Inhabitants of low-lying islands flooded due to anthropogenic climate change will lose their territory and thereby their ability to exercise their right to political self-determination. This paper addresses the normative questions which arise when climate change threatens territorial rights. It explores whether the loss of statehood supports a claim to territorial compensation, and if so, how it can be satisfied. The paper concludes that such claims are well founded and that they should be met by providing compensatory territories. After introducing (...) a differentiation between land rights and territorial rights, previous theoretical responses to the problem of sinking islands are criticized. It is argued that states may be required to give up parts of their territory as compensation. The paper develops criteria of sufficiency for compensatory territories and proposes to base their selection process on a negative auction. Since it is unlikely that unsettled compensatory territories that meet the specified requirements are available, the rights of their original inhabitants are discussed. (shrink)

We extend Ivancovsky et al.'s finding on the association between curiosity and creativity by proposing a sequential causal model assuming that (a) curiosity determines the motivation to seek information and that (b) creativity constitutes a capacity to act on that motivation. This framework assumes that both high levels of curiosity and creativity are necessary for information-seeking behavior.

Das geniale Jugendwerk "Die Bestimmung des Menschen", das der Aufklarungstheologe Johann Joachim Spalding 1748 erstmals vorlegte und bis 1794 in insgesamt 11 autorisierten Auflagen ausgehen liess, gab einer "Basisidee der deutschen Aufklarung" (N. Hinske) literarischen Ausdruck und trug zur Karriere der philosophischen Anthropologie im 18. Jahrhundert massgeblich bei. Diese popularphilosophische, auf rationale Evidenz zielende und darum offenbarungstheologisch voraussetzungslose Schrift sollte in der Form eines inneren Dialogs den Prozess existentieller Selbstverstandigung exemplarisch skizzieren. In der religiosen Vertiefung des Moralitatsgedankens erscheinen Gott (...) und Unsterblichkeit fur Spalding, darin auf seinen spateren Briefpartner I. Kant vorausweisend, als regulative Ideen: Erst der Begriff des "ganzen Lebens" gibt zu erkennen, dass der Mensch in "diesem Leben" dazu bestimmt ist, "rechtschaffen und in der Rechtschaffenheit gluckselig zu seyn". Die vorliegende Edition bietet erstmals eine integrative Wiedergabe aller Textstufen sowie vorab den fortlaufenden Text der Erstausgabe. Der Band ist durch eine bundige Einleitung, eingehende Erlauterungen und ausfuhrliche Register erschlossen. Mit ihm wird der theologischen, philosophischen und literaturwissenschaftlichen Aufklarungsforschung ein zentraler Leittext editorisch prazise und leserfreundlich zur Verfugung gestellt. (shrink)

'Jeder denkt doch nur an seinen eigenen Vorteil'. Diese schwer überprüfbare Lebensweisheit ist in den letzten zwanzig Jahren von der neueren Ökonomik zu einer modelltheoretisch fundierten Ethik ausgearbeitet worden, die fordert, innerhalb geeigneter Rahmenbedingungen dem 'unbändigen Vorteilsstreben' nicht nur im Marktgeschehen, sondern auch im alltäglichen Zusammenleben freien Lauf zu lassen. Beispielhaft demontiert Hans-Joachim Niemann das Modelldenken der neuen Ökonomik und zeigt: Wer seine Modelle nicht durchschaut oder die Komplexität des sozialen Lebens unterschätzt, läuft Gefahr, das soziale Gefüge aus den (...) Angeln zu heben. Eine solche 'Ethik der Zukunft' brauchen wir nicht. Not tut stattdessen, die herkömmliche Moral als 'säkulare Moral' zu analysieren, zu formulieren und sie dadurch kritisierbar und verbesserbar zu machen. Das geeignete Instrument dazu ist die Problemlösungsethik des kritischen Rationalismus. (shrink)

Discussions of reproducibility are casting doubts on the credibility of experimental outcomes in the life sciences. Although experimental evolution is not typically included in these discussions, this field is also subject to low reproducibility, partly because of the inherent contingencies affecting the evolutionary process. A received view in experimental studies more generally is that standardization (i.e., rigorous homogenization of experimental conditions) is a solution to some issues of significance and internal validity. However, this solution hides several difficulties, including a reduction (...) of external validity and reproducibility. After explaining the meaning of these two notions in the context of experimental evolution, we import from the fields of animal research and ecology and suggests that systematic heterogenization of experimental factors could prove a promising alternative. We also incorporate into our analysis some philosophical reflections on the nature and diversity of research objectives in experimental evolution. (shrink)

Zwischen Goethes Morphologiebegriff und Wittgensteins philosophischer Methode bestehen deutliche Parallelen, insofern man sie als Verfahren oder Anleitungen zur Erklärung und Darstellung natürlicher Phänomene (Goethe) bzw. der Begriffsbildung und -Verwendung (Wittgenstein) betrachtet. Den von Goethe als Entwicklungsmodelle und Vergleichshilfen gedeuteten Begriffen "Typus" und "Urbild" entsprechen Wittgensteins "Paradigmen" und "Muster"; beiden geht es um "übersichtliche" Darstellungen, und beide betonen die erklärungsrelevante Rolle der "Urphänomene".

We focus on the thesis that action understanding is a function of the mirror neuron system. According to our opinion, understanding is a process that runs through hermeneutic circles from the “Vorverständnis” (“previous understanding”) to steps of deeper understanding. Our critique relates to the narrow neuroscientific definition of action understanding as the capacity to recognize several movements as belonging to one action. After a reconstruction of the model's developments, we will challenge the claims of the model by Rizzolatti and Sinigaglia (...) (2010). By analyzing the relation between the experimental results and its interpretation, we will conclude that there is no proof that mirror neuron activity leads to action understanding. (shrink)

An implicit ambiguity in the field of prediction-based decision-making concerns the relation between the concepts of prediction and decision. Much of the literature in the field tends to blur the boundaries between the two concepts and often simply refers to ‘fair prediction’. In this paper, we point out that a differentiation of these concepts is helpful when trying to implement algorithmic fairness. Even if fairness properties are related to the features of the used prediction model, what is more properly called (...) ‘fair’ or ‘unfair’ is a decision system, not a prediction model. This is because fairness is about the consequences on human lives, created by a decision, not by a prediction. In this paper, we clarify the distinction between the concepts of prediction and decision and show the different ways in which these two elements influence the final fairness properties of a prediction-based decision system. As well as discussing this relationship both from a conceptual and a practical point of view, we propose a framework that enables a better understanding and reasoning of the conceptual logic of creating fairness in prediction-based decision-making. In our framework, we specify different roles, namely the ‘prediction-modeler’ and the ‘decision-maker,’ and the information required from each of them for being able to implement fairness of the system. Our framework allows for deriving distinct responsibilities for both roles and discussing some insights related to ethical and legal requirements. Our contribution is twofold. First, we offer a new perspective shifting the focus from an abstract concept of algorithmic fairness to the concrete context-dependent nature of algorithmic decision-making, where different actors exist, can have different goals, and may act independently. In addition, we provide a conceptual framework that can help structure prediction-based decision problems with respect to fairness issues, identify responsibilities, and implement fairness governance mechanisms in real-world scenarios. (shrink)

The Historical Dictionary of Philosophy, the _Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie _, is distinguished by its particular presentation of philosophical terms, ideas and concepts. Rather than providing mere defintions or descriptive and analytical explanantions the _HWPh_ strictly applies the critical method of history of concepts developed by the eminent German scholar and philosopher Joachim Ritter. By means of precise and detailed references it documents the origin, first occurrence, the historical evolution and the changes of meaning of each concept, from Ancient (...) Greek to contemporary philosophy. For the reader this presentation is of unique value: it makes traceable the importance of terms and concepts at certain periods or for a particular philosopher, as well as its changes and development of meaning. Volume 13 includes, besides of a comprehensive introductory essay, three different indexes: - the Subject Index classifies the articles by disciplinary and systematic categories - the Main Index includes all philosophical keywords with more than 30.000 references to their occurrences in other articles and contexts - the Author Index lists all authors and their contributions The included CD-ROM allows full text research of the _HWPh's_ entire content. (shrink)

The Historical Dictionary of Philosophy, the _Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie,_ is distinguished by its particular presentation of philosophical terms, ideas and concepts. Rather than providing mere defintions or descriptive and analytical explanantions the _HWPh_ strictly applies the critical method of history of concepts developed by the eminent German scholar and philosopher Joachim Ritter. By means of precise and detailed references it documents the origin, first occurrence, the historical evolution and the changes of meaning of each concept, from Ancient Greek (...) to contemporary philosophy. For the reader this presentation is of unique value: it makes traceable the importance of terms and concepts at certain periods or for a particular philosopher, as well as its changes and development of meaning. (shrink)

We elaborate on Glowacki's claim that humans are more capable of establishing peace than other mammals. We present three aspects suggesting caution. First, the social capabilities of nonhuman primates should not be underestimated. Second, the effect of these capabilities on peace establishment is nonmonotonous. Third, defining peace by human-centered values introduces a fallacy.

Leben Totgesagte langer? Manche sicher, aber immer nur selektiv - Friedrich Carl von Savigny, dieser unser deutscher Starjurist vom Ursprung unserer juristischen Moderne, so global geworden wie kaum ein anderer, war gewiss so ein Fall von immer neuen Selektionen. Nur, so ist die Frage, wie selektiv, wann und wo? In diesem Band wird untersucht, welche seiner Denk-Stucke man verstand und wie oder ob doch gar nicht, in Frankreich, Italien, Spanien, Brasilien, England, U.S.A., Danemark, Schweden, Norwegen, Finnland, Russland, Japan und China. (...) 'Nicht- verstehen' konnte leicht geschehen an so ungleichen Zeiten, Orten, Politiken und Denkkontexten und geschah durchaus. Man kennt bisher nur diese und jene "Einflusse". Nun kommen ganze Denkweisen und Rezeptions-Bilder zur Sprache. Beide Aspekte werden in profunder Quellenbeherrschung erschlossen und analysiert. Und dies geschieht konsequent an bestimmten Schlusseltexten und Savigny-Bildern. So fliessen die Studien einmal nicht auseinander, sondern zeigen zum einen die Denk-Stucke selbst, dann ihre vielfaltigen Verwendungen in anderen Kontexten und schliesslich die Metamorphosen der Savigny-Bilder. Die Differenzierungen losen sich nicht irgendwohin auf, sondern sie werden zu sprechenden Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschieden, Tendenzen und Strukturen. Eine summierende Schlussbetrachtung und eine erstmals umfassende Bibliographie der Ubersetzungen, systematisch nach Sprachen und chronologisch nach Werken geordnet, schliesst den Band ab. Nun kann man also sehen, wie man selektierte und selektiert. (shrink)