Simone Weil’s supernaturalist interpretations of tragedy challenge not only the philosophical skepticism but also the religious rationalism characteristic of the modern age. This book boldly points out a supernaturalist alternative to contemporary, post-structuralist literary theory. This study of classical tragic drama offers a sacralizing impetus to secular discussions of literature. The book’s Platonic premises and its grounding in the transcendental outlook of the religious traditions furnish a sacred illumination. Religious mystery and the cross of Christ both overshadow and deepen philosophical (...) approaches to literary criticism, including theories of tragedy. Simone Weil’s conception of tragic art, rooted in a mystical Christian metaphysics, offers original insight into the nature of tragedy. In contradiction of the prevailing secular outlook, Weil regards classical tragedy as a sacred art form. Tragic masterpieces evoke not the chaotic or irrational, as modernist interpreters hold, but rather a good which is absolute. (shrink)

This book boldly points our a supernaturalist alternative to contemporary, post-structuralist literary theory. This study of classical tragic drama offers a sacralizing impetus to secular discussions of literature.

It is shown that the nonlocal anomalous effective actions corresponding to the quantum breaking of the conformal symmetry can lead to observable modifications of Einstein’s equations. The fact that Einstein’s general relativity is in perfect agreement with all observations including cosmological or recently observed gravitational waves imposes strong restrictions on the field content of possible extensions of Einstein’s theory: all viable theories should have vanishing conformal anomalies. It is shown that a complete cancellation of conformal anomalies in \ for both (...) the \ invariant and the Euler invariant can only be achieved for N-extended supergravity multiplets with \. (shrink)

Outlines of Metaphysic - dictated portions of the lectures of Hermann Lotze is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1884. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to (...) the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future. (shrink)

This is a book that no one but Weyl could have written--and, indeed, no one has written anything quite like it since.

Band 13 der psycho-logik widmet sich aus fächerübergreifendem Blickwinkel dem Thema Identität, das in den Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaften zu einem Schlagwort des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts geworden ist. Gerade die moderne und liberale Gesellschaftsordnung, die uns ungeahnt viel Freiheit ermöglicht hat, charakterisiert ein Patchwork aus Identifikationsangeboten, das zugleich die kollektive und personale Identitätsfindung problematisch macht. Aktuell hat die narrative Theorie die erinnerte und erzählte Lebensgeschichte zum Gründungsort des Selbst erhoben. Sie spielt auch in den Beiträgen dieses Bandes eine prominente Rolle. (...) Es zeigt sich, dass die Identitätskonstruktion ein Prozess ist, in dem sich Identität als etwas Fragiles und Plurales offenbart. Identität ist ein tragisches Spiel zwischen Einheit und Mannigfaltigkeit: Identität(en). Forscher*innen aus Deutschland, Irland und den USA mit ihren Beiträgen aus Literaturwissenschaft, Theologie, Philosophie und Psychologie diskutieren u. a. das Band zwischen Identität und Erinnerung bei Marcel Proust, transsexuelle Identitätskonstruktionen in US-amerikanischen Biopics, den Film als Identitätsbildungsmedium des Publikums, Identitätspolitik(en) am Beispiel des Zugangs zu US-amerikanischen Hochschulen, die Identitätsfindung in Lebensgeschichten und den psychotherapeutischen Umgang mit gebrochenen Identitäten. Fotoarbeiten des Künstlers Hermann Recknagel runden den Band ab. Mit Beiträgen von Michaela I. Abdelhamid, Carsten Albers, Paul Clogher, Katherine Duval, Winfried Eckel, Fiona Ennis, Annette Hilt, Christopher A. Nixon, Paul Nnodim, Hermann Recknagel, Patricia Rehm-Grätzel, Martin Reker, Annika Schlitte und Hartwig Wiedebach. (shrink)

Veloso-Pereira-Haeusler_On-what-there-must-be.

In this commentary, the formation of “pre-iconic” visual-prime persistence is described in the context of prime-specific, independent-component activation at prefrontal and posterior EEG-recording sites. Although this activity subserves neural systems that are near identical to those described by Ruchkin and colleagues, we consider priming to be a dynamic process, identified with patterns of coherence and temporal structure of very high precision.

Text: Reproduktion auf Grundlage der Ausgabe J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), Tübingen 1939. - Das Werk, in dem Heinrich Rickert seine Lebensarbeit zusammenfassen wollte, ist sein "System der Philosophie." Der erste Band dieses Werkes enthält die "Allgemeine Grundlegung der Philosophie" (Tübingen, 1921). Der zweite Band sollte die "Philosophie des kontemplativen Lebens," der dritte die des "aktiven Lebens" behandeln. Der Umriß des Systems, der im ersten Bande mitunter vielleicht noch wie ein leeres Rahmen- und Fächerwerk wirken könnte, sollte nun seine (...) Brauchbarkeit zeigen. Er sollte angefüllt und bereichert werden durch sachhaltige Untersuchungen über die einzelnen Teilgebiete des philosophischen Systems. So war für den zweiten Band z. B. eine Wissenschaftslehre (Logik und Methodologie), eine Philosophie der Kunst (Ästhetik) und eine Behandlung der mystischen Religiosität geplant. Der dritte Band sollte vor allem die Sozialphilosophie enthalten; zur Sprache kommen sollte dabei zunächst das sittliche Leben in der "Gemeinschaft freier Personen" (Ethik), dann die über jede sittliche Verpflichtung noch hinausgehende Liebesgemeinschaft, wie sie z.B. in der Freundschaft und in der Ehe erlebt wird (Erotik), schließlich das religiöse Leben auf Grund persönlicher Gottesbegegnung. Druckfertig liegen für die inhaltliche Erfüllung und Ausgestaltung des Systems nur einige Aufsätze vor, die den zweiten Band eröffnen sollten: Rickert selbst hat noch den gesonderten Abdruck dieser Aufsätze geplant und ihre Anordnung genau festgelegt. Sein Plan wird im folgenden ausgeführt. Vorangestellt ist ein Zeitungsaufsatz über die Welt der Erfahrung, der in Kürze das Ziel der folgenden Untersuchungen teilweise sogar schon wörtlich vorwegnimmt. Da die Fehlurteile über Rickerts angeblich wirklichkeitsfremden Formalismus meistens nur darauf beruhen, dass man den Weg der Untersuchung mit ihrem Ziel, die Methode mit der Sache selbst verwechselt, so sei auf diesen kurzen Einleitungsaufsatz und dann namentlich auf den Abschnitt über Sprache und Antlitz der Körperwelt besonders hingewiesen. Die vorliegenden Aufsätze sollten also einen Übergang herstellen von den noch mehr formalen Ausführungen der Allgemeinen Grundlegung zu den dann immer sachhaltiger werdenden Einzeluntersuchungen über den inhaltlichen Reichtum des kontemplativen und des aktiven Lebens.[August Faust; Breslau 1939; Auszug aus dem Vorwort des Herausgebers]. (shrink)

Any account of “what is special about the human brain” (Passingham 2008) must specify the neural basis of our unique ability to produce speech and delineate how these remarkable motor capabilities could have emerged in our hominin ancestors. Clinical data suggest that the basal ganglia provide a platform for the integration of primate-general mechanisms of acoustic communication with the faculty of articulate speech in humans. Furthermore, neurobiological and paleoanthropological data point at a two-stage model of the phylogenetic evolution of this (...) crucial prerequisite of spoken language: (i) monosynaptic refinement of the projections of motor cortex to the brainstem nuclei that steer laryngeal muscles, presumably, as part of a “phylogenetic trend” associated with increasing brain size during hominin evolution; (ii) subsequent vocal-laryngeal elaboration of cortico-basal ganglia circuitries, driven by human-specificFOXP2mutations.;>This concept implies vocal continuity of spoken language evolution at the motor level, elucidating the deep entrenchment of articulate speech into a “nonverbal matrix” (Ingold 1994), which is not accounted for by gestural-origin theories. Moreover, it provides a solution to the question for the adaptive value of the “first word” (Bickerton 2009) since even the earliest and most simple verbal utterances must have increased the versatility of vocal displays afforded by the preceding elaboration of monosynaptic corticobulbar tracts, giving rise to enhanced social cooperation and prestige. At the ontogenetic level, the proposed model assumes age-dependent interactions between the basal ganglia and their cortical targets, similar to vocal learning in some songbirds. In this view, the emergence of articulate speech builds on the “renaissance” of an ancient organizational principle and, hence, may represent an example of “evolutionary tinkering” (Jacob 1977). (shrink)

Hermann Weyls "Philosophie der Mathematik und Naturwissenschaft" erschien erstmals 1928 als Beitrag zu dem von A. Bäumler und M. Schröter herausgegebenen "Handbuch der Philosophie". Die amerikanische Ausgabe, auf der die deutsche Übersetzung von Gottlob Kirschmer beruht, erschien 1949 bei Princeton University Press. Das nunmehr bereits in der 8. Auflage vorliegende Werk ist längst auch in Deutschland zum Standardwerk geworden.

Big data represents a significant challenge for the social sciences. From a philosophy-of-science perspective, it is important to reflect on related theories and processes for developing them. In this paper, we start by examining different views on the role of theories in big data-related social research. Then, we try to show how big data is related to standards for evaluating theories. We also outline how big data affects theory- and data-based research approaches and the process of theory building. Discussions include (...) a summary of lines of reasoning, limitations, and a proposal for future developmental steps. (shrink)

From the earliest times, American ethics, the rules for the moral \& intellectual life of the West, used to be founded upon the two principles of self-reliance and good neighborliness. Here we consider the underlying functions of neural brain circuits, organic structures that have evolved adaptively by Darwinian rules subject to selection pressure. In the left brain resides our self-reliant private Ego, making plans, launching initiatives. Your public Ego dwells in the right brain, looking around, meeting with your friendly neighbor. (...) A main component is our bilateral interior cosmos, providing us with all the detailed information about our environment as well as the universe at large. (shrink)

Evolutionary accounts of the origin of human morality may be speculative to some extent, but they contain some very plausible claims, such as the claim that ethics evolved as a response to the demands of group living. Regarding the phenomenon of moral progress, it has been argued both that it is ruled out by an evolutionary approach, and that it can be explained by it. It has even been claimed that an evolutionary account has the potential to advance progress in (...) the moral domain. This paper explores the complex relationship between evolutionary explanations of morality and the possibility of moral progress. It seeks to answer the question as to what these explanations are able to tell us about the possibility of moral progress and the ways in which such progress can be achieved. It is argued that evolutionary explanations can inform moral education and other forms of moral enhancement, and that increased evolutionary knowledge figures among the changes in the circumstances of morality that can lead to moral progress. Evolutionary explanations can show us certain limits to the possibility for humans of progressing morally as well as certain enabling conditions. It is argued that both aspects – enhancement and changes in the circumstances – are equally important for the achievement of moral progress. This is illustrated by means of two examples of areas in which moral progress seems possible: our relationship towards the distant poor and our relationship towards non-human animals. (shrink)

The non-clerical („unpfäffisch“) Schleiermacher. Karl Glutzkow and the Schleiermacher image of Young Germany. Towards a construction of a countermyth. After Friedrich Schleiermacher’s death on February 12, 1834, his disciples and his family endeavoured to idealize him as an exemplary figure of the church by publishing a complete edition of his published and unpublished works as well as a selection from his letters. (1) Schleiermacher’s Christian death („christliche Euthanasie“). This endeveaour began with the sermons delivered at the funeral and the notes (...) of his wife, Henriette Schleiermacher, about his pious death. (2) Gutzkow’s obituary in the „Allgemeine Zeitung“. The journalist Gutzkow in particular protested against this portrayal in an obituary in which the old Schleiermacher was declared to have been senile and without substantial importance for the present time. On the other hand, an image of the young Schleiermacher, the friend of the Romantics, was to be preserved for the younger generation. (3) The replies of Schleiermacher’s disciples. A forthright reply to Gutzkow’s obituary appeared in the same journal. His view was contradicted by means of an extensive biographical sketch by Friedrich Lücke, one of Schleiermacher’s disciples. (4) Gutzkow’s publication of „Schleiermacher’s Vertraute Briefe über Friedrich Schlegels Lucinde“. Gutzkow supported his view with a new edition of Schleiermacher’s early work, to which he added a provocative preface. As a result, the edition was banned. (5) Abuse of Schleiermacher or a gallant service to him? The reception of the „Vertraute Briefe“. The reactions were divided between considering the work as an early youthful indiscretion of Schleiermacher, and the idea of an intellectual identity running through Schleiermacher’s whole life. The other authors of Young German aligned themselves with Gutzkow. (6) The end of the myth of Schleiermacher: Gutzkow’s „Wally. Die Zweiflerin“. This novel, which derives the protagonist’s suicide from his religious doubts, caused the literary movement Young Germany to be banned in all of Germany, and also led to the imprisonment of the author. In the novel itself, Schleiermacher’s role is rather minor. Later on, Gutzkow did not renew the image of an non-clerical Schleiermacher. – I shall also re-edit a conventional obituary, Gutzkow’s obituary as well as an anonymous reply in the Allgemeine Zeitung (Augsburg). (shrink)

Hermann Karl Usener published his monumental Epicurea in 1887. The volume is a collection of Epicurean texts and citations from a wide range of classical authors including Arrian, Cicero, Diodorus, Euripides, Plato and Seneca. The volume includes critical texts of Epicurus' most important letters: Letter to Menoeceus, Letter to Herodotus and Letter to Pythocles, preserved by the third-century compiler Diogenes Laertius. The letters give important summaries of Epicurus' philosophy. Usener's pioneering work represented the first attempt to deal critically with (...) the manuscript traditions behind Epicurean texts. His reconstructions of the texts included in this volume are based on a thorough understanding of the trajectories of textual transmission. Each text is supported by a detailed critical apparatus, and another apparatus records manuscript glosses and scholia. This work provided for the first time accurate and reliable texts for the critical study of Epicureanism. (shrink)

Hermann Diels, professor of classics at Berlin, is chiefly remembered for this collection of quotations from, and reports about, Presocratic philosophers; his system of numbering was later adopted as the scholarly standard. This reissue reproduces the original, single-volume edition of 1903, though the book was revised and expanded three times during Diels' lifetime, and again after his death, and new fragments continue to be discovered. Designed as a reference tool to underpin university classes on the beginnings of Greek philosophy, (...) the book sought to enable students to engage with original evidence. Diels aimed to provide a complete corpus of fragments rather than an arbitrary selection. He intentionally reproduced the texts exactly rather than standardising the language, in order to provide a foundation for future research. While admitting he found the material obscure at times, Diels provided German translations to help make the content more accessible to his readers. (shrink)

Recent court decisions imposing liability on physicians who fail to inform patients that they carry the human immunodeficiency virus before performing invasive procedures create an urgent need for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reopen the issuance of guidelines and to address authoritatively the question of the appropriate limits within which HIV-infected health care providers can treat patients.Public fear of HIV-infected physicians were kindled by reports, beginning in 1990, that Dr. David Acer, an HIV-infected dentist, had infected a (...) number of his patients. However, great skepticism has arisen as to whether Dr. Acer’s patients were infected as a result of procedures conducted in accordance with universal precautions against transmission. Moreover, look back studies have failed to identify even one patient, among the thousands who have undergone procedures administered by HIV-infected physicians, who contracted the virus directly from his/her physician. (shrink)