According to phenomenal conservatism, seemings can provide prima facie justification for beliefs. In order to fully assess phenomenal conservatism, it is important to understand the nature of seemings. Two views are that (SG) seemings are a sui generis propositional attitude, and that (D2B) seemings are nothing over and above dispositions to believe. Proponents of (SG) reject (D2B) in large part by providing four distinct objections against (D2B). First, seemings have a distinctive phenomenology, but dispositions to believe do not. Second, seemings (...) can provide a non-trivial explanation for dispositions to believe, which wouldn’t be possible if seemings were dispositions to believe. Third, there are some dispositions to believe that are not seemings. Fourth, there are instances of seemings which are not dispositions to believe. I consider and reject each of these objections. The first and third objections rely on a misunderstanding of (D2B). The second objection fails because there are contexts in which an appeal to a previously unknown identity can provide an interesting explanation. The fourth objection overlooks the possibility of finkish and masked dispositions, phenomena which are widely accepted in the dispositions literature. I conclude that (D2B) escapes these common objections unscathed. (shrink)

Plato's dialogues frequently criticize traditional Greek myth, yet Plato also integrates myth with his writing. Daniel S. Werner confronts this paradox through an in-depth analysis of the Phaedrus, Plato's most mythical dialogue. Werner argues that the myths of the Phaedrus serve several complex functions: they bring nonphilosophers into the philosophical life; they offer a starting point for philosophical inquiry; they unify the dialogue as a literary and dramatic whole; they draw attention to the limits of language and the (...) limits of knowledge; and they allow Plato to co-opt cultural authority as a way of defining and legitimating the practice of philosophy. Platonic myth, as a species of traditional tale, is thus both distinct from philosophical dialectic and similar to it. Ultimately, the most powerful effect of Platonic myth is the way in which it leads readers to participate in Plato's dialogues and to engage in a process of self-examination. (shrink)

On the 25th anniversary of Berry’s historic papers on the geometric phase, I discuss here our neutron interferometry experiment in which this phase is clearly separated from the dynamical phase. The connection of this experiment to the observation of the sign reversal of the wave function of a fermion during a 2π precession in a magnetic field by three groups independently in 1975 is discussed.

This paper targets the concept of enactment as a genuinely metaphysical idea. Its goals are two-fold. First, a reappraisal of enactment in its proper historical context, as well as an articulation of the core innovations enactment brings to traditional metaphysics. Here the idea of 'productive' cognition, as I provisionally term it, comes to the fore. The second goal is a reinterpretation of certain themes from traditional metaphysics, including the key question of why there is something rather than nothing, so as (...) to make it more open to insights originating from enactivism. For that, the concept of 'situated metaphysics' is introduced and elaborated upon. (shrink)

Concerning the need for a new conception of legal theory one question arises, above all, especially when external and internal observation as well as the critical reflexion on the premises and presuppositions of all dealings with the law permit a degree of distance, the question, namely, whether it is not an increasing application of scientific methods that is needed, in the sense that the development of a theory from the beginning involves the integration of a norm‐descriptive point of view and (...) intellectual standpoint with the norm‐ prescriptive theory of law, by way of complementing each other, as it were (multilevel approach to law). This, at least, appears to be the only way of also clarifying the relationship between legal theory and philosophy and the theory and sociology of law. The inevitable consequences of the development of a theory of norms and action also have to be drawn from this. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Nietzsche-Studien Jahrgang: 46 Heft: 1 Seiten: 184-218.

The concept of revelation through history is not simply a passing theological fad or aberration, but belongs to the core of biblical religion.

Review of "The Timeless Way of Building." Book by Christopher Alexander.

Die Interpretation der frühen Akademiepläne von Leibniz zielt auf die politischen Implikationen und Konsequenzen dieser z. T. utopischen Projekte. Sie enthüllt das Ideal eines autoritären Wohlfahrtsstaates, in dem die Staatskunst, geleitet von einem metaphysischen, der Absicht nach exakten Herrschaftswissen, zugleich höchster Gottesdienst ist. Auf diese Weise wird ein Zugang zu Leibniz' politischer Philosophie als Beispiel seiner praktischen Philosophie gewonnen und der Absolutismus der Praxis als mögliche Konsequenz einer absolutistischen Theorie sichtbar gemacht. Zugleich erweist sich, wie der Versuch, die Politik der (...) Wissenschaft zu unterwerfen, in den Dienst der Wissenschaft am Staat umschlägt. (shrink)

I argue that Ludwig Wittgenstein’s idea of the metaphysical subject sheds new light on subjective qualities of experience. In this article I draw first of all on the interpretations provided by Michael Kremer and James Conant. Subsequently, I conclude that “what is it like” means primarily “what is it like to see myself as the metaphysical subject”.

Conceptual research is interdisciplinary in two regards. On the one hand, various disciplines have developed various approaches to conceptual research. These range from conceptual analysis and conceptual history in philosophy, Begriffsgeschichte in historical and literary studies to term-related semantics in linguistics and conceptual research in psychoanalysis. On the other hand, concepts play a key role in any cooperation within interdisciplinary research projects. If they remain undiscussed and unmediated between the participating disciplines, they tend to impede productive cooperation. This contribution provides (...) an overview of different forms of conceptual research and introduces the approach of Experimental Conceptual Research as a technique of conceptual reflection, which unifies approaches of various disciplines by going back to an investigation of those criteria that become effective in the practice of concept formation and usage. As a criterial investigation, it starts at the level of conceptualizing phenomena within the course of research. In this way, premature fixations of conceptually filtered perceptions can be avoided, allowing the discovery of distinguishing features in phenomena to pave the way for forms of interdisciplinary cooperation that are deeply anchored in material content. (shrink)

The paper defines dialogic rationality and shows a rational path and understanding from the individual point of view. A separate discipline or discourse should coordinate the urgent need of deeper emotional transformation (metanoia) and explore the appearance of inner spiritual connectedness. This will establish the importance of every unique creature in the universe. Consequently in postmodernism, epistemology can no longer be accomplished by a “clear” cognitive theory, separated from ontological and anthropological elements. Cognition can no longer progress to an unchangeable, (...) non-falsifiable knowledge, because of changes within the object’s inner ontological level. Thus an observer can only interpret the phenomena but can never say “the last word”. Human cognition is based on time-coordinates when an observer tries to make a projection before the future has come. Yet existing now, it also contains the step back to the past as a shore of memory, experience, and knowledge. In this view history is considered to be non-linear—it is a complicated forward process, still continuously going back to the origin of human correlations with nature. A dialogic approach does not reject the importance of self-organizing processes, but tries to compose a sphere of acknowledgeable co-existence with the other to save the whole specter of human physical and mental, existential and creational features. Facing rational or mystical, but still radical, transformation, we get a sense of self-existence and can actively work and challenge ourselves to realize this in every-day life and in communication with the other. (shrink)

Traditional analysis and reductionism put no value on direct experience. Negative Dialectic allows the human mind to return to an experience of mythical connectedness without falling into the trap of ideological isolation. The paper addresses the problem of truth claims of personal experiences by relating the truth of an experience to its context.The quintessential wholeness of the quantum world corresponds with the commonplace experience of the unity of our mind. Mind is an organic part of the growth process of ever-more (...) complex processes and events that comprise the natural world. Today science provides some support for the idea that all individuals embody spontaneity and experience. (shrink)

This paper explores the possibility of finding wisdom in nature. For a compassionate relationship with the natural world to make sense, the author proposes nothing less than a paradigm change within science. Science must adopt the view that intelligence is not only reserved for living systems but that a minimal kind of consciousness is present at all levels, especially at the level of quanta. This is called quantum animism. Utilizing insights from system theory, cybernetics, and theory of complexity the author (...) further suggests that the process of Collective Orchestration explains how natural systems advance to higher complexity. Thus Collective Orchestration could close the gap between Micro and Macro evolution. In the growing debate about intelligent design versus evolution Collective Orchestration could be the missing link that explains evolution as an ongoing process of self organization at all levels, eliminating the need for intelligent design. (shrink)