The paper presents the sources and the development of the medieval doctrine of transcendentals. In Aertsen's opinion transcendental philosophy of the Middle Ages differs considerably from the ontological doctrine of the Ancients as well as from the modern theory referring to the sphere of cognition. The beginnings of the medieval doctrine of the transcendentals were inspired mostly by considerations concerning primary conceptions of human mind included in Avicenna's "Metaphysica". Furthermore, they were connected with the Aristotelian idea of science, the Boethian (...) axiomatic method of "common conceptions of the soul", and theologians' interest in the horizon of human intellectual knowledge. Beside the Aristotelian-Avicennian reduction to the most universal predicate Albert the Great acknowledge another reduction (originating from the Christian-Neoplatonic tradition): reduction to the first cause. In his opinion, these two resolutions are complementary to each other. In the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, transcendentals are most fundamental insofar as they are the foundations of theoretical and practical science. The principle of contradiction – considered as the beginning of theoretical science – rests on the understanding of "being", and the first precept of natural law is founded on "the good". The development of the doctrine of the transcendentals in 13th century aloows to call the period "the second beginning of metaphysics" – since it changes the understanding of the proper subject of First Philosophy. In Albert the Great, for example, matephysics ceases to be the science of the divine, and becomes the science concerning what is first and the most fundamental – "being-as-being". In St. Bonaventure's philosophy, the doctrine of the transcendentals undergoes a theologizing transformation: that, which is first in the cognitive order is, at the same time, first ontologically. For Bonaventure, the latter "first" is God. (shrink)

The 13th century is often regarded as the epitome of the Middle Ages. The present volume aims to demonstrate new perspectives in research into this century. The main topics in the book are questions from the fields of theoretical and practical philosophy, theology, the history of institutions, problems in literature, art, learning and education, and cultural contact. This 27th volume of the Miscellanea Mediaevalia contains the papers delivered to the 31st Medievalists’ Conference held in Cologne in September 1998, together with (...) a number of additional contributions. In keeping with the basic idea of the Cologne Medievalists’ Conferences, the volume is divided into 10 sections containing the 38 papers from philosophy and history, literary history and theology, and the history of learning and the arts. (shrink)

This essay in honour of Carlos Steel examines a fundamental thesis behind the medieval metaphysics of the good, namely the «goodness of being» thesis, according to which everything that is is good. The basic text used is a Quodlibet disputed by the Parisian master Gerard of Bologna at the beginning of the fourteenth century, in which he discusses various determinations of the nature of the good. This discussion reveals the difficulties to which the metaphysics of the good can lead: is (...) it really the case that every being is good? (shrink)

Im Jahre 1994 organisierte der Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftsgeschichte und Geschichte der Wirtschaftslehre an der Universität Łódz eine wissenschaftliche Konferenz, die der 100-jährigen Entwicklung der Soziallehre der Kirche gewidmet war. Als aktiver Teilnehmer dieser zweitägigen Konferenz hörte ich mit grossem Interesse 11 Referate und die ihnen folgenden Diskussionen an. Einen größeren Teil der Referenten stellte die Universität Łódz - die anderen kamen aus verschiedenen akademischen Zentren Polens. Fünf von ihnen waren akademische Lehrer an kirchlichen Hochschulen.

This paper addresses the relationship between corporate political activities (CPA) and a firm’s customer orientation (CO) from a strategy perspective. Focussing on the potential negative implications of CPA, the paper argues that CPA over time may result in path-dependency for the focal strategic system and lead to a low level of customer orientation and strategic rigidity to readdress an appropriate level of CO.

This article is about a new definition of health and how this relates to transition processes. It focuses on the practical translation of the new concepts into challenges for mental health nurses. To that aim the Engagement Model is examined and operationalized. We did so as nurse researcher and lecturer involved in training nurse practitioners.

How situated embodied agents may achieve goals using knowledge is the classical question of natural and artificial intelligence. How organisms achieve this with their nervous systems is a central challenge for a neural theory of embodied cognition. To structure this challenge, we borrow terms from Searle's analysis of intentionality in its two directions of fit and six psychological modes (perception, memory, belief, intention-in-action, prior intention, desire). We postulate that intentional states are instantiated by neural activation patterns that are stabilized by (...) neural interaction. Dynamic instabilities provide the neural mechanism for initiating and terminating intentional states and are critical to organizing sequences of intentional states. Beliefs represented by networks of concept nodes are autonomously learned and activated in response to desired outcomes. The neural dynamic principles of an intentional agent are demonstrated in a toy scenario in which a robotic agent explores an environment and paints objects in desired colors based on learned color transformation rules. (shrink)

Dieser Studie liegt die Annahme zugrunde, dass die Ausformulierung einer normativen Ethik nicht ohne eine ethische G terlehre m glich ist. Damit eine solche G terlehre nicht einfach an kulturspezifische Vorstellungen gebunden bleibt, bedarf es einer praktisch-ethischen Konzeption der menschlichen Natur, die auf einer Reflexion ber die menschlichen Grundbed rfnisse, Verhaltenstendenzen und Entwicklungspotentiale aufbaut. Der aristotelische Ansatz in der Ethik liefert hierzu wertvolle Ausgangspunkte. In diesem Sinne setzt sich die vorliegende Studie das Ziel, den Zusammenhang zwischen Gl ckskonzeption, G terlehre (...) und einer ethisch-praktischen Konzeption der menschlichen Natur in der aristotelischen Ethik zu analysieren. Sie bezieht sich im ersten Teil auf die von Aristoteles selbst verfassten Ethiken und im zweiten Teil auf Positionen seiner sp thellenistischen Nachfolger, die auf die stoische Ethik reagieren und den aristotelischen Ansatz in interessanter Weise weiterentwickeln. Letzteres ist ein bislang stark vernachl ssigtes Forschungsfeld. Im Schlusskapitel wird der aristotelische Ansatz durch eine Er rterung des Verh ltnisses von prudentieller und moralischer Rationalit t und durch den Entwurf einer Konzeption homologer Lebensf hrung systematisch weiterentwickelt. (shrink)

Mass assembly on squares tends to be associated both with democracy and authoritarian as well as populist regimes (where assembly is connected to acclamation). The article elucidates the specific democratic functions of mass assembly, and how they can be facilitated both legally and spatially. In case of the former, it provides a critical analysis of indispensable core components of the right to assemble (which has recently been hollowed out in many jurisdictions); in matters of space, the article proposes characteristics of (...) squares that might facilitate and represent different forms of democratic assembly (without claiming that such characteristics could ever guarantee democratic outcomes). Some recent empirical evidence for how squares have enabled the increasingly important phenomenon of “urban civic revolutions” is also discussed. (shrink)

Autor článku se snaží dokázat, že při formulaci vhodných kritérií je možné (a užitečné) provést komparaci a hierarchizaci kultur. Práce se opírá o teoreticko-historickou metodu (Smith, Hume) i o metodologické přínosy Hayeka (kompozitivní metoda). V souladu s konceptem svobody, který je rozvíjen u Kanta, Hegela, Černého, Patočky, je v návaznosti na Fukuyamu koncipován "ideální typ" konce-vrcholu dějin. Je jím kombinace klasické liberální demokracie a kapitalismu volné tržní soutěže. Jak ukazuje historická evidence, směřování k tomuto vrcholu je inherentní tendencí samotného dějinného (...) pohybu. Pouze klasická liberální demokracie spojená s kapitalismem laissez-faire umožňuje v nejvyšší možné míře uspokojovat lidské potřeby a rozvíjet lidskou přirozenost; tento systém poskytuje prostor pro vrcholný stupeň individuální svobody, totožné se zákonem a zahrnující odpovědnost za právní a politický řád, který umožňuje spontánní fungování volné tržní soutěže. Takto formulovanou svobodu nalézáme pouze v západní kultuře. Na závěr práce je argumentována problematičnost integrace příslušníků kultury s nižší mírou svobody. (shrink)

Hermann Cohen and the Other: The Triumph and Fall of “Pure Reason”The article poses the question of the contemporary validity and meaning of Hermann Cohen’s philosophical thought. It is argued that in order to understand its phenomenon one has to go beyond the epistemological and methodological perspectives in which Cohen’s work has usually been analyzed and probe into the philosopher’s deepest spiritual and intellectual formation — that of Judaism. The author claims that Cohen, otherwise a celebrated academic scholar, was first (...) of all a rabbi, i.e. a teacher in the Judaist tradition. This is the context in which we can weigh his friendship with young Franz Rosenzweig — it was Rosenzweig who first recognized the revolutionary significance of Cohen’s philosophy of religion and utilized the latter in his seminal work The Star of Redemption Der Stern der Erlosung where he emphasized the late stage of Cohen’s intellectual evolution, especially the one associated with Religion der Vernunft aus den Quellen des Judentums 1919. This book is viewed as essentially a reinterpretation of Kant’s moral theory and philosophy of religion in terms of Judaism and the Bible, which in itself marks Cohen’s departure from critical idealism and his shift towards the dialogic philosophy. In this context one can see Cohen as a teacher of the German nation, someone who could accurately examine the dangers of the Romantic theory of the nation as well as the Romantic especially Fichtean version of Kant’s moral theory, dangers corroborated by 20th-century history. While stressing Cohen’s positive contribution to our understanding of the contemporary world, it should be added that the philosopher’s belief in the liberating potential of “pure reason” was heavily damaged in the face of the totalitarian ideas in modern Europe. It does not mean, however, that his thought has lost its potency. On the contrary, in the age of the crisis of rationality Cohen’s work may be seen as a vital testament. Its effectiveness, though, lies not in the power of “pure reason” but in the power of dialogue and the imperative to love one’s neighbor, a rational and free act which surpasses all religious and speculative constraints. Accordingly, the article concludes by pointing to the timeliness and validity of Cohen’s spiritual and intellectual legacy. (shrink)