Irrational thinking, religious fundamentalism, cults, magical beliefs and esoteric themes increasingly dominate western public life and philosophical debates, while rationality and logical thinking is continuously and increasingly being vilified. This has led to a state of utmost helplessness, when dealing with claims of (religious) fundamentalism and illegitimate metaphysics of power, while conversely the day-to-day living environment remains highly technical and positivistic. Puzzled by this increasing division, this book tries to elucidate: The emergence of the concept “irrational”, after Kant’s Critique of (...) Pure Reason and the metamorphosis from its origins at the end of the 18th century into the 20th century. The methodical consequences of the Copernican revolution, which split off domains of the individual such as the body, nature, singularities, coincidence, will, life or the soul (which had been recognized as an organic compartment of the individual) as representations, converting them into new and dynamic elements for post-Kantian philosophies: body – Nietzsche, will – Schopenhauer, life – Lebensphilosophie, singularity/coincidence – existentialism, nature – romanticism, soul – early psychoanalysis etc. Finally, criteria for irrational philosophies are being presented. (shrink)

Dieses Buch möchte eine Revolution der Denkungsart auf den Weg bringen. In kritischer Auseinandersetzung mit den Dogmen des Empirismus und der erschlaffenden und konformistischen Analytischen Sprachphilosophie, versucht es eine Synthese aus den Lehren jener Genies zu generieren, welche das Fundament der,westlichen Kultur? gelegt haben: Platon? Descartes? Kant? und im 20. Jahrhundert, Ernst Cassirer. Das neuentdeckte,visuelle Denken?, welches offenbar eine Vorstufe der Sprache und des menschlichen Denkens darstellt und in der Philosophie stets immanent präsent war, soll wieder in seine Rechte gesetzt (...) werden. Zudem soll die Substanzlosigkeit der naturalistischen und realistischen Strömungen aufgezeigt werden, welche uns glauben machen wollen, der menschliche Geist sei bloss Gehirn, bzw. eine Maschine. (shrink)

Performing and listening to music occurs in specific situations, requiring specific media. Empirical research on music listening and appreciation, however, tends to overlook the effects these situations and media may have on the listening experience. This article uses the sociological concept of the frame to develop a theory of an aesthetic experience with music as the result of encountering sound/music in the context of a specific situation. By presenting a transdisciplinary sub-field of empirical (concert) studies, we unfold this theory for (...) one such frame: the classical concert. After sketching out the underlying theoretical framework, a selective literature review is conducted to look for evidence on the general plausibility of the single elements of this emerging theory and to identify desiderata. We refer to common criticisms of the standard classical concert, and how new concert formats try to overcome alleged shortcomings and detrimental effects. Finally, an empirical research program is proposed, in which frames and frame components are experimentally manipulated and compared to establish their respective affordances and effects on the musical experience. Such a research program will provide empirical evidence to tackle a question that is still open to debate, i.e., whether the diversified world of modern-day music listening formats also holds a place for the classical concert – and if so, for what kind of classical concert. (shrink)

This article discusses the history of the concepts of potential infinity and actual infinity in the context of Christian theology, mathematical thinking and metaphysical reasoning. It shows that the structure of Ancient Greek rationality could not go beyond the concept of potential infinity, which is highlighted in Aristotle's metaphysics. The limitations of the metaphysical mind of ancient Greece were overcome through Christian theology and its concept of the infinite God, as formulated in Gregory of Nyssa's theology. That is how the (...) concept of actual infinity emerged. However, Gregory of Nyssa's understanding of human rationality went still further. He said that access to the infinity of God was to be found only in an asymptotic ascension, as expressed in apophatic theology, and this view endangered the rationality of theology. Deeply influenced by the apophatic tradition, Nicholas of Cusa avoided this danger by showing that infinity could be accessed by symbolic representation and asymptotic mathematical reasoning. Thus, he made an immense contribution in making infinity rationally accessible. This endeavor was finally realized by Georg Cantor. This rational accessibility revealed discernible structures of infinity, such as the continuum hypothesis, and the cardinal numbers. However, the probable logical inconsistency of Georg Cantor's all-encompassing Absolute Infinity points to an intuitive understanding of infinity that goes beyond its rational structures – as in apophatic theology. (shrink)

Leibniz's development of a "calculus universalis" stands and falls with his theory of negation. During the entire period of the elaboration of the algebra of concepts, L1, Leibniz had to struggle hard to grasp the difference between propositional and conceptual negation. Within the framework of syllogistic, this difference seems to disappear because 'Omne A non B' may be taken to be equivalent to ‘Omne A est non-B’. Within the "universal calculus", however, the informal quantifier expression 'omne' is to be dropped. (...) Accordingly, ‘A non est B' expresses only the propositional negation of ‘A est B' and is hence logically weaker than ‘A est non-B'. Besides Leibniz's cardinal error of confusing propositional and conceptual negation the following issues are dealt with in this paper: -"Aristotelian" vs. "Scholastic" Syllogistic; – Metalinguistic theory of the truth-predicate; -Individual-concepts vs. concepts in general. (shrink)

The analysis of knowledge and belief has provoked intensive discussions in philosophy and linguistics. One of the issues in this area is the semantics of attitude verbs whose complement expresses a thought about the Self of the thinking person. What is the content of my belief when I think that I am tired? Some philosophers propose it is a proposition, others think it is a property. It will be shown in this essay that existing proposals in either direction are unsatisfying. (...) The property theorist expells the subject of the predicate "tired" from the analysis; their theory is at best incomplete. The propositionalist has difficulties with the analysis of the pronoun that refers back to the subject of the attitude, as is the case with "he" in "Wolfgang believes he is tired". The present new proposal ventures the idea that a conscious person is endowed with their own Logical Space that deviates from the standard model in providing for a separate entity, the Self, as the object or target of inner thoughts about oneself. Moreover, this Logical Space leaves room for linguistic error: in such a model, subjects may be unable to correctly identify the reference of a name or may fail to identify the Self with its bearer. By contrast, reference to the Self is immune to error through misidentification, it is a paradigm case of brute indexicality. In consequence, de se pronouns are rigid designators in the sense of Kripke. The book solves several puzzles of reference failure and explores numerous consequences for the semantics of attitude reports and for possible world semantics in general. (shrink)

Der vorliegende Band enthalt sechs teilweise stark iiberarbeitete Aufsatze, die in der Zeit zwischen der Niederschrift des Buches Theorienstrnkturen und Theoriendynamik, Springer-Verlag 1973, im folgenden mit [Theoriendynamik] bezeichnet, und der Monographie The Strncturalist View of Theories. A Pos­ sible Analogue of the Bourbaki Programme in Physical Science, Springer-Ver­ lag 1979, im folgenden kurz [Strnkturalismus] genannt, entstanden sind. In diesen Abhandlungen werden jeweils gewisse Aspekte des strukturalistischen Theorienkonzeptes behandelt. Am starksten iiberarbeitet wurden die Auf­ satze II, IV, V und VI, die (...) urspriinglich in englischer Sprache erschienen waren. Vier der sechs Arbeiten, namlich I, III, IV und VI, bilden auBerdem erweiterte Fassungen von Vortragen. Obwohl das zweite Buch [Strnkturalismus] durch P. Feyerabends ausftihr­ liche Diskussion der strukturalistischen Auffassung im British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Dezember 1977, angeregt worden ist, stellt es seinem Ansatz und Aufbau nach eher den Versuch einer systematischen Kurzdarstel­ lung des strukturalistischen Vorgehens nach seinem letzten Stande dar. Dem­ gegeniiber entstanden die hier verOffentlichten Artikel stets aus einem ganz be­ stimmten AnlaB. Diese Anlasse konnte man schematisch in drei Klassen unter­ teilen: Entweder ging es darum, eine anschauliche intuitive Ein/iihrnng zu lie­ fern (I und V); oder die Aufgabe bestand darin, die Beziehung zu anderen philosophischen Positionen. wie z. B. derjenigen L. Wittgensteins, H. Putnams, K. Poppers oder T. S. Kuhns. zu analysieren (II. III und IV); oder es sollte zu den wichtigsten und bis dahin verOffentlichten Kritiken Stellung bezogen wer­ den (wie in VI). (shrink)

It has recently been argued that some cases of naked statistical evidence license a high credence, but not an outright belief. If this is correct, there cannot be an unconditional bridge principle from credence to outright belief. We show that at least one prominent putative counterexample to such a bridge principle is based on a mistake, by demonstrating that the statistical evidence falls short not only of licensing rational belief, but also of justifying a high credence.

Aus epistemisch-logischer Sicht reduziert sich das Fundamentalismusproblem auf die Fragen, ob die Bedingung "a's Glaube, daß p, ist fundiert" notwendig bzw. — im Verband mit "p ist wahr" und "a ist davon überzeugt, daß p " — auch hinreichend dafür ist, daß a weiß, daß p. Drei Explikationsversuche der Fundiertheitsbedingung werden untersucht: während die ersten beiden, mit den üblichen epistemischen Termen 'wissen' und 'überzeugt sein' formulierten Varianten scheitern, erweist sich die dritte Definition mittels des Terms 'evident sein' als erfolgversprechend, sofern (...) "p ist evident für a" seinerseits durch die Bedingungen "a ist davon überzeugt, daß p" und "a kann sich bezüglich p nicht irren" definiert wird. Die genauere Bestimmung des 'kann' als (alethischen) Modaloperator ist ein offenes Problem. (shrink)

Im ersten Teil des Buches wird das «Ich»-Verständnis der christlichen Lehre, insbesondere anhand der Position von Nikolaus von Kues und Schriften von Papst Johannes Paul II., analysiert, beziehungsweise an der Position Platons gemessen. Es wird zu zeigen versucht, daß die christliche Trinitätslehre wesentliche Impulse dafür liefert, zu einer Argumentation alleine gemäß der von Platon grundgelegten noetischen Dialektik finden zu können. Im Rahmen hiervon wird dargelegt, wo das «Ich»-Verständnis der christlichen Trinitätslehre hinter jenem Platons zurückbleibt. Im zweiten Teil des Buches wird (...) eine Skizze vom «Ich» im Sinne der noetischen Dialektik gegeben, beziehungsweise dargelegt, daß jegliches Bedenken von der Aussage «Ich bin» auszugehen hat. (shrink)

I have a clear idea of what it means that I have experiences in the past or future, and it does not seem to mean that experiences take place that possess certain content-characteristics, but simply and irreducibly thatIexperience them – i.e. that they are, at the time of their occurrence, experientially presentto me–, whatever their contents may be. So the central question regarding personal identity is: What is this “I”to whomthe experiences are present, and what is the nature of its (...) identity across changing experiences? Following Zahavi, I suggest that the subject is not to be conceived as a merely postulated trans-experiential entity but has its very being in experiential presence itself. Yet the question is how to conceive of this presence. When we understand it as a property or quality of the experiences (as Zahavi seems to do), the problem is that every experience that has ever been experienced possesses this property, and so it cannot account for what it means that some experiences are experiencedby meand not some other subject. In contrast, I suggest (following Klawonn’s “I-dimension” theory) understanding experiential presence not as a property of the experiences but as a dimension which is able to comprise many experiences and to abide as identical through their change – an idea that can also be found in some formulations of Zahavi’s, but which he does not distinguish with the necessary clarity from the quality account. (shrink)

Stephan H. Pfürtner (1922-2012) was a Catholic theologian who in the last stage of his academic career taught Social Ethics in the Department of Protestant Theology at Philipps-University in Marburg. The text, originally a lecture in commemoration of Stephan Pfürtner and his work, shows the close connection between biography and theology, between ethical experience and ethical reflection in his case. Empathetic Courage is shown by him in his successful effort to save three young Jewish women from death in the Concentration (...) Camp of Stutthof near Danzig in 1944. Ecumenical Resistance is performed by a group of young Christians around four ministers who became sentenced to death in 1943. A Liberated Conscience is decisive for Pfürtner’s position in a deep conflict with the Roman-Catholic Church on the ethics of human sexuality. Ethics of Reponsibility is the conception that he develops in his Marburg years. Evangelical Catholicity characterizes the spiritual dimension of Stephan Pfürtner’s legacy. (shrink)

Em 1989, a era do realismo político chegou ao fim. &s condições foram modificadas de forma a substituir O modelo hobbesiano de paz pela intimidação que prevalecia até então, por um modelo consideravelmente mais desafiador, o modelo kantiano da paz pelo direito. Se, todavia, o paradigma de Huntington dadas civilizações em conflito estivesse correto, teríamos de esquecer Kant e lembrarmo-nos de Hobbes. A racionalidade pé-no-chão, a desconfiança sadia, a luta pela acumulação do poder e todos os demais instrumentos da caixa (...) realista de ferramentas da prudência política são muito adequados para facilitar a autoafirmação política numa época de culturas violentamente conflitantes. No entanto, um tal desamparo não é bem fundamentado. Considerando-se que, desde seu início, o liberalismo é uma teoria do pluralismo religioso e ético, e que é bem -testada no trato de problemas do multiculturalismo, é ao menos possível argumentar-se em favor de um universalismo liberal fraco que forneça fundamentos normativos para uma ordem global baseada na convivência pacífica. Naturalmente, modéstia conceitual e moral é crucial. Se a doutrina dos direitos humanos deseja defender sua alegação universal em face da diversidade cultural. ela terá de se restringir às condições pré-culturais e meramente naturais do ser humano e da coexistência humana. Essas limitações dão fundamento a sua força normativa. Nem políticas nacionais, nem concepções culturais do que seja a vida próspera e a importância existencial podem ser aceitas se contradizem os imperativos e as condições fundamentais do funcionamento puramente biológico do ser humano. (shrink)

The article deals with some aspects of Dilthey’s thought. First, we examine those elements of Dilthey’s philosophy that play important role in the discussion of his ideas in the 20th century. Next, we refer to the relation of some representatives of late hermeneutics to Dilthey. Finally, we study and evaluate some views of Dilthey’s critics. Key words DILTHEY, HERMENEUTIC PHILOSOPHY.

This paper investigates whether managerial rhetoric in the Management Discussion and Analysis section of 10-K filings can help gauge the level of managerial opportunism in a firm. We find that the use of trust-related words is connected to inefficient investment decisions and poor operating performance. Furthermore, firms making more frequent use of trust-related words are subject to less monitoring by institutional investors or analysts. Their accounting also relies more heavily on discretionary accruals. These results are consistent with the notion that (...) managerial rhetoric to advertise trustworthiness points towards agency problems plaguing the firm. (shrink)

This paper is the most complete presentation of my views on deterministic causation. It develops the deterministic theory in perfect parallel to my theory of probabilistic causation and thus unites the two aspects. It also argues that the theory presented is superior to all regularity and all counterfactual theories of causation.

Hofmeister's reply to schwarz's paper: kant's refutation of charitable lies (ethics, Oct. 1970) attacks an imaginary disjunction of two true duties. Hofmeister's maxim 'consciousness' blots out three principal relations in truthfulness. His claim 'falsifications of facts are not immoral in themselves' vitiates all rights based on contract. Schwarz's 'overlooking' of the thematic distinction is refuted by textual evidence. Kant's alleged reversal of his stand draws on a spurious historical source.

This volume focuses on the modeling of cognition, and brings together contributions from psychologists and researchers in the field of cognitive science.

ABSTRACTWhat is better for a country, to be big or to be small? And should sovereign statehood be centralised or distributed among countries of common cultural and institutional lineage? Debates on...