In a theoretical simulation the cooperation of two insects is investigated who share a large number of maximally entangled EPR-pairs to correlate their probabilistic actions. Specifically, two distant butterflies must find each other. Each butterfly moves in a chaotic form of short flights, guided only by the weak scent emanating from the other butterfly. The flight directions result from classical random choices. Each such decision of an individual is followed by a read-out of an internal quantum measurement on a spin, (...) the result of which decides whether the individual shall do a short flight or wait. These assumptions reflect the scarce environmental information and the small brains’ limited computational capacity. The quantum model is contrasted to two other cases: In the classical case the coherence between the spin pairs gets lost and the two butterflies act independently. In the super classical case the two butterflies read off their decisions of whether to fly or to wait from the same internal list so that they always take the same decision as if they were super correlated. The numerical simulation reveals that the quantum entangled butterflies find each other with a much shorter total flight path than in both classical models. (shrink)

“Sacra à Deo in corde discenda, natura ex natura.” Johann Christian Senckenberg's Observationes as a Medico-Theological Writing Method. In his early diaries, the pietist physician Johann Christian Senckenberg has taken down large amounts of observation data which mostly concentrated on his own body and soul. Earlier research has mistaken his diligent self-observation for hypochondria and unworldliness, especially since the author had never endeavoured to analyze and publish his work. The article shows that both his writing practice and his (...) reluctance to process and share its results are due to his deeply religious and firmly anti-rationalist conviction. The main purpose of his journal keeping was the attainment of religious self-knowledge and professional self-perfection. Scientific publications he considered to be hypothetical and dogmatic, be it in theology or medicine; moreover, their authors were often enough driven by their self-love and desire for fame. In his eyes, the only godly way of knowledge acquisition was the humble, diligent and minute study of divine creation according to the Hippocratic method. The most immediate and reliable way of achieving true wisdom, however, was the observation of God's work within one's own body and mind, which were subject to the effects of God's grace and punishment as well as to atmospheric, environmental and dietetic circumstances. (shrink)

In the missionary activities that Halle theologians developed in the first half of the 18th century Grotius’ De veritate plays an interesting role that deserves exploration. To that purpose, the history and nature of the publication of missionary tracts in Halle will be surveyed, the role therein of Johann Heinrich Callenberg and his Institutum Judaicum at Muhammedicum described and the distribution and reception of the texts among the Muslims and Jews that were the target of the Halle missions all (...) over the world summarized and analysed. It is suggested that Grotius’ De veritate, which was an atypical piece of apology in the Halle pietist setting, stands out among the other literature for its efficacy in the missionary process, due to its non-dogmatic character. (shrink)

What nonsense might be, and what Wittgenstein thought that nonsense might be, are two of the central questions in the current debate between those—such as Cora Diamond, James Conant and Michael Kremer—who favour a “resolute” approach to Wittgenstein’s work, and those—such as P. M. S. Hacker and Hans-Johann Glock—who instead favour a more “traditional” approach. What answer we give to these questions will determine the nature and force of his criticisms of traditional philosophy, and so the very shape Wittgenstein’s (...) work has for us, as well as, to some extent, what the lesson of the Tractatus might be. My aim in this paper is to provide a detailed defence of the austere view of nonsense, that lies at the heart of the resolute approach, against a range of influentialcriticisms developed by Hans-Johann Glock and which focus on Wittgenstein’s contextualism. In so doing, I hope also to shed some light on the kind of view the austere view is, as well as how it might relate to certain other crucial aspects of Wittgenstein’s thought. (shrink)

The debate about concepts has always been shaped by a contrast between subjectivism, which treats them as phenomena in the mind or head of individuals, and objectivism, which insists that they exist independently of individual minds. The most prominent contemporary version of subjectivism is Fodor's RTM. The Fregean charge against subjectivism is that it cannot do justice to the fact that different individuals can share the same concepts. Proponents of RTM have accepted shareability as a ‘non-negotiable constraint’. At the same (...) time they insist that by distinguishing between sign-types and – tokens the Fregean objection cannot just be circumvented but revealed to be fallacious. My paper rehabilitates the Fregean argument against subjectivism. The RTM response rests either on an equivocation of ‘concept’—between types which satisfy the non-negotiable constraint and tokens which are mental particulars in line with RTM doctrine—or on the untenable idea that one and the same entity can be both a shareable type and hence abstract and a concrete particular in the head. Furthermore, subjectivism cannot be rescued by adopting unorthodox metaphysical theories about the type/token and universal/particular contrasts. The final section argues that concepts are not representations or signs, but something represented by signs. Even if RTM is right to explain conceptual thinking by reference to the occurrence of mental representations, concepts themselves cannot be identical with such representations. (shrink)

Following Einstein's prediction of the gravitational bending of light, and in the course of experimental work aimed at its verification, only sporadic and at times misleading references have been made to Johann Georg von Soldner. In a paper published in 1804, Soldner derived the gravitational bending of light on the classical Newtonian basis and calculated its value around the sun with remarkable accuracy. Soldner's paper, inaccessible even in German, is now presented in English translation and put in the perspective (...) of Soldner's life and the science of his day and ours. (shrink)

Ultraviolet radiation is generally considered to have been discovered by Johann Wilhelm Ritter in 1801. In this article, we study the reception of Ritter’s experiment during the first decade after the event—Ritter’s remaining lifetime. Drawing on the attributional model of discovery, we are interested in whether the German physicists and chemists granted Ritter’s observation the status of a discovery and, if so, of what. Two things are remarkable concerning the early reception, and both have to do more with neglect (...) than with reception. Firstly, Ritter’s observation was sometimes accepted as a fact but, with the exception of C. J. B. Karsten’s theory of invisible light, it played almost no role in the lively debate about the nature of heat and light. We argue that it was the prevalent discourse based on the metaphysics of Stoffe that prevented a broader reception of Ritter’s invisible rays, not the fact that Ritter himself made his findings a part of his Naturphilosophie. Secondly, with the exception of C. E. Wünsch’s experiments on the visual spectrum, there was no experimental examination of the experiment. We argue that theorizing about ontological systems was more common than experimenting, because, given its social and institutional situation, this was the appropriate way of contributing to physics. Consequently, it was less clear in 1810 than in 1801 what, if anything, had been discovered by Ritter.Keywords: Johann Wilhelm Ritter; Carl Johann Bernhard Karsten; Christian Ernst Wünsch; Ultraviolet radiation; Conceptions of heat and light. (shrink)

Recalling some recent publications on the influence of the Stoics on the development of Kant’s thought, this article intends to contribute to the knowledge of Kant’s appreciation of ancient authors by revealing the carefully hidden and hitherto unnoticed presence of Seneca behind one of Kant’s most peculiar pre-critical writings: Gedanken bei dem frühzeitigen Ableben des Hernn Johann Friedrich von Funk . Kant not only appears to model this Trostschreiben on Seneca’s famous consolationes; it is also shown that he is (...) constantly alluding to various philosophical writings of Seneca such as De vita beata, De brevitate vitae, De tranquilitate animi, ad Polybium de consolatione, and especially ad Marciam de consolatione. In conclusion it is suggested that the results of this analysis not only reaffirm Kant’s profound acquaintance with Seneca and shed more light on the Kantian style in his popular writings, but can also have some importance for Kant’s biography. (shrink)

Johann Georg Hamann, a contemporary of Kant and Herder, was an important German philosopher of the 18th century, whose significance, however, is not sufficiently recognized today. His cryptic and short writings full of allusions and deep scholarship do not make him an easily accessible writer. He was a sharp critic of sophistry maskerading as philosophy, thus taking over the role of Socrates for his time, connecting a defense of Christian beliefs with a radical re-interpretation of enlightenment, thereby trying to (...) enlighten enlightenment about itself. Hamann's concept of reason as language is an important contribution to the understanding of human nature as such, stressing the concreteness and historicality of human reason. Contrary to earlier interpretations, though, Hamann is no irrationalist, but a thinker who ridicules the absurdities of enlightenment rationalism and proved to be an important source of inspiration for writers like Sören Kierkegaard and Ernst Jünger. (shrink)

There is a clearly discernible thread running through Johann P. Arnason's whole work. Starting with a highly sophisticated discussion of the Marxian term `praxis' in the 1970s he was increasingly able to link his insights to macro-sociological questions. In the 1980s, focusing particularly on the notions of `power' and `culture', he formulated a theory of modernity which challenges the diagnoses of other major contemporary social theorists such as Habermas, Giddens, Castoriadis and others.

The debate concerning the relation of the theory of education and the practice of education is not new. In Germany, these discussions are an integral part of the development of educational science in the eighteenth century which is closely connected to Johann Friedrich Herbart and Friedrich Schleiermacher. Their concepts illustrate different answers upon the question of how to connect theory and practice in education. And although those answers are embedded in a very specific horizon of ethical and metaphysical ideas, (...) the problems which are addressed in those discussions are still important in modern debates. The paper focuses upon the concepts of Herbart and Schleiermacher and presents those theories in the problematic context of the possibilities and limitations of educational theory and its importance for educational practice. (shrink)

Johann Arnason's exploration of the historical constellation of East Asia has helped reproblematize the conceptual framework of modernity and civilization. This article outlines Arnason's innovations in civilizational analysis and social theory in the field of comparative studies of Japan. It sets out the terms on which a nuanced elaboration of Arnason's framework could occur. Two areas warrant closer attention: state formation and the institution of capitalism. It is argued that there are signs of what might be termed a 'tertiary' (...) phase of state formation, implicit in Arnason's discussion of advanced modernity. Moreover, this phase brought Japan into close contact with the newly unfolding context of the West's civilizational imaginary, particularly in its ideological expressions of evolutionism. The article ends on the problematic of capitalism, raising questions about further potential theoretical developments based on Arnason's conclusions and other inventive studies of Japanese capitalism. (shrink)

Johann Georg Hamann, filozof z Królewca, filolog oraz teolog był nazywany przez Goethego „najuczeńszą głową swojego czasu”. Twierdził, że właśnie od niego „najwięcej się nauczył”. Dlatego też zbierał i czytał jego pisma. To samo można powiedzieć o stosunku Ernsta Jüngera do „maga Północy”. Usłyszał o nim przypadkowo w roku 1924 od lipskiego docenta filozofii Hugo Fischera i odtąd był Hamannem zafascynowany. Często powoływał się na niego w węzłowych miejscach twórczości, jak np. w postaci motta z Hamanna w obu wersjach (...) swojej pierwszej pracy Das abenteuerliche Herz. Także dzięki Hamannowi powziął przekonanie, że „wyrazistość jest słusznym podziałem między światłem i cieniem”, jak i to, że najważniejsze fenomeny nie są zjawiskami przyczynowo uszeregowanymi, możliwymi do opanowania przez człowieka, lecz zjawiskami podpowierzchniowo powiązanymi ze sobą. Można je poprzez analogię opisać w zbliżony sposób. Jünger stanął tutaj w jednym szeregu z Hamannem i Goethem. Pod koniec swoich opublikowanych dzienników nazwał swoją znajomość z magiem Północy „nieuniknionym” i zaliczył go do „budzicieli”, którzy uformowali jego charakter. (shrink)

This paper deals with the importance of Fichte’s first visit at the Stift of Tübingen on his philosophical development, ultimately leading to the formulation of the outlines of his wl 1794/5. This paper aims to show that Fichte had been forced to his criticism of Reinhold and than that of Kant by arguments addressed by the Tübingen professor Johann Friedrich Flatt. Therefore, Fichte’s own presentation of his philosophical awakening, attributed to the influence of his Aenesidemus-reading seems to be a (...) skilful retouching of the historical facts. If the presented hypothesis can take some plausibility it opens an interesting perspective on the development of post-Kantian philosophy, as Flatt’s criticism of Reinhold and Kant was not only of importance for Fichte, but also for Hegel and Schelling, albeit denied by all of them.In diesem Beitrag soll gezeigt werden, dass Fichte zu seiner Kant- und Reinhold-Kritik und damit letztendlich auch zu den ersten Schritten auf dem Wege zu seiner eigenen philosophischen Position – ausmündend in die wl von 1794 – auch durch die Kritik Johann Friedrich Flatts an Kant und Reinhold genötigt wurde. Die spätere Darstellung seiner Anfänge durch Fichte selbst, die dem Einfluss der Aenesidemus-Lektüre für seine philosophische Entwicklung die größte Wirksamkeit zuschrieb, könnte unter diesem Aspekt als eine geschickte Retouche der historischen Tatsachen bewertet werden, auf die es in diesem Beitrag geht. Kann die hier aufgestellte Hypothese einige Plausibilität für sich beanspruchen, eröffnet sich eine interessante Perspektive auf die weitere Ausbildung der nachkantischen Philosophie, sofern Flatts Kant- und Reinhold-Kritik nicht nur für Fichte, sondern auch für Hegel und Schelling einen wichtigen – wenn auch von ihnen verleugneten – Stellenwert hatte. (shrink)

ZUSAMMENFASSUNGDie Krise des Protestantismus in der Moderne ist eine Krise des Schriftprinzips. Der Verlust des Schriftprinzips lässt sich deuten als der Verlust der Kategorie der Textualität der Schrift im Prozess der modernen Transformationen des Schriftprinzips. Dieser Aufsatz versucht diese Kategorie wiederzugewinnen, zunächst im Rückgriff auf einen pragmatischen Verstehensbegriff, der an der Philosophie des späten Wittgenstein gewonnen wird: Wir lernen Sprache immer in pragmatischen Kontexten zu verstehen. Darum ist Verstehen zunächst vor allem eine Sache des Verhaltens und Reagierens auf Sprache. Mit (...) Hilfe dieses Verstehensbegriffes wird dann die altlutherische Lehre von der Schrift am Beispiel des theologischen Systems von Johann Andreas Quenstedt reinterpretiert. Die Lehre von der Verbalinspiration kommt so im Kontext eines Begriffes praktisch-präpropositionalen Verstehens der Heiligen Schrift in den Blick, der insbesondere die Passivität des Lesers und das Handeln des Heiligen Geistes durch das Medium des Textes betont. Der Text gewinnt gerade in seiner Materialität Autonomie sowohl gegenüber den Lesern als auch gegenüber seinen Autoren. Dabei wird die Textwerdung des Wortes vom Ziel des Evangeliums, dem Heil der ganzen Menschheit, her begründet. Die Kirche legt, in dem sie die Materialität des biblischen Textes in der Inspirationslehre pneumatologisch interpretiert, Zeugnis von ihrem ihr externen Grund ab: dem Wort Gottes, das sie in diesen Texten hört.SUMMARYThe essay begins with the observation of the following dialectics: The Reformation's claim that Holy Scripture is the basis of theological argument has become the heart of a crisis in recent protestant theology and faith. The essay deals with this crisis in referring to the textuality of the Holy Scripture. This textuality is understood as a category which was lost in the modern shifts of scriptural interpretation. This textuality is here regained in reference to a pragmatic concept of understanding as found in the late Philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein: We learn to understand languages in pragmatic contexts. Therefore, understanding is first of all a way of behaving and reacting to language. The Lutheran theology of Scripture as found in the Theology of Johann Andreas Quenstedt , a main exponent of late 17th century Lutheran Theology, is reinterpreted in light of this concept of textuality. The dogma of verbal inspiration with Quenstedt is understood in the context of a pneumatological concept of pragmatic-prepropositional understanding of Scripture that emphasises the passivity of the reader and the acting of the Holy Spirit by means of the biblical Text . The text of the Holy Scripture gains autonomy from its authors and its readers by reference to its materiality, which is necessary due to the universal salvific aim of the Gospel. Hence, the pneumatological interpretation of the materiality of the biblical text in the dogma of verbal inspiration is an interpretation by which the Church testifies that its external ground, the Word of God, is heard in these texts. (shrink)