This paper aims to show that Frege’s and Hilbert’s mutual disagreement results from different notions of Anschauung and their relation to axioms. In the first section of the paper, evidence is provided to support that Frege and Hilbert were influenced by the same developments of 19th-century geometry, in particular the work of Gauss, Plücker, and von Staudt. The second section of the paper shows that Frege and Hilbert take different approaches to deal with the problems that the developments in 19th-century (...) geometry posed for the traditional Kantian philosophy of mathematics. Frege maintains that Anschauung is a source of knowledge by which we acknowledge geometrical axioms as true. For Hilbert, in contrast, axioms provide one of several correct “pictures” of reality. Hilbert’s position is thereby deeply influenced by epistemological ideas from Hertz and Helmholtz, and, in turn, influenced the neo-Kantian Cassirer. (shrink)

This paper presents a social-theologically informed interpretation of the term integrity, as it occurs in fundamental law. It explores the manifestations of integrity violations and proceeds to draw an inference: an integrity violation can directly emanate from a misconception regarding integrity itself, as well as the implementation of protective measures that follow it. Integrity in its wholeness dimension is understood as open-endedness and non-seclusion rather than as a substantial, clearly definable characteristic of a person. This open-endedness and non-seclusion results from (...) the relational constitution of an individual. Consequently, it follows that a violation of integrity occurs when the open-endedness and non-seclusion of a person and their relational Becoming is hindered. The new definition of integrity is particularly important when it comes to the governance of new health technologies, especially Digital Twins that can become representatives of a person. Human integrity is non-violated only when it is understood as open to relational Becoming and this Becoming shows its expression in the mutual enabling and support of self-articulation. (shrink)

Background Palliative care is an integral part of health care, which in term has become increasingly technologized in recent decades. Lately, innovative smart sensors combined with artificial intelligence promise better diagnosis and treatment. But to date, it is unclear: how are palliative care concepts and their underlying assumptions about humans challenged by smart sensor technologies (SST) and how can care benefit from SST? -/- Aims The paper aims to identify changes and challenges in palliative care due to the use of (...) SST. In addition, normative guiding criteria for the use of SST are developed. -/- Methods The principle of Total Care used by the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) forms the basis for the ethical analysis. Drawing on this, its underlying conceptions of the human and its socio-ethical aspects are examined with a phenomenological focus. In the second step, the advantages, limitations, and socio-ethical challenges of using SST with respect to the Total Care principle are explored. Finally, ethical-normative requirements for the application of SST are derived. -/- Results and Conclusion First, SST are limited in their measurement capabilities. Second, SST have an impact on human agency and autonomy. This concerns both the patient and the caregiver. Third, some aspects of the Total Care principle are likely to be marginalized due to the use of SST. The paper formulates normative requirements for using SST to serve human flourishing. It unfolds three criteria according to which SST must be aligned: (1) evidence and purposefulness, (2) autonomy, and (3) Total Care. (shrink)

This article provides insight into the entwinement of the allegedly neutral category of handedness with questions of sex/gender, reproduction, dis/ability, and scientific authority. In the 1860s, Paul Broca suggested that the speech centre sat in the left brain hemisphere in most humans, and that right-handedness stemmed from this asymmetry. One century later, British psychologists Marian Annett and Chris McManus proposed biologically unconfirmed theories of how handedness and brain asymmetry were passed on in families. Their idea to integrate chance into genetic (...) models of handedness was novel, and so was their use of computerized statistics to parse out the incidence of handedness genotypes and phenotypes. Notwithstanding significant conceptual and methodological overlaps, McManus and Annett did not collaborate and proposed competing theories. I analyse the sexed/gendered dimensions of their controversy by drawing on published literature, unpublished documents, and oral history interviews. I first attend to the epistemological importance of sex/gender. Both psychologists published several iterations of their models, which increasingly relied on questions of sex/gender and reproduction. Annett additionally linked handedness with stereotypically gendered cognitive abilities. Second, I argue that using masculine-coded computer technologies contributed to Annett’s professional marginalization whereas similar methods endowed McManus with surplus authority. Finally, I show that Annett’s complicity in stabilizing sociocultural hierarchies within her theory mirrored her personal experience of marginalization based on sex/gender, age, education, and lack of institutional affiliation. This analysis exemplifies the entanglement of cognitive and social factors in scientific controversies and adds to the literature on 20th-century British women psychologists. (shrink)

Studies on temporality in Sidonius’ letters have so far been dominated by narratological approaches. This article proposes an additional perspective by focusing on social and ethical dimensions of time issues. Drawing from scholarship on both imperial epistolography and ancient timekeeping, I develop a framework for studying temporal-behavior patterns as negotiations of elite habitus. Many letters that provide insights in temporal habits (chronotypes) define also in- and out-groups based on temporal conventions (chronotopes). Time management displays a life order Sidonius can approve (...) or disapprove of. The motif of the clepsydra illustrates this connection between temporal habits and senatorial ethos most vividly. (shrink)

The awareness of educators in the health sciences with respect to promoting ethical conduct when instructing dental students is reflected in the undergraduate curriculum. This study is intended to discover the different ways these subjects are taught. A manual review of the literature published in databases indexed in SciELO during the years from 1999 to 2014 was done to that end, under the heading health sciences, humanities, applied social sciences, specifically literature that can be accessed in full, free of charge (...) and anonymously. Also reviewed was the literature in two specialized journals in the area of health education; namely, the Journal of Dental Education and the Journal of Medical Education, with the same titles, during the same period, and through the PubMed search engine, via Medline. The results show 43 articles of thematic relevance. The conclusion is that education in bioethics, as part of the undergraduate curriculum at dental schools, is increasing and differs according to the educational and cultural environment where it is imparted. Case-based learning and problem-based learning are mentioned as being the most efficient methods of instruction. Training dentists to be well-rounded professionals requires these subjects to be taught by interdisciplinary teams that are sufficiently prepared to do so. (shrink)

English summary: The name Friedrich Nietzsche became important in the reception history of theology mainly due to his criticism of religion. In this study, Tabea Knura takes theological as well as pedagogical reception approaches and subsequently conceptualises impulses for an unprecedented debate with Nietzsche about religious education. She shows that the philosopher's critical analysis encourages looking critically at religious education, and that his reflections constantly initiate new construction processes, pointing to an affirmative and simultaneously epistemological attitude reflected in religious (...) education's mission. Questioning religious development processes therefore gives impetus to a cognitive-critical interpretation of reality that religious education must be based on. German description: Der Name Friedrich Nietzsche hat in der theologischen Rezeptionsgeschichte vor allem aufgrund seiner religionskritischen Ausserungen Bedeutung erlangt. Tabea Knura greift in dieser Studie theologische wie auch padagogische Rezeptionsansatze auf und konzipiert in der Folge Impulse fur eine bisher noch nicht erfolgte religionspadagogische Auseinandersetzung mit dem Philosophen. Sie zeigt, dass Nietzsches kritisches Denken dazu anregt, religiose Bildungsprozesse kritisch in den Blick zu nehmen. Seine religions- und bildungskritischen Uberlegungen initiieren immer neue Konstruktionsprozesse. Dies zeugt von einer affirmativen und zugleich erkenntniskritischen Haltung, die im religionspadagogischen Bildungsauftrag reflektiert wird. Religiose Entwicklungsprozesse zu hinterfragen wird so zum Impuls einer erkenntniskritischen Wirklichkeitsdeutung, die Fundament religioser Bildung sein muss. (shrink)

Frege ist bekannt für seinen Versuch, die Arithmetik aus der Logik herzuleiten. Doch welcher Begriff von Logik liegt diesem Projekt zugrunde? Wenn Logik die Grundlage der Arithmetik ist und die Arithmetik über Inhalte verfestigt, so muss die Logik selbst eine Wissenschaft mit eigenen Inhalten sein. Die Autorin zeigt, wie Frege logische Zeichen zu eigenständigen Begriffen aufwertet und dadurch eine inhaltliche Logikkonzeption überhaupt erst ermöglicht. In einem weiteren Schritt wird ein Kriterium vorgestellt, mit dessen Hilfe Frege logische Inhalte von den Inhalten (...) anderer Wissenschaften abgrenzt. Dabei wird jedoch deutlich, dass Frege bis in die 1890er Jahre braucht, um sich vollständig vom Kantischen Diktum zu lösen, die Logik sei nur ein negativer Probierstein der Wahrheit. Die Suche nach dem Grund, der Frege zu einer inhaltlichen Konzeption von Logik zwang, führt in die Geometriegeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Vor ihrem Hintergrund werden schließlich die Anfangsparagraphen der Grundlagen der Arithmetik in einem neuen Licht interpretiert. (shrink)

One of the still unsolved problems in liberal anarchism is a definition of social constituency in positive terms. Partially, this had been solved by the advancements of liberal discourse ethics. These approaches, built on praxeology as a universal framework for social formation, are detached from the need of any previous or external authority or rule for the discursive partners. However, the relationship between action, personal identity, and liberty within the process of a community becoming solely generated from the praxeological a (...) priori remains largely disputed. In order to develop a testable constitutional model, this study revises how the “ontological turn” was introduced into liberal theories and redefines the concept of liberty. Liberty is usually understood as a moral goal or measurement for just actions, as the generative principle of all social existence - individual and interpersonal. For this purpose, the function of performative contradiction within the mechanism of interpersonal “encounter”, as part of the co-generative process of the individual becoming and social formation was explored through the production of a game-based narrative historiography grounded on 19th century life writings. This narrative historiography was developed in the context of Swiss history, with a “design-based” research approach, and resulted in a prototype for networked storytelling through which the transformative learning process could be visible and the negotiation of competing individual visions of the future could be re-enacted. (shrink)

The use of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in health care opens up new opportunities for the measurement of the human. Their application aims not only at gathering more and better data points but also at doing it less invasive. With this change in health care towards its extension to almost all areas of life and its increasing invisibility and opacity, new questions of transparency arise. While the complex human-machine interactions involved in deploying and using AI tend to become non-transparent, (...) the use of these technologies makes the patient seemingly transparent. Papers on the ethical implementation of AI plead for transparency but neglect the factor of the “transparent patient” as intertwined with AI. Transparency in this regard appears to be Janus-faced: The precondition for receiving help - e.g., treatment advice regarding the own health - is to become transparent for the digitized health care system. That is, for instance, to donate data and become visible to the AI and its operators. The paper reflects on this entanglement of transparent patients and (non-) transparent technology. It argues that transparency regarding both AI and humans is not an ethical principle per se but an infraethical concept. Further, it is no sufficient basis for avoiding harm and human dignity violations. Rather, transparency must be enriched by intelligibility following Judith Butler’s use of the term. Intelligibility is understood as an epistemological presupposition for recognition and the ensuing humane treatment. Finally, the paper highlights ways to testify intelligibility in dealing with AI in health care ex ante, ex post, and continuously. (shrink)

In what follows, the difference between Frege’s and Schröder’s understanding of logical connectives will be investigated. It will be argued that Frege thought of logical connectives as concepts, whereas Schröder thought of them as operations. For Frege, logical connectives can themselves be connected. There is no substantial difference between the connectives and the concepts they connect. Frege’s distinction between concepts and objects is central to this conception, because it allows a method of concept formation which enables us to form concepts (...) from the logical connectives alone. Schröder in contrast unifies the distinction between concepts and objects, but keeps the distinction between logical connectives and what they connect. It will be argued that Frege’s particular way of perceiving logical connectives is crucial for his foundational project. (shrink)

Recent studies have highlighted the relevance of sleep for procrastination at work. Procrastination at work is defined as the irrational delay of the initiation or completion of work-related activities. In line with recent studies, we offer a self-regulation perspective on procrastination. We argue that procrastination is an outcome of depleted self-regulatory resources and that the restoration of self-regulatory resources during high-quality sleep at night would prevent procrastination.AimsIn an attempt to further develop this line of research, the current study aimed to (...) achieve a broader understanding of the relevance of sleep and circadian rhythm for procrastination. Therefore, we explored the effect of sleep quality on procrastination for different chronotypes. We also considered the shift to daylight saving time as a phenomenon that aggravates circadian misalignment and thereby later chronotypes' dependence on high-quality sleep. Specifically, we hypothesized that compared to employees with an earlier chronotype, employees with a later chronotype are more dependent on good sleep at night to prevent procrastination the next day. This effect would be especially pronounced after the shift to daylight saving time.MethodsFor this repeated-measures study, participants were 101 full-time employees. They completed a general questionnaire and day-specific questionnaires on the Monday before and the Monday following the shift to daylight saving time.ResultsThe multilevel analyses showed that employees procrastinated less on days following nights during which they slept better and that later chronotypes experienced more procrastination than earlier chronotypes. Our findings also supported the hypothesis that the relationship between sleep quality and procrastination is stronger for later chronotypes compared to earlier chronotypes on the Monday following the shift to daylight saving time. In other words, the lower the sleep quality of later chronotypes during the previous night, the more they procrastinated on the Monday following the shift to daylight saving time.DiscussionOur findings further corroborate the existing findings on the relevance of sleep and chronotype for well-being and performance at work. (shrink)

This study examined whether supermarkets can be considered patches in the marginal value theorem (MVT) sense despite their particular features and whether they are models of human food foraging in resource-dense conditions. On the basis of the MVT, the quantitative relationship between gains in the Euro and patch residence time was modeled as an exponential growth function toward an upper asymptote, allowing the choice of an optimal strategy under diminishing returns. N = 61 participants were interviewed about their current shopping (...) trip and contextual variables at a German supermarket and provided data to estimate relevant model parameters. A nonlinear model of the patch residence time and resulting gain based on an exponential function was fitted via nonlinear orthogonal distance regression. The results generally revealed the relationships predicted by the model, with some uncertainty regarding the estimation of the upper asymptote due to a lack of data from participants with long residence times. Despite this limitation, the data support the applicability of the MVT-based model. The results show that approaches from optimal foraging theory, such as the MVT, can be used successfully to model human shopping behavior even when participants’ verbal reports are used. (shrink)

From 1950 to 1952, statisticians W.G. Cochran, C.F. Mosteller, and J.W. Tukey reviewed A.C. Kinsey and colleagues’ methodology. Neither the history-and-philosophy of science literature nor contemporary theories of interdisciplinarity seem to offer a conceptual model that fits this forced interaction, which was characterized by significant power asymmetries and disagreements on multiple levels. The statisticians initially attempted to exclude all non-technical matters from their evaluation, but their political and personal investments interfered with this agenda. In the face of McCarthy’s witch hunts, (...) negotiations with Kinsey and his funding institutions became integral to the review group’s work. This paper analyzes the heavy burden of emotional and affective labor in this collaboration, the conflicts caused by competing visions of objectivity, and the uses of statistical knowledge to gain and sustain authority. Kinsey’s refusal to adopt the recommended probability sample damaged his already precarious position even further and marked him as a biased researcher who put his personal agenda above methodological rigor. Kinsey’s uncooperative demeanor can be explained by distrust resulting from numerous adverse reactions to his work and by fear of having his sexuality exposed. This case study illustrates that the very concept of valid numbers can become an arena for power struggles and that quantification alone does not guarantee productive exchanges across disciplines. It calls for a deeper conceptual analysis of the prerequisites for successful scientific collaborations. (shrink)

Seit geraumer Zeit versteht die Wissenschaftssoziologie die Erzeugung und Verbreitung von Wissen als ein Kontinuum, an dem Experten und Laien gleichermaßen teilhaben, wobei sich die Erforschung dieses Kontinuums vorrangig auf die "Wissenschaftspopularisierung" des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts konzentriert. Indem der Sammelband die Popularisierung auch des nicht-naturwissenschaftlichen Wissens thematisiert, treten Phänomene in den Blick, die mehr sind als eine bloße Vorgeschichte moderner Wissenschaftspopularisierung. Die Beiträge, die unterschiedlichen Disziplinen entstammen, fragen nach Strukturen, Motiven und Bedingungen von Popularisierungsprozessen in spezifischen historischen Konstellationen - (...) von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, wobei erstmals konsequent die Vormoderne berücksichtigt und bewusst die Popularisierung kulturgeschichtlichern, religiösen und identitätsstiftenden Wissens einbezogen wird. Die besondere Aufmerksamkeit aller Beiträge gilt dabei immer wieder dem grundlegenden Zusammenhang von gesellschaftlichen Krisen und der Nachfrage nach popularisiertem Wissen. (shrink)

Self-tracking-technologies can serve as a prominent example of how digital technologies put to test established practices, institutions, and structures of medicine and healthcare. While proponents emphasize the potentials, e.g., for individualized healthcare and new research data, opponents stress the risk that these technologies will reinforce gender-related inequalities. -/- While this has been made clear from—often intersectional—feminist perspectives since the introduction of such technologies, we aim to provide a queer-feminist perspective on self-tracking applications in healthcare by analyzing three concrete cases. In (...) this way, we want to show why such a perspective is helpful in assessing self-tracking technologies and how such a perspective might contribute to a queering of healthcare. -/- After a short introduction to self-tracking in healthcare and the corresponding risks of reproducing gender-related inequalities, we introduce queer bioethics as a methodology to examine structural discrimination and marginalization in bioethical research. We apply this framework in the analysis of three exemplary self-tracking applications from the areas of nutrition/fitness, reproductive health, and mental health. In the subsequent discussion of these results against the backdrop of already existing queer-sensitive technologies, we identify an equal access, a subversive design, an inclusive database, and a diversity-sensitive and discriminatory-critical definition of purposes as well as individualized usage possibilities as first possible starting points for a queering of self-tracking applications. Finally, we draw conclusions, how such a critical perspective on self-tracking applications might also contribute to a queering of the healthcare system at a structural level. (shrink)

Recent communication research indicates that approach and avoidance constitute two separate yet co-existing processes during media exposure. While many studies address TV approach behavior, little is known about TV avoidance behavior. Furthermore, personality has yet to be linked to avoidance behavior. This study analyzes the influence of personality on TV program avoidance. Data show that the “Big Five” personality characteristics and Risk and Fight Willingness influence program avoidance, albeit to varying degrees. While the specific correlations are discussed in the paper, (...) the results generally reveal that the combination of personality and avoidance has added value in terms of understanding of TV using behavior compared to the frequently analyzed link between personality and approach. For nearly all personality characteristics, data show that the avoidance perspective is more than the inversion of the approach perspective. The findings are discussed with reference to gratification and selectivity research. (shrink)

Institutionen des Wissens dienen der Pflege, Verstetigung oder dauerhaften Bewahrung von tradiertem und der Hervorbringung von neuem Wissen. Die verschiedenen Formen institutionalisierter Wissenspraxis spiegeln in besonderer Weise die Eigenart einer Wissenskultur wider. Zugleich sind sie für die Ausformung der Identität einer Gesellschaft bedeutsam: Wissensinstitutionen stoßen gesellschaftlichen Wandel an, sind aber selbst in diesen eingebunden. In Krisenzeiten, verstanden als eine Art verdichteter gesellschaftlicher Wandel, werden traditionelle Wissensbestände und Weltdeutungen nachdrücklich in Frage gestellt. Zugleich geraten die Institutionen, die dieses Wissen bereitstellen, unter (...) starken Legitimationszwang. Sie sind gezwungen, auf den Relevanzverlust zu reagieren, ihre Aufgaben neu zu bestimmen und sich neu zu strukturieren. Der interdisziplinär angelegte Sammelband, der Fallstudien aus verschiedenen historischen Epochen und Kulturen, untersucht den theoretischen wie praktischen Umgang verschiedener Wissensinstitutionen mit zeitgenössischen gesellschaftlichen und politischen Umbruchssituationen. Dabei wird insbesondere der Frage nachgegangen, in welchem Maße die Bewältigung fundamentaler Krisen durch die Wissensinstitutionen gesellschaftliche und institutionelle Wandlungsprozesse in Gang setzt. (shrink)

Since uncertainty is a major challenge in medicine and bears the risk of causing incorrect diagnoses and harmful treatment, there are many efforts to tackle it. For some time, AI technologies have been increasingly implemented in medicine and used to reduce medical uncertainties. What initially seems desirable, however, poses challenges. We use a multimethod approach that combines philosophical inquiry, conceptual analysis, and ethical considerations to identify key challenges that arise when AI is used for medical certainty purposes. We identify several (...) challenges. Where AI is used to reduce medical uncertainties, it is likely to result in (a) patients being stripped down to their measurable data points, and being made disambiguous. Additionally, the widespread use of AI technologies in health care bears the risk of (b) human physicians being pushed out of the medical decision-making process, and patient participation being more and more limited. Further, the successful use of AI requires extensive and invasive monitoring of patients, which raises (c) questions about surveillance as well as privacy and security issues. We outline these several challenges and show that they are immediate consequences of AI-driven security efforts. If not addressed, they could entail unfavorable consequences. We contend that diminishing medical uncertainties through AI involves a tradeoff. The advantages, including enhanced precision, personalization, and overall improvement in medicine, are accompanied by several novel challenges. This paper addresses them and gives suggestions about how to use AI for certainty purposes without causing harm to patients. (shrink)

The Big Five personality traits play a major role in student achievement. As such, there is consistent evidence that students that are more conscientious receive better teacher-assigned grades in secondary school. However, research often does not support the claim that students that are more conscientious similarly achieve higher scores in domain-specific standardized achievement tests. Based on the Invest-and-Accrue Model, we argue that conscientiousness explains to some extent why certain students receive better grades despite similar academic accomplishments. Therefore, the present study (...) examines to what extent the relationship between student personality and teacher-assigned grades consists of direct as opposed to indirect associations. We used a representative sample of 14,710 ninth-grade students to estimate these direct and indirect pathways in mathematics and German. Structural equation models showed that test scores explained between 8 and 11% of the variance in teacher-assigned grades in mathematics and German. The Big Five personality traits in students additionally explained between 8 and 10% of the variance in grades. Finally, the personality-grade relationship consisted of direct and indirect associations via test scores. Conscientiousness explained discrepancies between teacher-assigned grades and students’ scores in domain-specific standardized tests to a greater extent than any of the other Big Five personality traits. Our findings suggest that students that are more conscientious may invest more effort to accomplish classroom goals, but fall short of mastery. (shrink)

RESUMO: O presente artigo visa, em um primeiro momento, a analisar a concepção de direitos humanos feita por Rawls, para verificar se a concepção minimalista e não-metafísica apresentada pelo autor é apta a oferecer, nos dias atuais, um ideal moral que sirva de base para uma sociedade internacional democrática e justa. ABSTRACT. This article aims, at first, to analyze the conception of human rights by John Rawls, to verify that the minimalist and non-metaphysical conception presented by the author is able (...) to offer, in present days, a moral ideal to serve as a basis for a democratic and fair international Society. (shrink)

Following an established two-dimensional dichotomy for environmental leadership, environmentally friendly behavior as a leadership style has become an important topic in both research and practice. However, so far, it has remained unclear how these new concepts relate to well-established leadership styles such as transformational leadership, responsible leadership, and leaders' organizational citizenship behavior. In this study, we provide an in-depth examination of the environmentally focused substyles in contrast to their well-established counterparts, their antecedents, and the incremental value in predicting corporate environmental (...) responsiveness (CER). For that purpose, we surveyed N = 211 German leaders: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and path model analyses suggest that, overall, established leadership styles and their respective environmentally specific substyle are empirically distinct constructs. Moreover, environmentally specific leadership behaviors explained significant variance beyond established concepts in predicting corporate environmental sustainability. Finally, our analyses suggest that leaders' extraversion and political orientation emerge as valid predictors (i.e., antecedents) of environmental leadership behavior. Overall, this study shows that CER is influenced on an individual level, underlining the important role of leaders' behavior in a rapidly worsening climate crisis. (shrink)

Purpose This paper aims to discuss research ethics in mixed-methods research and MMR development with a focus on ethical challenges that stem from working with technical instruments such as mobile eye-trackers. Design/methodology/approach The case of an interdisciplinary mixed-methods development study that aimed at researching the impacts of emerging mobile augmented-reality technologies on the perception of public places serves as an example to discuss research-ethical challenges regarding the practical implementation of the study, data processing and management and societal implications of developing (...) instruments to track and understand human practices. Findings This study reports challenges and experiences in ethical decision-making in the practical implementation of the study regarding the relationship to research subjects, the use of mobile research instruments in public places and the interdisciplinary cooperation among research team members. Further, this paper expounds on ethical challenges and recommendations in data processing and management and with a view to societal implications of method development and the aspirations of transdisciplinarity. This study concludes that institutionalized ethics need to become more flexible, while applied ethics and reflection must make their entry into university curricula across disciplines. Originality/value Complex interdisciplinary mobile and mixed-methods projects that involve sensors and instruments such as mobile eye-trackers are on the rise. However, there is a significant lack of engagement with practical research ethical challenges, practices and requirements in both mixed-methods and method-development literature. By taking a context- and process-oriented perspective focusing on doing ethics, the paper contributes a concrete empirical case to these underdeveloped fields. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Jahrbuch für Wissenschaft und Ethik Jahrgang: 18 Heft: 1 Seiten: 281-318.

Gottlob Frege (1848–1925), begründete nicht nur die moderne Logik, sondern auch die Sprachphilosophie. Er erweiterte die funktionale Analyse der Sätze zu einer Systematik des gesamten sprachlichen Bedeutens und Ausdrucks, indem er zwischen den Zeichen selbst, dem Sinn und der Bedeutung der Zeichen unterschied. Dieser Band versammelt Kommentare und Analysen zu den drei klassischen Aufsätzen Funktion und Begriff (1891), Über Sinn und Bedeutung und Über Begriff und Gegenstand (beide 1892). Er verschafft dadurch einen fundierten Überblick sowohl zu den Kernproblemen wie auch (...) den Hintergründen von Freges bis heute kontrovers diskutiertem Ansatz. Dabei wird die enge Verzahntheit zwischen dem logischen Hintergrund und Freges logizistischem Anliegen einerseits und den Vorschlägen zur Deutung einer ganzen Reihe von sprachlichen Erscheinungen erkennbar. Dazu gehören Fragen nach dem Wesen von Begriff und Gegenstand bzw. Prädikaten und Eigennamen als den Grundelementen jeder Aussage überhaupt – aber auch Erläuterungen zu indirekter Rede und fiktionalem Diskurs. Der vorliegende Band bietet dazu informierte Kommentare und Analysen. (shrink)

Dicer is a key player in microRNA (miRNA) and RNA interference (RNAi) pathways, processing miRNA precursors and doublestranded RNA into ~21-nt-long products ultimately triggering sequence-dependent gene silencing. Although processing of substrates in vertebrate cells occurs in the cytoplasm, there is growing evidence suggesting Dicer is also present and functional in the nucleus. To address this possibility, we searched for a nuclear localization signal (NLS) in human Dicer and identified its C-terminal double-stranded RNA binding domain (dsRBD) as harboring NLS activity. We (...) show that the dsRBD-NLS can mediate nuclear import of a reporter protein via interaction with importins β, 7, and 8. In the context of full-length Dicer, the dsRBD-NLS is masked. However, duplication of the dsRBD localizes the full-length protein to the nucleus. Furthermore, deletion of the N-terminal helicase domain results in partial accumulation of Dicer in the nucleus upon leptomycin B treatment, indicating that CRM1 contributes to nuclear export of Dicer. Finally, we demonstrate that human Dicer has the ability to shuttle between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. We conclude that Dicer is a shuttling protein whose steady-state localization is cytoplasmic. (shrink)

In the past 15 years, influential concepts from geography, social, cultural and communication studies have been proposed that conceptualize (everyday) space in the digital age - such as the concepts of 'code/space', 'datafied space', 'atmospheres' and 'hybrid spaces'. These deliver important contributions to theorizing the active role of data, codes, and algorithms, as well as bodies, embodiment, and affects in producing space. Yet, they consider less the role of practices, social intra-actions and difference, as well as more-than-human actants and contexts (...) beyond technologies. In this article, the authors develop the cON/FFlating spaces concept as a link between relational, more-than-human, more-than-representational, posthumanist, and (post-)feminist conceptualizations of (everyday) space. Using Karen Barad's 'diffractive methodology', data and findings from three research projects are read through different theoretical-conceptual approaches - among others Barad's concepts of 'entanglements', 'intra-actions' and 'diffraction' as well as Doreen Massey's 'multiple historicities'. Building on this, we propose 8 theses on cON/FFlating spaces. These discuss the role of practices, power, technologies, non-linear, open and multiple historicities, entangled presences, more-than-human actants and contexts, bodies and affects, and difference/'diffraction' in producing space and collectivity. (shrink)

The present paper attempts to show that a 1915 article by Erich Kretschmann must be credited not only for being the source of Einstein’s point-coincidence remark, but also for having anticipated the main lines of the logical-empiricist interpretation of general relativity. Whereas Kretschmann was inspired by the work of Mach and Poincaré, Einstein inserted Kretschmann’s point-coincidence parlance into the context of Ricci and Levi-Civita’s absolute differential calculus. Kretschmann himself realized this and turned the point-coincidence argument against (...) Einstein in his second and more famous 1918 paper. While Einstein had taken nothing from Kretschmann but the expression “point-coincidences”, the logical empiricists, however, instinctively dragged along with it the entire apparatus of Kretschmann’s conventionalism. Disappointingly, in their interpretation of general relativity, the logical empiricists unwittingly replicated some epistemological remarks Kretschmann had written before General Relativity even existed. (shrink)

How can we reconcile two claims that are now both widely accepted: Kretschmann's claim that a requirement of general covariance is physically vacuous and the standard view that the general covariance of general relativity expresses the physically important diffeomorphism gauge freedom of general relativity? I urge that both claims can be held without contradiction if we attend to the context in which each is made.

Einstein considered general covariance to characterize the novelty of his General Theory of Relativity (GTR), but Kretschmann thought it merely a formal feature that any theory could have. The claim that GTR is ``already parametrized'' suggests analyzing substantive general covariance as formal general covariance achieved without hiding preferred coordinates as scalar ``clock fields,'' much as Einstein construed general covariance as the lack of preferred coordinates. Physicists often install gauge symmetries artificially with additional fields, as in the transition from Proca's (...) to Stueckelberg's electromagnetism. Some post-positivist philosophers, due to realist sympathies, are committed to judging Stueckelberg's electromagnetism distinct from and inferior to Proca's. By contrast, physicists identify them, the differences being gauge-dependent and hence unreal. It is often useful to install gauge freedom in theories with broken gauge symmetries (second-class constraints) using a modified Batalin-Fradkin-Tyutin (BFT) procedure. Massive GTR, for which parametrization and a Lagrangian BFT-like procedure appear to coincide, mimics GTR's general covariance apart from telltale clock fields. A generalized procedure for installing artificial gauge freedom subsumes parametrization and BFT, while being more Lagrangian-friendly than BFT, leaving any primary constraints unchanged and using a non-BFT boundary condition. Artificial gauge freedom licenses a generalized Kretschmann objection. However, features of paradigm cases of artificial gauge freedom might help to demonstrate a principled distinction between substantive and merely formal gauge symmetry. (shrink)

Physicists who work on canonical quantum gravity will sometimes remark that the general covariance of general relativity is responsible for many of the thorniest technical and conceptual problems in their field.1 In particular, it is sometimes alleged that one can trace to this single source a variety of deep puzzles about the nature of time in quantum gravity, deep disagreements surrounding the notion of ‘observable’ in classical and quantum gravity, and deep questions about the nature of the existence of spacetime (...) in general relativity. Philosophers who think about these things are sometimes skeptical about such claims. We have all learned that Kretschmann was quite correct to urge against Einstein that the “General Theory of Relativity” was no such thing, since any theory could be cast in a generally covariant form, and hence the general covariance of general relativity could not have any physical content, let alone bear the kind of weight that Einstein expected it to.2 Friedman’s assessment is widely accepted: “As Kretschmann first pointed out in 1917, the principle of general covariance has no physical content whatever: it specifies no particular physical theory; rather, it merely expresses our commitment to a certain style of formulating physical theories” (1984, p. 44). Such considerations suggest that general covariance, as a technically crucial but physically contentless feature of general relativity, simply cannot be the source of any significant conceptual or physical problems.3 Physicists are, of course, conscious of the weight of Kretschmann’s points against Einstein. Yet they are considerably more ambivalent than their philosophical colleagues. Consider Kuchaˇr’s conclusion at the end of a discussion of this topic. (shrink)

In his 1916 review paper on general relativity, Einstein made the often-quoted oracular remark that all physical measurements amount to a determination of coincidences, like the coincidence of a pointer with a mark on a scale. This argument, which was meant to express the requirement of general covariance, immediately gained great resonance. Philosophers such as Schlick found that it expressed the novelty of general relativity, but the mathematician Kretschmann deemed it as trivial and valid in all spacetime theories. With (...) the relevant exception of the physicists of Leiden (Ehrenfest, Lorentz, de Sitter, and Nordström), who were in epistolary contact with Einstein, the motivations behind the point-coincidence remark were not fully understood. Only at the turn of the 1960s did Bergmann (Einstein’s former assistant in Princeton) start to use the term ‘coincidence’ in a way that was much closer to Einstein’s intentions. In the 1980s, Stachel, projecting Bergmann’s analysis onto his historical work on Einstein’s correspondence, was able to show that what he started to call ‘the point-coincidence argument’ was nothing but Einstein’s answer to the infamous ‘hole argument’. The latter has enjoyed enormous popularity in the following decades, reshaping the philosophical debate on spacetime theories. The point-coincidence argument did not receive comparable attention. By reconstructing the history of the argument and its reception, this paper argues that this disparity of treatment is not justified. This paper will also show that the notion that only coincidences are observable in physics marks every critical step of Einstein’s struggle with the meaning of coordinates in physics. (shrink)

To systematically answer the generalized Kretschmann objection, I propose a mean to make operational a criterion widely recognized as allowing one to decide whether the gauge symmetry of a theory is artificial or substantial. My proposition is based on the dressing field method of gauge symmetry reduction, a new simple tool from mathematical physics. This general scheme allows one in particular to straightforwardly argue that the notion of spontaneous symmetry breaking is superfluous to the empirical success of the electroweak (...) theory. Important questions regarding the context of justification of the theory then arise. (shrink)

The relation of the special and the general principle of relativity to the principle of covariance, the principle of equivalence and Mach's principle, is discussed. In particular, the connection between Lorentz covariance and the special principle of relativity is illustrated by giving Lorentz covariant formulations of laws that violate the special principle of relativity: Ohm's law and what we call “Aristotle's first and second laws.” An “Aristotelian” universe in which all motion is relative to “absolute space” is considered. The first (...) law: a free particle is at rest. The second law: force is proportional to velocity. Ohm's law: the current density is proportional to the electrical field strength. Neither of these laws fulfills the principle of relativity. The examples illustrate, in the context of Lorentz covariance and special relativity, Kretschmann's critique of founding Einstein's general principle of relativity on the principle of general covariance. A modification of the principle of covariance is suggested, which may serve as a restricted criterium for a physical law to satisfy Einstein's general principle of relativity. Other objections that have been raised to the validity of Einstein's general principle of relativity are based upon the preferred state of inertial frames in the general, as well as in the special theory, the existence of tidal effects in “true” gravitational fields, doubts as to the validity of Mach's principle, whether electromagnetic phenomena obey the principle, and, finally, the anisotropy of the cosmic background radiation. These objections are reviewed and discussed. (shrink)