Crises today occur in manifold variants. Cyberattacks, floods, wars, pandemics – the list of cases is ongoing. Academic literature recognizes them as “transboundary crises” (Ansell et al. 2010) or as “global polycrisis” (Homer-Dixon et al., 2022), referring to their transgressing, cascading and overlapping dynamics in both space and time. In this paper, we discuss how decisions are made at a local level in such dynamic, if not disruptive, environments. By combining DDM and crisis management literature, we illustrate how the decision-making (...) evolves when the crisis shows transboundary characteristics, that is, when cascading dynamics call for even more decisions (hence the “Hydra” metaphor referring to a monster in Greek mythology that multiplies its heads once it is being fought). The paper draws on a qualitative study on decision processes in local authorities and organizations in Germany during the Covid-19 pandemic. It can show (1) how these local actors build inter-organizational networks (e.g. task forces) in order to synchronize their decision processes against the background of changing federal requirements; (2) how, due to the duration of the pandemic, rather permanent decision systems developed; and (3) how these networks learn to sustain dynamic decision-making capacities in order to cope with crises following Covid-19, such as the effects of the war in the Ukraine or recent climate impacts. With these findings we contribute to an “integrative” conception of crisis in current crisis management literature that seeks definition in a dynamic process view rather than using either objective or subjective criteria. A DDM approach allows for a more detailed realization of this conceptual shift by representing the current “cascading disasters” as “cascading decision-making”. This understanding focuses on the active role decision-making plays as well as it reflects on the fact that decision-making in today’s crises always involves _others _making decisions, too. (shrink)

Bears comprise a subculture of gay men who valorize the larger, hirsute body. This research interrogates Bear culture as a gendered strategy for repudiating effeminacy that simultaneously challenges and reproduces norms of hegemonic masculinity. In this research, the author situates his ethnographic study of a major metropolitan Bear community in its social and historical context to illuminate this paradox, with special emphasis on the embodiment of Bear masculinity and its effect on sexual practice. The author concludes that through a process (...) of embodied agency, Bear culture yields a number of sexually innovative practices that disperse pleasure across the body and disrupt genitally centered, phallusandreceptacle interpretations of sex. However, the subversive potential of these practices is significantly undermined by an attendant set of practices that reflect heteronormative and hegemonically masculine interpretations of sex. (shrink)

The paper contributes to the current discussion on the role of participatory methods in the context of technology assessment (TA) and science and technology (S&T) governance. It is argued that TA has to be understood as a form of democratic policy consulting in the sense of the Habermasian model of a “pragmatist” relation of science and politics. This notion implies that public participation is an indispensable element of TA in the context of policy advice. Against this background, participatory TA (pTA) (...) is defended against recent criticism of procedures of lay participation which states that pTA is lacking impact on S&T decision making, that pTA instead of opening S&T policies to new perspectives is used as a means to support mainstream S&T policy and that in pTA procedure the authentic lay perspective is systematically contorted by dominant expert knowledge. (shrink)

Food security is becoming an increasingly relevant topic in the Global North, especially in urban areas. Because such areas do not always have good access to nutritionally adequate food, the question of how to supply them is an urgent priority in order to maintain a healthy population. Urban and peri-urban agriculture, as sources of local fresh food, could play an important role. Whereas some scholars do not differentiate between peri-urban and urban agriculture, seeing them as a single entity, our hypothesis (...) is that they are distinct, and that this has important consequences for food security and other issues. This has knock-on effects for food system planning and has not yet been appropriately analysed. The objectives of this study are to provide a systematic understanding of urban and peri-urban agriculture in the Global North, showing their similarities and differences, and to analyse their impact on urban food security. To this end, an extensive literature review was conducted, resulting in the identification and comparison of their spatial, ecological and socio-economic characteristics. The findings are discussed in terms of their impact on food security in relation to the four levels of the food system: food production, processing, distribution and consumption. The results show that urban and peri-urban agriculture in the Global North indeed differ in most of their characteristics and consequently also in their ability to meet the food needs of urban inhabitants. While urban agriculture still meets food needs mainly at the household level, peri-urban agriculture can provide larger quantities and has broader distribution pathways, giving it a separate status in terms of food security. Nevertheless, both possess (unused) potential, making them valuable for urban food planning, and both face similar threats regarding urbanisation pressures, necessitating adequate planning measures. (shrink)

In Arthur Danto’s The Seat of the Soul: Three Chairs, the chair is a source of power and authority. This paper explores the aesthetic importance of chairs and their designers and determines why people from various cultures create different designs that all perform the same function: seating. Here, the chair is examined as an artwork and design phenomenon from historical, cultural, stylistic, and aesthetic perspectives. Data were gathered through a comprehensive literature review, reports, archival materials, and museum visits. Descriptive, historical, (...) and analytical methods were used to explore the religious, symbolic, spiritual, artistic, competitive, and academic legacies of the chair. Despite the similarity in function, the chair is more important than a sofa, bed, or bench. It displays one’s status, education, knowledge, and artistic taste. However, practicality, low-cost materials, and money have trumped aesthetics in recent years. The findings may help young chair designers highlight their competitiveness and inventiveness. (shrink)

The permanent preservation of objects in global custodianship is a captivating ideal that informs countless museums’ corporate identities and governs collection guidelines as well as politics. Recent research has challenged the alleged perpetuity of collections and collected items, revealing their coherence as fragile and dependent on historically, politically and culturally specific conditions. Duplicates offer an instructive point of entry to explore the idea of collection permanence, museum politics, and the mobility of museum objects. The history of duplicates, moreover, comprises a (...) constellation of practises, concepts and debates that can be found in various forms throughout the intertwined histories of natural-scientific, ethnographic and artistic collections. This history, however, has rarely been questioned or explored. By introducing the issue of duplicates, this paper opens up a discussion that not only connects different forms of collections, but also situates the history of collecting institutions across the disciplinary spectrum within broader political, economic and epistemic frameworks. (shrink)

Ein textnaher, fortlaufender Kommentar zu Kants Lehre von organisierten Wesen in der „Kritik der Urteilskraft“ ist ein Desiderat sowohl der Kantforschung als auch der Philosophie und Geschichte der Lebenswissenschaften. Auch gibt es bisher nur wenige Lesarten, die Kants Philosophie der Biologie im Ganzen erschließen und versuchen, sie in die vielschichtigen historischen Kontexte der frühneuzeitlichen Naturforschung einzuordnen. Das vorliegende Buch schließt diese Lücken. Es verteidigt die Thesen, dass Kant organisierte Wesen durch drei Arten von Kräften und Gesetzen charakterisiert – durch mechanische, (...) physisch teleologische und moralteleologische Krätfe und Gesetze – deren Vereinbarkeit im Bewusstsein des Menschen, und in der Erfahrungswelt, so, wie sie dem Menschen erscheint, auf der regulativen Idee ihrer Einheit im schöpferischen, theoretisch praktischen Bewusstsein Gottes beruht. Kants Lehre von organisierten Wesen kann als Verbindung einer gemäßigten, weder animalkulistisch noch ovistisch vereinseitigten, Präformationslehre mit einer vitalistischen Spielart der Epigenesislehre verstanden werden. – Weiterführende und provokative Einsichten für eine der bewegtesten Debatten der gegenwärtigen Kantforschung. (shrink)

Verse treatises on Advaita Jaina, and Nyaya philosophy.

This article considers the sexual politics of animal evidence in the context of German sexology around 1920. In the 1910s, the German-Jewish geneticist Richard B. Goldschmidt conducted experiments on the moth Lymantria dispar, and discovered individuals that were no longer clearly identifiable as male or female. When he published an article tentatively arguing that his research on ‘intersex butterflies’ could be used to inform concurrent debates about human homosexuality, he triggered a flurry of responses from Berlin-based sexologists. In this article, (...) I examine how a number of well-known sexologists affiliated with Magnus Hirschfeld, his Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, and later his Institute of Sexology attempted to incorporate Goldschmidt’s experiments into their sexological work between 1917 and 1923. Intersex butterflies were used to discuss issues at the heart of German sexology: the legal debate about the criminalisation of homosexuality under paragraph 175; the scientific methodology of sexology, caught between psychiatric, biological, and sociological approaches to the study of sexual and gender diversity; and the status of sexology as natural science, able to contribute knowledge about the sexual Konstitution of the organism. This article thus shows that butterfly experiments function as important and politically charged evidence for a discussion at the heart of the sexological project of those involved in the founding of the Institute of Sexology: the question of the nature and naturalness of homosexuality (and sexual intermediacy more broadly) and its political consequences. In doing so, this article makes a case for paying attention to non-human actors in the history of sexology. (shrink)

HTA and TA institutions at national parliaments (PTA) both share the same origin and of course have objectives and some of their methods in common. Nevertheless both TA branches developed in some distance during the 1970s and 1980s. Drawing on the case of biomedicine this paper outlines the differences between HTA and PTA, highlighting the “clinical perspective” of HTA and the “societal perspective” of PTA. It is shown that biomedicine which has developed rapidly during the last decade has hardly been (...) dealt with by HTA, whereas it ranked quite prominent on the agendas of PTA institutions. Biomedical technologies became a subject of policy making beyond the boundaries of health care politics since biomedicine is perceived as an ethical challenge to society and not only as a medical innovation that has to be assessed by clinical experts. It is argued that there may however be good reasons to integrate the HTA and the PTA perspective in future TA on biomedical technologies. (shrink)

Depois de participar da revista Clima como ficcionista, dona Gilda de Mello e Souza dedicou-se ao ensaísmo, tratando, entre outros objetos, do teatro moderno no Brasil. Por sua independência intelectual, seus ensaios apresentam lições ainda hoje válidas para nós.

Zusammenfassung Anlässlich der Veröffentlichung des Positionspapiers ‚Inklusion und Sportwissenschaft‘ fragte die Autorin, Vizepräsidentin der dvs und Initiatorin der o. g. Publikation, bei verschiedenen sportwissenschaftlichen Standorten nach Resonanz und Umsetzung des im Papier konturierten Aufgabenbereichs ‚Ausbildung‘. Dabei entstand der Eindruck, dass sich der Umgang mit dem Thema „Inklusion“ in den letzten Jahren offensichtlich verändert hat. Ging es vor einigen Jahren in den akademisch geprägten Diskussionen noch primär um die Auslegung von Inklusion und um das Pro und Contra der geforderten gesellschaftlichen und (...) bildungspolitischen Veränderungen, so deutet sich derzeit eine pragmatische Betriebsamkeit an. Inklusion erhält insofern Einzug in den Alltag sportwissenschaftlicher Ausbildung, als einschlägige Begriffe in Modulverzeichnisse eingespeist werden, Seminarpläne das Thema Inklusion punktuell aufgreifen und gezielte Oberflächenanpassungen vorgenommen werden. Strukturelle Änderungen bleiben jedoch weitgehend aus. Dieser Eindruck korrespondiert u. a. mit ministeriellen Erlassen und universitären Auflagen, die durch einschlägige Formulierungen oder Auslassungen anzeigen: Fürchtet Euch nicht vor Inklusion. Alles bleibt in etwa so, wie es ist. (shrink)

GPs usually care for their patients for an extended period of time, therefore, requests to not only discontinue a patient’s treatment but to assist a patient in a suicide are likely to create intensely stressful situations for physicians. However, in order to ensure the best patient care possible, the competent communication about the option of physician assisted suicide as well as the assessment of the origin and sincerity of the request are very important. This is especially true, since patients’ requests (...) for PAS can also be an indicator for unmet needs or concerns. Twenty-three qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted to in-depth explore this multifaceted, complex topic while enabling GPs to express possible difficulties when being asked for assistance. The analysis of the gathered data shows three main themes why GPs may find it difficult to professionally communicate about PAS: concerns for their own psychological well-being, conflicting personal values or their understanding of their professional role. In the discussion part of this paper we re-assess these different themes in order to ethically discuss and analyse how potential barriers to professional communication concerning PAS could be overcome. (shrink)

In this paper, I investigate the relation of Kant's theory of biology to epigenetic accounts of organic generation and development. In the literature, a dispute about similarities between Blumenbach's epigenetic account and Kant dominated the debate for many years (see Lenoir 1980, 1981, and 1982, 17–34, Richards 2000; 2002, 207–37; Look 2006, and van den Berg 2009). Some more recent interpreters claim that Wolff's, more than Blumenbach's account plays the pivotal role in the development of a vitalistic conception of epigenesis (...) in Kant (see Dupont 2007 and Huneman 2007). Although I myself hold the view that Kant's position contains preformistic and epigenetic characteristics, in the current paper I focus solely on an investigation of epigenetic elements in Kant's account and compare them to the corresponding epigenetic elements in Wolff's theory. Section I of the paper is devoted to an analysis of Wolff's most important epigenetic theorems: the notion of the essential power (vis essentialis) and the conception of the part-whole composition of organized matter. Although Wolff describes the essential power vitalisticly, as a principle of life, he understands it as the cause of mechanical motions explaining the generation, nourishment, and the growth of an organism. Wolff's model of the part-whole composition of organic matter is subtle, but committed to fundamental mechanistic assumptions, such as that the organism as a whole is composed of inorganic parts. In section II, I analyze the corresponding elements in Kant's theory: the notion of the formative power and the conception of the whole-part composition of organized materials. Kant describes the formative power as a principle that causes the purposive form of an organized being such that matter and mechanism are the means to the purpose of the being as their end. The purpose of the whole is a functional unit which is in principle superior to the form and matter of the subordinate parts. The parts are combined into such a whole in being mutually cause and effect of each other and in being related to the superior whole. In section III, I respond to the debate in the literature. Against Dupont (2007) and Huneman (2007) I argue that, according to Wolff, the vis essentialis accounts for mechanic effects in matter, whereas, according to Kant, the formative power explains the intentional order (form, end, purpose) of an individual organized being, its parts, and its species. Since this view is closer to Blumenbach than to Wolff, the ongoing comparison between Kant and Blumenbach in the literature is justified. However, the emphasis on the specific part-whole composition that Kant considers to be the determining feature of an organized being can be found only in Wolff and not in Blumenbach—though Wolff and Kant describe it in opposing ways. This increases the systematic importance of Wolff for Kant. Thus, a fresh look on the historical debate is required. (shrink)

Die Abhandlung „Immanuel Kant über das moralische Gefühl der Achtung“ legt nach einer Einführung in den historischen und werkgeschichtlichen Hintergrund wesentliche systematische Züge des moralischen Gefühls der Achtung dar. Es wird gezeigt, dass das apriorische Gefühl der Achtung einerseits von allen anderen empirischen Gefühlen unterschieden, dennoch aber ein Gefühl ist und in seiner spezifischen Sonderstellung drei bedeutende moralphilosophische Funktionen übernehmen kann: eine evaluative, eine kausale und eine bildende Funktion. Kants These, dass es im strengen Sinn nur ein rein moralisches Gefühl (...) gibt, wird gegen ein graduierendes Modell der moralischen Relevanz von Gefühlen diskutiert und gegen alternative klassische Deutungen des moralischen Gefühls wie die Liebe, die Sympathie und das Mitleid abgewogen. (shrink)

Absolute and relative outcome measures measure a treatment’s effect size, purporting to inform treatment choices. I argue that absolute measures are at least as good as, if not better than, relative ones for informing rational decisions across choice scenarios. Specifically, this dominance of absolute measures holds for choices between a treatment and a control group treatment from a trial and for ones between treatments tested in different trials. This distinction has hitherto been neglected, just like the role of absolute and (...) baseline risks in rational decision-making that my analysis reveals. Recognizing both aspects advances the discussion on reporting outcome measures. (shrink)

The essay collection "Kant on Proofs for God's Existence" provides a highly needed, comprehensive analysis of the radical turns of Kant's views on proofs for God's existence.— In the "Theory of Heavens" (1755), Kant intends to harmonize the Newtonian laws of motion with a physico-theological argument for the existence of God. But only a few years later, in the "Ground of Proof" essay (1763), Kant defends an ontological ('possibility' or 'modal') argument on the basis of its logical exactitude while he (...) praises the physico-theological argument for its beauty and appeal to the common sense. In the first "Critique" (1781/7), Kant replaces traditional constitutive ontological, cosmological, and physico-theological proofs with his own regulative theoretical and moral-practical religious arguments. He continues to defend a moral argument in the second "Critique" (1788). But in the third "Critique" (1790), Kant reintroduces a physico-theological besides an ethicotheological argument in order to unify the critical system of philosophy. Kant develops further moral arguments and arguments from evil in the "Theodicy" essay (1791) and the "Religion" (1793/4), and still searches for the right kind of proof for God's existence in the "Opus postumum" (1796–1804).—Part one of this volume is dedicated to an analysis of Kant's proofs for God's existence in their historical order that explains which proofs Kant favors or rejects in various periods of his thought. Part two contains a systematic classification of main kinds of proof for God's existence in Kant that outlines the argumentative structure of particular kinds of proof and discusses Kant's potential reasons for their variations and modifications. The essay collection speaks to Kant specialists, philosophers, and theologians, but introduces the topic to non-academic readers also. -/- Contributers: Uygar Abaci (Pennsylvania State University), Craig Bacon (University of South Carolina), Andrew Chignell (Princeton University), Eckart Förster (Humboldt University, Johns Hopkins University), Ina Goy (Beijing Normal University) Paul Guyer (Brown University), Graham Oppy (Monash University), Lara Ostaric (Temple University), Stephen Palmquist (Independent Scholar), Lawrence Pasternack (Oklahoma State University), Konstantin Pollok (University of Mainz), Oliver Sensen (University of Tulane), Allen Wood (Bloomington University, Stanford University). (shrink)

Gianfrancesco Guarnieri estreou no teatro brasileiro em 1958 com a peça Eles não usem black-tie. Assim como já ocorrera com a obra de dramaturgos europeus mais de meio século antes, nesta peça mais uma vez encena-se a crise formal do drama, na medida em que a forma se desencontra do conteúdo. Não sendo indiferentes estes pontos de vista, observam-se no próprio texto os embates entre forma dramática e conteúdo épico, ora prevalecendo uma, ora outra.

Quando Brecht escreveu que o teatro épico pressupõe a posse dos meios de produção teatral pelo movimento operário, além de indicar as raízes históricas de suas opções estéticas, estava expondo um critério de añálise para o conjunto da produção teatral moderna. Já a tardia importação do teatro moderno pelos brasileiro foi patrocinada por uma burguesia desenvolvimentista geralmente ciosa da necessidade de cortar ou obscurecer os vínculos das obras passíveis de consumo local. Mas no final dos anos cinquenta vamos observar o (...) encontro entre forma importada e adaptada e demandas culturais que ultrapassavam os estreitos limites impostos ao nosso mercado teatral modernzado. (shrink)

Trata-se de uma caracterização do teatro político no Brasil, a partir da história do teatro político desde a Antigüidade, passando pelo século XIX, pelo teatro americano e chegando ao teatro brasileiro dos anos 60.

Advance directives are written documents that give patients the opportunity to communicate their preferences regarding treatments they do or do not want to receive in case they become unable to make decisions. Commonly used pre-printed forms have different formats. Some offer space for patients to appoint a surrogate decision maker, and/or to determine future medical treatments and/or give a statement of personal values. So far it is unknown which forms GPs preferably use and why they decide to do so. 23 (...) semi-structured interviews with GPs were analysed using content analysis. Interviewees mainly use short templates and medium length templates with checkboxes to indicate patients’ preferences in regards to life prolonging measures. Especially when patients faced the progression of a disease, participants use the latter version. Only then, the interviewees remarked, patients are capable to rate concrete situations reliably. GPs also realize the importance of the verbal assessment of patients’ preferences; however they rarely keep a written form of the conversation. Some GPs hand out one or more templates and ask their patients to read and think about them at home with the option to talk to them about it later on, while others prefer their patients to fill them out alone at home. Regardless of template usage, most GPs emphasize that ADs require regular updates. GPs tend to see standardized advance directives mainly as a tool to start a conversation with their patients and to identify their real preferences and values. When the patient is still not facing the progression of an already existing disease it could be sufficient to only appoint a surrogate decision maker instead of creating a full AD. However, in all other situations, appointing a surrogate decision maker should be backed up by a written statement of a patient’s general values. Patients and their relatives should always have the opportunity to ask their GP for medical advice when drafting an AD. It is crucial to regularly verify and update existing ADs within the course of a disease. (shrink)

This article takes the form of an interview, in which the dialogue is internal. It is based on the author's experiment with the idea of the world as a household, which involves restoring household activities as free and independent activities. The author recollects earlier feminism's tendency to despise activities such as cooking and cleaning, because of their patriarchal inclusion in the stereotype of female dependency. She considers the household to be a fundamental human concept, which underlies lives and relationships, and (...) is capable of providing viable alternatives to the independency/dependency structures of patriarchy, embodied in secondary models such as the market place. (shrink)

Background: More and more adults in their fifties and sixties are confronted with the need to support their ageing parents. Although many aspects of filial caregiving have been researched, a well-documented and comprehensive overview of the caregiving experience is lacking. Aim: This study aims for a better understanding of the caregiving experience of adult children by generating an overview of main themes in international research. Method: A literature review of qualitative studies, focusing on the experiences of adult children caring for (...) their ageing parents, was performed. The electronic EBSCO databases Academic Search Premier, CINAHL and PsycINFO, and Google Scholar were searched to identify relevant qualitative studies published between 2000 and 2017. The ‘SPIDER’ eligibility criteria directed the approach. The quality of studies included was screened with the assessment sheet designed by Hawker and colleagues. The experiences reported were analysed and themes were synthesized. Ethical consideration: Ethical requirements were respected in every phase of the research process. Findings: Nineteen qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria. The quality of the relationship with the parent appears to be an important determinant of the children’s caregiving experience. Within this context, three themes were found: caregiving as an emotional rollercoaster, a normatively demanding experience and an opportunity for personal development. Discussion: Children caring for their ageing parents have to deal with a wide range of contradicting and conflicting norms and values. Implications for healthcare professionals and future research have been discussed. Conclusion: Caring for ageing parents is a continuous quest for giving the best possible care and living up to one’s personal values, within the context of the parent’s declining health. Professionals who support filial caregivers should address not only practical responsibilities but also the normative questions and moral considerations caregivers are dealing with. (shrink)