One use of the noun ‘pain’ is exemplified in sentences like ‘There is a pain in my foot’. According to the Experiential Theory, ‘pain’ in this context refers to an experience located in the mind or brain. According to the Bodily Theory, it refers to an extra-cranial bodily occurrence located in a body part. In this paper, I defend the Bodily Theory. Specifically, I argue that pains are proximal activations of nociceptors that cause experiences of pain. This view is preferable (...) to the Experiential Theory, because it accords better with common sense and offers a better interpretation or semantics of ordinary pain reports. (shrink)

This paper clarifies Wittgenstein’s critique of Moore in _On Certainty,_ and argues that this critique is largely misunderstood, for two reasons. Firstly, Wittgenstein partly misrepresents Moore. Secondly, Wittgenstein is wrongly taken to be an internalist regarding justification for knowledge. Once we realize these two points, we can understand Wittgenstein’s critique properly as a grammatical argument in that Moore fails to see how the concepts of knowledge and certainty relate to those of justification and evidence. On this reading, we can also (...) understand that Moore and Wittgenstein were in more agreement than many people have thought, even though Moore was not able to exploit and express his philosophical insights properly. (shrink)

It is common in cognitive science to ascribe psychological predicates to the brain, i.e. to assert that the brain sees, feels, thinks, etc. This has prompted philosophical debate. According to the Nonsense View, the relevant locutions of cognitive scientists are nonsensical or false (Bennett and Hacker 2003, 2007). According to the Literal View, they are literal truths and report the psychological properties of brains (Dennett 2007; Crane 2015; Figdor 2018). In this paper, I propose the Synecdoche View, according to which (...) cognitive scientists’ locutions are figurative, with ‘brain’ referring to the human being, such that ‘the brain thinks’ reports the thinking of the human being, not the thinking of the brain. I compare this view to the dominant views in the literature and argue that it is a plausible alternative. One consequence of this is that there is no reason to believe that the locutions of cognitive scientists indicate empirical support for the claim that brains possess psychological properties. (shrink)

It is common to characterise phenomenal consciousness as _what it is like_ to be in a mental state. This paper argues that the ‘what-it’s-like’-phrase in this context has a technical meaning, i.e. a meaning for which the association to the relevant expression is peculiar to a theoretical community. The relevant theoretical community is philosophy and some parts of cognitive science, so on this view, only philosophers and cognitive scientists use the ‘what-it’s-like’-phrase in the way that is characteristic in the literature (...) on phenomenal consciousness. This claim has important consequences. Firstly, I argue that the phrase says nothing informative about phenomenal consciousness. Secondly, I argue that the fact that non-philosophers use the phrase is not compelling evidence that they believe in phenomenal consciousness. These claims have further consequences for debates about phenomenal consciousness. (shrink)

Keine ausführliche Beschreibung für "Beiträge zur Kritik der reinen Vernunft 1781-1981" verfügbar.

We trained a computational model (the Chunk-Based Learner; CBL) on a longitudinal corpus of child–caregiver interactions in English to test whether one proposed statistical learning mechanism—backward transitional probability—is able to predict children's speech productions with stable accuracy throughout the first few years of development. We predicted that the model less accurately reconstructs children's speech productions as they grow older because children gradually begin to generate speech using abstracted forms rather than specific “chunks” from their speech environment. To test this idea, (...) we trained the model on both recently encountered and cumulative speech input from a longitudinal child language corpus. We then assessed whether the model could accurately reconstruct children's speech. Controlling for utterance length and the presence of duplicate chunks, we found no evidence that the CBL becomes less accurate in its ability to reconstruct children's speech with age. (shrink)

According to Kant, all events in nature are subject to the principle of causality. Nevertheless, free actions are possible, because freedom and the universal law of causality are compatible without contradiction. Quantum mechanics is indeterministic, i.e. it implies a violation of causality. It is shown that: 1) this indeterminism can be understood by means of a continuation of Kant’s transcendental philosophy, as it is, like determinism, just a special type of universal causality, occurring when objects are not completely determined, 2) (...) quantum mechanical indeterminacy must not be identified with freedom, because it occurs only within the realm of sensible appearances existing in space and time, whereas freedom belongs to an intelligible substratum that is not part of the sensuous world. (shrink)

Summary The question underlying this article is whether the Kantian transcendental philosophy is wide enough to constitute the objects of quantum physics as objects of possible experience and consequently to found the objectivity of quantum physical knowledge. It is shown that the Kantian determinations of the categories (quality, substance, causality) can be interpreted and elaborated in such a way that the quantum physical concept of an object characterized by nonobjectivity of properties is conceived. Therefore the categories are valid in quantum (...) mechanics and warrant the objectivity of quantum physical experience. By the interpretation of the Kantian infinite judgement as an indefinite proposition it is possible to define the non-objectivity of properties categorially as indefiniteness of qualities. In particular by the indefiniteness of the position-quality the non-permanent localizability of quantum mechanical objects can be understood a priori. However the object of possible experience, especially the quantum mechanical object is underdetermined by the categories of substance and causality: If the object is determined to be a substance it is not yet conceived to be an individual; its characterization by means of probability laws is categorially indeterminate. In so far the significance of transcendental philosophy for the foundation of quantum physics is limited. (shrink)

By way of introduction, this paper points out inherent problems in attempting a comprehensive social history of the Reformation, due to the complex dynamics at work in sixteenth century European society.Contemporary pamphlet literature, a resource as yet not intensively explored, reflects in a unique manner the rich variety of the Reformation experience in all walks of life, from both sides of the schism. By examining a representative sampling of such tracts, the essay strives to establish some immediacy to that experience. (...) The nearly 300 pamphlets held by the Ambrose Swasey Library at the Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, NY, served as source material to help straddle the 500 year gap. The abbreviation ASL is used to identify pamphlets in the text. (shrink)

Nach Max Weber ist Politik das "geduldige Bohren harter Bretter mit Augenmass und Geduld". Was hinzukommen muss, sind ethische Orientierungen. Vor allem in einer Zeit rasanter politischer und gesellschaftlicher Umbrüche braucht es dringlich einen ethischen Kompass. Es gilt demnach die Grundlagen der modernen politischen Ordnung sowie ihre Ziele zu reflektieren, um sie dann unter neuen politischen Bedingungen bestmöglich zur Geltung zu bringen. Der vorliegende Band stellt dazu sozialethische Koordinaten bereit, davon ausgehend, dass in einer Demokratie eine Ethik des Politischen alle (...) Bürger und Bürgerinnen angeht. Der erste Teil behandelt wesentliche Eckpfeiler des Politischen in der Moderne: Menschenrechte/Grundrechte - Demokratie - Nation/Internationale Gemeinschaft. Der folgende Überblick über Prinzipien politischer Ethik (Gemeinwohl, Solidarität, Versöhnung) reflektiert grundlegende Massstäbe. Konkretionen zu zentralen Politikfeldern (Friedens-, Flüchtlings- und Religionspolitik) runden den Band ab und regen zum Weiterdenken an"-- Back cover. (shrink)

Diese Wirtschaft totet! besonders dieser Satz von Papst Franziskus hat beachtliche Aufmerksamkeit gefunden. Aber: Welche Wirtschaft totet? Und welche fordert Leben? Dieser Band stellt wirtschaftswissenschaftliche, ethische und theologische Ansatze vor, die Verengungen in gegenwartigen Theorien uberwinden: Welche Bedeutung haben offentlicher Guter? Wie lassen sich soziale und okologische Dimensionen in die Wirtschaftstheorie integrieren? Wie sollte eine Finanzwirtschaft aussehen, die der Realwirtschaft dient? Was ist die Verantwortung des Konsumenten? Diese und weitere Grundfragen, die in den wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Mainstream-Theorien zu kurz kommen, erinnern die (...) Wirtschaft daran, dem Leben dienen zu mussen. (shrink)

Hannah Arendt und Karl Jaspers – zwei herausragende Persönlichkeiten der Philosophiegeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts, die eine vor allem politische Denkerin, der andere ursprünglich Mediziner und Psychologe, die beide mit den Erschütterungen der Welt und ihres persönlichen Lebens durch Nationalsozialismus und Zweiten Weltkrieg zurechtkommen mussten und dabei doch der Welt immer zugewandt blieben. Sie haben viele bedeutende Schriften hinterlassen, Denkansätze, deren Relevanz bis heute nicht nachgelassen hat.über beide ist viel geschrieben und geforscht worden – allein ihre sehr tiefe und besondere, fast (...) lebenslange Freundschaft, beginnend mit Arendts Studium bei Jaspers ab 1926, ist bislang seltsam unerforscht. Zwar ist der umfangreiche Briefwechsel ediert, es existiert jedoch keine einzige Monographie zum Thema. Diesem Umstand will das vorliegende Buch abhelfen. Ingeborg Gleichauf, Philosophin und Schriftstellerin, nähert sich der Beziehung von Arendt und Jaspers über die Beschäftigung mit den großen Fragen und Themen, die die beiden zeit ihres Lebens umtrieben und legt den Focus auf das über lange Zeiträume und große Distanzen nie versiegende Gespräch zwischen ihnen, ob persönlich oder in Briefen – auf den fruchtbaren, auch manchmal streitbaren, immer vertrauensvollen, von Neugier, Offenheit und Redlichkeit geprägten Austausch. (shrink)