L’article permet de préciser quelques spécificités du corpus CFPP2000 et montre à partir de l’exemple des interrogatives indirectes (percontatives) comment ce corpus peut contribuer à une description de ce que nous appelons « la langue commune ». Dans un premier temps, nous rappelons les choix qui ont présidé à la confection du CFPP2000. Puis nous examinons les types d’interrogatives indirectes qui apparaissent dans le CFPP2000, avec des fréquences variées. Les interrogatives indirectes selon la norme grammaticale dominent. Cependant les interrogatives indirectes (...) en « est-ce que » sont bien représentées et elles apparaissent chez des locuteurs de toutes les origines sociales montrant que le corpus CFPP2000 ne se confond pas avec ce standard des grammaires. En revanche, les percontatives in situ sont très rares et plusieurs indices montrent qu’il s’agit encore de formes stigmatisées. (shrink)

Cet article porte sur les caractéristiques de la question et de l’interrogation. Dans une perspective énonciative, il présente les différents types de structuration, et leurs implications énonciatives et pragmatiques – modales et illocutoires. Il pose la question de la modalité épistémique et de sa pertinence, et de la plurimodalité sous-jacente à la motivation des questions et de l’interrogation. Il observe de quelle façon se construit la force illocutoire d’une question, et de quelle façon elle se neutralise dans les percontatives. Il (...) met en évidence la relation inter-énonciative et de quelle façon elle est exploitée pour solliciter le destinataire. (shrink)

Philosophy Compass, Volume 17, Issue 6, June 2022.

The idea of a higher level phenomenon having a downward causal influence on a lower level process or entity has taken a variety of forms. In order to discuss the relation between emergence and downward causation, the specific variety of the thesis of downward causation (DC) must be identified. Based on some ontological theses about inter-level relations, types of causation and the possibility of reduction, three versions of DC are distinguished. Of these, the `Strong' form of DC is held to (...) be in conflict with contemporary science; the `Medium' version of DC may for instance describe thoughts constraining neurophysiological states, while the `Weak' form of DC is physically acceptable but may not in practice be a feasible description of the mind/brain or the cell/molecule relation. All forms have their specific problems, but the Medium and the Weak version seems to be most promising. (shrink)

Since the publication of his seminal monograph "The scientific image", Bas van Fraassen is a key figure in philosophy of science. In this book, other philosophers with various outlooks critically discuss his work on theories, empiricism and philosophical stances. The book starts with a new article by van Fraassen on his preferred account of theories, the so-called semantic view. This account is now 50 years old, and van Fraassen takes this anniversary as an opportunity to review the account, its history (...) and the philosophical discussion about it. In the main part of the book, Nancy Cartwright, Finnur Dellsén, Matthias Egg, Steven French, Michael Friedman, Milena Ivanova and Michela Massimi discuss van Fraassen's contributions to philosophy. Three chapters focus on his engagement with realism (French, Friedman, Ivanova). Others study his voluntarism (Cartwright) and his view on representation (Massimi). Finally, there are contributions about his elaboration of empiricism (Dellsén) and his proposal to consider philosophical positions as stances (Egg). The volume includes a laudatio written by Steven French and finishes with a reply by van Fraassen to his critics. (shrink)

It is often claimed that scientists can obtain new knowledge about nature by running computer simulations. How is this possible? I answer this question by arguing that computer simulations are arguments. This view parallels Norton’s argument view about thought experiments. I show that computer simulations can be reconstructed as arguments that fully capture the epistemic power of the simulations. Assuming the extended mind hypothesis, I furthermore argue that running the computer simulation is to execute the reconstructing argument. I discuss some (...) objections and reject the view that computer simulations produce knowledge because they are experiments. I conclude by comparing thought experiments and computer simulations, assuming that both are arguments. (shrink)

In summary, the creation and maintenance of the Wistar Rats as standardized animals can be attributed to the breeding work of Helen Dean King, coupled with the management and husbandry methods of Milton Greenman and Louise Duhring, and with supporting documentation provided by Henry Donaldson. The widespread use of the Wistar Rats, however, is a function of the ingenuity of Milton Greenman who saw in them a way for a small institution to provide service to science. Greenman's rhetoric, as captured (...) in his Director's Reports, prepared annually from 1905 until his death in 1937, shows that he was unusually sensitive to his times and to the economics of science and of society. In the era when biology was being defined, he recognized in the rat the potential to be a living analog to the pure chemicals that legitimated experimental science. From management literature he extracted the ideals of uniformity of product, standards of quality, and efficiency of production, applying them to scientific practice to generate an animal model that thrives as standard equipment in laboratories throughout the world today.I will close with a quote from Frederick W. Taylor that is a cogent statement of the contribution to science and scientific progress made by standardized tools and their creators. Equating the surgeon and the workman, Taylor wrote: [He is given] the finest implements, each one of which has been the subject of special study and development ... [and] the very best knowledge of his predecessors; and, provided with standard implements and methods which represent the best knowledge of the world up to date, he is able to use his own originality and ingenuity to make real additions to the world's knowledge, instead of reinventing things which are old.Standardized tools, whether surgeons' implements or laboratory-bred rats, are one of the vehicles for carrying scientific knowledge forward from generation to generation. In this sense, Greenman's Wistar Rats have done their job, in his words, of “providing service to science.”. (shrink)

In a recent article published in Body & Society, Nikolas Rose considers what he takes to be possible historical–ontological implications of recent developments in brain-decoding technologies. He argues that such technologies embody the premise that the brain is the real locus of mental states and processes, hence that a new materialist ontology of thought may be in the process of emerging through technological demonstration rather than through philosophical resolution. In this reply, I offer some reasons for being sceptical about such (...) claims. I argue that the ontology in question hardly amounts to anything particularly new, that technologies cannot demonstrate anything in these matters independently of philosophical inclinations of some kind and that it is at least an open issue whether the ontology in question can secure its claim to be a materialist ontology of thought. (shrink)

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, SETLcoin, Ether, Solar Coin, or Liberty Reserve exist since 2009. Because of their decentralized control, they are often considered a threat or alternative to the conventional centralized banking system. While the technological implication of some such currencies, especially of Bitcoin, has attracted much attention, so far there is little discussion about the entire field of cryptocurrencies and very little academic literature addressing its ethical significance. In this article, we thus address the impact of “blockchain technology” on (...) the nature of financial transactions from a business ethics perspective. We begin with a survey on relevant literature from neighboring disciplines. Next, we work towards a 3 × 3 framework for current debates on the ethics of cryptocurrencies : we combine the micro, meso, and macro levels of business and society with assessments of the potential ethical impact of cryptocurrencies as morally beneficial, detrimental, and ambiguous. In addition, we highlight possible avenues for future research, such as the changing roles of the miners and regulators, the prosocial use of cryptocurrencies, the antisocial use for shadow banking and transactions in the ‘dark net’ and cryptocurrencies’ effect on inflation and deflation. (shrink)

Contradictions of the Welfare State is the first collection of Offe's essays to appear in a single volume in English, and it contains a selection of his most important recent work on the breakdown of the post-war settlement.

Im zweiten Band der Ausgewählten Schriften von Claus Offe sind theoretische Arbeiten zu Wohlfahrtsstaat und Sozialpolitik versammelt. Sie handeln von den drei großen Säulen sozialstaatlicher Politik: soziale Hilfen oder „welfar“, gesetzliche Sozialversicherung und Versorgung von der Bevölkerung mit Diensten und finanziellen Ressourcen. Deren aktuelle Herausforderungen werden durch das Geschehen am Arbeitsmarkt, fiskalische Krisen und demografische Trends bestimmt, nicht zuletzt auch durch die „moralische Ökonomie“ der Gewährleistung sozialer Sicherheit. Wie weit tragen unter gegebenen Bedingungen die normativen Ressourcen der Solidarität, die für (...) die politische Bewältigung von Armut, Arbeitslosigkeit und Prekarität benötigt werden? Im zweiten Teil des Bandes geht es um Begründungen für die aktuelle Idee eines bedingungslosen Grundeinkommens und seiner Varianten. (shrink)

Im ersten Band der „Ausgewählten Schriften von Claus Offe“ sind wichtige Arbeiten zu Arbeitsmarkt und Arbeitsgesellschaft sowie deren Zusammenhang mit der kapitalistischen Wirtschaftsordnung zusammengestellt. Die Studien sind überwiegend in der zweiten Hälfte der 1970er und in den 1980er Jahren entstanden, aber wohl auch heute von mehr als antiquarischem Interesse, weil die Kerninstitutionen kapitalistischer Gesellschaften mit ihren Machtstrukturen, Verteilungsergebnissen und ihrer Konfliktdynamik zu wesentlichen Teilen unverändert geblieben sind. Unverändert oder sogar verstärkt sind wir mit Problemen der Arbeitsmarkt-Spaltung, der Prekarität, des Niedriglohnsektors, (...) der durch Stagnation, technischen Wandel und/oder „Globalisierung“ bedingten Beschäftigungsrisiken, des Übergangs von der „industriellen“ in die „Dienstleistungsgesellschaft“, dem Verhältnis von Erwerbsarbeit und anderen Arten nutzenstiftender Tätigkeit sowie mit Motiven und politischen Möglichkeiten konfrontiert, Lage und Dauer der Arbeitszeit neu zu gestalten. (shrink)

Im fünften Band der Ausgewählten Schriften von Claus Offe geht es um soziologische Aspekte politischer Herrschaft in Gesellschaften mit kapitalistischer Wirtschaftsordnung. Dabei steht die Frage im Mittelpunkt, wie die Ausübung staatlicher Gewalt durch das Handeln von Gesetzgebern und Regierungen beide Gleichgewichtsbedingungen zugleich erfüllen kann: die der Legitimität politischer Herrschaft und die der Erhaltung und Förderung einer profitgesteuerten Ökonomie. Genauer: Ob und ggf. aus welchen systematischen Gründen Staaten an dieser ihrer zweifachen Funktionsbestimmung scheitern und dann Symptome unzulänglicher Reformpolitik, misslingenden Krisenmanagements, sogar (...) von manifester Unregierbarkeit und „Staatsversagen“ aufweisen. Diese Fragen drängen sich heute gleichermaßen auf der nationalstaatlichen wie auf der EU-Ebene auf und finden mit gängigen Verweisen auf „Governance“ und „Nachhaltigkeit“ nur unzulängliche Antworten. Der Inhalt · ​​Staat, Kapitalismus, Legitimation · Regieren mit prekärer Staatskapazität · Die europäische Integration und ihre Krisen Der Autor Dr. Claus Offe ist emeritierter Professor für Politische Soziologie an der Humboldt-Universität sowie an der Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. (shrink)

Seit einigen Jahren zeichnet sich in der Wissenschaftsgeschichte ein Ende des traditionellen Streites ab, ob man bei der Interpretation der Wissenschaftsentwicklung und allgemein bei der Wissensproduktion entweder vor allem auf die sozialen Faktoren zu achten habe oder aber auf die als eigenständig zu begreifenden, wissenschaftsimmanenten,geistigen' Faktoren, wie Ideen, Begriffe und Methoden. Zunehmend hat sich die Strategie etabliert, das Aufkommen der Unterscheidung zwischen sozial konstruierten und,wissenschaftlichen' Momenten der Wissenschaftsentwicklung selbst zum Forschungsgegenstand zu machen. Wissenschaft wird in der Folge nicht mehr primär (...) als Theorie begriffen, sondern als bestimmte, mehr oder weniger lokal situierte, kulturelle oder soziale Praxis. Die traditionellen Rechtfertigungskriterien für Wissen werden sozial und kulturell kontextualisiert. Die im vorliegenden Band versammelten Aufsätze aus den Bereichen der Philosophie, Geschichtswissenschaft, Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Ethnologie und Soziologie unternehmen es, die neue Situation anhand von Fallstudien und theoretischen Überlegungen aus verschiedenen Perspektiven auszuloten. Mit Beiträgen von: Alexander Becker, Cora Bender,Wolfgang Detel, Uljana Feest, Gundula Grebner, Hajo Greif, Thomas Kailer, Katrin Koehl, Andreas Niederberger, Alfred Nordmann, Ulrich Oevermann, Trevor Pinch und Claus Zittel. (shrink)

Originally presented as the author's habilitation under the title: Kirchliche Zensur und theologische Rezeption - Die postume Expurgation der Werke Cajetans und Contarinis und das theologische Profil der rèomischen Kongregationen von Inquisition und Index.

In the light of growing political and religious fundamentalism, this open access book defends the idea of freedom as paramount for the attempt to find common ethical ground in the age of globality. The book sets out to examine as yet unexhausted ways to boost the resilience of the principle of liberalism. Critically reviewing the last 200 years of the philosophy of freedom, it revises the principle of liberty in order to revive it. It discusses many different aspects that fall (...) under its three main topics: the metaphysics of freedom, quantitative freedom and qualitative freedom. Open societies worldwide have come under increasing pressure in the last decades. The belief that politics and markets fare best when guided by the principle of liberty presently faces multiple challenges such as terrorism, climate warming, inequality, populism, and financial crises. In the view of its critics, the idea of freedom no longer offers adequate guidance to meet these challenges and should be partially corrected or even entirely replaced by countervailing values. Against the reduction of freedom to the merely quantitative question as to how much liberties individuals call their own, this book draws attention to the qualitative concerns which and whose opportunities society should foster. It argues that, correctly understood, the idea of liberty commits us to defend as well as advance the freedom of each and every world citizen. (shrink)

What is it to judge something to be a natural end? And what objects may properly be judged natural ends? These questions pose a challenge, because the predicates “natural” and “end” seemingly can not be instantiated at the same time – at least given some Kantian assumptions. My paper defends the thesis that Kant’s “Critique of Teleological Judgment”, nevertheless, provides a sensible account of judging something a natural end. On the account, a person judges an object O a natural end, (...) if she thinks that the parts of O cause O and if she is committed to approach O in a top-down manner, as if the parts were produced in view of the whole. The account is non-realist, because it involves a commitment. With the account comes a characterization that provides necessary and sufficient conditions on objects that may properly be judged natural ends. My paper reconstructs the argument in CTJ, §§64-65 where the account and the characterization are derived. (shrink)

The utopian energy of the liberal social-democratic state, which is unable to answer the great questions of today's world, is now spent. The way forward will involve a struggle, not against the institutions, but for the emergence of a new rationality, corresponding not only to a new organisation of society, but also to a strategic and multidimensional concept of class.

Many results of modern physics—those of quantum mechanics, for instance—come in a probabilistic guise. But what do probabilistic statements in physics mean? Are probabilities matters of objective fact and part of the furniture of the world, as objectivists think? Or do they only express ignorance or belief, as Bayesians suggest? And how are probabilistic hypotheses justified and supported by empirical evidence? Finally, what does the probabilistic nature of physics imply for our understanding of the world? This volume is the first (...) to provide a philosophical appraisal of probabilities in all of physics. Its main aim is to make sense of probabilistic statements as they occur in the various physical theories and models and to provide a plausible epistemology and metaphysics of probabilities. The essays collected here consider statistical physics, probabilistic modelling, and quantum mechanics, and critically assess the merits and disadvantages of objectivist and subjectivist views of probabilities in these fields. In particular, the Bayesian and Humean views of probabilities and the varieties of Boltzmann's typicality approach are examined. The contributions on quantum mechanics discuss the special character of quantum correlations, the justification of the famous Born Rule, and the role of probabilities in a quantum field theoretic framework. Finally, the connections between probabilities and foundational issues in physics are explored. The Reversibility Paradox, the notion of entropy, and the ontology of quantum mechanics are discussed. Other essays consider Humean supervenience and the question whether the physical world is deterministic. (shrink)

Monte Carlo simulations arrive at their results by introducing randomness, sometimes derived from a physical randomizing device. Nonetheless, we argue, they open no new epistemic channels beyond that already employed by traditional simulations: the inference by ordinary argumentation of conclusions from assumptions built into the simulations. We show that Monte Carlo simulations cannot produce knowledge other than by inference, and that they resemble other computer simulations in the manner in which they derive their conclusions. Simple examples of Monte Carlo simulations (...) are analysed to identify the underlying inferences. (shrink)

This book examines the theological methodology of Dutch theologian, Herman Bavinck (1854-1921). The focus of the book is on the influence of the German historicist movement on his theological method and uses Bavinck's doctrine of the Trinity as a way to test the argument that while not embracing all of the relativising implications of the movement, the role of history as a force that both shapes the present and allows for development into the future has a demonstrable influence on his (...) theological methodology. To make this argument the book considers Bavinck's larger nineteenth century context. It traces the development of both history and theology being understood as sciences in the university and how this required a reimagining of both disciplines. It could be said that the theology is thoroughly historicised in the nineteenth century. The book then considers the three principia of Bavinck's theological methodology: Revelation, Confession, and Christian Consciousness, demonstrating how Bavinck both appropriates and adapts historicist assumptions. (shrink)