How was the hypothetical character of theories of experience thought about throughout the history of science? The essays cover periods from the middle ages to the 19th and 20th centuries. It is fascinating to see how natural scientists and philosophers were increasingly forced to realize that a natural science without hypotheses is not possible.

So heftig und kontrovers wie der von Patsy L’Amour LaLove, einer an der HU Berlin promovierten Geschlechterforscherin, herausgegebene Essayband (Beißreflexe, 2017) wurde seit langer Zeit kein (wissenschaftliches) Buch mehr diskutiert. Es drängt sich der Eindruck auf, dass die sich selbst als aktivistische »Polittunte « verstehende Herausgeberin offensichtlich den Zeitgeist eines mit sich selbst strauchelnden Queerfeminismus getroffen habe: Solch eine Vielzahl an mehr als nur leidenschaftlichen Reaktionen allerlei Couleur konnte eine in erster Linie akademische Anthologie mit Texten zur aktuellen Verfassung der (...) LGBTIQ*-Kultur und -Szene sowie zum Stand der akademisch geführten und im Zweifelsfall auch gelebten Queer Studies seit geraumer Zeit nicht verzeichnen – was sich unter anderem in der mittlerweile nun vierten Auflage des Titels innerhalb eines Jahres seit Veröffentlichung niederschlägt. Im Zuge der Debatte, welche in den letzten Wochen und Monaten in verschiedensten Medien (Zeit, Tagesspiegel, NZZ, FAZ, Süddeutsche) um die Publikation entbrannte, haben sich sowohl die darin versammelten AutorInnen als auch Judith Butler, Sabine Hark, Paula-Irene Billa, Alice Schwarzer und andere zu Wort gemeldet. Der selbst als Autor in besagtem Band vertretene freie Journalist und Redakteur Dirk Ludigs beanstandet seinerseits, dass die queeren akademischen Diskurse unserer Tage einem toten Rennen gleichen. Der Stellungskrieg der Kulturtheorien verändere nicht nur nichts mehr in den Köpfen aller Teilnehmenden, seine Debatten gehen zudem noch praktisch spurlos an all jenen vorbei, zu deren Verbesserung der Verhältnisse sie angeblich geführt werden würden. Es sei, so die Position des selber seit den 80er Jahren in der queeraktivistischen Szene Berlins sozialisierten Autors, an der Zeit, die (zu) weitgehende Akademisierung queeren Denkens und Handelns kritisch zu hinterfragen und nach fruchtbaren Quellen für einen anderen queeren Aktivismus zu suchen. Eine entgegengesetzte Position vertritt Andrea Geier. Auch sie räumt ein, dass die Identitätspolitik in eine Krise geraten sei –der Vorwurf, dass mehr um die Anerkennung von Identitäten statt für deren Überwindung gekämpft werde, würde darüber hinaus von Neudeutungen postmoderner Theorien begleiten werden sowie von der Frage, ob sich aus akademischen Theoriediskursen überhaupt noch emanzipatorisches Potential gewinnen ließe. Ihr Beitrag erörtert aus akademisch geschulter und kritischer Perspektive diese Entwicklungen und plädiert mit Nachdruck für eine Debattenkultur, welche sich mit intersektional geschärftem Blick notwendig komplexen Aushandlungsprozessen der uns heute in all ihren komplexen Facetten und Problematiken begegnenden Identitätskultur und -politik auseinandersetzt. It has been a long time since a (scientific) anthology has been discussed so intensely and controversially as it has been the case with the volume of Patsy L’Amour LaLove (Beißreflexe, 2017), who achieved her PhD in Gender studies at the HU Berlin. It is not easy to shake off the impression that the editor, who thinks of herself as an activist »Polittunte« (political pansy) has captured the Zeitgeist of a queer-feminism that is at war with itself: a fact which is reflected in the multitude of rather passionate responses from all kinds of social backgrounds; no other first and foremost academic anthology composed of texts concerning the current constitution of the LGBTIQ*-culture and –scene as well as discussing the current status of academically argued and sometimes lived queer-studies has been able to garner so much attention. The huge success of this work is also reflected in this being the fourth edition within one year since its original publication. Referring to the debate kindled by the anthology which has been present in different newspapers over the past weeks and months (Zeit, Tagesspiegel, NZZ, FAZ, Süddeutsche), some of the authors have made a public statement as well as other public figures such as Judith Butler, Sabine Hark, Paula-Irene Billa and Alice Schwarzer. Free journalist and editor, Dirk Ludigs, who is an author of one of the articles from the anthology has since stated that today’s academic discussion concerning queer subjects resembles a dead heat. The practice of positional warfare in culture theories not only fails to evoke a change in the minds of its participants but rather passes by the very people whose circumstances it originally helped to alleviate. Being an author of the Berlin queer-activist scene since the 1980s he states that it is time to challenge the (too) extensive academisation of queer thinking and action and to be on the outlook for other sources of queer activism. Andrea Geier supports a contradicting position; she, too, acknowledges the crisis of identity politics – the accusation that the fight is mainly about recognition of identity and less about the triumph over it is backed up by new interpretations of postmodern theories as well as the question of whether it is possible to gain emancipatory potential out of academic theory-driven discussions. Her article discussed these developments from an academically educated and critical perspective and expressively supports the call for a culture of debate that, with a keen eye for intersectional themes, discusses the necessarily complex negotiation processes of identity culture and politics in all their facets and inherent problems. (shrink)

English summary: German linguistics, formerly internationally inspiring, fell into a deep crisis at the beginning of the twentieth century. Since the First World War, those in the field have been looking for ways to regain its lost scientific and social recognition. This desire for relevance was particularly clear when practitioners of the different approaches to linguistic innovation competed for the scarce resources of public research funding. The remaining funding documents of the German Research Foundation demonstrate which specific linguistic approaches (...) were proclaimed as critical by researchers, and which were honored by outside funders during changing political contexts. Thus, the history of German philology and the development of its dynamics is here - for the first time - traced from the perspective of public support for research, from the time of the Weimar Republic until the first decades of the Federal Republic. German text. German description: Die ehemals international impulsgebende deutsche Sprachwissenschaft geriet am Anfang des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts in eine tiefe Krise. Seit dem Ersten Weltkrieg suchte das Fach nach Wegen, die verlorene wissenschaftliche und gesellschaftliche Anerkennung wieder zu erlangen.Dieser Wille zur Relevanz zeigte sich besonders deutlich, wo die verschiedenen Neuerungsansatze der Sprachforschung um die knappen Mittel der staatlichen Forschungsforderung konkurrierten. An den erhaltenen Forderakten der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft ist abzulesen, welche spezifischen Aufgabenstellungen die Sprachwissenschaft in wechselnden politischen Kontexten jeweils 'nach aussen' proklamierte und 'von aussen' honoriert bekam.So wird hier aus der Perspektive der staatlichen Forschungsforderung die Geschichte der deutschen Sprachforschung in ihrer Entwicklungsdynamik erstmals von der Weimarer Republik bis in die ersten Jahrzehnte der Bundesrepublik nachgezeichnet. (shrink)

The question is: How did the Japanese Hegel's philosophy receive and criticize? On the way of an argument with the topic "The Japanese philosophy and Hegel" I want to show that Hegel represent a junction in the western philosophies and his ideas were transformed later especially within the ranges of humanities for understanding new developments. If the Hegel- interpretation is today again in a transitional situation, and if Hegel's work shows us in its effect even always new perspectives, then we (...) will be recalled that not only Hegel's understanding the world and the scientific system, but also later receptions of the philosophical tradition have each conditional temporary borders, in addition, possibilities. (shrink)

Science is a matter of facts, not only of objects. (1) This applies to the theory itself and to experimental research as well. Experiments do not confirm hypotheses but are themselves the scientific result because they demonstrate security of action. (2) Thus not only experimental action is to be evaluated ethically but science itself. The development of atomic weapons has shown that there is no segregation between ,,basic research' and technical application. (3) Ethical criteria for the evaluation of (...) class='Hi'>scientific action in laboratory research and beyond are love, adequacy, and embedding (conservation knowledge). (4) A moral order of scientific action could be developed along these orientations in justice and freedom if they were granted to the connatural world as they are in human society. German Die moderne Naturwissenschaft handelt von Tat-Sachen, nicht nur von den Sachen. (1) Handlungsförmig ist bereits der theoretische Entwurf, nicht erst das Experiment. Das letztere dient in der Regel nicht der Bestätigung von Hypothesen, sondern ist selbst das wissenschaftliche Ergebnis, denn es zeigt die Sicherheit im Handeln. (2) Das ethisch zu bewertende Handeln umfaßt also über die Laborforschung hinaus die ganze Wissenschaft. Die Entwicklung der Atombombe hat die grundsätzliche Untrennbarkeit von ,,Grundlagenforschung' und technischer Anwendung bewiesen. (3) Ethische Kriterien für das Erkenntnishandeln in der Laborforschung und darüber hinaus sind Liebe, Angemessenheit und Einbettung (Erhaltungswissen). (4) Eine sittliche Ordnung dieses Handelns kann sich nach den drei Kriterien in Gerechtigkeit und Freiheit ergeben, wenn diese über die menschlichen Gesellschaften hinaus auch der natürlichen Mitwelt zuteil werden sollen. (shrink)

Während weibliche Kapitalverbrechen spätestens seit Beginn der Neuzeit immer wieder Aufsehen erregten, blieb weibliche Gewaltkriminalität in statistischen Betrachtungen lange Zeit eine Randerscheinung. Auch die Forensik mit ihren traditionellen Kerndisziplinen Psychiatrie und Recht fokussierte in Analyse und Theoriebildung jenseits des Kindsmords lange auf den gefährlichen männlichen Täter: Männliche Forensiker analysierten männliche Gewalttäter. Seit den 1960er Jahren finden sich in der Bundesrepublik zunehmend wissenschaftliche Beiträge zu weiblicher Kriminalität und deren Ursachen. Auch Frauen analysierten jetzt – in professioneller und gesellschaftskritischer Perspektive (...) – weibliche Kriminalität; eine Entwicklung, die mit der Neuen Frauenbewegung und der Kritischen Kriminologie deutlich an Dynamik gewann. Der Beitrag legt den Fokus auf den Diskurs über weibliche Gewaltkriminalität in der „alten“ Bundesrepublik. Er fragt zunächst nach der Thematisierung von weiblicher Gewaltkriminalität im kriminologischen Diskurs. Untersucht wird vor diesem Hintergrund, wie sich geschlechtsspezifische Konstruktionen von Kriminalität speziell in der Auseinandersetzung mit der „gefährlich Geisteskranken“ in forensischen Diskussionsforen entwickelten, ob und wenn ja welche Topoi fortgeschrieben wurden und welche Topoi Veränderungen erfuhren. Unterschieden sich die Analysen weiblicher Wissenschaftlerinnen von denen ihrer männlichen Fachkollegen? Welche Bedeutung kam dabei kritischen beziehungsweise feministischen Strömungen und Akteur*innen zu? Angesichts gesellschaftlicher Veränderungsprozesse (Emanzipation, Psychiatriereform, Strafrechtsreform) fragt der Artikel nach der Deutung weiblicher Gewalt sowie dem Zusammenhang zwischen Geschlecht, Gefährlichkeit und psychischer Krankheit. Im Fokus steht die Frage nach der Beharrungskraft, Dynamisierung oder Diversifizierung geschlechtsspezifischer Konstruktionen und Normvorstellungen von normal/verrückt in der forensischen Zuspitzung von „gefährlich – krank“. (shrink)

__Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action: Twenty Years of Challenge and Progress_ _is a collection of thirteen essays assessing the scholarly contributions to the _Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action_ series, which is comprised of five volumes resulting from international research conferences co-sponsored by the Vatican Observatory and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences between 1991 and 2000. The overarching goal of the series is to advance the engagement of constructive theology with the natural sciences with special attention to the (...) theme of divine action and to investigate the philosophical and theological elements within science. This volume is divided into three sections: In Section One, contributors review the history of the series and the development of new research methodology and discuss philosophical issues raised by the laws of nature and the limits of science; in Section Two, authors provide philosophical analysis of specific issues in the series; and in Section Three, contributors offer theological analyses of specific issues. The five volumes in the series include: _Quantum Cosmology and the Laws of Nature_ ; _Chaos and Complexity_ ; _Molecular and Evolutionary Biology_ ; _Neuroscience and the Person_ ; and _Quantum Mechanics _, and are distributed by University of Notre Dame Press. (shrink)

We present a case study of two scientific perspectives on the phenomenon of nerve signal propagation, a bio-electric and a thermodynamic perspective, and compare this case with two accounts of scientific perspectivism: those of Michela Massimi and Juha Saatsi, respectively. We demonstrate that the interaction between the bio-electric perspective and the thermodynamic perspective can be captured in Saatsi’s terms of progress in explanatory understanding. Using insights from our case study, we argue that both the epistemic (...) and pragmatic dimensions of scientific understanding are important for increasing explanatory understanding of phenomena. The epistemic dimension of understanding is important for increasing the number of actually answered what-if-things-had-been-different questions about a phenomenon, the pragmatic dimension for pointing out the potentially answerable what-if questions that have been overlooked or purposefully neglected thus far. Exposing the limitations of the acquired understanding within a particular perspective can be achieved by criticizing the assumptions that have been adopted to make models of the perspective intelligible, but that are considered problematic from a rival perspective. (shrink)

The naturalistic approach to metaethics is sometimes identified with a supervenience theory relating moral properties to underlying descriptive properties, thereby securing the possibility of objective knowledge in morality as in chemistry. I reject this approach along with the purely anthropological approach which leads to an objectionable form of relativism. There is no single method for arriving at moral objectivity any more than there is a single method that has taken us from alchemy to modern chemistry. Rather, there is an ensemble (...) of instruments, techniques, experiments and observations that contribute to eliminating moral error, delivering what we are entitled to call greater objectivity. (shrink)

Human life is operationally defined by the onset and cessation of organismal function. At postnatal stages of life, organismal integration critically and uniquely requires a functioning brain. In this article, a distinction is drawn between integrated and coordinated biologic activities. While communication between cells can provide a coordinated biologic response to specific signals, it does not support the integrated function that is characteristic of a living human being. Determining the loss of integrated function can be complicated by medical interventions that (...) uncouple elements of the natural biologic hierarchy underlying our intuitive understanding of death. Such medical interventions can allow living human beings who are no longer able to function in an integrated manner to be maintained in a living state. In contrast, medical intervention can also allow the cells and tissues of an individual who has died to be maintained in a living state. To distinguish between a living human being and living human cells, two criteria are proposed: either the persistence of any form of brain function or the persistence of autonomous integration of vital functions. Either of these criteria is sufficient to determine a human being is alive. (shrink)

Downward causation plays a fundamental role in many theories of metaphysics and philosophy of mind. It is strictly connected with many topics in philosophy, including but not limited to: emergence, mental causation, the nature of causation, the nature of causal powers and dispositions, laws of nature, and the possibility of ontological and epistemic reductions. _Philosophical and Scientific Perspectives on Downward Causation_ brings together experts from different fields—including William Bechtel, Stewart Clark and Tom Lancaster, Carl Gillett, John Heil, Robin F. (...) Hendry, Max Kistler, Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum—who delve into classic and unexplored lines of philosophical inquiry related to downward causation. It critically assesses the possibility of downward causation given different ontological assumptions and explores the connection between downward causation and the metaphysics of causation and dispositions. Finally, it presents different cases of downward causation in empirical fields such as physics, chemistry, biology and the neurosciences. This volume is both a useful introduction and a collection of original contributions on this fascinating and hotly debated philosophical topic. (shrink)

The elements of cognitive science present in the Isaavaasya Upanishad will be presented and decoded into cognitive science. The technical terms used to represent human consciousness as aham, atman, Brahman, - padaartha - mind and their functions, the origin of the universe as idam, vivartanam, viswam, prapancham, jagat and their cognitive science meanings will be delineated. The seer and the seen will be differentiated and the conscious states or phases of mind - aatma dasa and various maanisika dasas - will (...) be described. The evolution of science of human cognition and communication through Advaita / dvaita philosophy, nyaaya-vaiseshika, saamkhya-yoga and poorva meemaamsa and uttara meemaamsa and visistaadvaita systems of thought will be examined -/- . (shrink)

Defences of perspectival realism are motivated, in part, by an attempt to find a middle ground between the realist intuition that science seems to tell us a true story about the world, and the Kuhnian intuition that scientific knowledge is historically and culturally situated. The first intuition pulls us towards a traditional, absolutist scientific picture, and the second towards a relativist one. Thus, perspectival realism can be seen as an attempt to secure situated knowledge without entailing epistemic relativism. (...) A very similar motivation is behind feminist standpoint theory, a view which aims to capture the idea that knowledge is socially situated, whilst retaining some kind of absolutism. Elsewhere I argue that the feminist project fails to achieve this balance; its commitment to situated knowledge unavoidably entails epistemic relativism (though of an unproblematic kind), which allows them to achieve all of their feminist goals. In this paper I will explore whether the same arguments apply to perspectival realism. And so I will be asking whether perspectival realism too is committed to an unproblematic kind of relativism, capable of achieving scientific goals; or, whether it succeeds in carving out a third view, between or beyond the relativism/absolutism dichotomy. (shrink)

This collection of 21 essays explores the creative interaction among the cognitive neurosciences, philosophy, and theology. It is the result of an international research conference co-sponsored by the Vatican Observatory, Rome, and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Berkeley.

Contributed research papers presented at International seminar on scientific aspects of Vedas and Vedic literature; Volume 1 comprises 27 papers out of 72 papers on a wide-ranging topics.

This collection of 21 essays explores the creative interaction among the cognitive neurosciences, philosophy, and theology. It is the result of an international research conference co-sponsored by the Vatican Observatory, Rome, and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Berkeley.

From a scientific perspective, hunger can be regarded as an identifiable conscious sensation which can be distinguished from other conscious states. The hunger state can be measured and is a marker of the existence of underlying biological processes. Measured hunger is functional and is normally associated with the act of eating. However, the conscious state of hunger, although driven physiologically, is not exclusively determined by biology; there is an environmental influence that can modulate its intensity and periodicity, and (...) cultural factors that shape the appropriateness of the expression of hunger. Within a psychobiological framework, hunger can be considered as the expression of a ‘need state’ which mediates between biological requirements and environmental satisfaction. Our empirical studies show that hunger is clearly associated with biological signals and is central to the relationship between energy expenditure and energy intake. (shrink)

This collection of 21 essays explores the creative interaction among the cognitive neurosciences, philosophy, and theology. It is the result of an international research conference co-sponsored by the Vatican Observatory, Rome, and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Berkeley.

The human imagination is studied widely across both the sciences and the humanities, yet there is a lack of conceptual clarity for interdisciplinary engagement. This article surveys a sample of recent scientific research on the imagination, focusing on creativity and storytelling, to demonstrate how an understanding of the biocultural evolutionary context may yield helpful insights for contemporary theological anthropology. Niko Tinbergen's levels of analysis (mechanism, function, phylogeny, and ontogeny) are used as a guiding framework to structure the scientific (...) content. The final section sketches some of the recent trajectories in theological anthropology that are supported by a biocultural evolutionary perspective on the imagination, namely those that emphasise the hybridity of human being and resist human/non‐human binaries. This exercise in examining scientific perspectives for theological construction is reflected upon in the context of a broader science‐engaged theology methodology. (shrink)

In this review, I analyse how ‘behaviour-based personalisation’ in insurance – that is, insurers’ increased interest in tracking and manipulating insureds’ behaviour with, for instance, wearable devices – has been approached in recent social scientific literature. In the review, I focus on two streams of literature, critical data studies and the sociology of insurance, discussing the new insurance schemes that utilise sensor-generated and digital data. The aim of this review is to compare these two approaches and to analyse what (...) kinds of understandings, methodologies and theoretical perspectives they apply to so-called ‘behaviour-based insurance’. The critical data studies literature emphasises the exploitative aspects of these new technologies and mobilises behaviour-based insurance to exemplify the negative outcomes of digital health. Scholars from the field of the sociology of insurance empirically analyse the practices of behavioural-based personalisation and study how regulating and ‘doing’ insurance affect attempts to personalise it. I highlight the importance of approaching insurance as a specific financial technology and argue that more research is needed to understand the practices of developing behaviour-based insurance schemes and the insureds’ experiences. (shrink)

Four Remarks Concerning “the Situation of the History of Science in Germany”. The following remarks contain four brief reflections, based on my experience in teaching the history of science: (1) on the limitations of any national perspective on the history of science, (2) on the subject and task of the history of science, (3) on the power and weakness of knowledge as topics for the history of science, and (4) on the possibilities of scientific imagination as a critical (...) issue for the future development of our field. (shrink)

This book broadens the range of theoretically informed empirical research on business ethics (using data from major American corporations) and addresses the underlying questions about business ethics scholarship. It culminates a decade’s work by the authors—individually, jointly, and with others. The first part of the book addresses the major theoretical questions involved in doing empirical research about normative issues. It addresses the boundaries—methodological, conceptual, and institutional—that too easily separate philosophical and social scientific approaches to business ethics and reviews various (...) ways in which those approaches can be brought close together to benefit research and practice. The second part of the book describes and explains the increasing institutionalization of formal systems designed to manage ethics in organizations. It reviews the state of the art initiatives to foster ethical business conduct and also looks at the relative roles of executives and external policies (e.g., government regulations) in creating meaningful ethical initiatives. In the third part, the focus shifts to individual ethical behavior and how organizations influence it, describing in detail some of the outcomes of organizational ethics initiatives. It also looks at successes, failures, and new prospects in the effort to identify and explain the multiple factors that influence individual ethical behavior. (shrink)

Regulierung ist ein Kennzeichen für Rationalität bei dem Versuch, Verhaltensweisen im Lichte von Normen zu leiten. Ihre Funktion ist es, sowohl das Verhalten der Individuen in einem bestimmten Bereich ihres Handelns zu koordinieren als auch dieses Verhalten auf wünschenswerte Ziele hin auszurichten. Nach Regulierung wird insbesondere auf neuartigen Feldern sozialen Verhaltens gerufen, so vor allem im Hinblick auf gentechnische Forschung und Praxis. Aber die Genetik ist deshalb ein schwieriger Fall, weil sie Ziele und Werte betrifft, die in hohem Maße kontrovers (...) sind. Darüberhinaus ist schon die Frage, ob und, wenn ja, in welchem Maße der Bereich der Genetik einer Regulierung unterworfen werden sollte, diskussionswürdig. Als ein wissenschaftliches Projekt verlangt die Genetik nach maximaler Freiheit; als eine potentiell gefährliche Praxis erfordert sie gesellschaftliche Eingrenzung. Im vorliegenden Artikel werden die vier Ebenen einer möglichen Regulierung von Genetik diskutiert: die institutionelle, die gouvernementale, die legislative und die internationale. Dabei wird Israel als Testfall für die komplexe Beziehung zwischen diesen Ebenen der Regulierung herangezogen. Aus einer philosophischen Perspektive wird die inhärente Spannung untersucht, die einerseits zwischen der Kraft der theoretischen Argumentation, die oftmals den Gedanken der Freiheit unterstützt, und andererseits dem Druck der praktischen und gesellschaftlichen Überlegungen besteht, die regelmäßig nach einer begrenzenden Regulierung rufen. Diese Spannung wird typischerweise in den verschiedensten Formen von nicht prinzipiengeleiteten Kompromissen aufgelöst, die aus teilweisen Regulierungen, ministeriellen Entscheidungen, zeitweiligen Richtlinien, institutionellen Selbstbeschränkungen und der Unterscheidung zwischen legitimer und illegitimer gentechnischer Praxis bestehen. Damit wird die Regulierung der gentechnischen Praxis zugleich zu einem erhellenden Beispiel für die prekäre Lage der "Angewandten Ethik" zwischen Theorie und gesellschaftlicher Praxis.Regulation is a hallmark of rationality in the attempt to guide behavior in the light of norms. Its function is both to coordinate individuals' behavior in a particular field of action and to subject it to desirable goals. Regulation is called for especially in new realms of social conduct, such as genetic research and practice. Yet genetics is a difficult case since it involves goals and values that are highly controversial. Furthermore, the question whether and to what extent the sphere of genetics should be at all regulated is debatable. As a scientific project it calls for maximal freedom; as a potentially harmful practice it calls for social restraint. The paper discusses the four levels of genetic regulation: the institutional, the governmental, the legislative, and the international. It takes Israel as a test case for the complex inter-relation between these regulative levels. On the philosophical level it demonstrates the inherent tension between the force of theoretical arguments and the pressure of practical and social considerations . This tension is typically resolved in various forms of unprincipled compromise, consisting of partial regulation, ministerial discretion, temporary guidelines, institutional self-restraint and distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate genetic practices. Thus, regulation of genetic practice is an illuminating case of the precarious position of "applied ethics" between philosophical theory and social practice. (shrink)

The debate about the moral status of the embryo has gained new impetus because of the advances in reproductive technology that have made early human embryo experimentation a possibility, and because of the public concern that this arouses. Several philosophical arguments claiming that fertilisation is the event that accords moral status to the embryo were initially formulated in the context of the abortion debate. Were they formulated with sufficient precision to account for the scientific facts as we now understand (...) them? Or do these arguments need modification? Aspects of three arguments for moral status being acquired at fertilisation are examined in relation to current scientific knowledge, highlighting the reasons why such arguments, at present, seem to provide an inadequate basis for the determination of moral status. (shrink)

Science, technology, commerce and consumerism have set humankind on a trajectory towards a catastrophe of inestimable proportions. To respond appropriately to this danger, theology must replace obsolete contextualisations of its message with currently relevant ones. ‘Creation out of nothing’ is a case in point. Will God create a new and perfect world ‘out of nothing’ after we have messed up the one we have? Probably not! In Part I, I show that ‘creation out of nothing’ is not a relevant issue (...) in the biblical tradition. In Part II, I argue that the concept is based on the unsupported metaphysical postulate of ‘divine perfection’. In Part III, I try to find an equivalent for the concept in science that theology could link up with. ‘Creation’ can be equated with a cosmic evolution proceeding in levels of emergence. But ‘out of nothing’ cannot be supported by science. Even at the most fundamental level, energy and the way it operates, are presupposed. At lower levels, the process is guided by causality and (embedded) contingency. Intentionality and agency only appear at the personal and social levels. Dealing with existential needs, faith (appropriately) intuits a personal transcendent Source and Destiny of reality, but (inappropriately) absolutizes the personal at the expense of the impersonal aspects of reality. The laws of nature are also of God; they are essential; they are valid. They leave sufficient space for novelty and agency, but God works as much through regularity as through contingency. Contribution: The dynamic nature of the biblical tradition demands constant re-contextualisations of its central message. ‘Creation out of nothing’ is part of the contextualisation of the message into the ancient Hellenistic worldview, which does not fit into the modern scientific worldview and must be replaced with a contemporarily more appropriate alternative. (shrink)

We do not know whether there are other universes. Perhaps we never shall. But I want to argue that 'do other universes exist?' can be posed in a form that makes it a genuine scientific question. Moreover, I shall outline why it is an interesting question; and why, indeed, I already suspect that the answer may be 'yes'.

InCosmos, Onfray argues in favor of a (re-) conceptualization of communication based on recent scientific discoveries. Similar to many researchers in the field of biosemiotics, the controversial philosopher posits that all life forms engage in constant semiosis. As opposed to being a singular characteristic that only homo sapiens possess, Onfray contends that all organisms are endowed with semiosic faculties that enable them to exchange information in purposeful and meaningful ways. Appealing to scientific logic, the philosopher debunks the common (...) misconception that non-human vocalizations are merely the product of an internal machinery. Onfray offers concrete examples from both the animal and plant kingdom illustrating the astounding complexity of non-human semiosis. Nonetheless, in his reflections about the advent of hyperreality, the philosopher nuances his philosophical position by underscoring what makes the human primary modelling device of “language” the most sophisticated form of semiosis that exists in the biosphere. Although all material beings communicate with each other effectively in order to survive, to relate to each other, and to reproduce, Onfray recognizes that humans appear to have a heightened predisposition for symbolic exchange. The philosopher affirms that the human Umwelt is the richest and most complex semiotic space of all. Due to the pervasive nature of human semiosis in the modern world that threatens the ability of other life forms to create, stockpile, emit, and interpret signs, the philosopher also insists that preserving the fragile semiosic diversity of the “soundscape” is the key to averting the impending, anthropogenic eco-apocalypse. (shrink)

The health benefits of male circumcision are wide rangingIn this issue, John Hutson has reiterated the conventional Western medical view that “the surgical argument for circumcision of all neonatal males at present is very weak” and he criticises many of the circumcisions performed in later childhood, without anaesthesia, as “physically cruel and potentially dangerous” [see page 238].1 He is also of the opinion that “the diseases which circumcision is able to prevent are uncommon or even rare”. But therein he errs, (...) and greatly errs.He cites only two publications dealing with the protective effect of male circumcision against HIV infection, and makes no mention of the important recent meta-analysis of Weiss, Quigley, and Hayes2 which shows conclusively from a large number of studies that …. (shrink)

A biophysical and biochemical perspective of Brahmajnaana will be advanced by viewing Upanishads and related books as “Texts of Science on human mind”. A biological and cognitive science insight of Atman and Maya, the results of breathing process; constituting and responsible for human consciousness and mental functions will be developed. The Advaita and Dvaita phases of human mind, its cognitive and functional states will be discussed. These mental activities will be modeled as brain-wave modulation and demodulation processes. The energy-forms (...) and their transformations as ideas/moods/experiences/thoughts/feelings/utterances/knowing/perception/experience/mood; and a theory of human cognition and communication will be advanced. The sameness of these and processes taking place and steps involved in human language acquisition and communication processes will be highlighted taking ideas from Sabdabrahma Siddhanta and Sphota Vaada, for which the basis is Brahmajnaana only. In fine, a physiological psychological and neurological model of human consciousness and function of mind based on Indian spiritual thought will be derived and discussed using concepts from modern science and technology. The application of these derivations in the fields of physiological psychology, mind-machine modeling, natural language comprehension branch of artificial intelligence and neurology to model and imitate human mental functions will be hinted. -/- . (shrink)

This collection of research papers explores the implications of quantum cosmology and the status of the laws of nature for theological and philosophical issues regarding God's action in the world. The main goal is to contribute to constructive theology as it engages current research in the natural sciences, and to investigate the philosophical and theological elements in ongoing theoretical research in the natural sciences.