Erkenntnis hängt, wie schon E. Topitsch gezeigt hat, einerseits mit Entlastung vom "Druck der Realität", andererseits mit analogisierender Merkmalsübertragung zusammen. Aus dieser Sicht werden die Erkenntnismodelle im Eleatismus und besonders in der Ideenlehre Platons unbeschadet ihres werthaft-spekulativen Charakters als im doppelten Sinne lebensdienlich betrachtet: sie sind Seinsdeutung und Handlungsorientierung. Der nachplatonische epistemologische "Sündenfall", eingeleitet durch den Proto-Empirismus der Aristotelischen Wissenschaftslehre, führte in einigen großen Entwicklungsschritten in die Laisser-faire-Freiheit sich allein der Wahrheitsidee verpflichtender wissenschaftlicher Forschung. Bis zum Aufkommen des Konventionalismus (...) verstehen sich die wissenschaftlichen Modelle dieses ontologisch-empiristischen "Paradigmas" als wesentlich original-, nicht entscheidungs- und handlungsabhängig, und auch ein sich "kritisch" nennender Rationalismus beläßt es prinzipiell bei der Zweistelligkeit der Modellrelation. Sowohl weite Bereiche der faktischen gegenwärtigen Forschung sowie der Technik- und Wissenschaftsplanung auf der einen wie epistemologische Kritik auf der anderen Seite fordern die explizite Einführung pragmatischer Variablen, insbesondere von Subjekt-, Zeit- und Zielvariablen, in die szientifischen Modellbildungsprozesse. Mit der Unabdingbarkeit einer systematischen Pragmatik besonders für die theoriendynamischen Reflexionen im Big-science-Bereich moderner Technologien finden die weitgehend intuitiven Überzeugungen des klassischen Seins-Sollens-Holismus ihre pünktliche zeitgenössische Entsprechung. (shrink)

Glaubensbegrun̈dung ais Wahrheitsgeschehen, voir E. Biser.--Epikur und Karl Marx oder ein subjektiver Faktor im Fall der Atome, von E. bloch.--Empirismus in der Transzsndentalphilosophie von H. Braun.--Gedanken abselts der dichotomlschen Welterklar̀ung,von K. K. Cho.--Nietzsches Kritik der Moral und die Ansaẗze der existenzphilosophischer Ethik, von H. Fahrenbach.--Hegel ub̈er Nutzen und Nachtell der Philosophie fur̈ den Staart, von H. F. Fjulda.--Anmerkungen zu dem Thema "Hegel und Habermas.----von GH. G. Gadamer.--Arbeit und Internktion, von J. Habermas.--Zwischen Natur und Geschichte, von S. Hosoya.--Das Ende der Unendlichkelt. (...) von G. Knauss.--Historia Magistra Vitae, von R. Koselleck.--Die philosophische Situation selt kant, von G. Krug̈er.--Absolute Reflexion und Sprache, von W. Marx.--Hegel und Gans, von M. Riedel.--Die Moral zwischen Natur und Geschichte, von P. Rossi.--Bemerkungen zu Schopenhauer, von W. Schulz.--A Note on Lucretius, von L. Strauss.--Das Logische Nackte, von W. Szilasl.--Grundmotive der Sozialphilosophie Hegels, von E topitsch.--Zeit und Zeitlosigkelt in der Philosophie A. N. Whiteheads, von R. Wiehl.--Die Anfan̈ge der Phil. (shrink)

If metaphysics is centrally concerned with charting the domain of the possible, the only coherent account of the ground of metaphysical possibility and of our capacity for modal knowledge is to be found in a version of essentialism: a version that I call serious essentialism, to distinguish it from certain other views which may superficially appear very similar to it but which, in fact, differ from it fundamentally in certain crucial respects. This version of essentialism eschews any appeal whatever to (...) the notion of possible worlds in its account of the nature and ground of metaphysical possibility, for reasons that which I shall endeavour to explain and justify in this paper. (shrink)

E. Rae Harcum argues that Christians do not have to give up their religious faith to keep the contributions of science. He confronts the relation between the human body and its non-material parts—the mind and spirit—and provides a way of looking at these metaphysical issues.

This book is about the mind and its connection to the brain. The first two chapters discuss the basic characteristics of the mind, and places it in historical context by noting trends in popular culture, and various people's ideas about the mind. This discussion ends by concluding that the most fruitful approach to studying the mind is a scientific approach that looks for connections between the mind and the brain. The last four chapters focus on the following specific principles: The (...) operation of the mind is hidden; Prediction is an important function of the mind; and Connectivity and communication between different areas of the mind are crucial for the mind's operation. An important feature of this discussion is that it is supported by empirical research, by briefly describing experiments. This book therefore goes beyond simply presenting conclusions, by elucidating the procedures and reasoning that led to those conclusions. The intent of the book is to give readers a feel for the latest scientific thinking about the mind, by focusing on basic principles that hold across many different functions of the mind. One key to marketing the book is to emphasize the fact that the writing makes a fascinating, but complex, subject accessible to the general reader. (shrink)

The Casimir force between two neutral metallic plates is often considered conclusive evidence for the reality of electromagnetic zero-point fluctuations in 'empty space' (i.e. in absence of any boundaries). However, it is not well known that the Casimir force can be derived from many different points of view. The purpose of this note is to supply a conceptually oriented introduction to a representative set of these different interpretations. The different accounts suggest that the Casimir effect reveals nothing conclusive about the (...) nature of the vacuum. (shrink)

Because corporate social responsibility (CSR) is potentially beneficial for companies, it is important to understand the factors that improve a company’s CSR practice. Scholars hypothesize that facilitating learning organization characteristics, which are divided in characteristics at the organizational and the operational level, may improve CSR implementation. These characteristics stimulate companies and their members to be critical, learn from the past, and embrace change, but there is limited empirical evidence of this approach. This study addresses this gap by surveying 280 CSR (...) professionals and performing bootstrap mediation analyses to test multiple hypotheses. Learning organization characteristics at the organizational level, play a key role in supporting CSR implementation: leadership for learning, system connection, and group learning show a direct relationship with CSR implementation. It is striking that the role of the learning organization characteristics at the operational level is only indirect; the organizational characteristics mediate their relationship with CSR implementation. (shrink)

Context: Phenomenology and the enactive approach pose a unique challenge to dream research: during sleep one seems to be relatively disconnected from both world and body. Movement and perception, prerequisites for sensorimotor subjectivity, are restricted; the dreamer’s experience is turned inwards. In cognitive neurosciences, on the other hand, the generally accepted approach holds that dream formation is a direct result of neural activations in the absence of perception, and dreaming is often equated with “delusions.” Problem: Can enactivism and phenomenology account (...) for the variety of dream experiences? What kinds of experiential and empirical approaches are required in order to probe into dreaming subjectivity? Investigating qualities of perception, sensation, and embodiment in dreams, as well as the relationship between the dream-world and waking-world requires a step away from a delusional or altered-state framework of dream formation and a step toward an enactive integrative approach. Method: In this article, we will focus on the “depth” of dream experiences, i.e., what is possible in the dream state. Our article is divided into two parts: a theoretical framework for approaching dreaming from an enactive cognition standpoint; and discussion of the role and strategies for experimentation on dreaming. Based on phenomenology and theories of enactivism, we will argue for the primacy of subjectivity and imagination in the formation of lived experience. Results: We propose that neurophenomenology of dreaming is a nascent discipline that requires rethinking the relative role of third-, first- and second-person methodologies, and that a paradigm shift is required in order to investigate dreaming as a phenomenon on a continuum of conscious phenomena as opposed to a break from or an alteration of consciousness. Implications: Dream science, as part of the larger enterprise of consciousness and subjectivity studies, can be included in the enactive framework. This implies that dream experiences are neither passively lived nor functionally disconnected from dreamers’ world and body. We propose the basis and some concrete strategies for an empirical enactive neurophenomenology of dreaming. We conclude that investigating dream experiences can illuminate qualities of subjective perception and relation to the world, and thus challenge the traditional subject-object juxtaposition. Constructivist content: This article argues for an interdisciplinary enactive cognitive science approach to dream studies. (shrink)

An accessible selection of Professor Gombrich's best and most characteristic writing.

This study provides data for a behavioral paradigm to resolve the free will issue in psychological terms. As predicted, college students selecting among many alternative responses consistently selected according to experimental set, environmental conditions, past experiences and other unknown factors. These explained and unexplained causal factors supplement one another and make varying relative contributions to different behaviors - the Principle of Behavioral Supplementarity. The more psychologically remote the causal factors, the greater proportion of unexplained ones relative to explained ones - (...) the Principle of Remote Antecedence. Both the causal categories can be conceptualized in the incompatible terms of reductionism or intentionality, depending upon the dissociated belief state of the observer - the Principle of Behavioral Complementarity. Ordinarily, on utilitarian grounds, behaviors with psychologically contiguous antecedents are best conceptualized in a reductionistic belief state, and behaviors with remote antecedents are best conceptualized in an intentional belief state. (shrink)

Este artigo compara e contrapõe a abordagem naturalista pragmatista para a peculiaridade da linguagem, exemplificada, principalmente, mas, não exclusivamente, por John Dewey, com a extensa abordagem de Charles Taylor em seu O animal linguístico. Taylor, inspirado pelas obras de Hamann, Herder, e Humboldt, conta com recursos filosóficos e conceituais diferentes para o delineamento do que ele denomina de ‘a forma’ da capacidade linguística humana. Porém, Dewey e Taylor chegam a posições que se sobrepõem sem se identificar: a linguagem é a (...) característica definidora constitutiva dos seres humanos. Seres humanos são definidos pelo surgimento da ‘como’ consciência, uma ‘ruptura’ em nossa imersão imediata no mundo, e, como Peirce e Dewey mostraram de maneira tão lúcida, um reflexivo estar consciente do uso de signos e sistemas de signos de todos os tipos. Esses sistemas potencializam e transformam nosso acesso ao mundo e a nós mesmos. Eles não apenas rotulam um mudo já existente. Eles criam âmbitos de significados e valores que não surgiram sem eles. A distinção crucial de Taylor entre os modelos designativo e constitutivo da linguagem é apoiada plenamente pela consideração pragmatista da linguagem, a qual Taylor não declara. Essa distinção mostrará ser de importância especial para Dewey e Taylor na criação de paisagens existencialmente vitais de significado incorporados nas autodescrições e nas práticas delicadas das artes de auto-reflexão. Tanto Dewey quanto Taylor mostram que assim como as texturas abertas da experiência crescem por suas extremidades, assim a própria linguagem possui sua própria “extremidade” e nos aponta para os domínios “liminares” que sustentam o limiar do sentido para além do totalmente dizível. Esses domínios, que eles mostram de maneiras diferentes mas complementares, são acessados como realidades por formas não discursivas que abrangem as obras de arte, o que Taylor denomina de ‘representações,’ e rituais performativos e restaurativos, tanto pessoais, cívicos e religiosos que incorporam os significados. Dewey e Taylor, divergem, entretanto, sobre se e de que maneira estes domínios precisam transcender a natureza. (shrink)