The article analyses Finland’s and Norway’s female politicians’ war rhetoric with reference to the war in Afghanistan and contrasts it with Laura Bush’s rhetoric and feminism. In the Nordic countries the strong liberal and equity tradition of feminism could open up spaces for thinking differently about war, and yet the co-optation of hegemonic war rhetoric occurs in several ways. The ideograph ‘women-and-children’ is often evoked and added to the hegemonic foreign policy rhetoric without questioning the actual rhetorical work it does. (...) Gender-neutral rhetoric is used to hail into being a collective and unitary western do-gooder identity and to distance Nordic involvement from the US ‘war on terror’. The panegyric of UN Resolution 1325 facilitates the metamorphosis of the militaristic and masculine US-led NATO into a collective peacekeeper capable of saving ‘brown women from brown men’. (shrink)

There is growing evidence that couples in non-traditional relationships in which the woman attains higher status than her male partner experience more negative relationship outcomes than traditional couples. A possible reason is that non-traditional couples violate persisting gender stereotypes that prescribe men to be breadwinners and women to be caregivers of the family. In the current study, we investigated whether a country’s gender-stereotypical culture predicts non-traditional men and women’s relationship and life outcomes. We used the European Sustainable Workforce Survey, which (...) is conducted in nine European countries. Two indicators of countries’ gender-stereotypical culture are used: Gender Empowerment Measure and implicit gender stereotypes. We found that women’s income and -to a lesser extent- education degree relative to their male partner affected outcomes such as relationship quality, negative emotions, and experienced time pressure. Furthermore, men and women living in countries with a traditional gender-stereotypical culture reported lower relationship quality when women earned more than their partners. Relative income differences did not affect the relationship quality of participants living in egalitarian countries. Also, couples in which the woman is more highly educated than the man reported higher relationship quality in egalitarian countries, but not in traditional countries. Our findings suggest that dominant beliefs and ideologies in society can hinder or facilitate couples in non-traditional relationships. (shrink)

God is said to be Spirit, but the language of spirit is ignored in contemporary philosophy of religion. As well as exploring the notion of spirit in Hegel, Romanticism and Kierkegaard, participants explore the view that God is a spirit without a body, and the relations between "spirit" and "truth.".

Non-verbal enrichment in the form of pictures or gesture can support word learning in first and foreign languages. The present study seeks to compare the effects of viewing pictures vs. imitating iconic gestures on learning second language vocabulary. In our study participants learned L2 words together with a virtual, pedagogical agent. The to-be-learned items were either enriched with pictures, or with gestures that had to be imitated, or without any non-verbal enrichment as control. Results showed that gesture imitation was particularly (...) supportive for learning nouns, whereas pictures showed to be most beneficial for memorizing verbs. These findings, suggesting that the type of vocabulary learning strategy has to match with the type of linguistic material to be learned, have important educational implications for L2 classrooms and technology-enhanced tutoring systems. (shrink)

The article tries to inquire a third way in normative ethics between consequentialism or utilitarianism and deontology or Kantianism. To find such a third way in normative ethics, one has to analyze the elements of these classical theories and to look if they are justified. In this article it is argued that an adequate normative ethics has to contain the following five elements: (1) normative individualism, i. e., the view that in the last instance moral norms and values can only (...) be justified by reference to the individuals concerned, as its basis; (2) consideration of the individuals' concerns and interests—aims, desires, needs, strivings—insofar as they have a justificatory function; (3) a pluralism of references of these concerns and hence of moral norms and values to all possible elements of actions; (4) the necessity of a principle of aggregation and weighing with regard to these concerns; (5) finally, as a central principle of aggregation and weighing, the principle of relative reference to self and others, operating as a generalizing meta-principle that guides the application of concrete principles and decisions. (shrink)

In recent years, the public sector in many countries has had difficulty keeping abreast of social problems due to restricted financial resources and limited organizational capacities. As a consequence, entrepreneurs have started to address social welfare issues that the public sector has been unable to tackle with an innovative approach called social enterprise. The authors present research on the future prospects of social enterprise as a sustainable business model for industrialized countries. As there is a lack of historical and current (...) data, the authors aim to contribute to and structure the debate about the potential of the concept. Therefore, the authors provide initial data from a Delphi survey on the future development of social enterprise in a multistakeholder environment. Experts from academia, business, nongovernmental and governmental organizations, social enterprise investors, and social entrepreneurs evaluated 16 projections for the year 2030. Based on these results, the authors present comprehensive scenarios of four different possible developments of the future of social enterprise in Germany. (shrink)

Welches Recht ist gerecht? So lautet die Grundfrage der Rechtsethik. Die Rechtsethik fragt also nach der Rechtfertigung und Kritik des Rechts. Dabei geht es ihr nicht nur wie der dogmatischen Rechtsanwendung um die Analyse der Normen und Wertungen des geltenden Rechts, sondern um einen ethischen Maßstab des Rechts.

Name der Zeitschrift: Klio Jahrgang: 97 Heft: 1 Seiten: 374-377.

The contribution starts with the observation that Kant mentioned Human Dignity in his main works with great variety in emphasis. In the 'Grundlegung' from 1785 we find a significant treatment and again in the 'Tugendlehre' from 1798 but none in the 'Kritik der Praktischen Vernunft' from 1788 and in the 'Rechtslehre' from 1797. This needs an explanation. In the 'Grundlegung' human dignity is not attached to the second formula of the categorical imperative, the formula of self-purposefulness, as it is often (...) assumed, but to the third formula of a kingdom of ends. It is there explained as self-legislation. This placement needs also an explanation, which is attempted by the article. In the 'Tugendlehre' human dignity is then explained as self-purposefulness. So Kant changed his understanding of human dignity from the 'Grundlegung' to the 'Tugendlehre'. But the question is: why? (shrink)

The impending missions to exploit natural resources of celestial bodies may at some point start interfering with the scientific interests, including those of astrobiology, in these bodies. While the legal status of celestial bodies at the highest level is clear, uncertainty has arisen as to the extent private property rights over such objects or over their resources are legally acceptable, legally impossible, or potentially legal. This also provides for a considerable amount of uncertainty regarding how the legal framework could or (...) may need to be changed to accommodate private interests. The article analyzes the two main international treaties relevant from this perspective, as well as their backgrounds, in order to outline the current legal status of celestial bodies and the resulting legal rights and obligations pertinent to both private exploitation and exploration. Based on such an analysis, it concludes by highlighting an approach that could actually incentivize the private sector and the science community to work together in a manner conducive to their interests in exploitation and exploration respectively. (shrink)

Normative ethics concerns the criticism and justification of morality, law, and other systems of norms. This book develops a normative ethical theory based on individuals and offers a third way beyond the dominant paradigms of Kantianism and Utilitarianism. This theory can assist us in answering concrete ethical questions. The book discusses, for example, the existence of duties to oneself, the permissibility of paternalistic decisions for others, and the status of supererogatory actions. It also considers various problems in bioethics. Key features: (...) Development of a new normative ethical theory Up-to-date overview of the topic Written in clear and comprehensible style Provides answers to concrete ethical problems Also of interest for doctors, lawyers, and economists ". (shrink)

Der Beitrag entfaltet eine normative Ethik mit folgenden fünf Elementen: den normativen Individualismus als Ausgangspunkt, die Berücksichtigung der Ziele, Wünsche, Bedürfnisse und Strebungen aller betroffenen Individuen als rechtfertigende Eigenschaften, einen Pluralismus des Bezugs dieser Belange auf alle möglichen Elemente unseres Handelns, die Notwendigkeit eines Zusammenfassungsprinzips dieser Belange, schließlich als Zusammenfassungsprinzip das sog. Prinzip der relativen Individual- und Anderer- bzw. Gemeinschaftsbezogenheit.

Der Beitrag entfaltet eine normative Ethik mit folgenden fünf Elementen: den normativen Individualismus als Ausgangspunkt, die Berücksichtigung der Ziele, Wünsche, Bedürfnisse und Strebungen aller betroffenen Individuen als rechtfertigende Eigenschaften, einen Pluralismus des Bezugs dieser Belange auf alle möglichen Elemente unseres Handelns, die Notwendigkeit eines Zusammenfassungsprinzips dieser Belange, schließlich als Zusammenfassungsprinzip das sog. Prinzip der relativen Individual- und Anderer- bzw. Gemeinschaftsbezogenheit.

Die Frage nach der Gerechtigkeit wurde in der Antike vor allem als Frage nach dem tugendhaften Leben und Handeln verstanden. In der Gegenwart wird dagegen stärker die politische und soziale Gerechtigkeit thematisiert. Diese einzelnen historischen Akzentuierungen dürfen jedoch nicht über den grundsätzlichen Charakter der Gerechtigkeit als Teil der allgemeinen Ethik hinwegtäuschen.

Zum Verständnis des Kantschen Rechtsbegriffs ist es notwendig, sich die Diskussionslage seiner intellektuellen Umgebung vor Augen zu führen, auf die nach längerer Ausarbeitung 1797 sein rechtsphilosophisches Hauptwerk Die Metaphysik der Sitten. Metaphysische Anfangsgründe der Rechtslehre traf. Die Naturrechtsentwicklung des 18. Jahrhunderts hatte – zumindest in Deutschland – zur Herausbildung eines engeren, äußeren und auf äußeres Verhalten gerichteten sowie mit Zwang verbundenen, „strikten“ Naturrecht geführt, das besonders für das positive Recht bestimmend war. Diese Verengung auf ein striktes, äußeres, mit Zwang verbundenes (...) Naturrecht war allgemein anerkannt und wurde als Fortschritt begrüßt. Man muß annehmen, daß sie Kant wohlvertraut war. Sie wird etwa in Baumgartens Initia Philosophiae Practicae und auch in Achenwalls Jus Naturae erläutert, zwei Schriften, nach denen Kant Vorlesungen gehalten hat. Er hat die entsprechende Passage in der letzteren Schrift auch kommentiert. (shrink)

Zum Verständnis des Kantschen Rechtsbegriffs ist es notwendig, sich die Diskussionslage seiner intellektuellen Umgebung vor Augen zu führen, auf die nach längerer Ausarbeitung 1797 sein rechtsphilosophisches Hauptwerk Die Metaphysik der Sitten. Metaphysische Anfangsgründe der Rechtslehre traf. Die Naturrechtsentwicklung des 18. Jahrhunderts hatte – zumindest in Deutschland – zur Herausbildung eines engeren, äußeren und auf äußeres Verhalten gerichteten sowie mit Zwang verbundenen, „strikten“ Naturrecht geführt, das besonders für das positive Recht bestimmend war. Diese Verengung auf ein striktes, äußeres, mit Zwang verbundenes (...) Naturrecht war allgemein anerkannt und wurde als Fortschritt begrüßt. Man muß annehmen, daß sie Kant wohlvertraut war. Sie wird etwa in Baumgartens Initia Philosophiae Practicae und auch in Achenwalls Jus Naturae erläutert, zwei Schriften, nach denen Kant Vorlesungen gehalten hat. Er hat die entsprechende Passage in der letzteren Schrift auch kommentiert. (shrink)

The article aims to clarify Kant's concept of law, which he developed in the “Metaphysische Anfangsgründe der Rechtslehre” from 1797. Decisive for Kant's concept of law is the distinction between internal and external relations of persons. Law is restricted to external relations. So the crucial question is: Where does Kant draw the line between internal and external relations? Four possibilities are analysed in an order of increasing extent: only causal consequences of our actions in the external world beyond our bodies; (...) causal consequences in the external world plus our externally empirical sensible bodily behaviour; causal consequences in the external world plus all physiological changes in the actor like nerve stimulations and brain activities; all features of plus all non-a-priori mental and emotional changes like emotions, inclinations, empirical concepts, hypothetical imperatives etc., in sum: Kant's division between homo noumenon and homo phaenomenon. While modern interpretations would perhaps endorse possibility, Kant has chosen – so the main argument of the article – the widest possible alternative. This brings him to a very extensive concept of law. Only in reflecting this wide extent of Kant's concept of law, we are able to understand his philosophy of law. (shrink)