Can just war theory and pacifism be substantially reconciled in theory and practice? In this paper I argue that James Sterba is mistaken in thinking that they can. There is no such thing as just war pacifism. However, this does not mean that just war theorists and pacifists cannot have a reasonable conversation about the justifiability of war. They can have such a conversation if they overcome their exclusive concern with the question of action-guidingness, that is, the binary question of (...) whether or not war can be morally justified. Justified wars are tragic. (shrink)

This book critically examines 'just liberal violence': forms of direct and structural violence that others may be 'justly' subjected to. Michael Neu focusses on liberal defences of torture, war and sweatshop labour respectively, and argues that each of these defences fails and all of them fail for similar reasons.

This article is concerned with a distinction Jeff McMahan draws between just and justified wars. It argues that this distinction does not accord with the content of McMahan’s conceptual distinction between just and justified threats; nor does it correspond with the way in which McMahan applies this distinction to the jus in bello tactical bomber scenario. McMahan claims that the tactical bomber’s conduct, assuming it foreseeably causes collateral damage, can only be justified, but not just, while war can be just (...) despite foreseeably resulting in the killing and maiming of innocent people. This claim is incoherent. The incoherence can be overcome, though, within McMahan’s own conceptual framework. For contingent reasons that have to do with the nature of at least modern warfare, justified wars are virtually always unjust. Since agents are generally morally required to prevent themselves from getting into situations in which they can (or must) perform morally justified acts that are unjust, distinguishing between these two types of war is not merely a matter of terminology. This article is a plea for the recognition of the tragedy of justified wars, a tragedy which is only authentic if it could not have been prevented by the agents who wage these wars. (shrink)

The central question: "What is the Human?" is since Platon till today not answered. Kant distinguishes a physiological and a pragmatic anthropology: The Human knows the nature by senses, but himself by "pure apperception... from physical determinations independently personality (homo noumenon)..., different to... (homo phenomenon)". Kant's idea of the anthropology according to R. Brandt is a holistic totality with three spheres: phenomenal, pragmatic and moral-teleological. The philosophical (Gelen, Scheler), pedagogical (Roth, etc.), medical (V. von Weizsäcker, etc.), also the new anthropology (...) of Gadamer/Vogler considers the human multidimensional, but not enough holistic [Lit.: Michailov, Neu: Soc. Resp. Philos. In: Proc. 21st World Congr. Philos. Istanbul. Press FISP279‐280, 2003; J. Psychosom. Res. 58/6, 85‐86, 2005]. CONCEPTION: Philosophy as "the unique science, which considers a systematic interdependence and gives all other sciences a systematic unity" (Kant) in co-operation with the anthropological sciences could create an integral anthropology, i.e. a general - philosophical (normative), pedagogical (educative), medical (prophylactic/curative), based on a special anthropology (from biological to theological). The last oneshall consider the human [with his "spheres" somatic, psychical, mental/logical, philosophical (epistemology, ethics, aesthetics), spiritual/theological-metaphysical: individual] as well as his interaction with environment and society (natural, social anthropology) on the last level of knowledge, also under consideration of the big cultures – Brahmanism, Buddhism, Christianism, Confucianism, Mohammedanism. CONCLUSION: An integral anthropology could give the way for a transformation of the "false programmed" (Steinbuch) "homo actualis" (Binswanger) by society, i.e. "zoon politicon" (Aristoteles), into a homo sanus, humanus et spiritualis (in context of illumination and perfection/Kant). Scientific and political support of anthropological research is conditio sine qua non for realization of UNO-Agenda 21, which aims are better health, education, ecology, economy in all countries. (shrink)

One Seit Platon (mit dem Spott von Diogenes) über Kant ist die Fundamentalfrage "Was ist der Mensch?" bis heute nicht nur von der Philosophie (als regina scientiarum), sondern von der Wissenschaft überhaupt nicht beantwortet. Phänomenologisch hat der Mensch a posteriori physische (somatische), psychische(perceptio, emotio, cognitio), mentale (logische), spirituelle (conscientia, volitio, actio) "Sphären". Ontologisch in Kontext von to ti en einai (Aristoteles) sollte der Mensch a priori ein "Programm" (Information) vor der Kosmogonie haben. Der (Neo‐) Positivismus (z.B. Hume bis Carnap, Russel*; (...) * Nobel Laureate) verwirft Fragen der Metaphysik als Scheinprobleme. Damit bleibt das Menschen‐Wesen in Kontext von Postulaten, wie res cogitans (Descartes), Monaden(Leibniz), "Gott, Freiheit, Unsterblichkeit", Seligkeit und (moralischer) Vollkommenheit (Kant), absoluter Geist (Hegel) in der theologischen Dimension. Antwort könnte eine zukünftige (holistisch‐multidimensionale) philosophische theoretische und Experimentaltheologie (kontrollierbare Beobachtung) durch weitere Forschung geben, in Kontext (bzw. Existenz) von A. Physikotheologie bzw. (a) höhere (als drei) geometrische/physikalische Dimensionen (Hilbert, Riemann /Friedmann, Minkowski, Schmutzer), (b) Paralleluniversen (z.B. L. Randall), (c) Quantentheorie/‐philosophie (Planck*, u.a.), (d) Gravitations‐/Relativitätstheorie (Newton/Einstein*), (e) Vakuumenergie (Sato), etc. B. ChemoBiotheologie bzw. "psychischen" (Fechner) und "spezifischen" (Joh. Müller) Energien,"biologischem Feld" (Gurwitsch), künstlicher Biogenese (Oparin, Fox, Urey*, u.a.; 32 Fragen von John Bernal). C. Psychotheologie bzw. parapsychische Phänomene (Carrel*, Richet*/France, Rhinne/USA, Vassilev, Bechterew/Russia, etc.). D. Religionstheologie: (über‐) Bewußtsein, übersinnliche, immaterielle, supraphysikalische Phänomene (Sri Aurobindo, Dalai Lama*, Konfuzius/Laotse, Gopi Krishna, Papst Benedikt, Paramahansa Yogananda, Sri Yogendra, etc.)und ihre physiologische Begründung (Anand/Chinna, Kasamatsu/Hirai, Ornstein, Pauli*, von Weizsäcker, etc.). Damit hängt die ontologische Frage nach dem MenschenWesen mit der Lösung des Problemkomplexes "Gott Geist/Seele Mensch Natur" zusammen. (shrink)

This book explores the concept of and cases of complicity in an interdisciplinary context. It in part covers cases of direct complicity, where an agent or set of agents facilitates an identifiable act of wrongdoing. The book also draws attention to the manner in which agents become complicit in the reproduction of wider practices of wrongdoing. It goes on to explore the notion of complicity through a series of cases emerging from a variety of academic disciplines and professional practice, including (...) the complicity of politicians, medical practitioners, and the wider public in forms of state violence, protest movements and secret‐keeping. (shrink)

Agenda 21 of United Nations demands better situation of ecology, economy, health, etc. in all countries. An evaluation of scientific contributions in international congresses of fundamental anthropological sciences (philosophy, psychology, psychosomatics, physiology, genito-urology, radio-oncology, etc.) demonstratesevidence of large discrepancies in the participation not only of developing and industrial countries, but also between the last ones themselves. Low degree of research and education leads to low degree of economy, health, ecology, etc. [Lit.: Neu, Michailov et al.: Physiology in Agenda 21. Proc. (...) Int. Un. Physiol. Sci. San Francisco, Faseb J. 19/5, A1355, 2005; Agenda 21 in Psychol. 28th Int. Congr. Psychol. Beijing, 1028.62/3028.96, 2004]. CONCEPTION: The science is leading in the social and economic development of humanity, but the misuse of science causes disastrous repercussions (ecological and self-destruction). New models for scientific education, beginning with philosophy, followed by philosophical, pedagogical, medical, theological anthropology, and research are necessary tosupport Agenda 21 and prevent misuse of science. According to proposals on foundation of experimental schools (Immanuel Kant) and international universities (Bertrand Russell) the International Academy of Science/ICSD supports these ideas and initiated the creation of first (interdisciplinary) International Faculties forAnthropology as paradigm for humanization, higher effectiveness and pluralistic internationalization of science, leading to better education ("Erziehung und Ausbildung") and research in all countries, i.e. decrease of the gap between industrial and developing countries. CONCLUSION: Foundation of international institutes for general (philosophy, pedagogy, medicine) as well as for special anthropology (theology, informatics-logic-mathematics, culture, biology, (bio-) physics/chemistry) in context of an integralanthropology via networks of national ones from selected countries of Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe can permit the necessary implication of philosophy in education of anthropological sciences as well as research and education (post graduate) by common international research and educational programmes, lecturers, students, etc. in one country. This project needs political and financial support by UNO, European Union, governments, banks, industries to support the education of a homo sanus, humanus et spiritualis for the future humanity. (shrink)

INTRODUCTION: Philosophy is the unique science which considers all other sciences in systematically unity (Kant). The classical anthropology (Platon, Aristoteles, Descartes, Hume, Kant, etc.) considers the human and his "spheres" (biological, psychological, logical, philosophical, theological) and his interdependence with nature and society. A philosophical theology investigates spiritual phenomena, described by religions and parapsychology in context of ethics, epistemology (incl. metaphysics), aesthetics. A theological anthropology should consider these phenomena multidimensional in context of a holisticscience, i.e. physico- (Kant), bio- (Lüke), psycho-, logico-, (...) philosophical theology, etc. [Lit.: Neu, Michailov: Integralanthropology. In: Proc. 21st World Congr. Philos. Istanbul. Press FISP 280‐281, 2003; Theol. Anthrop. In: Book: New Pathways for Eur. Bioethics. Ed.: Eur. Ass. Med. Ethics, Leuven, p. 53/60, 2006; Med. Ethics, 21st Ann. Conf. EACME (Ed.) Zürich, p. 53, 2007]. CONCEPTION: Regrettably philosophical theology is reduced to nearly philosophical and theological ethics: Both ethics in the future should realize a common scientific integrated ethics based on philosophy, theology, and psychology incl. of great cultures - Brahmanism, Buddhism, Christianism-Mosaism, Confucianism, and Mohammedanism. The present moral philosophy is very pluralistic: Many views concerningnormative and metaethics (deontology, axiology), also relativism, absolutism (incl. utilitarism), noncognitivism are present. A similar situation exists in moral theology: Not only in context of philosophy (consequentialism, justice, protectionism), but more - of theology are existent contradictionary differences concerning ethics in the great religions (related to God, Spirit/Soul, reincarnation, etc.). A future philosophical theology needs a renewal of its scientific theoretical andexperimental fundamentals (controlled observations: criterion for intersubjectivity) concerning theological anthropology incl. not only occidental epistemology (metaphysics, scientific theory, etc.), but also oriental - esp. Brahmanistic and Buddhist (self realization by Yoga, Tibetan, Zen Buddhism) and scientific evaluation of spiritual phenomena by biophysics, physiology, psychology and formal (Aristoteles, Gautama), real, transcendental (Kant), metaphysical (Hegel) normal logic. Areconsideration of application of philosophy of arts, esp. aesthetics in philosophical theology is also necessary (incl. inspirations in music/Bach, Beethoven, Händel, painting/Leonardo da Vinci, sculpture/Michelangelo). CONCLUSION: Scientific and political support for a renovation of theological anthropology and philosophical theology could help essentially for a realization of UNO-Agenda 21 for better total (incl. spiritual) health and peaceful world. (shrink)

This book explores the concept of and cases of complicity in an interdisciplinary context. It in part covers cases of direct complicity, where an agent or set of agents facilitates an identifiable act of wrongdoing. The book also draws attention to the manner in which agents become complicit in the reproduction of wider practices of wrongdoing. It goes on to explore the notion of complicity through a series of cases emerging from a variety of academic disciplines and professional practice, including (...) the complicity of politicians, medical practitioners, and the wider public in forms of state violence, protest movements and secret‐keeping. (shrink)

In the first chapter, titled “Modern and Postmodern Aspects of Scheler’s Later Personalism,” Michael Barber argues that Scheler’s earlier and his later personalism reflect a similar pretheoretical ethical experience. Barber finds postmodern aspects in Scheler, insofar as the later Scheler finds underneath science and metaphysics desires to control and to love. At the same time, Scheler remains tied to modern thought in that he never abandons eidetic phenomenology, which, Barber argues, is essential in order not to surrender Scheler’s understanding (...) of personhood to determinist explanations or dogmatic religion. In his conclusion, Barber compellingly suggests that the ethical origins of Scheler’s personalism could be found in moments of face-to-face communication with another, and that his later critique of spiritualization and altered vision of God have their roots in Scheler’s awareness of how false spiritualization hides its own drives and desires and how this makes possible “the subjection of the Other to its own violent totality”. (shrink)

Dieses Lehrbuch vermittelt einen systematischen Überblick über die grundlegenden Funktionen der auf Finanzmärkten agierenden Anbieter sowie die von ihnen angebotenen Finanzdienstleistungen. Sein Spektrum reicht von der Finanzierung und Vermögensanlage bei Banken und Versicherungen über die verschiedenen Formen von Wertpapier- und Wertpapiertermingeschäften bis hin zum Abschluss von Versicherungsverträgen und ähnlichen Maßnahmen zur Risikoverlagerung. In der Neuauflage werden wiederum zahlreiche Entwicklungen der letzten Jahre wie etwa Mittelstandsanleihen, Exchange-Traded Funds oder Derivatgeschäfte von Kommunen in die Betrachtung einbezogen. Das Kapitel über Wertpapiertermingeschäfte wurde grundlegend (...) neu gestaltet. Für Studierende wirtschaftswissenschaftlicher Studiengänge, Praktiker in der Finanzdienstleistungsbranche, Mitarbeiter in Kämmereien oder Finanzabteilungen privater und öffentlicher Unternehmen sowie Angehörige der Steuer- und rechtsberatenden Berufe, die im Zuge ihrer Beratungstätigkeit mit Finanzdienstleistungen konfrontiert werden. (shrink)

Solidarität ist einer der zentralen normativen Begriffe in Zeiten der Corona-Pandemie. Vor dem Hintergrund der philosophischen Debatte um Solidarität wird eine Heuristik entlang der Unterscheidung einer sozial-, politisch-philosophischen und ethischen Perspektive vorgeschlagen. Anhand dieser Heuristik wird der gegenwärtige gesellschaftliche Diskurs um Solidarität in der Pandemie rekonstruiert, analysiert und kritisiert. Solidarität, so die These, wird in Corona-Zeiten auf ihre soziale Dimension enggeführt, was einerseits zur Mobilisierung von Gemeinschaften und der Eindämmung der Pandemie führt, andererseits aber auch zu Schließungen und Exklusionen nach (...) innen und außen. Indem Politik als evidenzbasierte und alternativlose Technik etabliert wird, vollzieht sich eine fortschreitende Entpolitisierung, durch die soziale Ungleichheit sowohl lokal als auch global oft unhinterfragt reproduziert wird. Demgegenüber diskutiert der Beitrag mit Rückgriff auf Arendts Begriff des Politischen ein alternatives Verständnis von Solidarität in Zeiten der Pandemie. Dieses baut auf sozialer Relationalität auf und kritisiert eine mechanistische Logik des Politischen. Mit Arendt werden die Pluralität, das kritische Denken und der Neuanfang als zentrale Elemente des Politischen angesichts von Krisen betont. Dadurch wird das Konzept der Solidarität um eine politische Dimension erweitert und ein produktiver Umgang mit den gegenwärtigen Schließungen und Exklusionen in der Corona-Pandemie vorgeschlagen. Schließlich können die durch die Pandemie offenkundiger gewordenen Krisen des Kapitalismus und Liberalismus reflektiert und das Politische als ein offen-diskursiver Raum jenseits eng gefasster Grenzen neu gedacht werden. (shrink)

Die radikale Demokratietheorie ist in den vergangenen 20 Jahren zu einem immer wichtigeren Paradigma innerhalb der politischen Philosophie und Theorie geworden. Viele traditionelle Ansätze der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts dienen als Bezugspunkt für diese Arbeiten. Radikale Demokrat*innen wollen entlang philosophischer Grundbegriffe dieser Traditionen (Individuum, Rationalität usw.) das Soziale, Normative und Politische philosophisch neu denken.

Die Frage, was Gefuhle sind und wie sie auf den Menschen eine gute, oft aber auch eine zerstorerische Wirkung ausuben, haben die antiken Stoiker von vielen Aspekten her durchdacht und Erklarungen gefunden, die komplex und zugleich unmittelbar einleuchtend und uberzeugend sind. Das Gefuhlsverstandnis der Stoiker hat deshalb nicht nur in der griechisch-romischen Antike (300 vor bis 200 nach Chr.) eine kulturell dominierende Rolle gespielt, es wurde auch in der Moderne immer wieder neu und intensiv rezipiert. Heute ist seine Wirkung eher (...) indirekt, weil ohne bewusste Kenntnis der Herkunft, es bildet aber fur viele Positionen immer noch das Grundkoordinatensystem, in das die eigenen Konzepte eingetragen werden. Das Buch verfolgt diese Zusammenhange und zeigt zugleich, wie die stoischen Grunduberzeugungen eine Barriere bilden, die andere Gefuhlsauffassungen, wie sie etwa bis Aristoteles ausgebildet wurden, fur uns bis heute schwer zuganglich machen. (shrink)

Hermann Broch (1886-1951) gehört mit seinen Novellen, Dramen, Gedichten und vor allem mit seinen Romanen zu den bedeutendsten und innovativsten deutschsprachigen Autoren der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Sein Gesamtwerk, zu dem auch Tausende von Briefen gehören, umfasst nicht nur poetische Texte von Weltrang, sondern auch Schriften zur Literatur, zur Philosophie, zur Politik, zur Demokratie- und zur Massenwahntheorie. Das vorliegende Handbuch wurde in Kooperation mit einem internationalen Forscherteam realisiert. Es setzt sich zum Ziel, Brochs Biographie und sein gesamtes literarisches und (...) essayistisches Werk im Zeithorizont vorzustellen, in relevanten Kontexten zu analysieren und neu zu gewichten. Eigene Bearbeitung findet das epistolarische Werk des Autors, seine Kontakte und Netzwerke, darüber hinaus Stationen und Schwerpunkte der Broch-Rezeption. Mit einer umfangreichen, schwerpunktmäßig auf die letzten 25 Jahre konzentrierten Bibliographie zur Primär- und Forschungsliteratur wird der Band vervollständigt. (shrink)

Neu's work is splendid. In addition to offering wonderfully illuminating characterizations of various emotions, it helps show that these individual characterizations, rather than an overall characterization of emotions or affectivity, have always been Neu's main concern. Nonetheless he is concerned with specific instances of, and often the general nature of, affectivity: what differentiates mere thoughts, desires, and values from emotions where the complex is affectively charged. I argue that his accounts of affectivity do not succeed — in that they can (...) be satisfied by what is affectless. (shrink)

Anlässlich des 65. Geburtstages von Ingeborg Schüßler haben ihre Kollegen, Freunde und ehemaligen Schüler beschlossen, ihr eine Festschrift zu widmen. Das Buch umfasst 25 Beiträge in Deutsch und Französisch. Der Titel des Bandes, Genealogie des neuzeitlichen Denkens bezeichnet die leitende Perspektive der Beiträge: unter verschiedenen Beleuchtungen geht es jedesmal darum, wie das Denken der Moderne und der Gegenwart die philosophischen Erbschaften, von denen es herkommt, aufnimmt und neu bearbeitet. A l'occasion du soixante-cinquième anniversaire de Madame Ingeborg Schüßler, ses collègues, aims (...) et anciens élèves ont décidé de lui offrir un volume d'hommages, rassemblant vingt-cinq contributions en français et en allemand. Le titre du volume, Généalogie de la pensée moderne, indique l'optique commune aux études réunies : sous diverses perspectives, il s'agit à chaque fois de se demander comment la pensée de la modernité reprend et retravaille les héritages philosophiques dont elle est tributaire. Contributions de / Beiträge von Emil Angehrn, Rudolf Bernet, Raphae͏̈l Célis, Pascal David, Felix Duque, Michael Esfeld, Jean Ferrari, Karen Gloy, Gérard Guest, Michel Herren, Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann, Helmuth Holzhey, Wolfgang Janke, Emmanuel Mejia, Ada Neschke, Thérèse Pentzopoulos-Valalas, Mario Ruggenini, John Sallis, Alexandre Schild, Gerhard Seel, Tiziana Suarez-Nani, Rainer Thurnher, Jean-Marc Tétaz, Ivan Urbancic, Franco Volpi. (shrink)

Babylonien und seine Nachbarn in neu- und spätbabylonischer Zeit: Wissenschaftliches Kolloquium aus Anlass des 75. Geburtstags von Joachim Oelsner, Jena, 2. und 3. März 2007. Edited by Manfred Krebernik and Hans Neumann. Alter Orient und Altes Testament, vol. 369. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2014. Pp. vii + 338, illus. €91.

English summary: Thinking about God is theology's main task and the philosophy of religion's most noble. Like almost no other theologian and philosopher of religion, Ingolf U. Dalferth's devotion to it has made the paradigms of current philosophical and theological theory construction fruitful. God, in whom people believe and place their trust, is revealed as the First and the Last, as the beginning without end, and the end that renews everything. This Festschrift's twenty-four studies pick up from Dalferth's work by (...) thinking about God in their own way. The richness of the questions they pose, the plurality of the answers, and the diversity of the religious-philosophical and theological perspectives affirm the worthiness of thinking God. German description: Gott zu denken, ist die zentrale Aufgabe der Theologie und die vornehmste der Religionsphilosophie. Wie kaum ein anderer Theologe und Religionsphilosoph hat sich Ingolf U. Dalferth dieser Aufgabe gewidmet und dafur die aktuellen Paradigmen philosophischer und theologischer Theoriebildung fruchtbar gemacht. Gott, an den Menschen glauben und auf den sie ihre Hoffnung setzen, kommt dem Denken als Erstes und Letztes in den Blick, als Anfang, der noch kein Ende gefunden hat, und als Ende, das alles neu macht.Die vierundzwanzig Studien dieser Festschrift nehmen Dalferths Beitrage auf, indem sie je auf ihre Weise Gott nachdenken. Der Reichtum der von ihnen diskutierten Fragestellungen, die Pluralitat der Antworten und die Vielfalt der religionsphilosophischen und theologischen Perspektiven bekraftigen die Denkwurdigkeit Gottes. (shrink)

Das dreibändige Werk erschliesst ein neues Verständnis des künstlerischen Bildes. Die geläufige Herausstellung des Künstlers als "Schöpfer", seines Tuns als "schöpferisches", wird konsequent auf das Werk gewendet: Dieses muss sich folglich auch in sich selbst als Schöpfung ausweisen. Statt ausserbildliche Realität nur nachzuahmen, entwickelt der echte Künstler im Gestaltungsprozess die erscheinende Wirklichkeit aus der vorgegebenen Bildfläche heraus, lässt sie aus dieser sich neu entfalten, hervorkommen. Nur das ist wahrhaft schöpferisch! Dabei wird die taktile Bildfläche durch Raumillusion nicht einfach annulliert; sie (...) verwandelt sich zu einer imaginären Ebene, die in ihrer Ausspannung zwischen den Bildgrenzen alle sinnlichen Daten in deren spezifischer Erscheinungsweise prägt und "tragend" miteinander vermittelt. So bleibt sie in der Bildwirklichkeit als bedingender Schöpfungsgrund mitgegeben, anwesend. (shrink)

John Rawls ist im 20. Jahrhundert sicherlich einer der bedeutendsten praktischen Philosophen. Seine Werke und die damit verbundene Begriffs- und Theoriebildung haben viele Traditionslinien philosophischer Klassiker der Moderne aufgegriffen, synthetisiert und neu ausgelegt. Mit seinem Nachdenken über Gerechtigkeit prägt er bis heute viele philosophische Debatten, sei es in positiver Bezugnahme oder negativer Abgrenzung.

The c‐ros, c‐met and c‐neu genes encode receptor‐type tyrosine kinases and were originally identified because of their oncogenic potential. However, recent progress in the analysis of these receptors and their respective ligands indicate that they do not mediate exclusively mitogenic signals. Rather, they can induce cell movement, differentiation or morphogenesis of epithelial cells in culture. Interestingly, the discussed receptors are expressed in embryonal epithelia, whereas direct and indirect evidence shows that the corresponding ligands are produced in mesenchymal cells. In development, (...) signals given by mesenchymal cells are major driving forces for differentiation and morphogenesis of epithelia; embryonal epithelia are generally unable to differentiate without the appropriate mesenchymal factors. The observed activities of these receptor/ligand systems in cultured cells and their expression patterns indicate that they regulate epithelial differentiation and morphogenesis also during embryogenesis and suggest thus a molecular basis for mesenchymal epithelial interactions. (shrink)

Die vor allem unter der Bezeichnung Gestalt-Psychologie bekanntgewordeneGestalttheorie der Berliner Schule war lange Zeit vielen zu Unrecht nur für ihreBeiträge zur Wahrnehmungspsychologie ein Begriff. In letzter Zeit werden jedochdiesseits und jenseits des Atlantiks zunehmend die frühen gestalttheoretischenAnsätze für eine psychotherapierelevante Lehre des gesunden und gestörtenmenschlichen Erlebens und Verhaltens wiederentdeckt und neu aufgegriffen. Dervorliegende Sammelband stellt drei exemplarische frühe Beiträge zurPsychopathologie vor, die noch vom Begründer der Gestalttheorie MaxWertheimer geprägt wurden. Anhand der Analyse der paranoischenEigenbeziehung und Wahnbildung, der Manie und der (...) schizophrenen Denkstörungdemonstrieren sie eindrucksvoll die spezifische Herangehensweise undFruchtbarkeit des ganzheitlichen systemtheoretischen Ansatzes der Gestalttheorieauf dem Gebiet psychischer Störungen. Im Anschluß diskutierenPsychotherapeuten und Psychiater aus Deutschland, Österreich und den USA dieAktualität und Relevanz dieser Ansätze für die psychotherapeutischeKrankheitslehre und Praxis. (shrink)

First published in 1977, Emotion, Thought and Therapy is a study of Hume and Spinoza and the relationship of philosophical theories of the emotions to psychological theories of therapy. Jerome Neu argues that the Spinozists are closer to the truth; that is, that thoughts are of greater importance than feelings in the classification and discrimination of emotional states. He then contends that if the Spinozists are closer to the truth, we have the beginning of an argument to show that Freudian (...) or analytic therapies make philosophic sense. Throughout the book, careful attention is paid to modern discussions in philosophy of mind and psychology, and materials from anthropology and other relevant disciplines are considered. At the centre of the discussion is the notion of ‘thought-dependence’. Therapies for psychological disorders are placed along a spectrum in accordance with the role they assign to thoughts. The Spinozist view of the emotions can be seen as at the extreme thought end of a corresponding spectrum of theories of the emotions. The book suggests that this stream may help explain the spectrum of therapeutic theories and the possibilities that exist for psychological development and change. This book will be of interest to students of philosophy, psychology and counselling. (shrink)

According to the received account of guilt in the philosophical literature, one cannot feel guilt unless one takes oneself to have done something morally wrong. But ordinary people feel guilt in many cases in which they do not take themselves to have done anything morally wrong. In this paper, I focus on one kind of guilt without perceived wrongdoing, guilt about being merely causally responsible for a bad state-of-affairs. I go on to present a novel account of guilt that explains (...) guilt about mere causal responsibility, according to which guilt represents part of the self as bound up with what is bad. (shrink)

The fact that Gilbert Ryle and J.L. Austin seem to disagree about the ordinary use of words such as ‘voluntary’, ‘involuntary’, ‘voluntarily’, and ‘involuntarily’ has been taken to cast doubt on the methods of ordinary language philosophy. As Benson Mates puts the worry, ‘if agreement about usage cannot be reached within so restricted a sample as the class of Oxford Professors of Philosophy, what are the prospects when the sample is enlarged?’ (Mates, Inquiry 1:161–171, 1958, p. 165). In this chapter, (...) we evaluate Mates’s criticism alongside Ryle’s and Austin’s specific claims about the ordinary use of these words, assessing these claims against actual examples of ordinary use drawn from the British National Corpus (BNC). Our evaluation consists in applying a combination of methods: first aggregating judgments about a large set of samples drawn from the corpus, and then using a clustering algorithm to uncover connections between different types of use. In applying these methods, we show where and to what extent Ryle’s and Austin’s accounts of the use of the target terms are accurate as well as where they miss important aspects of ordinary use, and we demonstrate the usefulness of this new combination of methods. At the heart of our approach is a commitment to the idea that systematically looking at actual uses of expressions is an essential component of any approach to ordinary language philosophy. (shrink)

Our aim in this paper is to present the distinct ways in which Wolff, Baumgarten, and Kant understand the relationship between necessitation, constraint, and reluctant action in an effort to illustrate the subtle ways in which their conceptions of obligation differ from each another. Whereas Wolff conceives of natural or moral obligation as incompatible with constraint, Baumgarten holds that constraint and reluctant action are, in some instances, compatible with natural obligation. Kant departs from Baumgarten by conceiving of obligation as necessarily (...) involving constraint: as Kant’s reply to Schiller’s famous objection reveals, obligation must take on the character of constraint to reluctant action on account of the fact that human beings possess inclinations that always threaten to impel them in directions that oppose morality. (shrink)

What is the relation between small-scale collaborative plans and the execution of those plans within interactive contexts? I argue here that joint attention has a key role in explaining how shared plans and shared intentions are executed in interactive contexts. Within singular action, attention plays the functional role of enabling intentional action to be guided by a prior intention. Within interactive joint action, it is joint attention, I argue, that plays a similar functional role of enabling the agents to act (...) in a collaborative way such that their actions are rationally guided by a prior shared intention. This understanding of joint attention – as having a key functional role of enabling the rational guidance of joint intentional action by a prior shared intention – allows for an alternative understanding of the kind of minimal cooperation that infants can engage in. On this understanding, infants’ capacity to engage in joint actions is already an incipient capacity to engage in rational and intentional joint actions, albeit a capacity that is necessarily scaffolded by an adult rational co-partner. (shrink)

Is jealousy eliminable? At what cost? Must it be pathological? Distinctions between jealousy and envy (and between malicious and admiring envy) are explored, as are the psychological and social roots of both. Jealousy need not be mere possessiveness, it may have more to do with self-identity, and envy should not be confused with legitimate resentment of injustice. The relations of jealousy to claims of right, to certain underlying fears, and to certain forms of love are considered.

An Essay on Human Action seeks to provide a comprehensive, detailed, enlightening, and (in its detail) original account of human action. This account presupposes a theory of events as abstract, proposition-like entities, a theory which is given in the first chapter of the book. The core-issues of action-theory are then treated: what acting in general is (a version of the traditional volitional theory is proposed and defended); how actions are to be individuated; how long actions last; what acting intentionally is; (...) what doing one thing by doing another is; what basic action is; and what omitting to do something is. Attention is also given to the concepts of causation, intention, volition, deciding, choosing, and trying. Finally, a libertarian account of free action is tentatively proposed and defended. (shrink)

This a clear and concise introduction to Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.ichael Watts uses Kierkegaard's own writings to introduce his theoriesbout living a truthfu; and spiritual life, while explaining the enormousnfluence of the philosopher's personal life on his work and beliefs. As theounder of 20th century existentialism, and the first philosopher to definehe idea of angst, Kierkegaard's profound influence on modern life is clearlyefined in accessible terms in this guide for students and general readers.

The current study examines the micro-linguistic details of Twitter responses to the whistleblower-initiated publication of the Panama Papers. The leaked documents contained the micro-details of tax avoidance, tax evasion, and wealth accumulation schemes used by business elites, politicians, and government bureaucrats. The public release of the documents on April 4, 2016 resulted in a groundswell of Twitter and other social media activity throughout the world, including 161,036 Spanish-language tweets in the subsequent 5-month period. The findings illustrate that the responses were (...) polyvocal, consisting a collection of overlapping speech genres with varied thematic topics and linguistic styles, as well as differing degrees of calls for action and varying amounts of illocutionary force. The analysis also illustrates that, while the illocutionary force of tweets is somewhat associated with the adoption of a prosaic and vernacular ethical stance as well as with demands for action, these types of voicing behaviors were not present in the majority of the tweets. These results suggest that, while social media platforms are a popular site for collective forms of voicing activities, it is less certain that these collective stakeholder voices necessarily result in forceful accountability demands that spill out of the communication medium and thus serve as an impulse for positive social change. (shrink)

Opponents of medically assisted dying have long appealed to ‘slippery slope’ arguments. One such slippery slope concerns palliative care: that the introduction of medically assisted dying will lead to a diminution in the quality or availability or palliative care for patients near the end of their lives. Empirical evidence from jurisdictions where assisted dying has been practiced for decades, such as Oregon and the Netherlands, indicate that such worries are largely unfounded. The failure of the palliation slope argument is nevertheless (...) instructive with respect to how slippery slope arguments can be appraised without having to await post-facto evidence regarding the effects of a proposed change in public policy. Close attention in particular to the norms operative in a given institution and how changes to policy will interact with those norms enable slippery slopes to be credibly appraised. (shrink)

What is the relation between joint attention and common knowledge? On the one hand, the relation seems tight: the easiest and most reliable way of knowing something in common with another is for you and that other to be attentively aware of what you are together experiencing. On the other hand, they couldn’t seem further apart: joint attention is a mere perceptual phenomena that infants are capable of engaging in from nine months of age, whereas common knowledge is a cognitive (...) phenomenon involving (so it seems) complex, overlapping metarepresentational states that require the kind of sophisticated mindreading skills that developmental psychology has shown to be beyond the capabilities of young children. In 'The Shared World: Perceptual Common Knowledge, Demonstrative Communication, and Shared Social Space', Axel Seemann attempts, inter alia, to makensense of this conundrum. (shrink)