This article presents and compares Frege’s and Husserl’s conceptions of sense, also taking into account their 1891 and 1906 correspondence. It is argued that while the similarities between their views speak in favour of a Fregean interpretation of Husserl’s notion of noematic sense, there are also important differences. With regard to the latter, it is argued that Husserl’s view yields a more general criterion of propositional difference and also provides a more detailed conception of the use of indexicals and non-descriptive (...) singular terms, and of their reference. In this context, Husserl’s conceptions of constitution and genetic constitution analysis, respectively, are invoked and interpreted in terms of the epistemic notion of processing mental files or individual “concepts”. (shrink)

This book combines contributions from many authors who examine a wide range of subjects ranging from overall theoretical considerations to detailed regional ...

In this work, I argue for the overall explanatory superiority of philosophical naturalism to a theistic worldview. Pursuant to that, this piece develops and defends a functionalist theory of explanation, which is then used in addressing several particular topics in the philosophy of religion: the law-governed nature of the world, the intelligibility of the world, alleged "fine-tuning", reports of religious experiences and the occurrence of evils. In each case, I argue that a naturalistic explanation is as good or superior to (...) a theistic worldview in helping us to understand such phenomena. Some original parts of the work include developing out a naturalistic explanation of religious experiences grounded in normal human perceptual and cognitive fallacies, an explanatory critique of several traditional theodicies, and a rebuttal of contemporary fine-tuning arguments on the basis of their reliance on unestablished assumptions that add no explanatory improvement. (shrink)

This contribution deals with the consequences of European integration for the relation between civil servants and policians. Data of Belgian senior servants who are not involved in European policy networks are compared with data of Belgian officals who are in charge of European negotiations.This comparison shows firstly that officials are more central in European policy networks than in national policy networks. Politicians have only a limited and indirect access to these European networks. Secondly, the more civil servants are involved in (...) these European policy networks, the less their political alienation. Furthermore, the organisational self-esteem do not affect the communication networks among civil servants and politicians. Finally, alienation and self-esteem do not affect the communication networks among civil servants and politicians. The exposure to politics and anciennity seem to be more important predictors. (shrink)

A certain objection to belief in God is based on the intrinsic incoherence of the concept of Divine Being or God. In particular, it questions the major traditional characteristic, notably omniscience, and its relation to omnipotence, moral unassailability, and absence of embodiment on the part of the Divine Being. In this paper, an attempt is made to counter this objection by an appeal, not to natural theology, but rather to physicalism in its application to human beings, and by extension to (...) the possible consistency of God’s omniscience with the other divine attributes, which philosophers such as Michael Martin have found to be mutually inconsistent and therefore wanting. (shrink)

How subject and object relate is perceived differently. This has been identified and discussed by philosophers. Hegel built on Plato’s notion that true reality only exists in ideas and is, therefore, objectively true. Hegel argued that the world we encounter is the objectification of the divine mind. Empiricists argue that material things can be engaged through the senses and are, therefore, real. But how do we know that spiritual things are real since they cannot be engaged through the senses? Feuerbach (...) reacted against the Enlightenment thoughts of his time by postulating that god is not real since it is a projection of human qualities. Feuerbach inverted Hegel’s theory by stating that the divine is an abstraction and reification of human thought. With this theory, Feuerbach stated that religion is human-made and redundant. Feuerbach’s theory of the non-existence of god was created during the 19th century and corresponds with post-theism. De Botton also denies the existence of god, but declared that religion has many valuable functions for society. Feuerbach, from a philosophical and De Botton, from a sociological perspective, both deny the existence of god, but differ on the role religion play in society. Feuerbach’s theories proves to have relevance to current studies of religion.Contribution: This contribution investigates the position of Ludwig Feuerbach and tries to indicate the influence his ideas had on current post-theistic theories, such as that by Allan de Botton. (shrink)

Das "Hegel-Jahrbuch" ist das Jahrbuch der Internationalen Hegel-Gesellschaft. die 1953 von Wilhelm Raimund Beyer in Nürnberg gegründet wurde. Es erscheint seit 1961und wurde bis 1984 von W. R. Beyer, seither vom jeweils amtierenden Vorstand der Gesellschaft herausgegeben. Seit 1994 erscheint das Jahrbuch im Akademie Verlag. Es dokumentiert die Beiträge der Internationalen Hegel-Kongresse, die alle zwei Jahre zu wechselnden Schwerpunktthemen stattfinden.

Humans as created matter engage with the transcendental. The difference between matter and spirit has been categorised: material and earthly existence is deemed impure and temporary. The spiritual existence is deemed of higher ethical quality. What does religion as an activity focussing on the “higher” spiritual realm have to say about the “wordly” existence of created matter? Worldviews and a religious anthropology determine the outcome. Where human existence is viewed as something other than created matter, a different relationship exists between (...) humans and nature as opposed to where human existence is viewed as being wholly part of created matter. This last stance is based on a “comprehensive anthropology”. Feuerbach referred to this as Naturalism. According to a naturalistic understanding, humankind is intrinsically part of nature. From nature comes all meaningful existence. This positive evaluation of nature provides direction for an ethical and responsible relationship between humankind and nature. (shrink)

John Searle''s hypothesis of the Background seems to conflict with his initial representationalism according to which each Intentional state contains a particular content that determines its conditions of satisfaction. In Section I of this essay I expose Searle''s initial theory of Intentionality and relate it to Edmund Husserl''s earlier phenomenology. In Section II I make it clear that Searle''s introduction of the notion of Network, though indispensable, does not, by itself, force us to modify that initial theory. However, a comparison (...) of this notion to the notion of horizon from Husserl''s later phenomenology and an interpretation of Husserl''s conception of the determinable X as providing a solution to the problem of perceptual misidentification lead me to conclude that in his discussion of ''twin examples'' Searle had better modified his initial theory. Finally, I critically examine Searle''s claim that anyone who tries seriously to follow out the threads in the Network will eventually reach a bedrock of non-Intentional capacities. In Section III I show in detail, partly in a rather Husserlian vein, that Searle''s four official arguments for the Background thesis, though containing some very valuable contributions to a theory of linguistic skills, are not convincing at all if they are to be understood as going beyond the scope of Searle''s ''content-cum-Network'' picture of Intentionality. The upshot of these considerations is that the Background thesis should be read as a thesis concerning the causal neurophysiological preconditions of human Intentionality rather than concerning the logical properties of Intentional states in general. Recently Searle himself has come to the same result, but he does not say for which reasons. The present essay makes it clear why Searle just had to arrive at this important result. (shrink)

The notion of empathy has more recently seen a considerable revival—notably (first) in connection with Quine's empathy model of radical interpretation, in contrast to which Davidson has developed his triangulation model, and (secondly) in the context of the debate between simulation theory vs. theory theory about propositional attitude ascription. So far, these debates have been carried on fairly independently of each other. This paper is an attempt to utilize the interpretation-theoretical discussion in order to argue for a moderate version of (...) simulation theory. To this end, Davidson's explanation of the radical interpretation scenario in terms of triangulation is reconstructed by comparison to some relevant ideas of Husserl's. (shrink)

Religion and culture always exist in a close relation. Together with aesthetics and ethics, religion constitutes culture. As ethnicity becomes part of the related concepts, the relation with religion needs explanation. This article wants to emphasise that when studying religion, a study of culture is necessary. This statement is argued from three positions: cultural migrations occurring worldwide, religion as cultural identity marker causing the borders between culture and religion to blur and the location of religion within culture causing religion to (...) act as custodian of culture. This results in a situation where any signs of animosity towards culture are interpreted as opposition towards religion. All three arguments necessitate studying ethnicity when studying religion. (shrink)

Increasingly, commissioners and providers of services for people with intellectual disabilities are turning to assistive technology and telecare as a potential solution to the problem of the increased demand for services, brought about by an expanding population of people with intellectual disabilities in the context of relatively static or diminishing resources. While there are numerous potential benefits of assistive technology and telecare, both for service providers and service users, there are also a number of ethical issues. The aim of this (...) paper is to raise these issues and to set them within the ethical framework proposed by Beauchamp and Childress. There is a need for a wider debate as a first step in the development of strategies to address the issues raised in the paper. (shrink)

I. Über den Stil des Poems des Matthaios und seinen Inhalt Wir sind nicht die ersten, die sich mit dem Poem des „minderwertigen Priesters Matthaios“ über die Stadt Theodoro beschäftigen. Silvio Mercati gab es bereits im Jahr 1927 heraus, nachdem er zunächst die in ihm beschriebene Stadt fälschlich mit Theodosia (Kaffa) identifiziert hatte, den Fehler aber schon in einer Zusatzbemerkung im selben Band der „Studi bizantini“ verbesserte, in welchem er das Poem publizierte. Mercati unterzog das Gedicht einer strengen literarhistorischen Kritik. (...) Doch seine Bewertung erweist sich nicht in jedem Punkt als stichhaltig, wenn er behauptet: „das vorgegebene Thema ist abgesehen vom Wunder die Klage und die Zerknirschung“. Eine Begeisterung des Autors für das, was er mit Sinnen wahrnimmt, ist durchaus zu verspüren. Er hat eine positive Einstellung zu dem, was er sieht, und stellt es in den Rahmen der göttlichen Schöpfung. Klage und Lobpreis der mönchischen Lebensweise treten dabei in den Hintergrund. Der Dichter schöpft diese Themen nicht aus. Nachdem er am Schluss des Poems der Eitelkeit des Lebens im Sinne des Predigers Salomo vier Verse (143–146) gewidmet hat, kehrt er zur Verherrlichung des Schöpfers zurück und beendet seine Unterweisung mit christlicher Tröstung durch die Liebe ( Vers 147–150). (shrink)

While Western attention might have been shifting towards Kirgistan in recent decades, little is truly known about this central Asian country and its people. In words and pictures, this photoethnographic catalogue exposes the reader to the unique culture and customs of the place. At the heart of the presentation are the people and traditions of the Talas region. Mountainous landscapes, an oriental way of life, hospitable people, national break-up and revolution: these are the things most commonly associated with Kirgistan. The (...) real history and culture of the country, however, proves to be much more multi-facetted, as this book of photographs and ethnographic essays has documented. With the rise of the Soviet Union, the Kyrgyz, once a nomadic people, were forced to settle, though they have retained much from their nomadic days and value living in harmony with the land. The publication illuminates local histories, day-to-day customs, social structure and the way of life. Central to the investigation are the people. Who are they? How do they live? What do they live from? Chapters on livestock and agriculture, homemaking, school, religion, festivities and village structure round off the impression. The lengthy period during which the authors immersed themselves in the region has made for a very insightful and personal account of Talas and the whole of Kirgistan. (shrink)