Female coital orgasm may be an adaptation for preferentially retaining the sperm of males with “good genes.” One indicator of good genes may be physical attractiveness. Accordingly, R. Thornhill, S. W. Gangestad, and R. Comer (1995) found that women mated to more attractive men reported an orgasm during a greater proportion of copulations than did women mated to less attractive men. The current research replicates this finding, with several design variations. We collected self-report data from 388 women residing in the (...) United States or in Germany. Results support the hypothesis that women mated to more attractive men are more likely to report an orgasm at the most recent copulation than are women mated to less attractive men, after statistically controlling for several key variables. Discussion addresses (a) the inability of the present research to specify the causal link between female orgasm and male attractiveness and (b) the proactive nature of female sexuality documented in recent research guided by an evolutionary perspective. (shrink)

Summary In this paper I inquire by way of a phenomenological description whether the experience of an encounter with one's own mortality could not so transform a person's ethos that the virtues of justice, compassion and neighborly love could ensue. I will concentrate on such an encounter in and through the mood of dread. This paper, in opposition to Heidegger, is only concerned with it's effect regarding our ethical comportment. I claim that the mood of dread not only destroys the (...) mood of indifference, but also sends him on a pathway of self‐transforming moods. As to the “understanding” accompanying moods in the field of ethical comportment I try to show that it has the character of a direct non‐ratiocinative insight.RésuméJe voudrais dans cet article examiner, à l'aide d'une description phénoménologique, si l'expérience que constitue la rencontre avec la perspective de sa propre mort ne peut pas transformer l'éthique d'un homme de telle manière que les vertus de justice, de pitié et de reconnaissance de la dignité humaine puissent s'y développer. Je me limite ici à une telle rencontre avec un sentiment d'horreur. Cet article n'aborde — contrairement à la manière dont Heidegger conçoit l'angoisse — que l'effet sur le comportement éthique. Je suis d'avis que le sentiment d'horreur non seulement détruit celui d'indifférence, mais dispose l'homme à vouloir se changer lui‐me̊me. Quant à la »compréhension« des sentiments accompagnant le comportement éthique, je montre qu'elle a le caractère d'une intuition immédiate et non rationnelle.ZusammenfassungIn diesem Aufsatz möchte ich auf dem Wege einer phänomenologischen Beschreibung untersuchen, ob die Erfahrung einer Begegnung mit der eigenen Sterblichkeit das Ethos eines Menschen nicht so verwandeln kann, dass sich die Tugenden von Gerechtigkeit, Mitleid und mitmenschlicher Anerkennung entwickeln können. Ich beschränke mich dabei auf eine solche Begegnung in der und durch die Gestimmtheit des Entsetzens. Dieser Aufsatz erörtert — im Gegensatz zu Heideggers Auffassung der Angst — nur die Wirkung auf unser ethisches Verhalten. Ich bin der Auffassung, dass die Gestimmtheit des Entsetzens nicht nur die Stimmung der Gleichgültigkeit zerstört, sondern den Menschen auch auf einen Weg der selbstverändernden Gestimmtheiten sendet. Was das »Verstehen« begleitender Stimmungen im Bereich des ethischen Verhaltens betrifft, so versuche ich zu zeigen, dass dies den Charakter eines unmittelbaren, nicht‐rationalen Einsehens hat. (shrink)

This article has two purposes. First, it aims to present a detailed analysis of the argument of “recognition” or even of the “fight for recognition”, which Hegel uses in his fragments from Jena treating of the system of philosophy, especially of the philosophy of spirit. It will be necessary to determine precedently by means of an exact interpretation the content of that expressions, in order to criticize and to compare, his original significance in Hegel with the theoretical application made by (...) Honneth. The special aim hereby is to correct and to explain the function of the “fight for recognition”, even in its sharpening significance as a “fight for life and death”, with relation to the genesis of the state of right. Second, the figure of “recognition” is related to Hegel’s Philosophy of right in the version of 1820. In this work, recognition participates in the theory of “institutions” which is analyzed by Honneth as well. Apart from the merits gained through the endeavour to introduce a classic philosophical theory into a conception of justice in society, we feel obliged to state an error in Honneth‘s interpretation in so far as he understands an institution as a simple social community of communication. For that reason, a conclusion based on a critical commentary can only include a negative recommendation, that means, not to follow those traces of interpretation but rather to defend and to consult the texts originally composed by Hegel. (shrink)

Proceedings of an international conference held at the Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbèuttel in 2009.

Theodor W. Adorno: Kant's Critique of Pure Reason . Hrsg. von Rolf Tiedemann. Übers. von Rodney Livingstone. Cambridge: Polity Press 2001 . xi/300 S. ISBN 0-80474-426-2. Lara Denis : Moral Self-Regard. Duties to Oneself in Kant's Moral Theory. New York & London: Garland Publishing, Inc. 2001. xvi/245 S. . 0-815-33967-4.

Neste texto, refero-me principalmente à forma madura da Ciência da Lógica, isto é, ao seu primeiro livro da edição revista do ano 1832. O objetivo de meu trabalho reside em demonstrar que a ilustração do problema do início da filosofia por Hegel é indiretamente uma chave para o entendimento da ideia fundamental de sua concepção da lógica como método científico da filosofia. Para atingir esse objetivo exponho, em primeiro lugar, as principais ideias do programa de Hegel por uma revisão da (...) lógica, da metafísica e da filosofia completa, em contraste à lógica tradicional. Depois ofereço uma interpretação da declaração da dificuldade em encontrar um início lógico na filosofia, que reside em que resolver o problema de unir o método ao conteúdo, a forma ao princípio. Essa interpretação deve mostrar no qual sentido o início vale sem pressuposto. Esse entendimento nega a possibilidade de começar a filosofia com algo hipotética e problematicamente verdadeiro como é o procedimento comum na matemática. Por meio da análise daquele problema ilustrado especialmente pelo exemplo da crítica hegeliana à compreensão da natureza da relação entre o ser puro e a sua alteração necessária em Jacobi, tento encontrar um acesso para o entendimento do método lógico de Hegel, na medida em que o momento da negatividade enquanto princípio do modo de determinar e, com isso, do conteúdo, resultam necessariamente da indeterminidade do ser como a mais pensável abstração. Esse resultado surge pela necessidade, por qual o ser puro provoca a sua própria mudança para o devir um desenvolvimento que Jacobi desmente por princípio para ficar parado na abstração unilateral e falsa. Assim, a indeterminidade enquanto algo contrário é mesmo o determinado ou o negativo, isto é, o negativo puro, inteiramente abstrato, em outras palavras: O ser como resultado da perfeita abstração é negatividade abstrata, o nada. Mas essa negatividade é o princípio e o método da determinação e do conhecer na lógica e na filosofia como ciência. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Kant-Studien Jahrgang: 110 Heft: 1 Seiten: 172-177.

First published in 1983. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

First published in 1983. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Name der Zeitschrift: Kant-Studien Jahrgang: 107 Heft: 1 Seiten: 207-216.

Name der Zeitschrift: Kant-Studien Jahrgang: 106 Heft: 2 Seiten: 326-335.

The development of genomic technologies has seemed almost magical. Excitement about it, both in medicine and among the public, stems from the belief that genomic techniques will illuminate the causes of health and disease, will lead to effective interventions for both rare and common genetic conditions, and will inform reproductive decision‐making. Novel diagnostic tools, however, are often deployed before targeted therapies are developed, tested, or available and before their psychosocial implications are explored. Newer technologies such as prenatal whole exome screening (...) are seen as offering “decisional autonomy” to expectant parents, although such technologies identify information about genetic sequencing that may not have clear meaning. The “therapeutic gap” between the ability to conduct genetic sequencing and the ability to fully understand what the test results mean, much less what treatments to offer, leaves families with complex and unclear information they cannot act upon with confidence during pregnancy. In this essay, we will consider the psychosocial and ethical implications of such assumptions—and of the uncertain information produced by these technologies—for individuals and families and for societal aspects such as medical service usage and demographic inequities. (shrink)

The differential activation hypothesis (DAH; Teasdale, 1988) proposes that individuals who are vulnerable to depression can be distinguished from non-vulnerable individuals by the degree to which negative thoughts and maladaptive cognitive processes are activated during sad mood. While retrieval of negative autobiographical memories is noted as one such process, the model does not articulate a role for deficits in recalling positive memories. Two studies were conducted to compare the autobiographical memory characteristics of never-depressed and formerly depressed individuals following a sad (...) mood induction. In Study 1, features of negative memories of never-depressed and formerly depressed individuals did not differ, either in neutral or sad mood. For positive memories, groups did not differ in neutral mood, but following a sad mood induction, formerly depressed individuals rated their positive memories as less vivid than their never-depressed counterparts. Study 2 examined positive autobiographical memory features more comprehensively and replicated the finding that in a sad mood formerly depressed individuals recalled less vivid positive memories than never-depressed controls. These findings suggest that the phenomenological features of positive memories could represent an important factor in depressive vulnerability, and, more broadly, that depression may be associated with a deficit in the processing of positive material. (shrink)