To find out more information about Rowman & Littlefield titles please visit us at www.rowmanlittlefield.com.

« Je me joignis à Hegel sans nulle difficulté, ayant coutume d'être hégélien avant lui » : Alain retrouve, admiratif, en Hegel, l'exemplaire réunion méthodologique du concept et de l'expérience, et — quant au contenu, surtout de la philosophie de l'esprit — l'application non moins exemplaire du grand principe selon lequel l'inférieur porte et règle le supérieur, qui l'éclairé et l'explique. — A tel point que, en récusant la politique de Hegel, Alain va s'employer à sauver de lui-même un hégélianisme (...) auquel il a été et reste un incomparable éveilleur. « Sehr unbedenklich schloss ich mich an Hegel darum an, weil ich sonst vor Hegel hegelisch war » : höchst bewundernd findet Alain bei Hegel die musterhafte methodologische Vereinigung des Begriffs mit der Erfahrung, und — rücksichtlich des Inhaltes, vornehmlich der Geistesphilosophie — die ebenso musterhafte Anwendung des grossen Grundsatzes, nach welchem das Untere das Obere trägt und regelt, aber durch dasselbe erläutert und erklärt wird, wieder. — So sehr, dass Alain — indem er die Hegeische Staatstheorie ablehnt — sich darum bemüht, solch einen Hegelianismus von sich selbst zu retten, zu dessen Studium er unvergleichbarerweise noch heute den Sinn erweckt. (shrink)

English summary: This volume contains a mixture of essays by Bolzano on mechanics, its mathematical basis, on logic and aesthetics. German description: Der Band enthalt vermischte Abhandlungen Bolzanos zur Mechanik, zu ihren mathematischen Grundlagen, zur Logik und zur Asthetik: a. Versuch einer objectiven Begrundung der Lehre vom Zusammenhang der Krafte, 1842 - b. Versuch einer objectiven Begrundung der Lehre von den drei Dimensionen des Raumes, 1843 - c. Uber den Begriff des Schonen, 1845 - d. Aufsatz, worin eine von Hrn. (...) Exner in seiner Abhandlung: Ueber den Nominalismus und Realismus angeregte logische Frage beantwortet wird, 1843 - e. Ein Paar Bemerkungen uber die neue Theorie in Herrn Chr. Doppler's Schrift: Ueber das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne und einiger Gestirne des Himmels, 1843. (shrink)

Résumé L'association pour l'étude du fait religieux a tenu en juin 1975, à l'université de Genève, son premier colloque. Thème général: société, religion et spiritualité. Objectif: d'une part, essayer de distinguer les aspects social et spirituel de la religion et, de l'autre, promouvoir une discussion interdisciplinaire entre spécialistes d'approches différentes. Ce numéro 76/4 de DIALECTICA contient le texte des exposés qui ont introduit le colloque.Summary The Association for the study of the religious fact held its first symposium in June 1975 (...) at the University of Geneva. The general theme was society, religion and spirituality. The aims were on the one hand, to distinguish between the social and spiritual aspects of religion and, on the other, to encourage an interdisciplinary discussion between specialists with different points of view. The present number 76/4 of DIALECTICA contains the text of the expositions which were presented at the beginning of the symposium.Zusammenfassung Die Gesellschaft zur Erforschung des Religiösen führte im Juni 1975 an der Universität Genf ihr erstes Kolloquium durch. Das allgemeine Thema lautete: Gesellschaft, Religion und Spiritualität. Die Zielsetzung bestand darin, einerseits den gesellschaftlichen und geistlichen Aspekt der Religion zu unterscheiden suchen und andererseits eine interdisziplinare Diskussion zwischen Spezialisten verschiedener Fachgebiete zu fördern. Die vorliegende Ausgabe 76/4 von DIALECTICA enthält den Wortlaut der Einfiihrüngsreferate dieses Kolloquiums. (shrink)

Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Mechanics provides a detailed view of the conceptual foundations and problems of quantum physics, and a clear and comprehensive account of the fundamental physical implications of the quantum formalism. This book deals with nonseparability, hidden variable theories, measurement theories and several related problems. Mathematical arguments are presented with an emphasis on simple but adequately representative cases. The conclusion incorporates a description of a set of relationships and concepts that could compose a legitimate view of the world.

At the 1983 Summer Conference on the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science, working groups chaired by the coauthors outlined some of the prospects for the use of somatic and germ line genetic engineering and related biological technologies to alleviate disease and to modify human behavior. They then offered a series of recommendations concerning the application of genetic engineering to persons and the monitoring of medical research and therapy.

t. 1. Le chaos, le temps, le principe anthropique -- t. 2. Les interprétations de la physique quantique -- t. 3. Complexité, vie, conscience.

Advances in neurobiological knowledge and neuroimaging technology have contributed greatly to our investigations into the nature of self-awareness.

This paper deals with the two-envelope paradox. Two main formulations of the paradoxical reasoning are distinguished, which differ according to the partition of possibilities employed. We argue that in the first formulation the conditionals required for the utility assignment are problematic; the error is identified as a fallacy of conditional reasoning. We go on to consider the second formulation, where the epistemic status of certain singular propositions becomes relevant; our diagnosis is that the states considered do not exhaust the possibilities. (...) Thus, on our approach to the paradox, the fallacy, in each formulation, is found in the reasoning underlying the relevant utility matrix; in both cases, the paradoxical argument goes astray before one gets to questions of probability or calculations of expected utility. (shrink)

Contemporary physics, especially quantum theory, has raised profound questions about the relationship between the methods of science and the reality these methods seek to investigate. D'Espagnat investigates these questions as well as how we should answer them. Part I examines the practices of contemporary physicists and addresses the criticism philosophers of science have made of these practices. The doctrine of physical realism, adopted by most physicists and many philosophers of science, comprises Part II. Part III explores the consequences of physical (...) realism for our understanding of what science can seek to know of reality, and concludes by outlining the position contemporary physics indicates we should take. (shrink)

I discuss donald davidson's argument for the psycho-Physical identity theory and contend that it fails: it relies on an implausible account of mental and physical events. Davidson proposes a linguistic test for determining whether a given event is mental or physical. I argue that the assumptions that are necessary for employing such a criterion of the mental are either false or presuppose the truth of the identity theory.

This paper considers the question of whether there are truths independent of God's power. It defends a traditional conception of divine power, according to which God's power does not extend to logically necessary truths, such as those of logic and mathematics, against Cartesian voluntarism, here taken as the doctrine that every truth falls within the compass of God's creative will. The paper argues that the voluntarist position is internally inconsistent. It concludes that if God is an absolute, unconditioned reality, then (...) there must be truths that are independent of God's power. (shrink)

The specter of epistemic closure haunts current epistemology: some regard the refutation of closure as obvious, while others take its denial to be an epistemicoutrage. To some extent, the strong difference of opinion has its source in certain misapprehensions. This paper tries to formulate and clarify the key issues dividing the two sides and contends that, in certain respects, the difference between the friend and the foe of closure may be more a matter of semantics than substance. The paper goes (...) on to argue that once the substantial issues have been properly formulated, there is a limit to how far deductive reasoning can take the parties to the dispute. (shrink)