A conditional takes the form ‘If A, then C’. On the truth-conditional view of conditionals, conditional statements state things with truth-conditions. On the suppositional view, conditional statements involve the expression of a supposition. I develop and defend a view on which conditional statements both state things with truth-conditions and express suppositions. On this view, something is fundamentally right about standard truth-conditional and standard suppositional views. Considerations in favor of conditional contents lead us to attribute truth-conditional contents to conditional statements; considerations (...) in favor of the suppositional view then lead us to an unexpected account of these contents. The resulting view has a number of benefits, including a unified treatment of conditional speech acts, a plausible account of our practice of ascribing truth-values to conditional statements, a simple explanation of the apparent equivalence between probabilities of conditionals and conditional probabilities, an intuitive treatment of ‘Gibbardian stand-offs’, a plausible logic of conditionals, and an explanation of why theorizing about conditionals has proved so difficult. (shrink)

Let us call a statement of the form ‘If A was, is, or will be the case, then C was, is, or will be the case’ an indicative conditional. And let us call a statement of the form ‘If A had been, were, or were to be the case, then C would have been, would be, or would come to be the case’ a subjunctive, or counterfactual, conditional.

In a series of articles, David Barnett (2006, 2009, 2010) has developed a general theory of conditionals. The grand aim is to reconcile the two main rivals: a suppositional and a truth-conditional view (Barnett 2006, 521). While I confine my critical discussion to counterfactuals, I will give some hints how they might spell trouble for his suppositional view in general.

Answers set the stage for new questions. Reconfigured terrains require new maps. We endedReconceptions with the words constructionalism always has plenty to do. The papers in this volume prove our point. They raise issues and disclose avenues that merit further investigation. In what follows, I venture some brief replies that answer objections and indicate areas that deserve further study.

Résumé Partant d’un ouvrage collectif qui pose un regard critique sur les projets qui ont mené à la fondation de l’Université de Bielefeld à la fin des années soixante, l’article revient sur les conditions d’émergence de la première Reformuniversität dans l’Allemagne fédérale. Conçue comme un ensemble transdisciplinaire d’enseignement et de recherche selon le modèle esquissé par Wilhelm von Humboldt, l’université de Bielefeld va devoir très vite s’adapter au pragmatisme dominant dans les années 1970, se soumettre à une modernisation adaptative et (...) de ce fait subir un échec par rapport à la conception initiale. Un secteur cependant échappe à ce que l’on a appelé le ‘Bielefelder Syndrom’ : celui des Sciences sociales et historiques et son centre interdisciplinaire de recherches (ZiF) constituant l’ ‘Ecole de Bielefeld’ autour de figures marquantes, diverses mais complémentaires, comme les historiens Reinhart Koselleck, Hans-Ulrich Wehler, Jürgen Kocka et des sociologues comme Niklas Luhmann. (shrink)

http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/ZIF/Publikationen/books/10_Baurmann_NormsAndValues.html.

http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/ZIF/Publikationen/books/10_Baurmann_NormsAndValues.html.

Summary This volume undertakes to determine the fundamentals and limits of an ethical assessment of the methods of modern medical technology with regard to the concepts of human dignity and human image, which are particularly important for this purpose. It shows that the philosophical-legal foundation of the term human dignity has not yet been clearly clarified; one even has to ask whether the term is (still) suitable for assessing ethical problems in medical technology. The term human image also needs clarification (...) and clarification in order to be taken seriously as a topos in the medical ethical discussion. The volume emerged from the work of an interdisciplinary and international research group at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), Bielefeld. It deals primarily with the theoretical foundation of the terms human dignity and human image and is supplemented by a volume, the contributions of which illustrate the problems of practice using examples from different areas of medical technology. (shrink)

Was macht eine Intervention zu einer Humanitären? Was sind die moralischen Bewertungskriterien für eine solche Intervention? Welche Kraft haben diese Kriterien im Vergleich zu den völkerrechtlichen Regelungen? Was sind die speziellen moralischen Probleme Humanitärer Interventionen bzw. Humanitärer Interventions-Kriege verglichen mit den gängigen Problemen zwischenstaatlicher Gewalt? Und welche Lehren ziehen wir heute aus dem Kosovokrieg von 1999, der einen Großteil ehemaliger Pazifisten zu dezidierten Kriegsbefürwortern werden ließ? Der Band präsentiert eine Auswahl von Beiträgen zur gleichnamigen Internationalen Konferenz am ZiF / Uni (...) Bielefeld. (shrink)

The first four chapters of Max Weber's Economy and Society presented by Talcott Parsons in 1947 as Theory of Social and Economic Organization present a coherent and complete analysis of social, economic and political structures based upon a consistent theory of social action and its understanding. Parsons did not see them this way. His lengthy introduction sought to insert them into his own “action frame of reference”, and his rearrangement of the text made it difficult for a reader to understand (...) why it was constructed the way that it is. This essay describes how Parsons came to be principal translator and editor of the text, examines the changes that he made to it, and links his editorial practice to the analytical procedures that he followed in his Structure of Social Action. ☆ This essay is developed from a paper originally presented in June 2005 at a conference on Max Weber's Basic Sociological Concepts at ZiF, Bielefeld University; an earlier version of the present paper was published as “Talcott Parsons als Übersetzer der ‘Soziologischen Grundbegriffe’ Max Webers”. Max Webers ‘Grundbegriffe’. Kategorien der kultur- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschung. Ed. Klaus Lichtblau. (Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2006) 337–366. (shrink)

This volume is a compilation of revised versions of papers presented at a conference held in spring 1994 at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) in Bielefeld, Germany.

http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/ZIF/Publikationen/books/10_Baurmann_NormsAndValues.html.

The text introduces the concept behind the Proceedings of the 2018 ZiF Workshop “Studying Migration Policies at the Interface between Empirical Research and Normative Analysis”. It explains why there is a need to study migration policies across disciplines, includes a short note on the current literature, and provides a look back at the workshop. DOI:10.17879/15199624685 .

İndividualizm və xüsusilə personalizm filosof-mütəfəkkirlərin diqqətini xüsusilə cəlb edən məsələlər sırasında olublar. İnsanın cəmiyyət ilə münasibətlərində öz xüsusiyyətləri, özgürlüyü və təkrar olunmazlığını qoruyub saxlamasını ifadə edən bu problemi müəyyən etməyin əhəmiyyətindən danışsaq, konkret bir şəxsə məxsus göstəricilərdən çıxış etməklə bütöv və hərtərəfli nəticə əldə etmək mümkündür. Qeyd olunan vəzifəni həyata keçirmək o qədər də asan deyildir. Çünki söhbət müəyyən bir şəxsi başqalarından ayırmaqdan başlayaraq, onun unikallığının formalaşması və mövcudluğunun müəyyən olunmasına qədər davam edən bir prosesi öyrənməkdən gedir. Dünyaya fərd kimi (...) gələn insan öz fəaliyyəti, özünüdərketməsi sayəsində şəxsiyyətin qabil ola biləcəyi bir varlığa çevrilə bilər. Məhz cəmiyyətin normal fəaliyyəti və inkişafı üçün onun hər bir üzvünün müəyyən qədər özünəməxsusluğu zəruridir. Və cəmiyyət üzvlərinin rəngarəngliyi, burada aydın ifadə olunmuş fərdiyyətlər, şəxsiyyətlərin mövcudluğu hər bir ictimai quruluşun, onun mədəniyyətinin həqiqi zənginliyini təmin edir. Buna görə də, insanların fərdi özünəməxsusluğuna malik olması sosial inkişafın qanunauyğunluğu kimi də qəbul edilir. Məqalədə Avropa personalistlərinin fikirlərinə istinadən belə proseslər izlənilib. (shrink)

Can anti-deportation resistance be justified, and if so how and by whom may, or perhaps should, unjust deportations be resisted? In this paper, I seek to provide an answer to these questions. The paper starts by describing the main forms and agents of anti-deportation action in the contemporary context. Subsequently, I examine how different justifications for principled resistance and disobedience may each be invoked in the case of deportation resistance. I then explore how worries about the resister’s motivation for engaging (...) in the action and their epistemic position apply in the specific context of anti-deportation action and consider in what circumstances there is not merely a right but a duty to resist deportation. The upshot of this argument, I conclude, is that the liberal state ought to respond to anti-deportation action not by criminalising disobedience and resistance in this field, but rather by creating legal avenues for such actors to influence deportation decision-making. DOI 10.17879/95189423213. (shrink)

What is and what ought to be the relationship between empirical research and normative analysis with respect to migration policies? The paper addresses this question from the perspective of political theory, asking about the place of empirical research in philosophical discussions of migration, and, for the most part, leaving to others questions about what role, if any, normative considerations do and should play in empirical research on migration. At the outset the paper also takes note of one important way in (...) which empirical research can and should contribute to normative discussions of migration, quite apart from its role in contributing to political philosophy. DOI: 10.17879/15199614880. (shrink)

This paper is about belief ascriptions and problems that arise for a Fregean theory.

In this article we examine the role of Entscheider (decision-makers) in the German asylum procedure, both legally and ethical. As the responsibility for deciding on asylum applications lies exclusively with them, their significance for the German asylum procedure can hardly be underestimated. However, over the last few decades the situation of Entscheider changed significantly: While the number and complexity of the cases they have to decide on has increased due to the growing immigration, the requirements for their education have been (...) lowered, owed to critical amendments to the relevant law. We analyze how the law currently defines the role of Entscheider, whether the legal framework is constitutional, and what modifications morality requires. Although the law defining their role seems to be constitutional, Entscheider’s education must be improved and they must be entrusted with the hearing of the applicants to meet what morality requires, we conclude. DOI: 10.17879/95189429199. (shrink)

The paper explores the basis of the responsibilities we owe to refugees. That we have such responsibilities is a very widely shared intuition: the need of those fleeing from persecution seems to call out for a response on our part. But what exactly are our obligations to such people? Who are they owed to and why do we have them? The paper argues in favour of a human rights approach to refugee protection that includes the requirement of the implementation of (...) a burden sharing scheme. DOI 10.17879/95189441435. (shrink)

Human dignity is a stubborn concept, at least for jurists and philosophers. After World War II it found its way immediately into the opening articles of the UN Charta, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the German Grundgesetz, apparently out of the blue, i. e. almost without any precedent in earlier juridical docu- ments. Consequently, scholars of law still have difficulties to formulate an adequate understanding of human dignity. And although the concept has a certain tradition in philosophy, if (...) we search for an independent ethi- cally attractive understanding of human dignity, it turns out that going back to Cicero, Kant or the Christian heritage is of little help, too. Much more promising, though, is a look at the long-standing usage of the expression ‘human dignity’ and its German counterpart Würde des Menschen where something like a universal right not to be humiliated is expressed. Given this understanding, we can read the commandment to respect human dignity as the basic obligation to treat other people in a way that allows them to keep their personal, individual dignities—or at least minimally decent ones. To be sure, this formulation is just a very first, tentative step on the way to a philosophically satisfying conception of human dignity, but in the author’s opinion it is definitely a promising start for a research group. (shrink)

In the paper, I argue there is a whole political logistics to deportation. This is made visible by bringing the concept of microphysics to bear on the topic. Taking the case of enforced and escorted removals from the UK, I show that this logistics is vividly and graphically documented in the inspection reports. Hitherto largely ignored, inspection reports offer researchers a trove of information regarding the mechanisms and procedures of deportation. As I finally draw out, this focus can speak to (...) questions about the relationship of ethics to deportation: the inspection reports show how a certain form of ethical calculation, based on a risk-based approach to the use of force has been inscribed into the practices of deportation. DOI 10.17879/95189425134. (shrink)