I consider whether the discovery of the quantum of action has any bearing on reductive physicalism. More particularly, I consider the arguments of the "new hylomorphists" to the effect that quantum physics sits most comfortably in their anti-reductionist framework.

Social scientists usually presuppose that individual behaviour is meaningful and understandable. At the same time they aim at nomological explanations. This is criticized by some economists who recommend a hermeneutical turn to overcome the crisis in economic and sociological thinking. The author tries to show that it is counterproductive to turn to hermeneutics to solve social science problems, and that it is misleading to use Max Weber in support of this claim, because Weber's ideas are incompatible with hermeneutics a la (...) Heidegger. (shrink)

Vittorio Hösle has made the attempt to justify objective idealism by using the method proposed by Karl Otto Apel. By analysing the logical structure of his argument it is shown that this attempt has completely failed. All steps of the argument depend on conceptual confusion and other mistakes.

Ratzinger's Apology of Christianity can be characterized as an interpretation of the Bible based on spiritualist metaphysics. This paper is a critical analysis of the central theses and arguments of his book against the background of critical rationalism.

In this paper it is shown that the attempt by Gerhard Seel to give a positive solution to the problem of absolute justification of socalled practical sentences has failed. His attempts to explicate his central concepts and the conditions of adequacy of his fundamental practical sentence are analyzed in detail. And his proposals for the formulation of a sentence of this kind are shown to lead to absurd consequences, so that consistent fallibilism is saved from his attack.

Ziel der Arbeit ist die Entwicklung eines einzelnen strafrechtlichen Institutes, der Lehre vom Unrechtsbewusstsein, aus dem System der Hegelschen Rechtsphilosophie. Die Arbeit versteht sich als ein Beitrag zur Dogmengeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts, zugleich aber auch als Versuch, das unter Strafrechtlern verbreitete Hegelbild in Frage zu stellen.

In the history of mathematics Leibniz as one of the scientists who developed the calculus of differentials has an outstanding position. However, it is difficult to reconstruct his theory in a consistent way. The main problem is the concept of differential. For an adequate understanding of this concept it is necessary to analyze how it is used. In this article we deal with the first systematic formulation of Leibniz' calculus, the Lectiones de calculo differentialium of Johann Bernoulli from 1691/92. It (...) will be proved that Leibniz's theory is consistent and can be reconstructed as an empirical theory - concerning physical curves - within the structuralist metatheory. The concept of differential is a theoretical one in respect to this theory. (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)

A modest dc electric field markedly reduced the tensile flow stress at high temperatures in three polycrystalline oxides, i.e. MgO, Al2O3 and yttria-stabilized tetragonal ZrO2 (Y-TZP). The reduction in flow stress ΔσE in Y-TZP consisted of three components: (i) ΔσT due to Joule heating, (ii) a rapid, reversible component obtained in on-off and electric field step tests and (iii) the cumulative effect of the field on microstructure. Only ΔσT and occurred in MgO and Al2O3. It is concluded that results from (...) a reduction in the electrochemical potential for the formation of vacancies corresponding to the diffusion of the rate-controlling ion in the space-charge at the grain boundary. The calculated magnitude of the space-charge zone width and its temperature and solute composition dependence are in accord with theory and experiment; is attributed mainly to the retardation of grain growth by the field. The retardation could be due to one or more of the following effects of the field on the space-charge zone: (i) an increase in the segregated solute ions, (ii) a decrease in grain boundary energy and (iii) a decrease in solute ion mobility. (shrink)

Condillac's Essay on the Origin of Human Knowledge, first published in French in 1746 and offered here in a new translation, represented in its time a radical departure from the dominant conception of the mind as a reservoir of innately given ideas. Descartes had held that knowledge must rest on ideas; Condillac turned this upside down by arguing that speech and words are the origin of mental life and knowledge. He argued, further, that language has its origin in human interaction (...) and in our natural capacity to react spontaneously and instinctively to the expression of emotions and states of mind in others. The importance of this pointedly anti-Cartesian view, and its relevance to both aesthetics and epistemology, were quickly understood, and Condillac's work influenced many later philosophers including Herder, Rousseau, and Adam Smith. His conception also anticipated Wittgenstein's view of language, its usage, and its relation to mind and thought. (shrink)

This book is the best and most comprehensive treatment we have of Leibniz' study of natural languages, on the same high level of scholarship, knowledge, and insight as the essay Sigrid von der Schulenburg published in 1937. With its rich detail and source references, it is indispensable both to Leibniz scholars and to students of the history of the study of language. The editor's careful indices make it possible to use the book also as a work of reference. The reviewer (...) shows that the chief impulse to Leibniz' study of languages was the need to disprove the Swedish thesis of the northern origin of the Germanic languages. (shrink)

This paper compares the democratic theories of Pierre Rosanvallon and Axel Honneth. The aim is to show how their work could form the basis of a ‘reconstructivist’ approach in political philosophy that rehabilitates the insights of 19th-century thinkers such as Guizot and Hegel concerning the benefits of combining political philosophy with history and sociology. Whereas the dominant procedural approaches in political philosophy tend to disconnect normative theory from the actual study of society and its history, Rosanvallon and Honneth argue that (...) in order to understand the problems that face our democratic societies today we need a closer connection between theory and practice. Both have therefore developed a method that consists of historically reconstructing developments in modern society in order to identify certain pathologies. The paper compares the different diagnosis that Rosanvallon and Honneth give of the central pathology that faces democracy today, which in Rosanvallon’s reconstruction is related to the problem of representation and in Honneth’s account to the problem of recognition. (shrink)

The idea of distinct brain systems for the processing of episodic and other forms of memory is welcome. The two brain systems actually proposed however, appear to be stripped of further existing connections and could be integrated with one another. If integrating them, it seems more logical to propose one enlarged system of limbic structures whose individual components make partly different contributions to the forms of memory under discussion.

Excerpt from The Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas Several methods may be used in attempting a comprehensive state ment of the philosophy of a great thinker, but frequently no one method alone Will enable us to grasp the essence of his system. Sev eral methods must be used to Obtain a comprehensive knowledge of an extensive and important philosophical system. Because Of the receptive character Of Scholasticism, especially in the thirteenth cen tury, and because of its high regard for tradition (...) and authority, we shall consider the thinkers and philosophical movements to which St. Thomas was indebted. But this method is by no means the only one or the most important. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

. Standard considerations of philosophy of science are reformulated in psychological terms and arguments, suggesting a fundamental change in life perspective: subjective experiences or introspective data are subject to motivational biases and therefore not admitted as objective empirical facts in science, However, we never experience objects or events of the external world, i.e., so called objective facts, but exclusively subjective percepts or mental events. They are merely assumed to, but may or may not be accurate or distorted mental representations of (...) objects or events of an external world. Accordingly, the latter are theoretical constructs, i.e., constructs of the fictitious but most successful predictive (implicit) theory, called external world, which seems to be constructed from regularities observed in mental events and serves as a reference fiction for, erroneously called empirical, tests of predictions of scientific theories. (shrink)