An essay by philosopher Slavoj Zizek, with an English translation of Schelling's beautiful and evocative "Ages of the World, " second draft.

[v. 1] Sein werden; familien- und freundesbriefe, 1783 bis 1804.-[v. 2] Sein wirken; familien- und freundesbriefe, 1804 bis 1834.

Recently, the gender asterisk has become more widespread in grammatical gender languages in order to represent all genders. Such gender-fair language is intended to help better address women and other genders and make their interests and achievements more visible. Critics often argue this would make the language less comprehensible and less aesthetically appealing. Two experiments examined the effects of the gender asterisk on text comprehensibility, aesthetic perception, and interest. N = 159 and N = 127 participants were randomly provided with (...) a text in either masculine-only form or alternatively in gender-fair language with the gender asterisk. The results of the first experiment showed no impairment of comprehensibility and aesthetic evaluation of the texts by the gender asterisk and no effect on interest in the game, while the second experiment showed significant impairments of comprehensibility, aesthetic evaluation, and interest in the game by the gender asterisk. The proportion of singular forms is discussed as a possible explanation for the different results. Experiment 1 predominantly used plural forms like die Spieler*innen and did not include forms such as der*die Spieler*in, whereas Experiment 2 included many such more complex singular forms. We argue that this issue might be crucial, and that it deserves full attention in future studies. (shrink)

Christian Thomasius gehört zu jenen Autoren der Frühen Neuzeit, an die sich die Wissenschaft nicht nur bei Gelegenheit von Gedenktagen erinnert. Der hier dokumentierte Stand der Forschung zeigt, daß sich mit den historischen Erkenntnissen nicht nur das Themenspektrum erweitert hat, sondern auch die Probleme gewachsen sind. Die Vermehrung unseres Wissens hat dazu beigetragen, das Bild des Frühaufklärers schärfer zu profilieren und stereotype Einzelzüge aufzulösen, womit Raum für die Kombination neuer Fragen und Erklärungen geschaffen wurde. Der vorliegende Band vereinigt die Beiträge (...) eines interdisziplinären Kolloquiums, das im Juni 1995 in Magdeburg stattgefunden hat. (shrink)

It seems to make perfectly good sense to distinguish between what is expressed and the way in which it is expressed. There is little doubt that there are many different ways of saying the same thing open to us. If I denied this, I would certainly be wrong. And yet a word of caution may not be amiss. Among logicians a tendency has grown up to concentrate their attention on those properties of a statement which make it true or false, (...) what they call a “proposition”, and to neglect the form in which it is expressed. I think it is a dangerous tendency as it may lead to overlooking all sorts of differences which are due to the form. Let me give an example taken from F. P. Ramsey. (shrink)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain (...) in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

Logical reconstruction is a fundamental philosophical method for achieving clarity concerning the prerequisites, presuppositions and the logical structure of natural language arguments. The scope and limits of this method have become visible not least through its intense application to Anselm of Canterbury’s notorious proofs for the existence of God. This volume collects, on the one hand, reconstructions of Anselmian arguments that take account of the problems of reconstruction and, on the other hand, theoretical reflections on reconstruction with a view to (...) Anselm. We hope that this will allow the reader to critically assess the merits of the theoretical accounts in the light of the reconstructions and the merits of the reconstructions in the light of the theoretical accounts. In general, by considering the example of an outstanding thinker in one or the other way, this volume aims at advancing the methodology and the practice of logical reconstruction. The following remarks explain and motivate this undertaking: What purposes does logical reconstruction serve? What purposes does the reflection on logical reconstruction serve? In which ways can the practice and theory of reconstruction profit particularly from studying Anselm’s reasoning? How can the resulting problems be addressed? – Finally, a short overview over the contributions to this volume is offered. (shrink)

Die Dialektik Hegels und ein romantisch-mystischer Grundzug des Denkens bilden den gemeinsamen Hintergrund, auf dem der Begriff des Schöpferischen bei Ernst Bloch und Franz von Baader entwickelt wird. Die vorliegende Untersuchung bringt nicht nur eine Klärung wenig beachteter geistesgeschichtlicher Zusammenhänge, sondern leistet darüber hinaus einen wertvollen Beitrag zur Auseinandersetzung der katholischen Theologie mit dem Neomarxismus.