Autonomy of people on the autism-spectrum has only been very rarely conceptually explored. Autism spectrum is commonly considered a hetereogenous disorder, and typically described as a behaviorally-defined neurodevelopmental disorder associated with the presence of social-communication deficits and restricted and repetitive behaviors. Autism research mainly focuses on the behavior of autistic people and ways to teach them skills that are in line with social norms. Interventions such as therapies are being justified with the assumption that autists lack the capacity to be (...) self-reflective and to be “author of their lives”. We question this assumption, as some empirical research shows that autists are aware of their strengths and are critical about social norms, we take this as a starting point to reconsider the beliefs about autistic people’s capacities. As a theoretical framework, we draw on Berlin’s idea of positive and negative liberty as he clearly distinguishes between one’s own developed preferences and the simple absence of interference. By drawing on the concept of positive liberty, we illustrate that a lot of autists are aware of their own needs, and usually do not deny their own needs, values and interests. This makes them less prone than non-autistic people to adapt their preferences to external influences, which might be seen as sticking to an authentic way of living. Our analysis shows that many autists are hindered to be autonomous due to unjustified interference, unreflected assumptions about their self-determination, or by paternalistic actions. These observations contribute to a better understanding when help and interference are justified and a more differentiated understanding of autonomy of autistic people. (shrink)

Beginning with the first series of flights by the French Montgolfier brothers in 1783, hot air ballooning quickly metamorphosed from a dangerous scientific experiment with potential military uses into a widespread cultural craze with deep social implications. Using the lens of the idea of “wonder,” I examine the word-image interactions in a selection of engraved representations of the first Montgolfier demonstration for Louis XVI at Versailles. Such a collective close reading first exposes techniques that aim at encouraging admiration in readers (...) for both the new technology and the French state that produced it. However, visual cues in the images indicate a persistent suggestion of doubt and uncertainty—and even fear—as they take readers “up and away” from the confines and comforts of everyday life. The word-image nexus surrounding this spectacle generates an altered textual world in which traditional social and sexual hierarchies lose stability and the future is full of possibility. (shrink)

The construction of models plays a vital part in scientific thought.And many questions about the characteristics demanded of a good model, and the implications of using models are often asked by philosophers of science. Although models are frequently and successfully used in scientific explanation, this does not imply that they are a necessary feature of such explanation, though it does provide some justification for their use. However, any attempt to provide a model for a scientific theory undoubtedly leads to a (...) clearer understanding of that theory. Models and theories are often considered as separate features in a scientific explanation, but a theory is not usually devised and then consciously provided with a model. (shrink)

In his doctrine of right, Kant sketched out the image of a state that secures the freedom and property of its citizens, but excludes questions of the distribution of goods. Therefore, following his basic ideas, attempts are made to incorporate socially balancing mechanisms into the theory of property. By means of some typical argumentation approaches, it is shown which paths to solve the social question are taken by Kant’s interpreters and which are closed according to the internal structural principles of (...) Kant’s legal doctrine. With a view to Kant’s preliminary work, the concept of freedom is expanded to include a positive component of opportunities for freedom and distributive justice is interpreted as an inclusive economic, social and societal system of participatory justice. (shrink)

In Habermas’s discourse theory of law, the guarantee of citizens’ private and public autonomy is a prerequisite of legitimate law. This includes social entitlements. They provide the living conditions necessary for equal opportunities in the use of private and public freedoms. A proceduralist paradigm of the welfare state ensures private and public autonomy in shaping social rights. This makes welfare state regulations a legitimizing institution. This legal theoretical approach is outlined and defended against objections. The focus falls on examining the (...) critique of the justification and quality of social entitlements. Also considered are possible measures to strengthen the basis of legitimation in shaping social rights. (shrink)

In this paper I attempt to explore the significance of the terms ‘accident’ and ‘chance’ when they are used in connection with events that are sometimes said to happen ‘by accident’ and sometimes ‘by chance’. The significance of these terms is not always made clear in everyday conversation, and here I shall try to discuss the distinction between them and the sorts of situation therefore to which they properly apply. Perhaps an example will show that these expressions are different. Thus (...) ‘I met Smith in the library by chance’ is different from ‘I met Smith in the library by accident’, different because these statements reflect different interpretations of the events referred to. We see accidental and chance events in a different light. And this is the point; ‘accident’ and ‘chance’ are terms of interpretation, not of description. And I hope to show that the expression ‘by chance’ is appropriate in contexts which develop as a result of human decisions and intentions in a way in which the expression ‘by accident’ is not appropriate. (shrink)

La monumentale étude de JOHN P. MEIER, Un certain juif Jésus, dont trois des cinq volumes prévus sont achevés et accessibles au public francophone, fait date dans la recherche critique trois fois séculaire du Jésus historique. Aussi est-ce une invitation forte adressée aux théologiens à y « trouver et s'approprier des éléments susceptibles de contribuer au chantier plus vaste qui consiste à élaborer une christologie pour notre temps » . Ressaisissant ce qui est avant tout un parcours d'historien, Chr. (...) class='Hi'>Theobald commence par examiner le rapport des documents et d'une critériologie à la question du « Jésus historique ». Après la prise en compte du décor, de la chronologie et de la question des origines, puis celle du rapport entre mentor et disciple, il s'attarde sur la spécificité du ministère de Jésus et de son public. Dans l'attente de l'achèvement de l'ouvrage, il aboutit à un « portrait provisoire du Nazaréen ».The monumental study by John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew, three of five volumes of which are finished and available in French, is a landmark in three centuries of research on the historical Jesus. It also represents a striking invitation to theologians to utilize the elements in it that may contribute to the broader task of elaborating a Christology for our times. Taking up the challenge of what is essentially a historian's itinerary, Christoph Theobald begins by examining the relation which the documents and a criteriology have to the question of the “historical Jesus”. Following this, Theobald addresses the general context, chronology and the question of origins, then the mentor-disciple relation and takes up at length the specificity of the ministry of Jesus and his public. Awaiting completion of Meier's work, he provides us with a “preliminary portrait of the Nazarean”. (shrink)

Asking students to generate a prediction before presenting the correct answer is a popular instructional strategy. This study tested whether a person’s degree of confidence in a prediction is related to their curiosity and surprise regarding the answer. For a series of questions about numerical facts, participants (N = 29) generated predictions and rated their confidence in the prediction before seeing the correct answer. The increase in pupil size before viewing the correct answer was used as a physiological marker of (...) curiosity, and the increase in pupil size after viewing the correct answer was used as a physiological marker of surprise. The results revealed that the pupillometric marker of curiosity was most pronounced if students were slightly more confident in their prediction than usual, and it was lower for predictions made with either very high or very low confidence. Furthermore, the results showed that high-confidence prediction errors and low-confidence correct responses yielded a pupillary surprise response, suggesting that highly unexpected results evoke surprise, independent of the correctness of the prediction. Together, results suggest that confidence in a prediction plays an important role in the occurrence of epistemic emotions such as curiosity and surprise. (shrink)

Friedrich Nietzsche gilt als einer der bedeutendsten Philosophen des 19. Jahrhunderts und hat die moderne Philosophie maßgeblich beeinflusst. In diesem Buch gibt Theobald Ziegler einen umfassenden Einblick in das Leben und Werk von Nietzsche und zeigt, warum seine Ideen bis heute relevant sind. Eine unverzichtbare Lektüre für alle Philosophie-Interessierten. 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 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. 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)

Résumé L’auteur de cet essai bio-bibliographique retrace son itinéraire de théologien en évoquant les différentes étapes de sa formation et de sa recherche, sa manière de faire de la théologie, ses collaborations, enracinements et convictions, situant ainsi ses publications majeures dans un ensemble en construction.The author of this bio-bibliographical essay redraws his theologian’s route by evoking the various stages of his formation and research, the way he practices theology, his collaborations, roots and convictions, situating his major publications in a whole (...) under construction. (shrink)

L'esthétique moderne, tout éloignée qu'elle est de la conception religieuse de l’œuvre d'art dominante jusqu'à la Renaissance, reste traversée par une sourde inquiétude au sujet du sacré, qu'on est autorisé à interpréter comme une quête spirituelle, comme une ouverture vers une altérité innommée. Quelques théologiens contemporains, de leur côté, souvent influencés par la fréquentation des beaux-arts, tendent à substituer aux stratégies apologétiques ou dogmatiques du passé une approche esthétique du mystère du monde, de l'homme et de la révélation. La notion (...) de « style », entendue comme « manière d'habiter le monde » , semble propre à exprimer l'appréhension à la fois esthétique et théologique du mystère chrétien.Modern aesthetics, which is quite distant from the religious conception found in art until the Renaissance, remains effected by a deaf uneasiness towards the sacred. One can interpret the sacred as a spiritual quest, as an opening toward an unnamed alterity. Some contemporary theologians, on the other hand, who are often influenced by frequenting the fine arts, tend to substitute, in place of apologetic and dogmatic strategies, an aesthetic approach to the mystery of the world, man, and revelation. The notion of « style », understood as « manner of inhabiting the world » , seems proper for expressing an apprehension, at the same time aesthetic and theological of the Christian mystery. (shrink)

Pour l'auteur, la Lettre représente un seuil décisif dans l'évolution de la théologie fondamentale moderne. Partant des trois acquis majeurs du projet blondélien , l'auteur propose une voie de réinterprétation dans une perspective culturelle nouvelle de ces acquis, notamment en raison du pluralisme qui semble d'abord s'opposer à la structure fondamentalement chrétienne du discours de Blondel, ce qui contraint à infléchir la définition blondélienne du surnaturel. Enfin, l'esquisse d'un argument apologétique valorise l'ensemble du processus circulaire de l'argument apologétique dans la (...) mesure où cet ensemble est constitué par vérité, justesse et authenticité : ce processus prend aujourd’hui son départ dans la consistance du comportement de celui qui engage l’argumentation en faveur de la foi chrétienne.For the author, the Lettre represents a decisive threshold in the evolution of fundamental modern theology. Starting with the three major accepted propositions of Blondel’s project , the author proposes a way of reinterpretation in a new cultural perspective of these propositions, notably because of a pluralism that seems at first to be opposed to the fundamentally Christian structure of Blondel’s discourse, which forces one to bend Blondel’s definition of the supernatural. Finally, the outline of an apologetical argument valorises the whole of the circular method of the apologetical argument in so far as this whole is constituted by truth, soundness, and authenticity. Today this method being with the consistency of the comportment of he who engages the argumentation in favour of the Christian faith. (shrink)

Par rapport à la problématique de la théodicée classique, l'article opère un renversement de perspective en s'interrogeant sur les forces dont dispose l'humanité dans son combat spirituel contre le mal. L'argument se développe en quatre parties. Une première circonscrit le terrain du questionnement en rappelant comment on y a accédé dans l'histoire de la pensée, et surtout, comment l'expérience du mal-malheur a suscité des ressources trop souvent cachées par une conception du combat spirituel, unilatéralement ­ aux prises avec le mal (...) moral et le péché. Une deuxième partie se situe au niveau des formes de résistance communes aux différents courants religieux ou spirituels de l'humanité. L'approche herméneutique permet de les aborder dans un esprit « oecuménique », approprié à la perspective d'une résistance commune au mal, ce qui fait émerger la question de 1'ultime profondeur de nos ressources spirituelles. C'est sur cet arrière-fond qu'on pourra penser, dans un troisième temps, la concep­tion chrétienne de la résistance au mal comme une manière de donner existence à Dieu au sein de nos combats. La dernière partie devra s'affronter à la ténacité d'une souffrance irréductible, liée à l'existence même de l'homme, que seule l'attitude de l'abandon parvient à intégrer dans la visée théologale de la béatitude.In relation to the field of inquiry concerning classical theodicy, this article reverses the perspective in questioning the forces that humanity disposes of in its spiritual combat against evil. The argument is developed in four parts. The first part limits the question by recalling how one approaches it in the history of ideas and, especially, how the experience of evil-misfortunes resurrected sources that were too often hidden by a concept of spiritual combat unilaterally at grips with moral evil and sin. The second part is concerned with the forms of common resistances to the different religious or spiritual currents of humanity. A hermeneutical approach allows one to begin in an « ecumenical » attitude, appropriate to the perspective of a common resistance to evil, which brings up the question of the ultimate depth of our spiritual resources. It is with this background that one could think of, on the third level, the Christian conception of resistance to evil as a way of giving existence to God in the middle of our combats. The last Part confronts the tenacity of an irreducible suffering, tied in to man's very existence, which only the attitude of abandonment succeeds in integrating into the theological perspective of beatitude. (shrink)

This essay contends that the ascendancy of Western liberalism after the Enlightenment worked catalytically on the development of both the Industrial Revolution and a modern agrarianism based on the widespread dispersal of small-scale property ownership. Due to power dynamics, however, as well as the liberal faith in inevitable progress, agrarian thought has remained a marginal concern in Western politics, economics, and education. Although the agrarian philosophical tradition in the United States was created by the same liberal rhetoric and argumentation that (...) gave birth to industrialism, the two world views hinged on vastly different interpretations of the same concepts. One aim of this essay is to sort out these differences and examine their implications for a contemporary reconsideration of agrarian thought. (shrink)

La notion catholique d'universalité hésite entre une conception spatiale, très ancienne, et une visée symbolique, confirmée par Vatican II, mais volontiers réinterprétée de nos jours en termes juridiques. Une lecture globale des Écritures, inspirée de l'Épître aux Éphésiens, a produit, après un modèle « intégraliste » de catholicité de la foi, une lecture eschatologique de la « récapitulation » de toute l'humanité dans l'Église corps du Christ, qui offre un échange réciproque entre toutes les cultures du monde et la vérité (...) évangélique. Propre à favoriser l'entrée du christianisme dans le processus de mondialisation, cette vision n'échappe pourtant pas au soupçon de dissimuler une violence dominatrice. Pour y parer, l'Église doit revenir au messianisme évangélique et le prendre pour forme d'un universel concret affranchi de tout exclusivisme, car, dans le Christ, Dieu communique sa sainteté à la multitude humaine et chacun est engendré unique en lien avec les autres à la façon dont le Christ est unique. Cet universalisme messianique est avant tout d'ordre pratique et créatif : c'est un style de vie qui repousse la violence des normes institutionnelles en situant les chrétiens aux frontières du lien qui tient ensemble les individus et les sociétés, par-delà toute idolâtrie et tout désenchantement. The Roman Catholic idea of universality hesitates between a spatial conception, very ancient, and a symbolical perspective, confirmed by Vatican II, but freely reinterpretated today in juridical terms. A global reading of the Scriptures, inspired by the Epistle to the Ephesians, has produced, after an “ integral” model of the catholicity of faith, an eschatological reading of the « recapitulation » of all humanity into the Church-body of Christ, which offers a reciprocal change between all cultures of the world and evangelical truth. This vision, proper for favoring the entrance of Christianity into the process of globalization, does not escape, however, a suspicion that it dissimulates a dominating violence. To ward this off, the Church should return to evangelical messianism and take it in the form of a concrete universal, free from all exclusivity, for in Christ, God communicates his holiness to the human multitude. Each one is engendered uniquely, in connection with others in the way that Christ is unique. This messianic universalism is, above all, of a practical and creative order It is a style of life that wards off the violence of institutional norms in situating Christians at the frontier of the connection that holds together individuals and societies, beyond all idolatry and disenchantment. (shrink)

Excerpt from Die Ethik Der Griechen Und Römer A. pe3iellc Moral 164. 4. tellung be6 Ghni8muè in {einer geit 166. B. toifer 1. Quellen 165 - 166. 2. $dic thil innerhalb ihreé h{temè 11. Bic @liebernng ber{elben 166 - 167. 3. $die?ipathie 167 169. 4. 5308 05ute 169 - 170. 6. $ie îugcnb 170 - 172. 6. Fiber {toi{che 28e11e 172 - 174. 7. ie 8lbiaphora u. Ba6 xa3fixov 174 - 176. 8. Qie angc1oanbte 8roral 176 - 181. 9. Sder (...) religib{e Gharalter ihrer suioral 181 - 182. 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)

This article is an exploratory study that intends to present semantic interoperability initiatives in the area of information science and computer science. It discusses these initiatives, focusing on open science and eScience, aiming at pointing out similarities and differences in the methodologies used for an intelligent retrieval of data in heterogeneous environments that do not benefit a universal language. We will illustrate seminal initiatives regarding the compatibility of languages in information science and the alignment and semantic mapping in the area (...) of computer science, emphasizing what they have in common and their differences, showing that those seminal initiatives are still relevant nowadays. In this perspective, we want to bring up discussions about methodologies that supports a kind of “intermediate language” that allows the compatibility of research resources, semantically interconnecting their contents without forcing the use of a single language, but of a switching language, such as a metalanguage that guarantees to keep the differences of each community of speech. (shrink)

A documentary photographer captures the glory and decay of one of rural America's most elemental icons in this collection of images that encapsulate the dramatic transformations that have overtaken the Iowa countryside. Original.

Wie kann das Rätsel der Gewalt zwischen den drei Zeugen des einen Gottes, zwischen dem Judentum, dem Christentum und dem Islam gelöst werden? Um zu verstehen, wo die grundsätzlichen Schierigkeiten ihrer Begegnung liegen, geht der Author zunächst ihren subtilen Verwandschaftsbeziehungen nach und stellt die Asymmetrie zwischen ihren Traditionen heraus. Die Grundprinzipien moderner Gesellschaftswesen, die vergleichende Methode der Religionswissenschaften, die Utopie eines allgemeinen Frieden und die Notwendigkeit, Gewaltsituationen zu entschärfen veranlassen die drei Zeugen, ihr Erbe nach ihrem jeweils eigenen Kommunikationsstil zu (...) befragen, wobei sie auf die in allen Kulturen gegebene goldene Regel stoßen: 'Alles, was ihr von den anderen erwartet, das tut auch ihr für sie!' . Diese Regel löst heute einen langwierigen gegenseitigen Lernprozeß aus, der von jedem der drei Monotheismen auf seine Weise gestaltet wird. Der Autor vertritt die Hypothese, daß die Grunddifferenz des Christentums gegenüber dem Judentum und dem Islam, das Geheimnis der Inkarnation und der Trinität, gleichzeitig der Ort ist, an dem sich eine christliche Theologie der Begegnung definieren läßt. (shrink)

La « règle d’or » énoncée par Lc 6,31 et Mt 7,12, à laquelle Kant reproche son caractère imparfaitement formel, est interprétée par Paul Ricœur, dans Soi-même comme un autre , comme une règle de « réciprocité », née de la « sollicitude » envers autrui, affrontée à la violence, qui permet de gérer les conflits entre l’universalité de la loi et le bien particulier et de faire la « transition » entre une morale du devoir et des convictions de (...) sagesse pratique.Mais nous nous interrogeons sur la discordance, observée par Ricœur, entre une logique d’équivalence qui régirait l’éthique commune et une logique de la surabondance qui relèverait de l’économie du don et de la référence à Dieu, discordance qui entraînerait, selon lui, une répartition des tâches entre la philosophie, agnostique par statut, et la théologie.D’un côté, une logique d’excès ou d’amour est déjà à l’œuvre dans la sollicitude éthique pour permettre à quelqu’un de se mettre à la place de l’autre. D’autre part, la solidarité impliquée par la règle d’or évangélique trouve en elle-même la force de s’accomplir au delà de toute justice. La théologie peut ainsi rejoindre la philosophie dans son « agnosticisme » : la règle d’or est le lieu où Dieu se cache et en même temps se montre dans la spontanéité éthique de la conscience humaine.The “Golden Rule” announced by Luke 6,13 and Matthew 7,12, of which Kant criticized its imperfectly formal character, was interpretated by Paul Ricœur in Soi-même comme un autre as a rule of “reciprocity”. It was born of “solicitude” towards the other, affronted by violence, and permitted the management of conflicts between the universality of the law and the private good, and made the “transition” between a morality of duty and the convictions of practical wisdom.But we ask ourselves about the discordance, observed by Ricœur, between a logic of equivalence the regulated common ethics and a logic of surabundance that arose from an economy of gift and from a reference to God. That discordance brought with it, according to him, a repartition of tasks between philosophy, agnostic by status, and theology.On the one hand, a logic of excess where love is already at work in the ethical solicitude to allow someone to put himself in the place of the other. On the other hand, the solidarity implied by the evangelical golden rule finds in itself the force to come about beyond all justice. Theology can thus rejoin philosophy in its “agnosticism” : the golden rule is the place where God hides and at the same time appears in the ethical spontaneity of the human conscience. (shrink)