The paper discusses the concept of the cognitive niche and distinguishes the latter from the metabolic niche. By using these posits I unpack certain ideas that are crucial for the enactivist movement, especially for its original formulation proposed by Varela, Thompson and Rosh. Drawing on the ontology of location, boundaries, and parthood, I argue that enacting the world can be seen as the process of cognitive niche construction. Moreover, it turns out that enactivism—as seen through the lens of the conceptual (...) framework proposed in the paper—considers cognition as a kind of connection between the subject and the world. This post is pointed to as the key idea laid down in enactivism. (shrink)

This volume has its already distant or1g1n in an inter national conference on Evolutionary Epistemology the editors organized at the University of Ghent in November 1984. This conference aimed to follow up the endeavor started at the ERISS (Epistemologically Relevant Internalist Sociology of Science) conference organized by Don Campbell and Alex Rosen berg at Cazenovia Lake, New York, in June 1981, whilst in jecting the gist of certain current continental intellectual developments into a debate whose focus, we thought, was in (...) danger of being narrowed too much, considering the still underdeveloped state of affairs in the field. Broadly speaking, evolutionary epistemology today con sists of two interrelated, yet qualitatively distinct inves tigative efforts. Both are drawing on Darwinian concepts, which may explain why many people have failed to discriminate them. One is the study of the evolution of the cognitive apparatus of living organisms, which is first and foremost the province of biologists and psychologists (H. C. Plotkin, Ed. , Learning, Development, and Culture: Essays in Evolu tionary Epistemology, New York, Wiley, 1984), although quite a few philosophers - professional or vocational - have also felt the need to express themselves on this vast subject (F. M. Wuketits, Ed. , Conce ts and Approaches in Evolutionary Epistemology, Dordrecht Boston, Reidel, 1984). The other approach deals with the evolution of science, and has been dominated hitherto by (allegedly) 'naturalized' philosophers; no book-length survey of this literature is available at present. (shrink)

Abstract Western philosophical and psychological thinking lacks an accepted theory of human personality; it has produced conflicting and inadequate notions, such as the religious one of a soul, the vague concept of the ?mind? and biological theories basing their understanding of man on the functions of the nervous system, particularly the brain, or dealing with his mental dimension only in terms of behavioural patterns. This paper explores the notions of personality in Indian systems and finds that virtually all of them (...) understand it, despite differing terminology, as a fluid complex of functions or living forces characterised by intrinsic intelligence and coordinated by a dynamic structural principle, operating on three levels of reality: phenomenal material, phenomenal immaterial and noumenal or absolute. One can say that the Indian tradition fully appreciated the complexity of the problem and produced theories of personality which are more comprehensive than western ones and merit study as well as attention from the point of view of contemporary creative philosophical thinking. [1]. (shrink)

According to Kant, as far as the realisation of humanity is concerned, man is dependent on knowledge. But which science guarantees him an insight into what it means to be a human being? Philosophy? Anthropology? Philosophical anthropology? This study’s problem-oriented development of the question: ‘What is man?’ deals with the anthropological concepts of Scheler, Plessner, Portmann and Gehlen, drawing on the insights of classical philosophy. The focus of its critique is the biologism that is symptomatic of the failure of the (...) attempt to clarify the nature of man in comparative distinction to the form of existence of the animal. With reference to Herder, who understands man as a linguistic being, this book outlines the first steps on the path to overcoming the programme of modern anthropology through a form of ‘philosophy from language’. (shrink)

We explore the different meanings of “quantum uncertainty” contained in Heisenberg’s seminal paper from 1927, and also some of the precise definitions that were developed later. We recount the controversy about “Anschaulichkeit”, visualizability of the theory, which Heisenberg claims to resolve. Moreover, we consider Heisenberg’s programme of operational analysis of concepts, in which he sees himself as following Einstein. Heisenberg’s work is marked by the tensions between semiclassical arguments and the emerging modern quantum theory, between intuition and rigour, and between (...) shaky arguments and overarching claims. Nevertheless, the main message can be taken into the new quantum theory, and can be brought into the form of general theorems. They come in two kinds, not distinguished by Heisenberg. These are, on one hand, constraints on preparations, like the usual textbook uncertainty relation, and, on the other, constraints on joint measurability, including trade-offs between accuracy and disturbance. (shrink)

Es wird versucht, einige Aspekte von Carnaps Werk Der logische Auflyau der Welt vor dem Hintergrund des Kantianismus zu betrachten, insbesondere die Strukturalismusthese, das Verhältnis von Gegebenem und Konstruiertem und den Wirklichkeitsbegriff; das Ergebnis geht dahin, daß sich mehr Gemeinsamkeiten mit der kantianischen Tradition zeigen als es von einem klassischen Werk des Neopositivismus zu erwarten wäre.

Für diesen Titel ist noch kein Beschreibungstext vorhanden.

The development of genomic technologies has seemed almost magical. Excitement about it, both in medicine and among the public, stems from the belief that genomic techniques will illuminate the causes of health and disease, will lead to effective interventions for both rare and common genetic conditions, and will inform reproductive decision‐making. Novel diagnostic tools, however, are often deployed before targeted therapies are developed, tested, or available and before their psychosocial implications are explored. Newer technologies such as prenatal whole exome screening (...) are seen as offering “decisional autonomy” to expectant parents, although such technologies identify information about genetic sequencing that may not have clear meaning. The “therapeutic gap” between the ability to conduct genetic sequencing and the ability to fully understand what the test results mean, much less what treatments to offer, leaves families with complex and unclear information they cannot act upon with confidence during pregnancy. In this essay, we will consider the psychosocial and ethical implications of such assumptions—and of the uncertain information produced by these technologies—for individuals and families and for societal aspects such as medical service usage and demographic inequities. (shrink)

Im Oktober 1999 wurde in Augsburg die „Gemeinsame Erklärung zur Rechtfertigungslehre" seitens der Vertreter des Lutherischen Weltbundes und der römisch-katholischen Kirche unterzeichnet. Darin wurde eine weitgehende Übereinstimmung im Verständnis dieser zentralen Lehre bekundet. Zehn Jahre nach dieser Unterzeichnung ist freilich festzustellen, dass die Erklärung weitgehend folgenlos geblieben ist und auch keine starke Beachtung gefunden hat. Diese bedauerliche Tatsache hat mehrere Ursachen. Ein Grund liegt darin, dass in der Erklärung einige theologische Themen wenig erörtert wurden, die jedoch an sich hätten berücksichtigt (...) werden müssen. Eine andere Ursache ist damit gegeben, dass sich - in Deutschland - kirchliche Entwicklungen ergeben haben, die eine lutherisch-katholische Übereinkunft als nicht allzu bedeutsam erscheinen lassen.In October 1999 the "Common Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" was signed in Augsburg by representatives of the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church. It proclaimed a broad agreement in the understanding of this central doctrine. Now, ten years after this signing, we find that the declaration has neither occasioned much follow-up nor gained a great deal of respect for itself. There are several reasons for this unfortunate fact. For one thing, there are some theological themes that did not get much attention, but which really should have been taken into consideration. Another reason is due to the fact that - in Germany - there have been church developments that have made the prospect of a Lutheran-Catholic union appear to be not all that significant. (shrink)

Neste texto, refero-me principalmente à forma madura da Ciência da Lógica, isto é, ao seu primeiro livro da edição revista do ano 1832. O objetivo de meu trabalho reside em demonstrar que a ilustração do problema do início da filosofia por Hegel é indiretamente uma chave para o entendimento da ideia fundamental de sua concepção da lógica como método científico da filosofia. Para atingir esse objetivo exponho, em primeiro lugar, as principais ideias do programa de Hegel por uma revisão da (...) lógica, da metafísica e da filosofia completa, em contraste à lógica tradicional. Depois ofereço uma interpretação da declaração da dificuldade em encontrar um início lógico na filosofia, que reside em que resolver o problema de unir o método ao conteúdo, a forma ao princípio. Essa interpretação deve mostrar no qual sentido o início vale sem pressuposto. Esse entendimento nega a possibilidade de começar a filosofia com algo hipotética e problematicamente verdadeiro como é o procedimento comum na matemática. Por meio da análise daquele problema ilustrado especialmente pelo exemplo da crítica hegeliana à compreensão da natureza da relação entre o ser puro e a sua alteração necessária em Jacobi, tento encontrar um acesso para o entendimento do método lógico de Hegel, na medida em que o momento da negatividade enquanto princípio do modo de determinar e, com isso, do conteúdo, resultam necessariamente da indeterminidade do ser como a mais pensável abstração. Esse resultado surge pela necessidade, por qual o ser puro provoca a sua própria mudança para o devir um desenvolvimento que Jacobi desmente por princípio para ficar parado na abstração unilateral e falsa. Assim, a indeterminidade enquanto algo contrário é mesmo o determinado ou o negativo, isto é, o negativo puro, inteiramente abstrato, em outras palavras: O ser como resultado da perfeita abstração é negatividade abstrata, o nada. Mas essa negatividade é o princípio e o método da determinação e do conhecer na lógica e na filosofia como ciência. (shrink)

The question is, of whether alongside a theme and method concentrated philosophy teaching it would be sensisible for young people to have a teaching form where great philosophers themselves are the centre of interest and are presented as personalities engaged in philosophical research. As an illustration the philosophers Plato, René Descartes, John Locke and Immanuel Kant, who essentially laid down the foundations of modern scientific thinking, would be presented in relationship to teaching practice. This train of thought can be extended (...) without exception for all nations and all forms of culture so long as the conditions of peaceableness and civilizing productivity are met with. Exemplary biographies could play a large role for young people with regard to their psychological development. (shrink)

Flach bringt Kants geltungs- und prinzipientheoretische Freiheitslehre zur Darstellung und sucht zu zeigen, welches Erklärungspotential diese Lehre in puncto Humanität hat. Krijnen bringt Hegels logische und geistphilosophische Freiheitslehre zur Darstellung und sucht zu zeigen, daß und wie in ihr ein fundamentaler Aspekt der Freiheit thematisch wird, der in Kants Lehre unterbeleuchtet bleibt. Die Diskussionsbeiträge zeigen, welchen Stellenwert dem einen und dem anderen Paradigma im aktuellen Urteil zuerkannt wird. Flach presents Kant’s conception of freedom as well as its potential for understanding (...) what it means to be human. Krijnen presents Hegel’s conception of freedom and shows that Kant’s conception underestimates an essential feature of freedom. The contributions of other authors assess the results. (shrink)

Über die als Rechtssoziologie bekannt gewordenen Werkstücke von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft ist bereits vieles gesagt und geschrieben worden. Die mittlerweile vorliegende Edition der Texte im Rahmen der historisch-kritischen Gesamtausgabe sowie die in der Editionsarbeit gewonnenen Einsichten in den Entstehungsprozess, die innere Logik und den Ort dieses Collagenwerkes geben jedoch Anlass, sowohl etablierte Deutungen zu hinterfragen als auch neue Interpretationen dieser vielschichtigen Texte zur Debatte zu stellen. So lassen sich in diesen Texten bereits Ansätze eines Pluralismus normativer Ordnungen finden, und auch (...) die kulturelle Dimension als Differenz der Rechtsordnungen wird von Weber in einer Weise betont, die noch fur Betrachtungen von Gegenwartsgesellschaften und ihrer Identitätsbilder bedeutsam scheint. Der vorliegende Band versammelt Beiträge, die vor diesem Hintergrund und in der erneuten Auseinandersetzung mit Webers Schriften zum Recht entstanden sind. (shrink)