The thesis addresses the nature of causation. It is argued that causation exists and is as local as its causes and effects. As a consequence, the position advocated is contrary to the as yet prevailing view that no 'causal tie' between cause and effect exists. Moreover, it is suggested that this tie can be perceived. The essay attempts to elucidate the nature of causes, effects, and causal mechanisms. It is argued that they are facts rather than particulars or universals. Furthermore (...) it is suggested that these facts can be conceived of as tropes. Finally, in the light of this thesis a few traditional issues are discussed: what is the relation between causation and explanation? How should we conceive of causal laws? Does the idea of mechanisms with different degrees of reliability further our understanding of the determinism/indeterminism issue? (shrink)

Recent controversy about the use of the vertebrate fossil record for external calibration of molecular clocks centers on two issues, the number of dates used for calibration and the reliability of the fossil calibration date. Viewing matters from a palaeontological perspective, we propose three qualitative, phylogenetic criteria that can be used within a comparative framework for the selection of well-constrained calibration dates from the vertebrate fossil record. On the basis of these criteria, we identify three highly suitable new fossil calibration (...) dates for molecular clock estimates: the lungfish–tetrapod split (between 419 and 408 Ma), the bird–crocodile split (between 251 and 243 Ma), and the alligator–caiman split (between 71 and 66 Ma). Together with our previously suggested bird–lizard split (between 252 and 257 Ma), these four fossil dates span a range of very different ages. They are, in our opinion, more suitable for molecular clock calibration than the traditionally used mammal–bird split, which is less well constrained. We plea for closer interactions between paleontologists and molecular biologists in studying the timescale of vertebrate evolution. BioEssays 27:1069–1075, 2005. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Proven experience can be shared. Given this, we cannot assume that the character of proven experience is always manifest as a physical token in each individual sharing it. But the token might still exist somewhere. Perhaps that is a condition of the proven experience’s existence. Something similar could have been accepted as true of scientific knowledge, especially if those who argued that scientific claims were only shorthand for more complicated claims about observations had been right. But it seems that they (...) were not. Hence there might be an ontological difference explaining why there will always be a netto divergence between science and proven experience. (shrink)

Was macht das vergleichende Sehen mit Bildern und Betrachter*innen? Wie wird der Blick durch das Vergleichen gelenkt und wie werden Bilder vergleichbar gemacht? Ob unter Kunstkenner*innen des 18. Jahrhunderts, in Ausstellungen oder in der Videokunst des 20. Jahrhunderts: Überall animieren Vergleichspraktiken zu körperlichen, medialen oder metaphorischen Blickwechseln. Die Beiträger*innen des Bandes nehmen in breiter historischer sowie systematischer Perspektive die Praktiken in den Blick, die dem Vergleichen von Bildern und Artefakten zugrunde liegen. Ein besonderes Augenmerk liegt dabei auf den Verkettungen von (...) Praktiken, Akteur*innen und Objekten. (shrink)

Aim of the lectures -- Early Brahmanical literature -- Panini's grammar -- A passage from the Chandogya Upanisad -- The structures of languages -- The Buddhist contribution -- Vaisesika and language -- Verbal knowledge -- The contradictions of Nagarjuna -- The reactions of other thinkers -- Sarvastivada Samkhya -- The Agamasastra of Gaudapada -- Sankara -- Kashmiri Saivism -- Jainism -- Early Vaisesika -- Critiques of the existence of a thing before its arising -- Nyaya -- Mimamsa -- The Abhidharmakosa (...) bhasya of Vasubandhu -- The Abhidharmasamuccaya of Asanga and its bhasya -- Bhartrhari -- The problem of negation -- Dignaga and verbal knowledge -- The Bodhisattvabhumi -- Prajnakaragupta -- Indian thinkers and the correspondence principle -- Appendix. The Mahaprajnaparamitasastra and the Samkhya tanmatras. (shrink)

The _Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie_ is the most comprehensive history of philosophy ever published in any language. Since the publication the initial volume in 1863 it has been the aim of this vast scholarly undertaking to elucidate philosophical systems and schools of thought as completely and objectively as possible. Thanks to these merits the _GGPh_ has become the standard work of reference on the history of philosophy for entire generations of scholars, teachers and students of all academic domains. While (...) the first editions had only three volumes, the completely revised new edition published by Schwabe Verlag in Basel, Switzerland, since 1988 is going to comprise of more than 30 volumes. Applying highest scholarly standards, the editors aim at balanced, well-informed presentations of of highest objectivity of individual philosophers, traditions of thought and of philosophical debates. (shrink)

The _Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie_ is the most comprehensive history of philosophy ever published in any language. Since the publication the initial volume in 1863 it has been the aim of this vast scholarly undertaking to elucidate philosophical systems and schools of thought as completely and objectively as possible. Thanks to these merits the _GGPh_ has become the standard work of reference on the history of philosophy for entire generations of scholars, teachers and students of all academic domains. While (...) the first editions had only three volumes, the completely revised new edition published by Schwabe Verlag in Basel, Switzerland, since 1988 is going to comprise of more than 30 volumes. Applying highest scholarly standards, the editors aim at balanced, well-informed presentations of of highest objectivity of individual philosophers, traditions of thought and of philosophical debates. (shrink)

The _Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie_ is the most comprehensive history of philosophy ever published in any language. Since the publication the initial volume in 1863 it has been the aim of this vast scholarly undertaking to elucidate philosophical systems and schools of thought as completely and objectively as possible. Thanks to these merits the _GGPh_ has become the standard work of reference on the history of philosophy for entire generations of scholars, teachers and students of all academic domains. While (...) the first editions had only three volumes, the completely revised new edition published by Schwabe Verlag in Basel, Switzerland, since 1988 is going to comprise of more than 30 volumes. Applying highest scholarly standards, the editors aim at balanced, well-informed presentations of of highest objectivity of individual philosophers, traditions of thought and of philosophical debates. (shrink)

The _Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie_ is the most comprehensive history of philosophy ever published in any language. Since the publication the initial volume in 1863 it has been the aim of this vast scholarly undertaking to elucidate philosophical systems and schools of thought as completely and objectively as possible. Thanks to these merits the _GGPh_ has become the standard work of reference on the history of philosophy for entire generations of scholars, teachers and students of all academic domains. While (...) the first editions had only three volumes, the completely revised new edition published by Schwabe Verlag in Basel, Switzerland, since 1988 is going to comprise of more than 30 volumes. Applying highest scholarly standards, the editors aim at balanced, well-informed presentations of of highest objectivity of individual philosophers, traditions of thought and of philosophical debates. (shrink)

"Fritsche's book, which is closely researched, carefully argued, and philologically rigorous, will become an indispensable point of reference for further debates on Heidegger's ambiguous political and ethical legacy."—Richard Wolin, author of The Politics of Being "Unquestionably, Fritsche has a highly unusual command of the Heideggerian idiom, which he uses to very good effect."—Tom Rockmore, author of On Heidegger's Nazism and Philosophy.

In fields where science and technology overlap, so do different function-ascriptions. The entities of Synthetic Biology research are a case in point, where organisms with biological functionality are altered to perform technical functions. A function theory for SynBiofacts has to address artifactual as well as biological functions of one and the same entity. Further demands on a function theory for Synthetic Biology emerge from methods of SynBiofact creation called kludging and the use-scenarios of SynBiofacts in proof-of-concept research and BioArt. After (...) discussing intentional accounts of technical functions, etiological function theory, contextual causation and contextual selection, a pluralist and weakly normative account of function will be outlined, that, or so it will be argued, can indeed cover all function ascriptions in Synthetic Biology. Lastly, some of the advantages and disadvantages of taking this stance will be outlined. (shrink)

In mainstream educational trends and in particular in public debate, one might perceive a rather superfi cial/uncritical handling of the concept of ‘subject matter’, a handling which infl uences political decisions considerably. This article sets out to analyze the concept of ‘subject matter’ and makes the point that it is both intimately connected to a one dimensional idea of utility and that it as concept marginalizes teaching’s nature of encounter and dialogue, and hereby narrows ‘school’ to ‘learning’ and to some (...) few basic subjects. Furthermore the argument is made that by comparing this narrow utility-like concept to the aesthetics the concept of subject matter can be qualifi ed as closely bound to a form-content side and this in turn opens up to the aspect of character formation. (shrink)

Tendencies of approach and avoidance seem to be a universal characteristic of humans. Specifically, individuals are faster in avoiding than in approaching negative stimuli and they are faster in approaching than in avoiding positive stimuli. The existence of this automatic approach-avoidance bias has been demonstrated in many studies. Furthermore, this bias is thought to play a key role in psychiatric disorders like drug addiction and phobias. However, its mechanisms are far from clear. Theories of embodied cognition postulate that the nature (...) of gestures plays a key role in this process. To shed light on the role of the involved gesture we employed a 2 × 2 factorial design with two types of stimuli. Participants had either to approach positive and avoid negative stimuli or to avoid positive stimuli and approach negative stimuli. Further, they responded either with a joystick or a button press on a response pad. Participants reacted faster in congruent conditions, i.e., avoiding negative stimuli and approaching positive stimuli, than in incongruent conditions. This replicates the known approach and avoidance bias. However, direct analysis of the button press condition revealed no reaction time advantage for congruent trials compared to incongruent trials. In contrast, in the joystick condition participants were significantly faster performing congruent reactions than incongruent reactions. This interaction, a significant reaction time advantage, when the response is enacted by moving a joystick towards or away from the body provides evidence that approach-avoidance tendencies have a crucial bodily component. (shrink)

The Prasastapadabhasya whose real title is Padarthadharmasamgraha is the most important surviving work of classical Vaisesika. Its great popularity which continues today is witnessed by the fact that it exists in numerous editions. Access to and comparison of these different editons has always been hindered by the lack of a word index covering all the existing editions. This book provides such a tool. All readings in all editions are recorded with references to the page numbers in those editions.

We claim that adjustable parameters play a crucial role in building and applying simulation models. We analyze that role and illustrate our findings using examples from equations of state in thermodynamics. In building simulation models, two types of experiments, namely, simulation and classical experiments, interact in a feedback loop, in which model parameters are adjusted. A critical discussion of how adjustable parameters function shows that they are boon and bane of simulation. They help to enlarge the scope of simulation far (...) beyond what can be determined by theoretical knowledge, but at the same time undercut the epistemic value of simulation models. (shrink)

Kripke’s theory of truth is arguably the most influential approach to self-referential truth and the semantic paradoxes. The use of a partial evaluation scheme is crucial to the theory and the most prominent schemes that are adopted are the strong Kleene and the supervaluation scheme. The strong Kleene scheme is attractive because it ensures the compositionality of the notion of truth. But under the strong Kleene scheme classical tautologies do not, in general, turn out to be true and, as a (...) consequence, classical reasoning is no longer admissible once the notion of truth is involved. The supervaluation scheme adheres to classical reasoning but violates compositionality. Moreover, it turns Kripke’s theory into a rather complicated affair: to check whether a sentence is true we have to look at all admissible precisification of the interpretation of the truth predicate we are presented with. One consequence of this complicated evaluation condition is that under the supervaluation scheme a more proof-theoretic characterization of Kripke’s theory becomes inherently difficult, if not impossible. In this paper we explore the middle ground between the strong Kleene and the supervaluation scheme and provide an evaluation scheme that adheres to classical reasoning but retains many of the attractive features of the strong Kleene scheme. We supplement our semantic investigation with a novel axiomatic theory of truth that matches the semantic theory we have put forth. (shrink)