This book has two objectives: to be a contribution to the understanding of Frege's theory of truth – especially a defence of his notorious critique of the correspondence theory - and to be an introduction to the practice of interpreting philosophical texts.

Inexact limits. On the heap-paradox, Darwinism and recursive grammar. The heap-paradox can be reinforced by a combination with the basic idea of Achilles. The logical pattern of the reinforced heap-paradox will be analysed in a new manner by distinguishing between limited and unlimited transitivity. This analysis makes explicit the constructive character of the paradox. Finally it is shown that the logical pattern of the heap-paradox is applied in popular presentations of Darwinism, in the debate about abortion and in the foundation (...) of recursive theories of grammar. (shrink)

Gottlob Frege ist der Begründer der modernen Logik und Sprachanalyse, seine Schriften gelten "wegen ihrer vorbildlichen Klarheit und ihres Scharfsinns [als] eine außerordentlich anregende Lektüre" (Kutschera) und seine philosophische Bedeutung wird in der "Vorbildlichkeit seiner Argumentationsweise" (Patzig) gesehen. In seinem berühmten Aufsatz "Der Gedanke" kritisiert Frege im dritten Absatz die Korrespondenztheorie der Wahrheit und kommt dabei zu dem Ergebnis, dass nicht nur der "Versuch, die Wahrheit als eine Übereinstimmung zu erklären", scheitere, sondern auch "jeder andere Versuch, das Wahrsein zu definieren." (...) Angesichts der oben zitierten Wertschätzung ist es überraschend, in den heute vorherrschenden Interpretationen zu lesen, alle Argumente, die Frege in diesem Zusammenhang formuliere, seien ungültig - und zwar, wie sich für den Leser der Interpretationen herausstellt, aufgrund von Anfänger-Fehlern. In diesem Buch wird dagegen Freges gesamte Argumentation als in sich konsistent und gültig verteidigt. Das Buch wendet sich nicht nur an Frege-Spezialisten, sondern stellt zugleich eine exemplarische Einführung in die systematische Interpretation philosophischer Texte dar. (shrink)

Two counter-examples stand against the Aristotelian thesis of De interpretatione 6 that negation principally means denial: Neither can the negation of general propositions be understood as denial, nor is this possible in the case of propositions whose grammatical subject is an empty singular term. While the first counter-example can be ea­sily refuted through the analysis which Aristotle gives of general propositions in De interpretatione 7, the second counter-example seems to be able to invoke Categoriae 10. According to the usual view (...) of Categoriae 10, Aristotle himself delivers examples for negations which cannot be understood as denials. The present essay holds this interpretation to be incorrect, and attempts to show with reference to indexical propositions and an Aristotelian two-term concept of truth that even these negations are to be understood as denials. Specifically, it is argued that this errant interpretation relies upon a reading of the Aristotelian text through a Russellian lens. (shrink)

Ulrich Meyer defends a novel theory about the nature of time, and argues against the consensus view that time and space are fundamentally alike. He presents the first comprehensive defense of a 'modal' account, which emphasizes the similarities between times and possible worlds in modal logic, and is easily reconciled with the theory of relativity.

Acknowledgements Andrea Scarantino, Nicholas Shea, Mark Sprevak, and three anonymous referees provided incisive and constructive comments, for which I am very grateful. In 2012, earlier versions of this paper were delivered in Edinburgh, at the Joint Session in Stirling, and at a workshop on natural information in Aberdeen. I thank participants for their feedback.

The discourse on climate politics so far is an expert and elitist discourse in which peoples, societies, citizens, workers, voters and their interests, views and voices are very much neglected. So, in order to turn climate change politics from its head onto its feet you have to take sociology into account. There is an important background assumption which shares in the general ignorance concerning environmental issues and, paradoxically, this is in corporated in the specialism of environmental sociology itself — this (...) is the category of ‘the environment’. If ‘the environment’ only includes everything which is not human, not social, then the concept is sociologically empty. If the concept includes human action and society, then it is scientifically mistaken and politically suicidal. (shrink)

Toen Ulrich Libbrecht vanaf de jaren 1970 Vlaanderen en Nederland inspireerde met ‘oosterse wijsheid voor de westerse mens’ was dit pionierswerk. Ondertussen heeft de globalisering zich verder voltrokken, is boeddhisme en meditatie geen exotisme meer en is China dichterbij gekomen. Hoe kijkt de filosoof nu tegen deze ontwikkelingen aan? Dit boek is ontstaan uit gesprekken waarin Libbrecht op een meesterlijke wijze oosterse en westerse inzichten integreert tot een nieuw antwoord op actuele vragen en universele thema’s. Hierin benadrukt hij de (...) waarde van natuur, wetenschap en religieus bewustzijn in de betekenis van re-ligare: herverbinden. In dit boek zet hij geen theorie uiteen, maar neemt de lezer mee op de boeiende weg van het denken, doortrokken van ontroering en een rijke levenservaring. (shrink)

Modern science is, to a large extent, a model-building activity. But how are models contructed? How are they related to theories and data? How do they explain complex scientific phenomena, and which role do computer simulations play here? These questions have kept philosophers of science busy for many years, and much work has been done to identify modeling as the central activity of theoretical science. At the same time, these questions have been addressed by methodologically-minded scientists, albeit from a different (...) point of view. While philosophers typically have an eye on general aspects of scientific modeling, scientists typically take their own science as the starting point and are often more concerned with specific methodological problems. There is, however, also much common ground in middle, where philosophers and scientists can engage in a productive dialogue, as the present volume demonstrates. (shrink)

In Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694–1768): Classicist, Hebraist, Enlightenment Radical in Disguise, Ulrich Groetsch offers a vivid portrayal of the Enlightenment radical Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694-1768) and his debt to earlier traditions of scholarship.

Epistemic arguments play a significant role in the foundations of market liberalism as exemplified, in particular, by the work of F. A. Hayek. Competition in free markets is claimed to be the most effective device both to utilize the knowledge dispersed throughout society as well as create new knowledge through innovation competition. The fast pace with which new economic opportunities are discovered and costs are reduced is considered proof of the benefits of free markets to the common good. However, with (...) its inherently unpredictable consequences, innovation competition is actually ambiguous in this respect. This feature raises questions over the stringency of market liberal pleas that oppose quests for redistribution and environmental concerns in an absolute fashion. (shrink)

Angesichts anhaltender Diskussionen um die notwendige oder wünschenswerte Förderung von Forschung und Wissenschaft unternimmt das Buch den Versuch, akademische Forschung als ein für demokratische Gesellschaften unverzichtbares Element öffentlicher Debatten und damit der öffentlichen Entscheidungsfindung zu verteidigen. Da Wissenschaft wie Demokratie beide verfahrensorientiert sind, ist ihre historische Verbindung kein Zufall. Vielmehr sind Demokratie und Wissenschaft wechselseitig aufeinander angewiesen. Ökonomisch betrachtet, lässt sich Wissenschaft als ein öffentliches Gut verstehen, das insbesondere für das Funktionieren einer Zivilgesellschaft unverzichtbar ist.

Im Hörsaal zeigt sich das europäische Philosophieren jederzeit mündlich und beweglich. Viele pilgerten zwischen 1970 und 1984 nach Paris, wo Michel Foucault dreizehn umfangreiche Vorlesungen hielt. Sein Publikum erstaunte vor dem Wechsel an Themen, Texten und Bildern. Foucault sprach über Machtverhältnisse, Strafregime und diskursive Ordnungen, er thematisierte die Sexualität, das Wahrsagen und wie gut zu leben sei. Seine Anekdoten und Geschichten faszinieren noch in den gedruckten Transkriptionen aller 150 Vorlesungsstunden. Der Essay »Foucault im Hörsaal« versucht den Nachvollzug des mündlichen Foucault (...) und testet den Zusammenhang der mündlich vorgetragenen Gedankenentwicklung. Warum taucht dort - und nur dort - die Figur des Ödipus auf? Es gibt viele rote Fäden im Vortrag Foucaults, der explizit experimentierend ist und sich vom Charakter seiner Bücher deutlich absetzt. Foucault hat Vorlesungen eher wie politische Interventionen als lebhafte Ansprachen gestaltet; er adressiert seine Zuhörer als Zeitgenossen mit offenem Erwartungshorizont. -- Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

This book answers questions about secularization: Does it dissolve religion, or transform it into faith in a universally valid value? Is it restricted to the west or can it occur everywhere? Using ideas of Max Weber, the book conceives secularization as a process comparable to the rational development of science and production. What is the value secularization propagates? Sifting historical texts, Steinvorth argues the value is authenticity, to be understood as being true to one's talents developed in activities that are (...) done for their own sake and provide life with meaning, and as unconditionally commanded. How can a value be unconditionally demanded? This question leads to an investigation of the self that combines Kant's ideas on the conditions of the possibility of experience with modern brain science, and to the metaphysical deliberation whether to prefer a world with creatures able to do both good and evil to one without them. It is not enough, however, to point to facts. We rather need to understand what secularization, religion and their possible rationality consist inches Max Weber's sociology of religion has provided us with the conceptual means to do so, which this book develops. Secularization is rediscovered as the same progress of rationality in the sphere of religion that we find in the development of the spheres of science, art, the economy and politics or public affairs. It proves to be the perfection rather than the dissolution of religion - a perfection that consists in recognizing authenticity as the successor of the absolute of religion. (shrink)

Does the modern age have a specific attitude to the world, a way to make sense of the myriad stimuli that impinge on human organisms or, as I call it, a metaphysics? This book claims it has. It shows that what crucially changed Europe from the 16th century on was the spreading idea that things are best done for their own sake, for goals inherent in an activity, such as the goal of telling a good story or having a lively (...) chat, inheres in the telling or chatting itself. (shrink)

This study confronts the current crisis of churches. In critical and creative conversation with the German theologian Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923), Ulrich Schmiedel argues that churches need to be "elasticized" in order to engage the "other." Examining contested concepts of religiosity, community, and identity, Schmiedel explores how the closure of church against the sociological "other" corresponds to the closure of church against the theological "other." Taking trust as a central category, he advocates for a turn in the interpretation of Christianity-from (...) "propositional possession" to "performative project," so that the identity of Christianity is "done" rather than "described." Through explorations of classical and contemporary scholarship in philosophy, sociology, and theology, Schmiedel retrieves Troeltsch's interdisciplinary thinking for use in relation to the controversies that encircle the construction of community today. The study opens up innovative and instructive approaches to the investigation of the practices of Christianity, past and present. Eventually, church emerges as a "work in movement," continually constituted through encounters with the sociological and the theological "other.". (shrink)

Der interdisziplinäre "Wiener Kreis" (der "Wissenschaftlichen Weltauffassung", des "Logischen Empirismus") entstand um Moritz Schlick im Wien der Zwischenkriegszeit. Er ist bis heute nicht nur in den exakten Wissenschaften und der analytischen Philosophie allgegenwärtig. Er hat darüber hinaus Forschungsfelder wie Ökonomie, Architektur (Werkbund und Bauhaus), Psychologie (Gestalttheorie) oder moderner Literatur mitbestimmt. Seine Wirkung reicht von sozialen Reformbewegungen (Siedlerbewegung) bis in die Kunst der Neuen Sachlichkeit.

Wie konnen wir in einer Welt mit unterschiedlichen Erfahrungen, Uberzeugungen und Werten friedlich uberleben? Mit seinem Buch Projekt Weltethos begann Hans Kung 1990 ein Gesprach, das bis heute anhalt. Schon lange vor den grossen Herausforderungen der Globalisierung, der digitalen Transformation und der Konflikte im Zuge der weltweiten Migrationsbewegungen vertraute der Tubinger Theologe auf die grundlegende Kooperationsfahigkeit der Menschen. Heute wird sein Gedanke in einer Fulle von Zugangen entfaltet: von der Friedensforschung zur Finanzwirtschaft, von der Vertrauensbildung in der Wirtschaft bis zur (...) Kunstlichen Intelligenz, von Lernprogrammen bis zu Fragen von Nachhaltigkeit und Klimawandel. Die Weltethos-Idee bleibt daher auch und gerade fur das 21. Jahrhundert ein fruchtbarer Impuls. Aus diesem Grund diskutieren prominente Stimmen aus Glaube, Kirche und Wissenschaft uber die grundlegenden Werte und Fundamente unserer Gesellschaft."-- Back cover. (shrink)