In weitem Bogen behandeln die Griechischen Studien wichtige Momente der griechischen Geschichte von ihren Anfängen bis ins 4. Jahrhundert v. Chr. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit gilt zunächst - in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Basler Alttestamentler Klaus Seybold - dem Vergleich mit der parallelen Entwicklung in Israel / Juda, um das Charakteristische der griechischen Geschichte zu profilieren. Einen weiteren Schwerpunkt bildet das 4. Jahrhundert v. Chr. mit Studien zur Beurteilung der athenischen Demokratie und zur Bewertung des Tyrannen Dionysios von Syrakus als Wegbereiter der hellenistischen (...) Monarchie. Die letzten drei wissenschaftsgeschichtlichen Beiträge gelten vor allem Jacob Burckhardt und Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff. (shrink)

This book presents startling evidence that state monopolies can produce better outcomes than the free market. It provides an empirical comparison of the property insurance market in five European countries: Britain, Spain, France, Switzerland, and Germany. The market and cost structures of insurers in each country are described, and particular features of each market and the outcomes for customers examined. The regulatory frameworks vary widely from country to country and so do the market outcomes, both in terms of premium level (...) and in terms of available insurance cover.In view of the increase in major floods and other forms of natural damage over the last decades, the non-availability of insurance cover in many competitive insurance systems is likely to become a major political issue. This book shows that state monopoly is an adequate policy response. Competitive insurance systems are shown to provide incomplete cover at a substantially higher cost. In mixed systems, where the private sector can obtain reinsurance from the state the state tends to end up paying most of the costs while the private insurance companies keep most of the premium income.The book will be of interest to academic economists interested in privatization, regulation, the theory of the firm, and insurance; Policy-makers concerned with regulation and privatization; Insurance companies, regulators, and analysts. (shrink)

Die Herausforderung durch "das Neue" hat sich zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts noch einmal entscheidend verschärft. Bio-, Nano- und Medienwissenschaftler verkünden zum wiederholten Male Veränderungen, die das Gesicht und die Ordnung der "Welt" tiefgreifend umgestalten werden. Futurologen sprechen sogar von einer "zweiten Evolution", die sich bereits jetzt ankündige. Die Wahrnehmung des Neuen ist aber selbst eine historische Variable. Deshalb werden in diesem Bande zwei paradigmatische Typen von Gesellschaften auf ihren Umfang mit dem Neuen hin untersucht: eine traditionale, die Antike, und (...) eine modernisierende, die Renaissance. Inhaltlich geht es in beiden Bereichen um Fragen der Kunst- und Literaturtheorie, der ästhetischen und politischen Praxis, der gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen, die das Neue begleiten, bis hin zu dem direkten Vergleich zweier herausragender Gestalten der beiden Epochen: Augustus und Cosimo di Medici. Dabei werden in den Aufsätzen von Altertumswissenschaftlern und Spezialisten für die Renaissance Konzepte unterschiedlicher historischer Gesellschaften nach ihren mentalen Dispositionen und Methoden befragt, um Traditionsbrüche, Innovationen sowie Imaginationen "des Neuen" zu reflektieren. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Klio Jahrgang: 98 Heft: 2 Seiten: 729-731.

This book gathers together for the first time an important body of texts written between 1672 and 1686 by the great German philosopher and polymath Gottfried Leibniz. These writings, most of them previously untranslated, represent Leibniz's sustained attempt on a problem whose solution was crucial to the development of his thought, that of the composition of the continuum. The volume begins with excerpts from Leibniz's Paris writings, in which he tackles such problems as whether the infinite division of matter entails (...) perfect points, whether matter and space can be regarded as true wholes, whether motion is truly continuous, and the nature of body and substance. Comprising the second section is Pacidius Philalethi, Leibniz's brilliant dialogue of late 1676 on the problem of the continuity of motion. In the selections of the final section, from his Hanover writings of 1677-1686, Leibniz abandons his earlier transcreationism and atomism in favor of the theory of corporeal substance, where the reality of body and motion is founded in substantial form or force.Leibniz's texts (one in French, the rest in Latin) are presented with facing-page English translations, together with an introduction, notes, appendixes containing related excerpts from earlier works by Leibniz and his predecessors, and a valuable glossary detailing important terms and their translations. (shrink)

There is an apparent ambiguity in Thomas Hobbes’s account in Leviathan1 of the source of the sovereign’s right to punish. Hobbes appears to both claim and deny that the prospective sovereign is granted the right to punish by prospective subjects. In claiming that the sovereign is granted the right to punish, we understand Hobbes to hold that the acquisition of the right follows from authorization—a process by which a representative is commissioned to act on the behalf of another person. In (...) denying that the sovereign is granted the right to punish, we understand Hobbes to hold that the possession of the right is merely the product of the mass relinquishment of natural rights; the prospective sovereign alone does .. (shrink)

The research project described in this report represents one of the most extensive studies of character education ever undertaken, including over 10,000 students and 255 teachers in schools across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Research techniques consisted of a mixture of surveys, moral dilemmas and semi-structured interviews. This report explores: - The current situation in character education, both in the UK and internationally - How developed British students are with respect to moral character and the extent to which they (...) are able to understand and apply moral virtues, especially those aged 14 and 15 - How teachers in the UK understand their role in terms of students’ moral and character development - What helps or hinders the development of children’s characters according to teachers in UK schools. (shrink)

What happens when the Dalai Lama meets with five leading physicists and a historian? This book documents their fascinating discussions about theoretical quantum physics and Buddhist philosophy.