Abduction is considered the most powerful, but also the most controversially discussed type of inference. Based on an analysis of Peirce’s retroduction, Lipton’s Inference to the Best Explanation and other theories, a new theory of abduction is proposed. It considers abduction not as intrinsically explanatory but as intrinsically conditional: for a given fact, abduction allows one to infer a fact that implies it. There are three types of abduction: Selective abduction selects an already known conditional whose consequent is the given (...) fact and infers that its antecedent is true. Conditional-creative abduction creates a new conditional in which the given fact is the consequent and a defined fact is the antecedent that implies the given fact. Propositional-conditional-creative abduction assumes that the given fact is implied by a hitherto undefined fact and thus creates a new conditional with a new proposition as antecedent. The execution of abductive inferences is specified by theory-specific patterns. Each pattern consists of a set of rules for both generating and justifying abductive conclusions and covers the complete inference process. Consequently, abductive inferences can be formalised iff the whole pattern can be formalised. The empirical consistency of the proposed theory is demonstrated by a case study of Semmelweis' research on puerperal fever. (shrink)

Student relativism is a widespread phenomenon in introductory philosophy courses. It is a pressing issue for teachers because it seems to undermine the very purpose of philosophy. Since the 1980s there is a debate about how to understand and how to deal with student relativism. However, there is as yet no comprehensive presentation of the debate. The first aim of the article is to offer a classification of the strategies for dealing with student relativism and a presentation and short assessment (...) of the main strategies from the debate. The second aim is to present a new strategy based on the theory of conceptual change and drawing on the results from empirical research in developmental psychology on epistemic cognition. I call it the epistemic conceptual change strategy. (shrink)

Das «Neue Handbuch des Philosophie-Unterrichts» nimmt Entwicklungen der Fachdidaktik Philosophie und Ethik der letzten dreißig Jahre auf. Es bietet Einblicke in die Frage der Auswahl und Strukturierung von Inhalten, in verschiedene Unterrichtsthemen, in die didaktisch-methodische Planung und Durchführung des Unterrichts, in Fragen der Leistungsbewertung sowie in traditionelle und neuere philosophiedidaktische Modelle. Die Beiträge enthalten zahlreiche Anregungen zur Vorbereitung, Gestaltung und Reflexion des eigenen Unterrichts. Das Handbuch eignet sich somit als Nachschlagewerk sowohl für angehende als auch für erfahrene Lehrpersonen.

This essay extends the observations made in E. Johanna Hartelius’ The rhetoric of expertise about the nature of expertise in digital contexts. I argue that digital media introduce a scale of communication—many-to-many—that reshapes how the invention of knowledge occurs. By examining how knowledge production on Wikipedia occurs, I illustrate how many-to-many communication introduces a new model of “participatory expertise.” This model of participatory expertise challenges traditional information routines by elevating procedural expertise over subject matter expertise and opening up knowledge production (...) to the many. Additionally, by hosting multiperspectival conversations on Wikipedia, the participatory model of expertise introduces epistemic turbulence into traditionally tranquil encyclopedia culture. (shrink)

This paper is interested in the interdisciplinary characteristics of European integration studies. It explores how the institutional and intellectual, internal and external boundaries of this interdisciplinary field are shaped. For this purpose, it discusses two interlocking dynamics that are most important: on the one hand, the European Union actively attempts to mobilise European integration studies to contribute to building a united Europe by providing specific spaces, resources, and infrastructures for academic research and the public dissemination of results. On the other (...) hand, the external and internal boundaries of this interdisciplinary field are shaped by the movements and interactions of scholars from different academic backgrounds. Together, the different academic strands and policies coproduce the interdisciplinary field of European integration studies. Suggesting avenues for future research, the conclusion recommends analysing key debates in the context of European integration in terms of boundary objects around which academics, policy-makers, and publics can engage with each other and points to specific sites for further observations of these processes of coproduction. (shrink)

In the Mengzi there is a hypothetical situation relating how the ancient sage-king Shun 舜 would respond if his father had committed murder. This has recently become a source of debate among Chinese philosophers. Here we will apply arguments made by Johannes de silentio (Kierkegaard's pseudonym) about the “teleological suspension of the ethical” related to the action of the biblical Abraham, and link them up to alternative interpretations of the actions of Shun. This challenges the current and traditional interpretations of (...) his actions, suggesting how this new approach can overcome ethical quandaries related to the Mengzian account of Shun's behavior. (shrink)

Critical thinking is considered to be a central epistemic aim of education. The claim may be about skills, but also about the state of justified belief. In opposition to this latter view, Alvin Goldman claimed that justification is only a means to true belief and that the only fundamental epistemic aim of education is true belief. Harvey Siegel’s response defended the view that justified belief is in fact a fundamental epistemic aim of education. In a recent article, Alessia Marabini and (...) Luca Moretti analyse Siegel’s arguments, reject all of them, and provide two new ones. I defend one of Siegel’s arguments against their objection, raise some doubts about one of their own arguments, and give an additional argument against Goldman’s view. (shrink)

This book, published in 2000, is a clear account of causation based firmly in contemporary science. Dowe discusses in a systematic way, a positive account of causation: the conserved quantities account of causal processes which he has been developing over the last ten years. The book describes causal processes and interactions in terms of conserved quantities: a causal process is the worldline of an object which possesses a conserved quantity, and a causal interaction involves the exchange of conserved quantities. Further, (...) things that are properly called cause and effect are appropriately connected by a set of causal processes and interactions. The distinction between cause and effect is explained in terms of a version of the fork theory: the direction of a certain kind of ordered pattern of events in the world. This particular version has the virtue that it allows for the possibility of backwards causation, and therefore time travel. (shrink)

This book focuses on the phenomena of inertia and gravitation, one objective being to shed some new light on the basic laws of gravitational interaction and the fundamental nature and structures of spacetime. Chapter 1 is devoted to an extensive, partly new analysis of the law of inertia. The underlying mathematical and geometrical structure of Newtonian spacetime is presented from a four-dimensional point of view, and some historical difficulties and controversies - in particular the concepts of free particles and straight (...) lines - are critically analyzed, while connections to projective geometry are also explored. The relativistic extensions of the law of gravitation and its intriguing consequences are studied in Chapter 2. This is achieved, following the works of Weyl, Ehlers, Pirani and Schild, by adopting a point of view of the combined conformal and projective structure of spacetime. Specifically, Mach's fundamental critique of Newton's concepts of 'absolute space' and 'absolute time' was a decisive motivation for Einstein's development of general relativity, and his equivalence principle provided a new perspective on inertia. In Chapter 3 the very special mathematical structure of Einstein's field equations is analyzed, and some of their remarkable physical predictions are presented. By analyzing different types of dragging phenomena, Chapter 4 reviews to what extent the equivalence principle is realized in general relativity - a question intimately connected to the 'new force' of gravitomagnetism, which was theoretically predicted by Einstein and Thirring but which was only recently experimentally confirmed and is thus of current interest. (shrink)

The introduction charts Hans-Johann Glock’s academic career, introduces some of his core philosophical views, and provides an overview of the chapters included in the festschrift.

Language is ruled by conventions. In order to understand how language functions we need to know what conventions are. According to David Lewis conventions are regularities in action or in action and belief, that perpetuate themselves because they serve some common interest. Ruth Millikan has criticized this analysis for being too complex. She claims to offer an analysis in simpler terms that does neither rely on regularities nor rationality. She defines what she calls “natural conventions” as patterns that are reproduced (...) due partly to weight of precedent. After brief outlines of the two proposals it is shown in this article that Millikans argument against Lewis’ analysis is based on a misconception of regularities, that her own analysis does itself rely on regularities and that she cannot do without rationality if she wants to explain the conventionality of language. (shrink)

After introducing the unusual situations that shaped the lives of Zhang Zai and Paul Tillich, we present details from two major writings of these seminal figures: Zhang's Western Inscription and Tillich's sermon, “The Depth of Existence.” In this process we present new English renderings of selected passages of Zhang's influential essay, and illustrate how Tillich's essay manifests onto-hermeneutic claims related to change and transformation that have not always been highlighted in his work. As a consequence, we reveal how both men's (...) writings provoke some unusual metaethical and ethical reflections, while also sharing important values and standards revealed through this comparative study. (shrink)

In this review of Fan Ruiping’s book, I am concerned first of all about how representative his account of Confucianism/Ruism is in relationship to the multiform traditions associated with that teaching through more than two thousand years of its existence. Fan emphasizes pre-imperial forms of Confucian traditions, but neglects many alternatives from later sources. Secondly, his account of “familism” lends itself to questions related to the problem of revenge that is associated with traditional Confucianism. This raises further ethical doubts about (...) the effectiveness of his reconstructed Confucianism within contemporary Chinese society. Finally, his “familism” appears to focus on extended family structures, but whether this is suitable and relevant for the structures of modern family transformations in mainland China is questioned. (shrink)

Many competitions call themselves philosophical but the question what makes them philosophical has received little attention so far. The reason might be that it seems to have a simple answer according to which a philosophical competition is a rivalry about the best philosophical performance. In the paper, I argue that this answer is too simple. I suggest a richer analysis that defines philosophical competition as a striving play. I apply the richer notion to examples of contemporary competitions for high school (...) students, the International Philosophy Olympiad and debate competitions, in particular the Ethics Bowl. The richer analysis also serves to counter an argument against philosophical competitions. (shrink)

In On Certainty, Wittgenstein conceives a novel way of dispelling skeptical doubts about our knowledge of the external world. He acknowledges that in his attempt to refute the skeptic, Moore uncovered epistemologically relevant propositions such as ‘I know that this is a hand’. But he denies that appealing to such truisms is likely to succeed in refuting skepticism–not because they cannot be doubted, but because they are not objects of knowledge in the first place. Rather than refuting skepticism about the (...) external world, Moore’s truisms form the background against which claims to knowledge and doubt are reasonable, meaningful, or justified. By incorporating such conditions for doubt, Wittgenstein seems to provide an effective rationale against skepticism: not only do we lack reasons for certain doubts about our knowledge of the external world, but those doubts also presuppose that much of what we take to know is exempt from them. This paper critically examines the claim that doubt requires reasons and uses Descartes’ famous dream argument as an example to show that not every doubt can be easily dispelled by invoking it. (shrink)

In the Mengzi there is a hypothetical situation relating how the ancient sage-king Shun would respond if his father had committed murder. This has recently become a source of debate among Chinese philosophers. Here we will apply arguments made by Johannes de silentio about the “teleological suspension of the ethical” related to the action of the biblical Abraham, and link them up to alternative interpretations of the actions of Shun. This challenges the current and traditional interpretations of his actions, suggesting (...) how this new approach can overcome ethical quandaries related to the Mengzian account of Shun’s behavior. (shrink)

À partir d’une approche constructiviste, cet article analyse la signification sociale, la présentation et la reproduction du corps, des cultures du mouvement, du genre et de la santé. Il éclaire les considérables transformations que connaît la construction des corps aux différentes périodes ainsi que le rôle de la médecine dans la détection des corps genrés depuis le xviiie siècle. L’attention est tout particulièrement attirée sur le développement des diverses cultures du mouvement et leur impact sur les idéaux et normes de (...) genre, ainsi que sur les discours médicaux relatifs à la participation des femmes à ces cultures. Avec ses principes de compétitions et de records, le sport moderne présente des opportunités de confirmer ou de défier l’ordre du genre. Le sport est un produit et un moteur de la société de la réussite moderne, ainsi qu’un espace où les différences corporelles, les différences de genre et le genre dans son ensemble sont re/produits et affichés. La médecine sportive apprend aux femmes à être le sexe faible et aux hommes à être le sexe fort. Comme ses discours le montrent, le sport semble moins procurer des bénéfices qu’attiser les dangers pour le corps et la santé des femmes. Néanmoins, aujourd’hui, le sport se présente aussi comme une opportunité pour déconstruire le genre. (shrink)

The author had had a plan for a kind of melodrama constructed around two orders of motivation. In the foreground of the stage, there was to be a series of realistic incidents, dealing with typical human situations, such as family quarrels, scenes at a business office, lovers during courtship, a public address by a spell-binder, etc. In the background, like a set of comments on this action, there was to be a primeval forest filled with mythically prehistoric monsters, marauding and (...) fighting in silent pantomime. These two realms were to have no overt connection with each other. The monsters in the "prehistoric" background would pay no attention to the everyday persons of the... (shrink)

Paul Grice distinguishes between natural meaning and non-natural meaning, where the first notion is especially connected to something's being a natural sign and the second to communication. It is argued that some of the arguments against the distinction being exhaustive are based on a misinterpretation of Grice, but also that the distinction cannot be exhaustive if one takes into account both the criterion of factivity and the connection to communication. If one makes a distinction between natural and non-natural communication, then (...) there are different types of natural communication to be distinguished: goal-directed communication, intentional communication and open intentional communication. Given the empirical evidence, the behavior of chimpanzees and of human infants may be described as goal-directed communication, but there are also important differences between the communicative behavior of the two. (shrink)

Leben und Werk des Berner Staatstheoretikers und politischen Schriftstellers Karl Ludwig von Haller sind bisher nur ungenugend untersucht. Die fruhere wissenschaftliche Betrachtung beschrankte sich einseitig auf sein Restaurationswerk. Weiter fehlt bis heute eine Biographie Hallers. Eine erneute Betrachtung seiner Anschauungen und eine Biographie erfordern aber zuerst eine vollstandige Sichtung und Auswertung der vorhandenen Quellen. Die Untersuchung von Hallers publizistischem Wirken bis 1815 zeigt, wie viele unbekannte und unbeachtete Quellen der Forschung bisher verschlossen waren. Weiter weist die Darstellung nach, dass Haller (...) zuerst als Gegenrevolutionar zu verstehen ist, der seine Staatstheorie als Antwort auf die Zerstorung der alten Ordnung durch Revolution formulierte.". (shrink)

Keine ausführliche Beschreibung für "Die Willensfreiheit" verfügbar.