While Russian political parties appear to be institutionalizing to some degree at the national level, they are surprisingly absent at the regional level. This is a result of the dynamics of Russia's dual economic and political transition. Regional elites prefer a “partial reform equilibrium” in political institutional development so that they can avoid widening the sphere of accountability for their decisions in order to protect the gains they have made in the early stage of the economic transition. Strong political institutions—like (...) competitive political parties that penetrate the periphery—would render transitional winners more broadly accountable to wider societal interests as well as to national political actors. The argument suggests that the territorial penetration and further institutionalization of Russia's party system are not necessarily inevitable. Under the conditions of dual, simultaneous economic and political transitions, elites may prefer an equilibrium of political underinstitutionalization to preserve their early winnings from the economic transition. (shrink)

We invoke the ideal of tolerance in response to conflict, but what does it mean to answer conflict with a call for tolerance? Is tolerance a way of resolving conflicts or a means of sustaining them? Does it transform conflicts into productive tensions, or does it perpetuate underlying power relations? To what extent does tolerance hide its involvement with power and act as a form of depoliticization? Wendy Brown and Rainer Forst debate the uses and misuses of tolerance, an (...) exchange that highlights the fundamental differences in their critical practice despite a number of political similarities. Both scholars address the normative premises, limits, and political implications of various conceptions of tolerance. Brown offers a genealogical critique of contemporary discourses on tolerance in Western liberal societies, focusing on their inherent ties to colonialism and imperialism, and Forst reconstructs an intellectual history of tolerance that attempts to redeem its political virtue in democratic societies. Brown and Forst work from different perspectives and traditions, yet they each remain wary of the subjection and abnegation embodied in toleration discourses, among other issues. The result is a dialogue rich in critical and conceptual reflections on power, justice, discourse, rationality, and identity. (shrink)

In a highly interesting study, Dam and Dam-Jensen put forward the idea that the indicative and the subjunctive mood in Spanish complementizer phrases can be explained by the instructions they convey. The indicative instructs the addressee to locate the situation created by the verb relative to the situation of utterance, whereas the subjunctive instructs the addressee not to locate the situation described by the verb relative to the situation of utterance. Although this explanation is most appealing, the present paper argues (...) that it also may create explanatory problems. Thus, it is claimed that the notion of _dominion_ can explain the semantic meaning of the Spanish subjunctive mood. This verbal mood designates events that are located outside the conceptualizer’s dominion, either in terms of _epistemic control_ or in terms of effective control. (shrink)

Der Forschungs- und Entwicklungsansatz des Modellprojektes LIMITS fokussiert exemplarisch auf kommunaler Ebene die komplexen Entscheidungsstrukturen in der Versorgung Sterbender mit dem Ziel der strukturellen Absicherung des Willens des Betroffenen. Als interdisziplinär angelegtes Projekt der angewandten Ethik erfolgen die Entwicklungsschritte des Konsensprojekts methodisch auf einer empirischen Grundlage, die erstmalig die Komplexität der beteiligten Akteursperspektiven auf kommunaler Ebene sowohl hinsichtlich ihrer Versorgungs- wie ihrer Entscheidungsaspekte abbildet. Neben den bekannten Fragen kooperativer Versorgung stellen dabei insbesondere problematische Entscheidungen und unangemessene Entscheidungswege das gemeinsame Problem (...) aller Beteiligten in der Sterbephase dar. Die rekonstruierte "finale Verflechtungsfalle" in der letzten Lebensphase macht einen der Komplexität angemessenen organisationellen und kommunalen "ethischen" Entwicklungsansatz notwendig, um eine verlässliche personorientierte Begleitung Sterbender flächendeckend zu erreichen. (shrink)

Using three paradigm cases of persons living with Parkinson's Disease (PD) the authors make a case for augmenting and enriching a Cartesian medical account of the pathophysiology of PD with an enriched understanding of the lived body experience of PD, the lived implications of PD for a particular person's concerns and coping with the illness. Linking and adding a thick description of the lived experience of PD can enrich caregiving imagination and attunement to the patient's possibilities, concerns and constraints. The (...) work of Merleau-Ponty is used to articulate the middle terms of the lived experience of dwelling in a lifeworld. Examining lived experience of embodied intentionality, skilled bodily capacities as highlighted in Merleau-Ponty's non-mechanistic physiology opens new therapeutic, coping and caregiving possibilities. Matching temporal rhythms can decrease the stress of being assisted with activities of daily living. For example, caregivers and patients alike can be taught strategies for extending their lived bodily capacities by altering rhythms, by shifting hyperactivity to different parts of the body and other strategies that change the perceptual experience associated with walking in different environment. A medical account of the pathophysiology of PD is nessessary and useful, but not sufficient for designing caregiving in ways that enrich and extend the existential skills of dwelling of persons with PD. The dominance of mechanistic physiology makes caregivers assume that it is the 'real discourse' about the disease, causing researchers and caregivers alike to overlook the equally real lived experience of the patient which requires different descriptive discourses and different sources of understanding. Lack of dialogue between the two discourses is tragic for patients because caregivers need both in order to provide attuned, effective caregiving. (shrink)

This volume argues that Wittgenstein’s philosophy of religion and his thought in general continue to be highly relevant for present and future research on interreligious relations.

A subset of the Cantor cube is null-additive if its algebraic sum with any null set is null. We construct a set of cardinality continuum such that: all continuous images of the set into the Cantor cube are null-additive, it contains a homeomorphic copy of a set that is not null-additive, and it has the property $\unicode{x3b3} $, a strong combinatorial covering property. We also construct a nontrivial subset of the Cantor cube with the property $\unicode{x3b3} $ that is not (...) null additive. Set-theoretic assumptions used in our constructions are far milder than used earlier by Galvin–Miller and Bartoszyński–Recław, to obtain sets with analogous properties. We also consider products of Sierpiński sets in the context of combinatorial covering properties. (shrink)

Die Beiträge dieses Buches unternehmen den Versuch, Praktische Philosophie in Begriffen einer negativistischen Sozialphilosophie zu rekonstruieren, die ein breites Spektrum von Phänomenen negativer Sozialität in ihrem eigenen Recht beschreibt und dabei davon ausgehen muss, dass sich diese Phänomene nicht in einer voll integrierten Gemeinschaft oder Gesellschaft aufheben lassen. Eine solche Sozialphilosophie geht den Gründen für die Irreduziblität des Negativen einerseits auf einer begrifflichen Ebene, andererseits aber auch in konkreten historisch-sozialphilosophischen, lexikalisch angeordneten Analysen nach. Getragen sind die Analysen von der Überzeugung, (...) dass ohne „Reibung“ an diesen Phänomenen auch ein Leben im Zeichen des Guten oder Gerechten jeglichen Halt an einem leibhaftigen In-der-Welt-Sein verlieren muss. Wir sind nicht nur unaufhebbarer Negativität ausgesetzt, sondern müssen auch verstehen, wie das der Fall ist, und welche Spielräume des Verhaltens sich uns darin eröffnen. (shrink)

Do individuals accept a moral point of view - if they are completely oriented towards their natural preferences and interests? The present article outlines the context of discussion concerning this question within moral philosophy and the social science. In addition it suggests a game-theoretical model with the help of which the question can be answered positively.

»Vernunft und Philosophiegeschichte« ist das erste Buch des 2013 verstorbenen Hegel- und Husserl-Forschers Kurt Rainer Meist. Die bislang unveröffentlichte Dissertationsschrift, 1972 bei Richard Schaeffler und Otto Pöggeler vorgelegt, wird nun aus dem Nachlass herausgegeben. Die Arbeit schafft eine breite Grundlage für Überlegungen zum Konstitutionsproblem von Welt und Geschichte, zu den Problemen einer transzendentalen Begründung einer Theorie der Geschichte sowie zur Intersubjektivität zwischen Natur und Geschichte. Insofern bietet das Werk weit mehr als einen lediglich für die historische Husserl-Forschung bedeutsamen Ansatz.

Dominikanische Theologie nimmt ihren Ausgang bei den Menschen in ihren konkreten Lebenssituationen inmitten der Welt. Diesen Ansatz vertrat bereits Thomas von Aquin, der auf die Tradition horen und gleichzeitig auf die sozialen und politischen Verhaltnisse seiner Zeit theologisch antworten wollte. Anlasslich der Verleihung des Titels "Magister in Sacra Theologia" haben sich die Dominikaner Tiemo Rainer Peters, aus der Tradition der Neuen Politischen Theologie, und der Mediavist Walter Senner historisch und theologisch mit dem Politischen bei Thomas von Aquin auseinandergesetzt und (...) dessen Bedeutung fur die Gegenwart reflektiert. Beide gehen von ihrer eweiligen wissenschaftlichen Hermeneutik aus und damit von unterschiedlicher Seite aufeinander zu - ein ungewohnliches Unterfangen mit signifikanten Erlebnissen. (shrink)

Critical posthumanists have observed that technoscientific developments are in the process of rewriting human ontology, fundamentally changing what it means to be human. While they argue that the posthuman breaks with the Cartesian liberal subject and embraces a more decentered ontology, their analyses remain firmly situated in a Cartesian world that marginalizes if not completely ignores questions about natality. This essay examines two filmic texts, Blade Runner 2049 and the AMC television show Humans, that are situated firmly in a posthuman (...) environment in which technoscience is seemingly rewriting the conditions of being human and blurring the boundary between human and machine, but which focus on natality and childhood and emphasize themes of parenting and growth and development. In doing so, they disclose shortcomings in critical posthumanism that can only be addressed when we give more serious attention to how natality shapes being human. (shrink)

"We shall become more Scandinavian." This sentence was pronounced in 2013 by French President François Hollande's entourage.1 It was the starting point for new legislation, notably on transparency, along with a general attempt to diminish the gap between the ruling class and ordinary people. Hollande was seemingly trying to transform "French political culture, a Latin culture, into a Scandinavian culture."2Hollande was not alone in this attempt. During the 2017 presidential campaign, Emmanuel Macron stated that his political project was "exactly like (...) the Scandinavian model," adding that this Scandinavian model "works much better than ours."3 He also pointed out that he saw the "moralization" of public life as one... (shrink)

Das Kernanliegen Eugen Finks gilt dem Weltverhältnis des Menschen. Obgleich für ihn zunächst die Ansätze von Husserl und Heidegger richtungsweisend sind, legt Fink bereits in seiner bei Husserl angefertigten Dissertation den Grund zu seiner eigenständigen philosophischen Position. Sein späteres "kosmologisches" Denken erschließt dem Weltbegriff durch Rückgriff auf die philosophische Tradition neue Dimensionen und konkretisiert ihn zugleich im Rahmen einer Philosophischen Anthropologie, Sozialphilosophie und einer Philosophie des Pädagogischen. Mit dieser Verschränkung von Mensch und Kosmos bietet Finks Werk bedeutsame Ansatzpunkte für die (...) interdisziplinäre geistes- und naturwissenschaftliche Forschung. Der erste Teil des Buches verortet Finks kosmologisches Denken im Kontext der philosophischen Tradition. Im zweiten Teil wird Finks Konzept sowohl bezüglich seines Gesamtentwurfs wie seiner philosophisch-anthropologischen, sozialtheoretischen und religionsphilosophischen Implikationen befragt. Der Band wird durch Finks Studie "Nietzsches Metaphysik des Spiels" eröffnet. Diese aus dem Jahr 1946 stammende und bislang unveröffentlichte Arbeit belegt die wichtige Rolle, die Nietzsche bei der Ausbildung von Finks Denken von Welt gespielt hat. (shrink)

Despite the ubiquity and critical importance of science and technology in international affairs, their role receives insufficient attention in traditional international relations curricula. There is little literature on how the relations between science, technology, economics, politics, law and culture should be taught in an international context. Since it is impossible even for scientists to master all the branches of natural science and engineering that affect public policy, the learning goals of students whose primary training is in the social sciences should (...) be to get some grounding in the natural sciences or engineering, to master basic policy skills, to understand the basic concepts that link science and technology to their broader context, and to gain a respect for the scientific and technological dimensions of the broader issues they are addressing. They also need to cultivate a fearless determination to master what they need to know in order to address policy issues, an open-minded but skeptical attitude towards the views of dueling experts, regardless of whether they agree with their politics, and (for American students) a world-view that goes beyond a strictly U.S. perspective on international events. The Georgetown University program in Science, Technology and International Affairs (STIA) is a unique, multi-disciplinary undergraduate liberal arts program that embodies this approach and could be an example that other institutions of higher learning might adapt to their own requirements. (shrink)

I developed a first-day exercise for my interdisciplinary “Feminist Epistemology” class that calms students’ fears about what they imagine will be the unduly abstract course content, and engages them in easy but revealing conversation about knowledge. Individually and then together, we explore metaphors and proverbs about knowing body parts and bodily images of knowledge that have the potential to teach us something about knowledge itself. From “the nose knows” to having “seminal ideas” to being a “birdbrain,” expressions reveal how we (...) conceive of knowledge, how we value it, what threatens and safeguards it, and how it relates to identity. (shrink)

The technology in use in a country is determined less by the "supply push" of technologically oriented programs than by the "demand pull" from users. In a market economy, the latter is strong ly influenced by the level and structure of prices, wages, and exchange rates, by the price and avail abitity of credit, raw materials, and energy, by patterns of income distribution, and by the degree of competition among different producers. All of these are strongly influenced by government policies. (...) In a centrally planned economy, the demand for improved technology depends on the incentives facing decision-makers in factories and ministries. In both kinds of economies, the orientation and content of engineering education and general education, influence the values that engineers, entrepreneurs, and other decision-makers bring to the technological aspects of their development. (shrink)

Although there is wide agreement that ethics consults are at risk for conflicts of interest, ethics consultants have limited guidance with regard to how to identify and approach COIs. We aim to address these concerns and provide practical guidance. We will define and consider four categories of COIs: consult type, team composition, dual clinical roles and other concerns. We will define and consider six actions available for ECs to take in response to COIs: no action, disclosure only, obtaining a second (...) opinion, referring to another EC, referring to an institutional ethics committee or seeking an outside consult. We will then propose a points-based algorithm for ECs to use to determine the appropriate response to COI. Finally, we will discuss the strengths and limitations of our proposed algorithm. (shrink)