Taking his work as the point of reference, this book not only provides an illuminating history of political science, told via Dahl and his critics, it also ...

The plan for this volume emerged during the international Leipzig conference commemorating the centenary of the death of Gustav Fechner.

What I intend to show is that the Leibnizian language studies—the formal ones as well as those on natural languages—from his early plans for academies and language societies on up to his studies of etymology and to his interest in foreign languages and in logical, geometrical, arithmetical, and other formal calculi, has to be seen as an important contribution to the idea of enlightenment. Their importance was such that Christian Wolff was able to transform the Leibnizian ideas into the mighty (...) movement of Leibniz-Wolffian metaphysics, a movement paralleled to the tradition of Thomasius. Both tradiions later found their unification in Kant’s critical philosophy. (shrink)

Der Tod ist seit jeher und über alle Grenzen hinweg ein Grundthema der Philosophien gewesen - und nicht nur der Philosophien, sondern natürlich ebenso der Religionen, der Literaturen, der Künste. Die Sorgen, die der Tod bereitet, sind nicht allein mehr oder weniger universal oder existentiell, sie sind auch unauflösbar: Mit dem Tod wird man nicht fertig, bis er kommt. Und auch dann wird der Tod bekanntlich eher fertig mit uns als wir mit ihm. Keiner Philosophie oder Religion oder Kunst ist (...) es "endgültig " gelungen ,,durch die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Tod die Besorgnis ihm gegenüber auszulöschen. Dementsprechend versucht der vorliegende Band keinesfalls Antworten - und schon gar nicht "die" Antwort - auf die Fragen des Todes zu geben. Er führt vielmehr eine Reihe von Standpunkten, Einstellungen oder Vorstellungen zum bzw. vom Tode vor und wird für keine(n) Leser(in) das Todesproblem lösen können. Er kann nur an einem eindrucksvollen und tatsächlich jedem(r) nahegehenden Beispiel zeigen, wie man sinnvoll über etwas sprechen, schreiben und denken kann, ohne dabei darüber wirklich schlauer werden zu können. Ein solches Ergebnis ist nun keinesfalls entmutigend, es ist vielmehr eine Einsicht, bei der sich ansonsten so unterschiedliche Denkweisen wie der altchinesische Daoismus und Konfuzianismus einerseits und eine nachkantianische Philosophie des Zeichens andererseits treffen. (shrink)

Comparative biological morphology, incorporating the study of active reaction, is contrasted with genetics as the study of passive mutation. Geneticists investigate anatomical characters, never anatomical constructions, which are capable of reorganization when the biological-morphological equilibrium of the organism has been disturbed. The anatomy of Opisthocomus cristatus and Stringops habroptilus demonstrate that three successive disturbances in the bio-morphological equilibrium are reacted to purposively by anatomical reconstruction. These reactions are no accidental mutations, but are anatomical reactions, related to, and affecting, the organism (...) as a whole. In sharp contrast to such anatomical reaction, resulting, during phylogeny, in reorganization, are the “technics” [i.e., mechanistic bases] of individual development. The hereditary process is, like every physiological or embryological process, a fixed mechanism, which remains constant until an active reaction leads to reconstruction and at the same time an appropriate change of the mechanisms. The remolding of species is therefore no passive, “technical” process, but a creative act of the organisms themselves. [Original English abstract; not translated.]. (shrink)

Originally published in 1973 the editors of this book collected together those studies which had been considered at the time to yield the best evidence in support of Freudian theory, and found on close examination that they failed to provide any such proof. Each paper is printed in full and is followed by a critical discussion which raises questions of statistical treatment, sufficiency of controls and alternative interpretations. The particular usefulness of this format is that it allows readers to form (...) their own opinions while providing helpful suggestions and guidelines on how to approach experimental studies with a critical mind. (shrink)

Beyond what Colman is suggesting, some residual indeterminacy of Nash equilibrium may remain even after individual rationality is amended. Although alternative solution concepts can expand the positive scope of game theory, they tend to reduce its accuracy of predictions. Moreover, the appeal of alternative solutions may be context-specific, as illustrated by the Stackelberg solution.