In 1956, in his Principles of Embryology, Conrad Hal Waddington explained that the word “epigenetics” should be used to translate and update Wilhelm Roux’ German notion of “Entwicklungsmechanik” to qualify the studies focusing on the mechanisms of development. When Waddington mentioned it in 1956, the notion of epigenetics was not yet popular, as it would become from the 1980s. However, Waddington referred first to the notion in the late 1930s. While his late allusion clearly reveals that Waddington readily (...) associated the notion of epigenetics with the developmental process, in the contemporary uses of the notion this developmental connotation seems to have disappeared. The advent and success of molecular biology have probably contributed to focusing biologists’ attention on the “genetic” or the “non-genetic” over the “developmental”. In the present paper, I first examine the links that exist, in Waddington’s work, between the classical notion of epigenesis in embryology and those of epigenetics that Waddington proposed to connect, and even synthesize, data both from embryology and genetics. Second, I show that Waddington’s own view of epigenetics has changed over time and I analyze how these changes appear through his many representations of the relationships between genetic signals and developmental processes. (shrink)

Diese Festschrift für Michael Fischer ist ein Patchwork und eine wunderbare Mischung aus Wissenschaft, Persönlichem, Freundschaft und Genuss. Sie setzt sich aus unterschiedlichen und vielseitigen Texten, Zeichnungen und Bildern zusammen, von Menschen, die ihn begleitet haben, manche viele Jahre, manche nur eine kurze, aber entscheidende Zeit. Studentinnen und Studenten, die von ihm gelernt haben, Kolleginnen und Kollegen, die mit ihm Ideen entwickelt, Projekte initiiert und geforscht haben, Freunden aus Kunst und Kultur, Theater, Oper und den Bühnen des Lebens, nämlich: Eric (...) Hobsbawm, Claudio Magris, André Glucksmann, Wolf Singer, Johannes Hahn, Volker Gerhardt, Thomas Fischer, Rudolf (+) und Gundl Hradil, Helga Rabl-Stadler, Gerard Mortier, Jürgen Flimm, Brita Steinwendtner, Veit Heinichen, Peter Ruzicka, André Tubeuf, Thomas Oberender, Stefan Zweifel, Hermann Lübbe, Eduardo Chitas, Wilhelm Donner, Hans Eichhorn, Reinhard Kacianka, Tina Perisutti, Ulrich H. J. Körtner, Markus Hengstschläger, Henriette und Conrad Ulrich-Hürlimann, Michael Hagner, Thomas Macho, Johann Weyringer, Birgit Recki, Walther Ch. Zimmerli, Andreas Cesana, Kurt Seelmann. (shrink)

Mensch und Erde.--Bewusstsein und Leben.--Über den Begriff der Persönlichkeit.--Bemerkungen über die Schranken des Goetheschen Menschen.--Wilhelm Jordan--Über Conrad Ferdinand Meyers Gedichte.--Warum bringt es Verderben, den Schleier des Isisbildes zu heben?--Über Sexus und Eros.--Vom Verhältnis der Erziehung zum Wesen des Menschen.--Vom Traumbewusstsein.--Brief über Ethik.--Schröder, H. E. Einführung in das Werk von Ludwig Klages.

Here we can find out about irony and the meaning of life, the politics of the nuclear family, Marxism in Springfield, the elusiveness of happiness, popular parody as a form of tribute, and why we need animated TV shows. As if all that weren't enough, this book actually contains the worst philosophy essay ever.

1. Bd. Erkenntnislehre.--2. Bd. Formale Logik.

A metafisica traditional de Descartes, Kant e Moore tern a pretensão de possuir um conhecimento certo sobre o Eu e sobre o Mundo. Em Sobre a Certeza, Wittgenstein critica esta metafisica de forma radical, pois, segundo ele, a metafisica traditional confunde as "proposições gramaticais" com proposições metafisicas. Por esta razão o presente artigo concentra-se sobre a estrutura das "proposições gramaticais" e as suas diferenças em relação a orações com conteúdo proposicional e a pretensão de verdade. Na prossecução desta andlise o (...) artigo procura responder a questões como as seguintes: "Em que consiste a semantica pragática de Wittgenstein?" "Qual a relação entre "proposicoes gramaticais" e proposições empiricas?" e "Em que medida proposições gramaticais podem determinar uma visdo do mundo?". /// Traditional metaphysics by Descartes, Kant and Moore claims to have a certain knowledge of the I and of the world In Über Gewißheit Wittgenstein criticizes this metaphysics radically: traditional metaphysics misunderstands "grammatical sentences" as metaphysical sentences. This is why the following examination focuses on the structure of "grammatical sentences "and their differences to sentences with propositional contents and a claim to truth In this examination we will also have to answer questions like: "What does Wittgenstein's pragmatic semantics consist of?", "What is the relationship between ' grammatical sentences' and empirical sentences?" and "In which respect do ' grammatical sentences' determine a world view? ". (shrink)