Die Beurteilung von Handlungen als ethisch erlaubt gehort zum moralischen Bewusstsein und zur moralischen Verstandigung. In der theologischen Ethik gab es jedoch Kritik an der Kategorie des ethisch Erlaubten, am grundsatzlichsten bei Friedrich Schleiermacher. Die Kritiker vertraten die These, dass sich alle moglichen Handlungen als entweder moralisch geboten oder verboten ausweisen liessen und dass eine mittlere Kategorie des bloss Erlaubten die Klarheit ethischer Verbindlichkeit trube. Fuss analysiert die Argumentationen reprasentativer evangelischer Ethiker vor allem des 19. und fruhen 20. Jahrhunderts, (...) die einerseits fur die Kritik am Begriff des Erlaubten und andererseits fur seine Rehabilitierung stehen. Dabei wird das Erlaubnisproblem in seiner Beziehung zu anderen ethischen Kontroversthemen gesehen, wie etwa den Problemen des supererogatorischen Handelns oder der Adiaphora. Das Schlusskapitel beschreibt den Begriff des Erlaubten im Kontext einer Lehre von elementaren Pflichten. (shrink)

In this brief and powerful book, Diana Fuss takes on the debate of pure essence versus social construct, engaging with the work of Luce Irigaray and Monique ...

In recent years quantum probability models have been used to explain many aspects of human decision making, and as such quantum models have been considered a viable alternative to Bayesian models based on classical probability. One criticism that is often leveled at both kinds of models is that they lack a clear interpretation in terms of psychological mechanisms. In this paper we discuss the mechanistic underpinnings of a quantum walk model of human decision making and response time. The quantum walk (...) model is compared to standard sequential sampling models, and the architectural assumptions of both are considered. In particular, we show that the quantum model has a natural interpretation in terms of a cognitive architecture that is both massively parallel and involves both co-operative and competitive interactions between units. Additionally, we introduce a family of models that includes aspects of the classical and quantum walk models. (shrink)

The question of what it means to be human has never before been more difficult and more contested. The human, with a complicated social history that his rarely been examined, remains entrenched in traditional Enlightenment thinking. Human, All Too Human considers how we might radicalize our notion of the human. Can the human be thought outside humanism? Any rethinking of the human places us immediately inside an ever-widening field of contrasting labels: animate and inanimate, natural and artificial, living and dead, (...) organic and mechanistic. These and other boundary confusions at the frontier of the human are the subject of this volume, as each essay takes up one of three disputed border identities: animals, things or children. Human, All Too Human examines how we explain our interest in anthropomorphism and our fascination with species categorizations. Essays explore what we mean by "things" and how the integrity of the human may already be compromised by them. The nine essays in this volume all attempt to rethink the category of the human, challenging some of our most cherished cultural classifications. By inviting us to place the traditions subject of knowledge in the unsettling position of object, these writers interrogate the boundary distinctions that, until now, have exempted the human from the vigilant analysis it so urgently requires. Contributors: Nancy Armstrong, Rey Chow, Drucilla Cornell, Diana Fuss, Marjorie Garber, Barbara Johnson, Cora Kaplan, James Kincaid, Harriet Ritvo, David Willis. (shrink)

A critical analysis of Diana Fuss's Essentially Speaking: Feminism, Nature, and Difference and Elizabeth Grosz's Sexual Subversions: Three French Feminists.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become indispensable in our lives. The development of a quantitative scale for AI ethics is necessary for a better understanding of public attitudes toward AI research ethics and to advance the discussion on using AI within society. For this study, we developed an AI ethics scale based on AI-specific scenarios. We investigated public attitudes toward AI ethics in Japan and the US using online questionnaires. We designed a test set using four dilemma scenarios and questionnaire items (...) based on a theoretical framework for ethics, legal, and social issues (ELSI). We found that _country_ and _age_ are the most informative sociodemographic categories for predicting attitudes for AI ethics. Our proposed scale, which consists of 13 questions, can be reduced to only three, covering ethics, tradition, and policies. This new AI ethics scale will help to quantify how AI research is accepted in society and which area of ELSI people are most concerned with. (shrink)

Einstein's early thoughts about superconductivity are discussed as a case study of how theoretical physics reacts to experimental findings that are incompatible with established theoretical notions. One such notion that is discussed is the model of electric conductivity implied by Drude's electron theory of metals, and the derivation of the Wiedemann-Franz law within this framework. After summarizing the experimental knowledge on superconductivity around 1920, the topic is then discussed both on a phenomenological level in terms of implications of Maxwell's equations (...) for the case of infinite conductivity, and on a microscopic level in terms of suggested models for superconductive charge transport. Analyzing Einstein's manuscripts and correspondence as well as his own 1922 paper on the subject, it is shown that Einstein had a sustained interest in superconductivity and was well informed about the phenomenon. It is argued that his appointment as special professor in Leiden in 1920 was motivated to a considerable extent by his perception as a leading theoretician of quantum theory and condensed matter physics and the hope that he would contribute to the theoretical direction of the experiments done at Kamerlingh Onnes' cryogenic laboratory. Einstein tried to live up to these expectations by proposing at least three experiments on the phenomenon, one of which was carried out twice in Leiden. Compared to other theoretical proposals at the time, the prominent role of quantum concepts was characteristic of Einstein's understanding of the phenomenon. The paper concludes with comments on Einstein's epistemological reflections on the problem. (shrink)

The thesis pursued here is that Madison, in articulating the principles of political philosophy underlying his defense of the proposed constitution in his contributions to the Federalist Papers of 1787-8, can best be understood as at once invoking, enriching, and on several key points all but abandoning the “classical republican” or “civic humanist” tradition. I analyze the ambivalent character of Madison’s response to Plato and Aristotle, Machiavelli and Rousseau with respect to the quality and complexity of the body politic, the (...) principle of representation, the containment of factionalism, and the nature of political legitimation and renewal. (shrink)

Die Vorstellung, dass die Welt aus sich selber erklärbar sei, ist für das europäische Denken eine Selbstverständlichkeit, die die Deutung des Menschseins einschiesst. Anders im Islam : Der Koran verkündet Allah als den einen niemals ruhenden Gestalter der Komos und des Schicksals des Menschen. Anhand von zahlreichen Quellen legt der autor dar, wie diese Glaubenswahrheit in der Geschichte des islamischen Menschenverständnises interpretiert wurde"-- Back cover.

Einstein’s early calculations of gravitational lensing, contained in a scratch notebook and dated to the spring of 1912, are reexamined. A hitherto unknown letter by Einstein suggests that he entertained the idea of explaining the phenomenon of new stars by gravitational lensing in the fall of 1915 much more seriously than was previously assumed. A reexamination of the relevant calculations by Einstein shows that, indeed, at least some of them most likely date from early October 1915. But in support of (...) earlier historical interpretation of Einstein’s notes, it is argued that the appearance of Nova Geminorum 1912 (DN Gem) in March 1912 may, in fact, provide a relevant context and motivation for Einstein’s lensing calculations on the occasion of his first meeting with Erwin Freundlich during a visit in Berlin in April 1912. We also comment on the significance of Einstein’s consideration of gravitational lensing in the fall of 1915 for the reconstruction of Einstein’s final steps in his path towards general relativity. (shrink)

Understanding causation in social-ecological systems (SES) is indispensable for promoting sustainable outcomes. However, the study of such causal relations is challenging because they are often complex and intertwined, and their analysis involves diverse disciplines. Although there is agreement that no single research approach (RA) can comprehensively explain SES phenomena, there is a lack of ability to deal with this diversity. Underlying this diversity and the challenge of dealing with it are different causal reasonings that are rarely explicit. Awareness of hidden (...) assumptions is essential for understanding how the causal reasoning of an RA is constituted, and for promoting the integration, translation, or juxtaposition of different RAs. We identify the following elements as particularly relevant for understanding causal reasoning: methods, frameworks and theories, accounts of causation, analytical focus, and causal notions. We begin with the idea that one of these elements typically figures as an entry point to an RA. This entry point is particularly important because it generates a path dependence that orients causal reasoning. In a subsequent step, when an approach is applied, causal reasoning concretizes as a result of a particular constellation of the remaining elements. We come to these insights by studying the application of four different RAs to the same social-ecological case (the collapse of Baltic cod stocks in the 1980s). On the basis of our findings we developed a guide for the analysis of causal reasoning by raising awareness of the assumptions, key elements, and the relations between these key elements for a given RA. The guide can be used to elicit the causal reasoning of RAs, facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration, and support disclosure of ethical/political dimensions that underlie management/governance interventions that are formulated on the basis of causal findings of research studies. (shrink)

A formulation by Einstein of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen incompleteness argument found in his scientific manuscripts is presented and briefly commented on. It is the only known version in which Einstein discussed the argument for spin observables. The manuscript dates, in all probability, from late 1954 or early 1955 and hence also represents Einstein's latest version of the incompleteness argument and one of his last statements on quantum theory in general. A puzzling formulation raises the question of Einstein's interpretation of space quantization (...) and the non-classical spin degree of freedom. (shrink)

"Every professor knows his own area, but who is able to see the whole picture?" Based on the author's background and the wide-ranging areas she has studied in the university, Gila Gat-Tilman presents articles on science, psuedo-science and moral values from an all-encompassing perspective. The first article in this book represents an overview of science and academic knowledge. Articles that follow discuss moral values, the Sabbath, experiments on animals, and the philosophical questions of certainty. Additionally, she includes the biography (...) of two people whose influence has helped hone her viewpoint. Science has improved our lives, and pseudo-science has followed suit. But pseudo-science, built upon baseless, faulty and tendentious theories and assumptions, has won unjustified credibility, as if it was real science, and has only caused harm. In ancient times there were philosophers like Socrates who investigated the question of what is justice and what is the good. They said that one should know what is the good in order to be good. They clarified what are the values that one should hold dear. In the generations that followed, those values were sanctified by religions, were kept in a sanctified way, and improved the life of the society. In our days, the values in the Ten Commandments are not enough, because technology has markedly changed our life, increased our performance abilities, and created new layers of relationships between strangers. Inventions such as the engine, telephone, television, and the computer enable mass communication, with all the implications. For example, today, from birth to death, every person is registered and the authorities have records about them that areused to influence their educational and employment chances. The Ten Commandments are a start for establishing the basis of moral values in our day, but they are not enough. We therefore need additional basic values, which when observed in a sacrosanct way, will provide people with the ability to properly integrate their social life into our society for the good of everyone. The author has a broad, varied academic knowledge in many fields. Her keen ability to focus on what is happening to others and put herself in their position has enabled her to see the bigger picture in society and to understand which values are lacking and must be widely adopted. This book offers these moral values. (shrink)

The first thorough examination of C. Wright Mills's intellectual roots, this book also is the first to present Mills's full analysis in his unpublished as well as published writings of the work of his precursors, mentors, and critics. Mills' intellectual line of descent is traced from the American institutional economists, especially Thorstein Veblen and Clarence Ayres, and the American pragmatists, especially John Dewey and George H. Mead—an evolution influenced though not determined by ideas from Europe. Always the critic and gadfly, (...) Mills subjected all theories to his special brand of analysis and synthesis. For example, his books on U.S. social stratification are seen by Tilman as a trilogy updating Veblen with ideas from the pragmatists, spiced with a good bit of Max Weber but very little Man. Power, his other chief concern, also was subjected to his creative American eclecticism. As a lifelong seeker of knowledge, Mills studied the great European social thinkers—notably Marx, Mosca, Pareto, Michels, Weber, Mannheim, and Freud—until his untimely death. Explaining Mills's self-description as a "plain Marxist," Tilman writes that it "amounted to little more than a willingness to use Marx's values, vocabulary, and model when these seemed relevant and to ignore them when they did not." Regarding alleged affinities between Freud and Mills, Tilman argues these were "tenuous at best and, although the linkage with the neo-Freudians was stronger, Mills remained critical of Homey and Fromm because they had "not succeeded in entirely overcoming Freud's biological metaphysic." Although the American radical tradition is complex and varied, the heritage that most influenced Mills, Tilman contends, contains elements of evangelical Protestantism and of liberal pragmatism. "It was Charles Wright Mills more than any other thinker in recent years," he concludes, "who synthesized these strands of thought and then wove them into an authentic American radical theory.". (shrink)

One of America’s most influential social critics, Thorstein Veblen authored works deeply rooted in evolutionary biology and American philosophical naturalism—both of which help explain his institutional economics and radical sociology. Now, one of today’s preeminent Veblen scholars ranges widely over the man’s writings to show how evolutionary naturalism underlies his social theory and criticism, shapes his satire, and binds his work together. Rick Tilman’s study focuses on the intersections of social theory and social psychology, political economy and political theory, (...) and modern philosophy and intellectual history in Veblen’s thinking. It links evolutionary naturalism for the first time to Veblen’s aesthetics, secular humanism, sociology of control, sociobiology, and sociology of knowledge, and it makes groundbreaking observations regarding the relationship of Veblen’s own life to his thinking; his place as a cultural lag theorist; and his analysis of sports, gambling, and religion. Drawing on textual exegesis of Veblen’s work, unpublished correspondence, and selected archives, Tilman argues that only evolutionary naturalism could provide the philosophical foundations of Veblen’s thought. He also emphasizes Veblen’s role in the enhancement and embellishment of the social sciences and cultural studies, as well as his insights into the processes of change in the sociopolitical order. Veblen’s evolutionary naturalism, with its unflattering evaluation of America’s self-selected special place in the international arena, casts doubt on today’s foreign interventions, and it also provides a much-needed antidote to the resurgence of creationist thought in American culture. Tilman shows that Veblen’s ideas are still valuable to contemporary social scientists—indeed, that his method of analysis and values are sorely needed to help us avoid wasteful consumption, predation, and the persistence of religious superstition. This work offers readers a new appreciation of Veblen and the many issues he addressed, and of Tilman’s own masterful facility in bringing them to light. (shrink)

While principle-based ethics is well known and widely accepted in psychiatry, much less is known about how decisions are made in clinical practice, which case scenarios exist, and which challenges exist for decision-making. Protocols of the central ethics committee responsible for four psychiatric hospitals over 7 years (N=17) were analysed. While four cases concerned suicide risk in the case of intended hospital discharge, the vast majority (N=13) concerned questions of whether the responsible physician should or should not initiate the use (...) of coercion in patients lacking mental capacity. The committee’s recommendations were non-uniform. Forced feeding and electroconvulsive therapy were endorsed in each one case. In two cases of intermittent loss of capacity due to heavy drinking or intermittent severe suicidal ideation, a self-binding contract was recommended and the use of coercion was considered as justified for a very limited period. In all other cases, most of which involved involuntary treatment, the use of coercion was not endorsed. Without exception, the recommendations were accepted with relief by the physicians and their treatment teams, who feared liability in the event of harm to the patient. Eventually, a model of a decision algorithm was derived from the ethical arguments in the protocols. (shrink)

This contribution gives an overview of Einstein's work on unified field theory. It characterizes this work from four perspectives, by looking at its conceptual, representational, biographical, and philosophical dimensions.

Nikolaus von Kues, eine Schwellengestalt zwischen Mittelalter und Neuzeit, gewinnt in einer Zeit, die sich selbst als Ubergangsepoche wahrnimmt, wieder starkere Aufmerksamkeit. Er steht in dem noch ungewissen Morgenlicht einer Epoche, deren Abenddammerung gegenwartig vielfach diagnostiziert wird. Wichtige Themen, an denen Stellung und Bedeutung des Cusanus immer wieder aufbrechen, sind der Individualitatsbegriff, der cusanische Beitrag zur Ausbildung der modernen Naturwissenschaften, die Kreativitat des Denkens, die Reichweite seiner konjekturalen Erkenntnislehre und die gesellschaftliche Rolle der Toleranz im Dialog der Kulturen. Die kulturwissenschaftliche (...) Neuorientierung der Geisteswissenschaften schuf auch in der Cusanusforschung Raum fur neue Forschungsfelder wie das Verhaltnis von Malerei und Philosophie. Die sich seit Jahrzehnten anbahnende Neubewertung der cusanischen Philosophie wird im vorliegenden Band umfassend dokumentiert und weitergefuhrt. Alle Beitrage eint die Uberzeugung, dass die Hinterlassenschaften des Theologen, Philosophen, Naturwissenschaftlers, Mystikers, Juristen und Politikers Nicolaus Cusanus fur ein an der Praxis des menschlichen Lebens orientiertes gegenwartiges Philosophieren fruchtbar gemacht werden kann. Der vorliegende Band dokumentiert Ergebnisse von sechs selbstandigen, aber koordinierten Tagungen der internationalen Cusanusforschung aus dem Jubilaumsjahr 2014. (shrink)

All speech is a form of self-presentation, a performance on the stage of life, and since antiquity this has been accepted as much as lamented and rejected on moral grounds. Do we today, once again, live in times that justify this complaint? So-called ‘fake news’ are, first and foremost, simply ‘news,’ that is, information whose truth claims everyone needs to judge according to their own prejudices. Nietzsche’s skepticism about truth, at least since the early essay Ueber Wahrheit und Lüge im (...) aussermoralischen Sinne, draws radical conclusions from this apparently nihilistic diagnosis of our cognitive abilities which never reach their goal, that is, truth. But Nietzsche does not despair about the fact that our thinking has no power over truth; rather, he transforms lying into a product of the creative intellect that seeks to serve life. As such, we have to rethink truth’s relationship to lying. Both, truth and lying, thus lose their respective meaning. Against the background of Kant’s famous distinction between opining, believing, and knowing as three different modes of holding-to-be-true, I argue that Nietzsche does indeed provide a both timely and constructive answer to the question how to think about ‘lying.’. (shrink)

​In Abwandlung eines Satzes von Luhmann ließe sich über Gesellschaften der Gegenwart sagen: Fast alles könnte anders sein, und fast nichts können wir kollektiv ändern. Wie rasch sich umweltschädliche Technologien auf dem Globus ausbreiten, welche Unternehmen und welche Ausbeutungsformen erfolgreich sind, welche Ungleichheiten trotz formeller Gleichheit reproduziert werden, entzieht sich großenteils staatlichen und erst recht demokratisch legitimierten Entscheidungen. Stattdessen scheinen unkontrollierbare gesellschaftliche Wechselwirkungen, namentlich die des krisenhaften Weltmarkts bestimmend zu sein. Das stellt offenkundig eine Herausforderung für die politische Theorie dar. (...) Eine wichtige Antwort besteht darin, dass sie vermehrt jenseits der Zentren ansetzt, die offiziell für Entscheidungen zuständig sind, und sich dezentralen Auseinandersetzungen zuwendet. Zugleich sollte sie jedoch genauer als bisher der Annahme nachgehen, dass die Grenzen und Grundstrukturen des kollektiv nicht Gestaltbaren selbst keineswegs klar sind und (proto-)politisch umkämpft bleiben​. (shrink)