In the field of educational administration there have been several years of active debate over how America's school systems are run. Contemporary educational administrators have been forced to reflect not only on educational policy and practice, but on the very nature of their position. How does administration contribute to the type of society we have? In what ways does it impede or enhance our cultural ideals and values? "Paradigms and Promises" offers an unorthodox solution by presenting administration as an arena (...) for critical reflection and humanistic action, rather than a more technically-oriented style of management. Foster's critical analysis is premised on an understanding of the relationship of theory to practice, and as he provides alternative theories, he sheds new light on educational administration. Orthodox administrative theory receives heavy criticism in this text. Foster employs progressive critical theory as well as conventional analyses in critical appraisal, and advocates a dialectical concept, through which administrators, teachers and students are encouraged to challenge and question each other - the eventual result being a more responsive, democratically-run system. (shrink)

v. 1. Philosophy of religion.--v. 2. Origin and development of Christianity.

In this article I try to investigate the possible insights one may reach by considering the development on the level of socio-philosophical theories as a symptom of the development taking place on the level of social practice.

This is a translation of a posthumous essay by the Viennese philosopher-psychologist, Otto Weininger (1880-1903). His main book, Sex and Character, was published in 1903 (English version, 1906). Many distinguished Viennese were deeply influenced by Weininger; among them was Ludwig Wittgenstein, who paid tribute to him even late in his life. In particular, he is known to have admired the present essay and its foray into “animal psychology”. The investigation of the significance for human psychology of dogs and other (...) animals is part of a larger scheme which Weininger sketches, to investigate the symbolism of all kinds of things. His ultimate goal is to reveal the relationship between the microcosm of the human consciousness and the macrocosm of the external universe. Hence the title, “metaphysics”. (shrink)

The most important and extensive of Bernard Bolzano’s (1781–1848) correspondences is the one with his student and friend Michael Josef Fesl (1788–1864) which comprises altogether some 730 letters. Due to the great number of letters, starting with 1831, only Bolzano’s contributions are contained in his Collected Writings. Therefore, Fesl’s letters to Bolzano are published in the series "Beitraege zur Bolzano-Forschung". The present volume contains 88 letters that Fesl wrote in the years 1839 to 1841 to his “most-beloved teacher and friend”. (...) They focus on the works published by Bolzano during those years as well as on several projects that could not be realized. Moreover, they deal with philosophical trends, theological questions and political problems as well as with the epidemics of that time and their various treatments (including their success). Finally, Fesl also discusses the qualities of three portraits of Bolzano’s created by Áron Pulzer, Heinrich Hollpein und Karl Hoffmann during those years. (shrink)

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird der Versuch unternommen, folgende Frage zu beantworten: Welche Bedingungen sind notwendig dafür, dass es objektiv gerechtfertigt ist, jemandem moralische Verantwor-tung im Sinne einer Pflicht zuzurechnen? Durch die Beantwortung dieser Frage soll ein kleiner, aber wesentlicher Bereich der Verantwortungsproblematik geklärt werden. Dies zu tun, erscheint allein schon deshalb notwendig, weil die Häufigkeit, mit welcher die Ausdrücke 'verantwortlich' und 'Verantwortung' verwendet werden, mit einer gewissen Unbestimmtheit in Bezug darauf einher geht, was damit jeweils gemeint sein könnte. Diese (...) Unbestimmtheit betrifft nicht zuletzt die Fragen, ob sich die Rede von jemandes Verantwortung auf eine Pflicht der betreffenden Person bezieht oder nicht und ob eine solche Pflicht als moralische Angelegenheit zu sehen ist oder als eine des Rechts oder anderer Normsysteme. Um moralische Verantwortung im Sinne einer Pflicht zu bestimmen, ist insbesondere notwendig, die Bedingungen anzugeben, die erfüllt sein müssen, damit es objektiv gerechtfertigt ist, jemandem Verantwortung im Allgemeinen zuzurechnen, andererseits aber ist zu klären, in welchem Sinne sich Menschen dabei auf Moral berufen. Eine solche Analyse ist notwendig, um zu erkennen, auf welche Weise die Rede von moralischer Verantwortung in unser Leben eingreifen kann und soll. (shrink)

It is well known how often psychiatric patients report religious experiences. These are especially frequent in schizophrenic and epileptic patients as the subject of their delusions. The question we pose is: are there differences between this kind of religious experiences and those we find in religious texts or in the mythological tradition?