Although Lorenz Oken is a classic example of Naturphilosophie as applied to biology, his views have been imperfectly understood. He is best viewed as a follower of Schelling who consistently attempted to apply Schelling's ideas to biological data. His version of Naturphilosophie, however, was strongly influenced by older pseudoscience traditions, especially alchemy and numerology as they had been presented by Robert Fludd, whose works were current in Jena and available to him. According to those influences, parts of Oken's philosophical conception (...) were communicable even in a non-idealistic scientific culture, for example in Paris, where Oken met Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Geoffroy however was embedded in a French intellectual tradition, and the correspondence between his views and those of Oken was only superficial. The English anatomist Richard Owen attempted to incorporate the views of Oken and Geoffroy within his own, idiosyncratic system. Although Darwin knew of Oken's ideas, it was Geoffroy who really affected his evolutionary biology, and any influence of Oken must have been attenuated to the point of triviality. (shrink)

In this essay, I argue that Ted Poston's theory of explanatory coherentism is well-suited as a tool for causal explanation in the health sciences, particularly in epidemiology. Coherence has not only played a role in epidemiology for more than half a century as one of Hill's viewpoints, it can also provide background theory for the development of explanatory systems by integrating epidemiologic evidence with a diversity of other error-independent data. I propose that computational formalization of Hill's viewpoints in an explanatory (...) coherentist framework would provide an excellent starting point for a formal epistemological (knowledge-theoretical) project designed to improve causal explanation in the health sciences. As an example, I briefly introduce Paul Thagard's ECHO system and offer my responses to possible objections to my proposal. (shrink)

Following the concept of internal representations, signal processing in a neuronal system has to be evaluated exclusively on the basis of internal system characteristics. Thus, this approach omits the external observer as a control function for sensory integration. Instead, the configuration of the system and its computational performance are the effects of endogeneous factors. Such self-referential operation is due to a strictly local computation in a network. Thereby, computations follow a set of rules that constitutes the emergent behaviour of the (...) system. Because these rules can be demonstrated to correspond to a "logic" intrinsic to the system, it can be shown that the concept of internal representation provides the basis for neurosemantics. (shrink)

This book covers the overlap between informatics, computer science, philosophy of causation, and causal inference in epidemiology and population health research. Key concepts covered include how data are generated and interpreted, and how and why concepts in health informatics and the philosophy of science should be integrated in a systems-thinking approach. Furthermore, a formal epistemology for the health sciences and public health is suggested. -/- Causation in Population Health Informatics and Data Science provides a detailed guide of the latest thinking (...) on causal inference in population health informatics. It is therefore a critical resource for all informaticians and epidemiologists interested in the potential benefits of utilising a systems-based approach to causal inference in health informatics. (shrink)

Models of illness causation play a crucial role in medicine and public health. In their recent paper on this topic, Michael Kelly, Rachel Kelly, and Federica Russo state that the integration of social, biological, and behavioral causes in one and the same etiologic mechanism remains to be clarified. In particular, they think that current models of illness causation do not appreciate "the truly integrated nature of bio-social-behavioral pathogenesis". In brief, Kelly, Kelly, and Russo suggest that two levels of explanation are (...) at work in medicine and public health, biological and social; that integration is difficult because of resistance to including social determinants of disease in both the... (shrink)

Many kinds of complex systems exhibit characteristic patterns of temporal correlations that emerge as the result of functional interactions within a structured network. One such complex system is the brain, composed of numerous neuronal units linked by synaptic connections. The activity of these neuronal units gives rise to dynamic states that are characterized by specific patterns of neuronal activation and co-activation. These patterns, called functional connectivity, are possible neural correlates of perceptual and cognitive processes. Which functional connectivity patterns arise depends (...) on the anatomical structure of the underlying network, which in turn is modified by a broad range of activity-dependent processes. Given this intricate relationship between structure and function, the question of how patterns of anatomical connectivity constrain or determine dynamical patterns is of considerable theoretical importance. The present study develops computational tools to analyze networks in terms of their structure and dynamics. We identify different classes of network, including networks that are characterized by high complexity. These highly complex networks have distinct structural characteristics such as clustered connectivity and short wiring length similar to those of large-scale networks of the cerebral cortex. (shrink)

Theory of illness causation is an important issue in all biomedical sciences, and solid etiological explanations are needed in order to develop therapeutic approaches in medicine and preventive interventions in public health. Until now, the literature about the theoretical underpinnings of illness causation research has been scarce and fragmented, and lacking a convenient summary. This interdisciplinary book provides a convenient and accessible distillation of the current status of research into this developing field, and adds a personal flavor to the discussion (...) by proposing the etiological stance as a comprehensive approach to identify modifiable causes of illness. (shrink)

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a complex neonatal disorder with multiple contributing factors. In this paper we have mounted the evidence in support of the proposal that neonatal sepsis meets all requirements for being a cause of ROP (not a condition, mechanism, or even innocent bystander) by means of initiating the early stages of the pathomechanism of ROP occurrence, systemic inflammation. We use the model of etiological explanation, which distinguishes between two overlapping processes in ROP causation. It can be shown (...) that sepsis can initiate the early stages of the pathomechanism via systemic inflammation (causation process) and that systemic inflammation can contribute to growth factor aberrations and the retinal characteristics of ROP (disease process). The combined contribution of these factors with immaturity at birth (as intrinsic risk modifier) and prenatal inflammation (as extrinsic facilitator) seems to provide a cogent functional framework of ROP occurrence. Finally, we apply the Bradford Hill heuristics to the available evidence. Taken together, the above suggests that neonatal sepsis is a causal inducer of ROP. (shrink)

Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700-1766) is considered to be one of the greatest scholars of the Early German Enlightenment. As a professor for poetics in Leipzig, he worked towards a reformation of the German language and a renaissance in German drama. His extensive correspondence and social contacts made him a ‚European event‘ and his papers are being presented here in a standard edition: 25 volumes, approx. 6,000 letters to and from Gottsched, predominantly in German, are being published with a critical apparatus (...) and an academic commentary. This edition is being published in co-operation with the Saxonian Academy of Sciences and edited by members of the academy. The edition is scheduled to be published over 25 years and offers an ideal addition to the multi-volume edition of Gottsched's works, already published by de Gruyter. (shrink)

In his study on 'schelling's and hegel's verhaltnis zur naturwissenschaft' of 1844 m j schleiden, one of the leading biologists of that time, opposed the speculative idealism. his work marks the change of the german biology to a science that is founded on materialistic assumptions. it gives the essence of a discussion that is not only interesting in a historical perspective but accentuated an ongoing controversy.

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Dieser Aufsatz beschreibt und erörtert fünf Aspekte der gegenwärtigen Wissenschaft: Verfahren, Zwiespalt, Schweigen, Hoffnung, und Probieren.

We use quotation marks when we wish to refer to an expression. We can and do so refer even when this expression is composed of characters that do not occur in our alphabet. That's why Tarski, Quine, and Geach's theories of quotation don't work. The proposals of Davidson, Frege, and C. Washington, however, do not provide a plausible account of quotation either. (Section I). The problem is to construct a Tarskian theory of truth for an object language that contains quotation (...) marks, without appealing to quotation marks in the metalanguage. I propose to supply Tarski's truth definition with one axiom that determines the denotation of all expressions containing quotation marks. According to this axiom, quotation marks create a non-extensional context. Since admitting such contexts does not lead to any difficulties in the recursive truth characterization, we may indeed dispense with extensionalism. (Section II). Finally, I argue that we classify and denote expressions in the very same way that we classify and denote extralinguistic entities. Both tokens and types of written signs can be easily incorporated into the naturalist's worldview. (Section III). (shrink)

Goethe carried out an enormous number of experiments before criticizing Newton's theory of light and colours in the Farbenlehre (1810). He managed to show that Newton's reasoning is based on a rather narrow choice of experiments, in which parameters such as the distance between the prism and the screen are fixed arbitrarily: Newton's famous spectrum (with its green centre) occurs only at a specific distance. Once you reduce the distance, the green centre disappears, and you see the two border spectra (...) instead. Newton can of course explain these border spectra; but things can be explained just as well the other way around: Then you start with a theory based on the two border spectra in order to derive the Newtonian spectrum. Both accounts fit many data (available in Newton and Goethe's days) equally well. Thus by insisting that the step to theory is not forced upon us by "reason and experiments" alone (as Newton would have it), Goethe revealed our own free, creative contribution to theory construction. And surprisingly, his theory of the prismatic colours seems no worse off than Newton's, even taking into account additional criteria of theory choice, such as simplicity or elegance. (shrink)

In this article the authors focus on the emergence, or disappearance, of notions of responsibility in social dynamic processes. Hence, the starting point in this article is concrete behavior within organisational settings. This article presents a systematic overview of mechanisms related to acting upon a sense of moral responsibility. Some of these mechanisms are based on individual characteristics, others are embedded in the social context wherein responsible behaviour emerges or disappears. In this article, various mechanisms are identified and labelled in (...) order to analyse what types of processes are behind the mechanisms. In this way, the article yields important understandings for the conscious use of these mechanisms to strengthen responsible behavior within organisations. (shrink)

Concepts of enlightenment were developed and transmitted to modern times. From that perspective, one has to understand classic and romanticism as a kind of culmination of European enlightenment, thereby describing romanticisms as a European phenomenon. Here, our ideas of freedom, personality and governance, the concept of science, the idea of rationality and, in particular, the disciplinarily defined rationality originated. It is the Kantian perspective, by which we now look on rationality. It is the Hegelian idea of system and coherence, we (...) test our hypothesis with, It is Baumgarten’s aesthetics, and it is the way, Fichte argued about the principle consequences of liberalization in French revolution that came into our discussions about jurisdiction, personal liberty, state and governance. And it is that new idea of an expert system driven rationality that we are accustomed to, in between. This form of rationality originated at the end of the 18th century and has been transferred in its essential methodological characteristics to our time. (shrink)

ZUSAMMENFASSUNGDie Kirche sieht sich in der Zuständigkeit für die Verwaltung des Transzendenten. Gestützt auf die Genesis erhebt sie aber auch den Erklärungsanspruch für die Entstehung der irdischen Welt. Jedoch weicht sie hier mehr und mehr der naturwissenschaftlichen Konkurrenz. Selbst die Evolutionstheorie wird heute nicht mehr rundweg abgelehnt. Die Neubewertung des Realitäts-begriffs und der Naturgesetze durch die evolutionäre Erkenntnistheorie zeigt jedoch, dass auch der Erklärungsanspruch empirischer Weltbilder überdacht werden muss, was nicht ohne Einfluss auf das Verhältnis zu den religiösen Weltbildern bleibt.Viel (...) gravierender jedoch kann die Tendenz werden, dass sich die Auseinandersetzung zwischen Religion und Wissenschaften immer mehr von den Naturwissenschaften zu den Sozialwissenschaften verlagert. Probleme der physischen Naturbeherrschung sind heute sehr viel weiter gehend gelöst als die Probleme der sozialen Umwelt. Schon heute ist das zentrale Paradigma der Menschheit die Bewältigung sozialer Probleme. Die Beherrschung des Klimas zum Beispiel, von der Sache her ein physisches Problem, wird mehr und mehr zum sozialen Problem. Wollen die Kirchen hier als gestaltende Kraft mithalten, müssen sie sich von der auf die Bibel gestützten Angebotsorientierung fortentwickeln zu der Nachfrageorientierung politischer Parteien und anderer Sozialorganisationen. Das könnte sich zur Bedrohung der theologischen Bedeutung der Kirchen entwickeln. SUMMARYThe church sees itself as the general administrator of the transcendent. But at the same time, based on the genesis, it claims as well the competence to explain the creation of the physical world. Here, however, it recoils more and more from the natural sciences. Even the idea of biological evolution is no longer flatly rejected. However, the reinterpretation of the natural laws and the notion of reality within the framework of the evolutionary epistemology show that the explanatory power of the natural sciences is no longer unquestionable. This, no doubt, has consequences for the relationship of natural and transcendental sciences.Of far more impact, however, can be the trend that the dispute between religion and sciences is shifting from the nature sciences towards the social sciences. Problems we have with our natural environment and to be solved by nature sciences are replaced more and more by problems we have with our social environment and to be solved by the social sciences. Already nowadays the central paradigm of mankind is the solution of social problems. Mastering the climate, for example, though primarily a physical problem becomes more and more a social subject. If the churches want to keep up here they have to shift from the supply orientation as provided by the bible towards the demand orientation presented by political and other social organisations. This could begin to threaten the theological importance of the churches. (shrink)