The prospective introduction of autonomous cars into public traffic raises the question of how such systems should behave when an accident is inevitable. Due to concerns with self-interest and liberal legitimacy that have become paramount in the emerging debate, a contractarian framework seems to provide a particularly attractive means of approaching this problem. We examine one such attempt, which derives a harm minimisation rule from the assumptions of rational self-interest and ignorance of one’s position in a future accident. We contend, (...) however, that both contractarian approaches and harm minimisation standards are flawed, due to a failure to account for the fundamental difference between those ‘involved’ and ‘uninvolved’ in an impending crash. Drawing from classical works on the trolley problem, we show how this notion can be substantiated by reference to either the distinction between negative and positive rights, or to differences in people’s claims. By supplementing harm minimisation with corresponding constraints, we can develop crash algorithms for autonomous cars which are both ethically adequate and promise to overcome certain significant practical barriers to implementation. (shrink)

Conceptualism is the view that cognizers can have mental representations of the world only if they possess the adequate concepts by means of which they can specify what they represent. By contrast, non-conceptualism is the view that mental representations of the world do not necessarily presuppose concepts by means of which the content of these representations can be specified, thus cognizers can have mental representations of the world that are non-conceptual. Consequently, if conceptualism is true then non-conceptualism must be false, (...) and vice versa. This incompatibility makes the current debate over conceptualism and non-conceptualism a fundamental controversy since the range of conceptual capacities that cognizers have certainly has an impact on their mental representations of the world, on how sense perception is structured, and how external world beliefs are justified. Conceptualists and non-conceptualists alike refer to Kant as the major authoritative reference point from which they start and develop their arguments. The appeal to Kant attempts to pave the way for a robust answer to the question of whether or not there is non-conceptual content. Since the incompatibility of the conceptualist and non-conceptualist readings of Kant indicate a paradigm case, hopes have risen that the answer to the question of whether Kant is a conceptualist or a non-conceptualist might settle the contemporary controversy across the board. This volume searches for that answer. This book is based on a special issue of the International Journal of Philosophical Studies. (shrink)

This volume offers a systematic overview of Kantian philosophy and of central currents and developments in contemporary philosophy.

In den 1980er Jahren wurde das Erhabene im Kontext der Debatten um die Postmoderne wiederentdeckt. Dabei konzentrierte man sich auf die Theorien Burkes und Kants, in denen das Schöne dem Erhabenen gegenübergestellt wird. Die Geschichte des Erhabenen in der Frühen Neuzeit dagegen blieb weitgehend im dunkeln. Diese Geschichte wird hier dargestellt, wobei die Studie von der These ausgeht, daß für diesen Zeitraum gerade nicht die Dichotomie von Schönem und Erhabenem zentral ist, sondern die Opposition zweier Modelle des Sublimen selbst: das (...) Erhabene des Ps.-Longin und die Dreistillehre der klassischen Rhetorik. (shrink)

Dietmar Wetzel unternimmt eine diskurskritisch-vergleichenden Lektüre zweier Theorielinien der neueren Sozialphilosophie: identitäts- versus alteritätsorientierte Konzepte. Das Denken des Ethischen und des Politischen wird dabei anhand einer Beschäftigung mit Schlüsselbegriffen, Konstellationen und Figuren der Gegenwartsgesellschaft thematisch an Gerechtigkeit, Geschlecht, Dritte(m) und Gemeinschaft ausgerichtet. Soziologische Essays, dem Intellektuellen, der Hausfrau, dem Grenzpolizisten und dem Flüchtling gewidmet sind, komplementieren die Analysen. So kann gezeigt werden, daß differenztheoretische Positionen (Lévinas/Derrida) den Begriff der Gerechtigkeit um Aspekte der Fürsorge und der moralischen Gefühle erweitern müssen (...) (Benhabib, Cornell). Da im Übergang der Ich-Anderer-Beziehung zu "ordentlichen Bezügen" das Dritte eine grundlegende Rolle spielt, läßt sich Gemeinschaftsbildung nicht mehr im Sinne natural bzw. religiös begründeter Nachbarschaft (Kommunitarismus), sondern nur als stets neu zu legitimierende und variierende Kultivierung von Andersheit begreifen. (shrink)

We investigate the expressive power of Parikh's Game Logic interpreted in Kripke structures, and show that the syntactical alternation hierarchy of this logic is strict. This is done by encoding the winning condition for parity games of rank n. It follows that Game Logic is not captured by any finite level of the modal -calculus alternation hierarchy. Moreover, we can conclude that model checking for the -calculus is efficiently solvable iff this is possible for Game Logic.

Hegel’s major claim is that true philosophy provides the complete rational cognition of the absolute. Since by definition the complete cognition of the absolute cannot be cognitively exceeded, true philosophy itself must account for the completeness claim. There are three places in particular where Hegel develops this claim: in the Phenomenology of Spirit, in the Science of Logic and in the Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences. I explore the different ways in which Hegel elucidates the rational, non-circular explication of how to (...) philosophically conceive of the complete comprehension of philosophy itself, i.e., his philosophy of philosophy or metaphilosophy. (shrink)

Dietmar Mieth (* 1940), profilierter Moraltheologe, Wissenschaftsorganisator und Meister Eckhart-Spezialist, schildert in diesem Buch seine Erfahrungen in Kirche und Gesellschaft. Die Auseinandersetzungen aus 50 Jahren, an denen der Autor selbst intensiv beteiligt war, werden dabei lebendig: von der Kindheit und Jugend in der vorkonziliaren Kirche, uber das Tubingen der spaten 60er-Jahre, die Diskussionen um die autonome Moral Alfons Auers, den Fall Pfurtner und die Kolner Erklarung, bis hin zur Grundung des Tubinger Internationalen Zentrums fur Ethik in den Wissenschaften und (...) zur ethischen Politikberatung. Ein spannendes Stuck Zeitgeschichte im Spiegel einer aussergewohnlichen Biographie! (shrink)

Normative ethics concerns the criticism and justification of morality, law, and other systems of norms. This book develops a normative ethical theory based on individuals and offers a third way beyond the dominant paradigms of Kantianism and Utilitarianism. This theory can assist us in answering concrete ethical questions. The book discusses, for example, the existence of duties to oneself, the permissibility of paternalistic decisions for others, and the status of supererogatory actions. It also considers various problems in bioethics. Key features: (...) Development of a new normative ethical theory Up-to-date overview of the topic Written in clear and comprehensible style Provides answers to concrete ethical problems Also of interest for doctors, lawyers, and economists ". (shrink)

I present the arguments Hegel puts forward in favor of this rather challenging account of skepticism. In Section 2, I discuss the celebrated conception of “self-fulfilling skepticism” of the Phenomenology of Spirit that is supposed to overcome untrue types of cognition in order to promote “absolute knowing.” In Section 3, I debate Hegel’s more advanced view according to which genuine skepticism must be construed as dialectic.

Der vorliegende Band umfasst Beitrage zu einem zentralen Thema bei Platon: 'Physis' kann bei Platon im naturwissenschaftlichen Sinne als physische, biologische, materielle Natur oder im ubertragenen Sinne als eigenes Wesen, etwa hinsichtlich Seele, Kosmos oder Gottlichem, verstanden werden. So werden in diesem Band medizinische, biologische und kosmologische Ansatze ebenso wie ontologische, epistemologische und padagogische Themen zu Platons 'Physis'-Konzept fokussiert. Die zeitgenossische Nomos-Physis-Diskussion Platons mit den Sophisten sowie seine sprach- und kulturphilosophischen Uberlegungen spielen hier eine wichtige Rolle. Die anspruchsvolle literarische Gestaltung (...) der Platonischen Dialoge ist fur die genannten Fragestellungen hochst relevant, ebenso die Auseinandersetzung spaterer platonischer Philosophen mit Platons Physis-Konzept. Mit Beitragen von:Michele Abbate, Christian Brockmann, Ramon Cornavaca, Diego De Brasi, Pantelis Golitsis, Julia Knauss, Dietmar Koch, Mai Oki-Suga, Irmgard Mannlein-Robert, Oliver Primavesi, Mario Regali, Carlos Steel, Angela Ulacco. (shrink)

The article tries to inquire a third way in normative ethics between consequentialism or utilitarianism and deontology or Kantianism. To find such a third way in normative ethics, one has to analyze the elements of these classical theories and to look if they are justified. In this article it is argued that an adequate normative ethics has to contain the following five elements: (1) normative individualism, i. e., the view that in the last instance moral norms and values can only (...) be justified by reference to the individuals concerned, as its basis; (2) consideration of the individuals’ concerns and interests—aims, desires, needs, strivings—insofar as they have a justificatory function; (3) a pluralism of references of these concerns and hence of moral norms and values to all possible elements of actions; (4) the necessity of a principle of aggregation and weighing with regard to these concerns; (5) finally, as a central principle of aggregation and weighing, the principle of relative reference to self and others, operating as a generalizing meta-principle that guides the application of concrete principles and decisions. (shrink)

Recent developments in neuroscience have inspired proposals to perform deep brain stimulation on psychopathic detainees. We contend that these proposals cannot meet important ethical requirements that hold for both medical research and therapy. After providing a rough overview of key aspects of psychopathy and the prospects of tackling this condition via deep brain stimulation, we proceed to an ethical assessment of such measures, referring closely to the distinctive features of psychopathic personality, particularly the absence of subjective suffering and a lack (...) of moral motivation. Scrutiny of these factors reveals that two essential bioethical criteria, individual medical benefit and voluntary informed consent, cannot be met in performing neurosurgical experiments or treatments on psychopathic inmates. (shrink)

Dietmar Zaefferer Institutfiir Deutsche Philologie Universitdt Munchen Schellingstr. 3 D-8000 Munchen 40 Semantic universals are the properties the ...

This article improves our understanding of the reasons underlying the intellectual migration of scientists from existing cognitive domains to nascent scientific fields. To that purpose we present, first, a number of findings from the sociology of science that give different insights about scientific migration. We then attempt to bring some of these insights together under the conceptual roof of an actor-based approach linking expected utility and diffusion theory. Intellectual migration is seen as the choice of scientists who decide under uncertainty (...) and on the base of estimations about probabilities, costs, and benefits of the migration. The resulting choice model can be used as a heuristic base for further exploration of the subject. (shrink)

The constitutions of the decolonized new nations were marked by the process of the devolution of power. This process had an impact on the agenda setting and arena setting embedded in these constitutions. ‘Agenda’ refers to the conduct of political affairs and ‘arena’ to the delimitation of the powers of Parliament, the design of constituencies, etc. As a special feature, federalism was introduced by several constitutions. It emerged as a device for the gradual devolution of power. In some instances it (...) proved to be a permanent asset (India), in others it was contested (Nigeria) or rejected (Rhodesia). None of the new constitutions contained adequate provisions for the civilian control of the armed forces. The armed forces were simply taken for granted and their potential political role disregarded. But in many new nations political power was soon usurped by the armed forces and constitutional government was suspended. (shrink)

By tradition, Byzantine dance is linked with both classical antiquity and today’s folk dances of the southern Balkans. Turkish influence on the latter seems limited primarily to musical instruments and melody but does not appear to include rhythm. In antiquity, and in Byzantine times, the simple rhythmic foot was divided into arsis and thesis, the ‘up’ and ‘down’ of a step, and the ratio of their lengths determined the rhythmic genus, 1:1 dactylic, 2:1 iambic, 3:2 paeonic and 4:3 epitrite. This (...) implies measures of 2, 3, 4, 5 or 7 units and certain multiples. In addition, there were also composite rhythmic feet which combined simple feet of different genera. In early Byzantium, for example, measures of 11 and probably of 9 units were used. These seem to correspond to the forms 3+3+2+3, 2+3+2+2+2 and 2+2+3+2. This would suggest that the asymmetric rhythms of Greek, Bulgarian and Macedonian folk dances derive from ancient and Byzantine predecessors. (shrink)