On the other hand, anecdotal evidence suggests that they might be relatively frequent. This is what this experiment is trying to establish. We used three-dimensional models of animals from a random point of view to extract silhouettes whose perimetric complexity was subsequently modified by smoothing. Thirteen subjects were asked to indicate what they saw in the image. We show that silhouettes are classified on average with 1.9079 based categories. We also established that a decrease in the perimetric complexity initially makes a more ambiguous figure but that this effect eventually reaches a peak (at a perimetric complexity of approximately 6 times that of a disk) after which ambiguity drops.

The study deals with J. Baudrillad’s conception of reality as hyper reality. J. Baudrillad’s conception of hyper reality and the lost of referential reality is presented through the analysis of numerous writings, articles as well as critical texts. First of all, the author’s conception of simulated and non-referential reality is compared with the classical understanding of reality, which contains dualistic tension, whereas the other is nuclear and the distinctions between object/subject, true/false, real/unreal are no longer possible. Then the author of the study also brings the theme of ‘produced reality’ and mass mediated life as it is represented in J. Baudrillad’s philosophical writings. The influence of hyper reality on the practical way of life is also analyzed. Finally, the themes of non-referential language, philosophical dialogue and possibility for classical philosophy are considered.