Die Frage, ob sich auf existenzphilosophischer Grundlage eine Ethik entwickeln lässt, ist seit jeher umstritten. Die Autoren dieses Bandes widmen sich dem Widerspruch, dass der Existenzphilosophie entweder eine starke Ethikverbundenheit oder eine große Ethikferne zugeschrieben wird. Befragt wurden hierzu die Ansätze Sören Kierkegaards, Heideggers, Karl Jaspers', Jean-Paul Sartres und anderer Autoren der Existenzphilosophie.

Friedrich Schiller’s significance for philosophy was established in an irrefutable way by the Neo-Kantians. Following Kuno Fischer’s brilliant lectures in Jena in 1858 under the title of “Schiller as Philosopher” and Friedrich Albert Lange’s development of the “standpoint of the ideal” from Schiller’s philosophic poetry in the last part of his Geschichte des Materialismus (1866, 2nd edition 1873/75), many thinkers including Karl Vorländer (1894), Eugen Kühnemann (1895), Bruno Bauch (1905), Wilhelm Windelband (1905) and Ernst Cassirer (1916, 1924) underscored the value (...) of Schiller’s philosophy and also made clear that his philosophy cannot be approached independently of his poetry and his dramatic work. While Rüdiger Safranski’s biography (2004) finds the vital impulse for the emergence of German idealism from this melding of Schiller’s philosophy and poetry, the seminal studies of Dieter Henrich (Grundlegung aus dem Ich, 2004) and Manfred Frank (“Unendliche Annäherung”. Die Anfänge der philosophischen Frühromantik, 1997) on the origins of German idealism did not indicate that Schiller had contributed in an essential way to German idealism. This contrast in the evaluation of Schiller’s credentials in this regard can be drawn back to the fact that the relationship between idealism and realism in Schiller is not determined, as with Kant, in relation to the concept of knowledge, but from the viewpoint of beauty and the sublime, which combine reason and nature in such a way that idealizes reality. The centrepiece of Schiller’s philosophy is the poetic imagination. To this extent, Schiller anticipates in a basic way the later movement of philosophical Romanticism. (shrink)

The discourse on freedom that Kant unfolds in his writings on the history of philosophy, especially in his essay Idea for a Universal History with Cosmopolitan Intent (1784), is a constitutive component of the moral perspective whose key concept is the notion of freedom. This is why critical philosophy, as Kant says, has its own “chiliastic expectation”, and the critical philosopher is a prophet who himself “occasions und produces the events he predicts”. Questions concerning the proper use of freedom – (...) how does freedom position itself in the individual ethics of each person when he/she wants to act morally, how does it position the community in legal ethics when it merges in a liberal state through the peacemaking function of the law, or how does the community of states position itself in international law when, with cosmopolitan intent, freedom devotes itself to a utopian peace mission – these are always questions concerning the concept of freedom which has emerged from a critical process of arbitration. (shrink)

The discourse on freedom that Kant unfolds in his writings on the history of philosophy, especially in his essay Idea for a Universal History with Cosmopolitan Intent (1784), is a constitutive component of the moral perspective whose key concept is the notion of freedom. This is why critical philosophy, as Kant says, has its own “chiliastic expectation”, and the critical philosopher is a prophet who himself “occasions und produces the events he predicts”. Questions concerning the proper use of freedom – (...) how does freedom position itself in the individual ethics of each person when he/she wants to act morally, how does it position the community in legal ethics when it merges in a liberal state through the peacemaking function of the law, or how does the community of states position itself in international law when, with cosmopolitan intent, freedom devotes itself to a utopian peace mission – these are always questions concerning the concept of freedom which has emerged from a critical process of arbitration. (shrink)

Wie nah sind sich Literatur und Philosophie? Die beiden Disziplinen stehen für ganz unterschiedliche Formen der Welterkenntnis und der Erkenntnisvermittlung. Doch ohne das Verständnis des jeweils anderen Bereiches kommen die literaturwissenschaftliche und die philosophische Analyse schnell an ihre Grenzen. Dass es zahlreiche Berührungspunkte zwischen Literatur und Philosophie gibt, zeigt dieses Handbuch. In 16 ausführlichen Kapiteln schafft es einen Überblick über Problemkonstellationen, bei denen die Trennung beider Fachgebiete relativiert oder aufgehoben ist.

"Limitation of the use of reason for sure success" is Kant's formula for a critical use of reason by means of which reason shall be able to raise itself above the decay of metaphysical systems. But in order to gain autonomy, such reason must suppress impotence and discord. Kant applied this antimelancholic aspect of his critical turn to his aesthetic theory of the sublime. Due to the pure intellectual feeling of the sublime possessed by anyone whose "feeling strikes the melancholic" (...) the human intelligible character knows his power to transgress every sensory limit. The early romantics were the first to recognize a desideratum here and tried to perceive how the sublime could lift itself up to the beautiful. Melancholy becomes the condition of human creativity and poetry its therapy. (shrink)

That which I always already am, without having to do it - the transcendental status of corporeality - is prefigured in Nietzsche’s theory, according to which every authentic philosophy is first of all to be thought “under the guidance of the body.” Nietzsche criticized philosophy’s forgetting of the living body long before a phenomenological difference was made between the living body and the dimensional body; he proposed that thinking be based on differences and not on oppositions. This turn toward the (...) living body in philosophy can be described as a turn of aesthetics. As a discipline, aesthetics had originated as a theory of sensual perception. Through Nietzsche, it discovered the space of the living and feeling body as the foundational basis for philosophical knowledge. (shrink)

Hans Blumenberg distinguished four different concepts of reality. On a first look, these reality concepts draw on a historical dimension. However, I try to show that they also allow for a systematic connection. Assuming a close link between Blumenberg’s thinking and (Husserlian) transcendental phenomenology, I consider the phenomenological conception of consciousness and its performances to be a guiding principle leading to such a systematic connection. Thus, one aim of my contribution consists in furnishing an epistemological approach to Blumenberg’s conception (...) of reality. Then, I turn to the question as to how something finds itsway into the phenomenological process of constitution at all. Taking ‘self-evidence’ (Selbstverständlichkeit) and ‘non-self-evidence’ (Unselbstverst$ndlichkeit) as key notions, I scrutinize the way an object crosses the threshold towards phenomenality. In the conclusion, I try to lay out a minimum determination for that which is denominated ‘real’ from a phenomenological perspective. (shrink)

How can historical change be thought, in a very concrete way? How do we philosophically arrive at concepts that represent this change and at the same time grant reliability in an idealistic sense? This means that idealities must endure in the course of history and at the same time grant the possibility of historical change. If the problem of historicity is addressed in this way, a theory of history has to mediate between statics and dynamics. It has to grant both (...) the stability and dynamics that are needed to ‘transport’ thoughts across generations and epochs. As I intend to show, Hans Blumenberg’s concept of historicity is based on these assumptions. The article starts from a transcendental account of the lifeworld and links it to Edmund Husserl’s Urstiftung in order to illustrate how historicity and historical change can be conceptualized philosophically. (shrink)

El Programa de filosofía con y para niños ‘FiloHilo’ surgió de la posibilidad de trasladar desde el Prácticum a las aulas procesos de innovación y renovación pedagógica basados en el diálogo y la práctica filosófica. Son multitud los estudios que nos permiten afirmar que la Filosofía para niños/as se ha transformado en una actividad efectiva, posible y necesaria para todas las edades, ya que atiende a la necesidad propia del ser humano: la pregunta, el cuestionamiento, la duda. Pero estos procesos (...) se instauran si hay una actitud de apertura y disposición por parte del profesorado: esa primera condición, la actitud de apertura y disposición, es sobre la que se centra este artículo y fue el germen de preguntas clave: ¿cómo percibe el profesorado estas prácticas?, ¿las conocen?, ¿las han utilizado alguna vez?, ¿tienen predisposición a su implantación?, ¿está preparado para desarrollar un pensamiento ético, reflexivo, solidario y crítico en las aulas? Con el objetivo de responder a ello, se elaboró un cuestionario compuesto por 31 ítems y 4 dimensiones, que posee altos niveles de fiabilidad (α=0.949). Fue enviado a todos los centros educativos gallegos y respondido por 167 docentes. Los resultados muestran una alta predisposición hacia la práctica filosófica, fundamentalmente, por apoyar el razonamiento crítico y la toma de conciencia. Se concluye demandando un abordaje diferente de la enseñanza de la filosofía, tomando en cuenta las necesidades y los intereses del profesorado e introduciendo la necesidad de formación en el ámbito de la práctica filosófica, entendiendo la filosofía como algo que se practica y puede transformar la vida de los alumnos y alumnas: autoconocimiento y autorrealización. (shrink)

Hans van Ditmarsch and Barteld Kooi (2008). Semantic results for ontic and epistemic change. In: G. Bonanno, W. van der Hoek and M. Wooldridge (editors). Logic and the Foundations of Game and Decision Theory (LOFT 7). Texts in Logic and Games 3, pp. 87-117, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam.

This paper explores conditionals expressing that the antecedent makes a difference for the consequent. A 'relevantised' version of the Ramsey Test for conditionals is employed in the context of the classical theory of belief revision. The idea of this test is that the antecedent is relevant to the consequent in the following sense: a conditional is accepted just in case (i) the consequent is accepted if the belief state is revised by the antecedent and (ii) the consequent fails to be (...) accepted if the belief state is revised by the antecedent's negation. The connective thus defined violates almost all of the traditional principles of conditional logic, but it obeys an interesting logic of its own. The paper also gives the logic of an alternative version, the `Dependent Ramsey Test', according to which a conditional is accepted just in case (i) the consequent is accepted if the belief state is revised by the antecedent and (ii) it is rejected (e.g., its negation is accepted) if the belief state is revised by the antecedent's negation. This conditional is closely related to David Lewis's counterfactual analysis of causation. (shrink)

Quantum theory has provoked intense discussions about its interpretation since its pioneer days. One of the few scientists who have been continuously engaged in this development from both physical and philosophical perspectives is Carl Friedrich von Weizsaecker. The questions he posed were and are inspiring for many, including the authors of this contribution. Weizsaecker developed Bohr's view of quantum theory as a theory of knowledge. We show that such an epistemic perspective can be consistently complemented by Einstein's ontically oriented position.

Production of Presence is a comprehensive version of the thinking of Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, one of the most consistently original literary scholars writing today. It offers a personalized account of some of the central theoretical movements in literary studies and in the humanities over the past thirty years, together with an equally personal view of a possible future. Based on this assessment of the past and the future of literary studies and the humanities, the book develops the provocative thesis (...) that, through their exclusive dedication to interpretation, i.e. to the reconstruction and attribution of meaning, the humanities have become incapable of addressing a dimension in all cultural phenomena that is as important as the dimension of meaning. Interpretation alone cannot do justice to the dimension of "presence," a dimension in which cultural phenomena and cultural events become tangible and have an impact on our senses and our bodies. Production of Presence is a passionate plea for a rethinking and a reshaping of the intellectual practice within the humanities. (shrink)

In this article, Hans Schildermans suggests practices of study as a way for universities to respond to socio-ecological questions, issues, and problems related to the Anthropocene. He elaborates the concept of study practices by drawing on traditional pragmatic notions, such as problematic situation and problematization, as these are articulated in John Dewey's theory of inquiry. Prompted by concerns about the closed problem–solution nexus, as well as questions concerning the (egological) worldview underlying this theory, Schildermans aims to reread these ideas (...) through the lens of contemporary authors such as Isabelle Stengers. In doing so, he articulates the educational dynamics of practices of study that address problematic situations, with specific attention to matters of educational futurity. In other words, centrally important to this analysis is the question of how these practices of study participate in a world in-the-making by activating possible futures — or, to formulate it somewhat differently, how practices of study give shape to a pragmatics of a world to-be-made. (shrink)

This volume outlines a model of language that can be characterized as functionalist, usage-based, dynamic, and complex-adaptive. The core idea is that linguistic structure is not stable and uniform, but continually refreshed by the interaction between three components: usage, the communicative activities of speakers; conventionalization, the social processes triggered by these activities and feeding back into them; and entrenchment, the individual cognitive processes that are also linked to these activities in a feedback loop. Hans-Joerg Schmid explains how this multiple (...) feedback system works by extending his Entrenchment-and-Conventionalization Model, showing how the linguistic system is created, sustained, and continually adapted by the ongoing interaction between usage, conventionalization, and entrenchment. Fulfilling the promise of usage-based accounts, the model explains how exactly usage is transformed into collective and individual grammar and how these two grammars in turn feed back into usage.0The book is exceptionally broad in scope, with insights from a wide range of linguistic subdisciplines. It provides a coherent account of the role of multiple factors that influence language structure, variation, and change, including frequency, economy, identity, multilingualism, and language contact. (shrink)

Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958) was one of the greatest physicists of the past century. He played a leading role in the development of modern physics and was known for his ruthless intellectual integrity. Pauli first became famed through the publication of his encyclopaedia article on the theory of relativity (Pauli, 1921) when he was still a student of Sommerfeld's. Einstein much admired this article, which remained a classic.

Brückenschlag zwischen Philosophie und Literatur. Als Gegenentwurf zum Deutschen Idealismus entwarfen Schiller, Novalis, Kierkegaard u.a. eine moralische Rechtfertigung der Literatur. Ein innovativer Blick auf Philosophie und Literatur in der Goethe-Zeit.

Hans-Johann Glock develops a capacity-based alternative to the currently widespread view that concepts and experiences are mental representations. He claims that experiences must be explained by way of perceptual and sensory capacities and that concepts must be explained by way of intellectual ones, in particular, by way of capacities for classification and reasoning. Glock does not, however, identify concepts with intellectual capacities. He rather conceives of them as rules that guide the application of capacities. He defines the relationship between (...) perceptions and concepts by coupling rationalistic, Aristotelian, and Kantian motifs: perceptions are to be strictly distinguished from concepts; perceptual capacities genetically, causally, and conceptually precede conceptual ones; and conceptual capacities must, in principle, be applicable to objects of experience. Glock's “capacity approach” can accordingly be understood as a variant of non-conceptualism. (shrink)

Erst von dem zweiten, entscheidenden Teil der Magisterschrift Über den Begriff der Ironie aus wird sichtbar, wie Kierkegaard den frühromantischen Ironiebegriff durch einen hermeneutischen Rückgriff auf den sokratischen Ironiebegriff aufbrechen und historisch reformulieren will. Dieser Rückgriff bestimmt Komposition und Anlage der gesamten Magisterschrift schon von ihrem Anfang an. Er erklärt zugleich einen Großteil der interpretatorischen Schwierigkeiten, die dem Versuch innewohnen, dem vollen Umfangs des Begriffs der Ironie gerecht zu werden und ihn als solchen kritisch gegen den frühromantischen Ironiebegriff ins Feld (...) zu führen. Indem Kierkegaard hinter die romantische Ironie auf die sokratische Ironie zurückgeht, will er diese über sich hinausführen und sie zugleich von dem Verdikt Hegels befreien, sie sei nur eine Sackgasse des spekulativen Denkens, als auch von dem frühromantischen Verdikt, sie sei ultima ratio und als solche nur durch sich selbst zu kritisieren. Die Frühromantiker sollen mit der Einsicht konfrontiert werden, daß sich nicht in der metaphysischen Spekulation, sondern im wahren Existieren zeigt, »welche Macht eines Menschen Erkenntnis über sein Leben hat«. Mit dieser Konfrontation beabsichtigt Kierkegaard, die Immanenz des romantischen Bewußtseins aufzubrechen, es als einen defizienten Modus von Existenzbestimmung, den es selbst nicht durchschaut, zu kritisieren und in dieser kritisierten Form als selbstbewußte künstlerische Existenzmitteilung zu inaugurieren. (shrink)

Grasping Reality addresses the methodology of a sophisticated realistic approach to scientific as well as everyday recognition by using schemes and interpretive constructs to analyze theories and the practice of recognition from a hypothesis-realistic vantage point. An appendix provides an overview regarding a realistic and pragmatic philosophy of technology, including the so-called new information technologies.

This chapter provides an overview of those of Frege's basic contributions to a theory of meaning that are most important for an understanding of Wittgenstein's later thought. It shows that Frege was aware of the problem of how, when constructing complex expressions out of their components, to avoid coming up with a list of names rather than a sentence. This led him to his strategy of not building a sentence out of its component parts, but of getting at the parts (...) by breaking up a whole. Wittgenstein, despite his own “synthetic” approach, did not encounter this problem, because he followed Frege's late insight to its logical conclusion, namely that the sense of an expression consists in its use as a sign. (shrink)

Introduces a general framework for the theoretical investigation of psychology, to move the field beyond the usual informal style and everyday language. Psychologists, political scientists, sociologists, and philosophers of science provide constructions and reconstructions of various theories from a structuralist perspective, dealing with both fundamental aspects and with problems of application. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.