Darwin’s insight that species are mutable, and descent, and origin by means of natural selection is one of the most widely acknowledged strategies for the origin of species and their survival in nature. In his famous contribution, however, Darwin also writes that he is convinced that “... Natural Selection has been the main but not exclusive means of modification ” (Darwin in The origin of species. Oxford Univeristy Press, Oxford, p. 7, 1996 ). This research suggests robustness as another fundamental (...) strategy for survival in nature. The paper does not contradict the popular view, which usually sees robustness as a feature making systems fault-tolerant, thereby focusing on the identification of strategies and techniques for making systems robust (i.e., how to achieve robustness). The paper rather extends this view with an interpretation resting on the question—WHY is robustness omnipresent in the world around us? From this point of view, robustness is interpreted as a fundamental mechanism that is in place because of another fundamental feature in nature—the design and use of sub-optimal systems. The paper argues that, in a sense, nature under-specifies systems but compensates for this by providing systems with various degrees of robustness. We believe that this interpretation may lead to fundamentally new design approaches and insights in several fields. (shrink)

In the Aristotelian tradition, the psychological difference between virtue and continence is commonly understood in terms of inner harmony versus inner conflict. Virtuous agents experience inner harmony between feeling and action because they do not care to do other than what their circumstances call for, whereas continent agents feel conflicted about doing what is called for because of competing concerns. Critics of this view argue, however, that when the circumstances require sacrificing something of genuine value, virtuous agents can indeed feel (...) conflicted about acting well. But if this is so, what differentiates virtuous from merely continent agency? This essay argues that the traditional distinction conflates two aspects of virtue as well as two species of continence. And distinguishing between them provides resources for making sense of the complex relationship between inner conflict and good moral agency. (shrink)

Der Autor gibt einen umfassenden Überblick über die vielfältigen Formen philosophischer Nietzsche-Rezeption außerhalb des deutschsprachigen Raumes. Zu den behandelten Autoren gehören unter anderem Deleuze, Foucault, Derrida, Danto, de Man, Eagleton, Rorty, Colli, Montinari und Vattimo. Zudem arbeitet Reckermann systematisch die Voraussetzungen in den jeweiligen Ländern heraus, die es ermöglichten, Nietzsche für entscheidende Fragen der Gegenwartsphilosophie fruchtbar zu machen. Das Buch enthält eine ausführliche Bibliographie sowie Personen- und Sachregister.

This essay argues for a more methodologically diverse search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) and study of habitable exoplanets that might contribute to the emergent field of critical habitability studies across the sciences and humanities. Whether or not contact is made with extraterrestrials, this effort is implicated in changing concepts of otherness at home and the ongoing work to decolonize Earth and make it more inhabitable. I examine historical efforts to think aliens philosophically in the work of Kant, to conclude with (...) a reflection on the trope of contact between humans, nonhuman animals, and aliens in Ted Chiang’s short story “The Great Silence.”. (shrink)

The present commentary emphasizes that the acquisition of fear always involves complex changes in several quasi-independent response systems. Stimulus-specific electrodermal response differentiation as well as the bias to overestimate the belongingness of certain stimulus pairs mainly indicates cognitive processes of selective orienting and attention. Emotion, however, also involves the activation of subcortical motivational circuits. Why certain stimuli acquire rapid access to these basic motivational systems is not explained by the expectancy bias model.

ABSTRACT A new phenomenon in the philosophical discipline, philosophical practice—or counselling—is introduced to the reader through the description of three different approaches to philosophical practice. What is common to these approaches is that an academically trained philosopher philosophises together with a ‘sane’person—the visitor—on questions and problems relevant to the visitor. The essential difference between this and psychological counselling is that philosophers do not use therapeutic methods or make diagnoses. The philosophical practitioner triggers in his dialogue partner a didactic philosophical process, (...) which enables the visitor to become an authentic thinker and eventually to arrive at philosophical answers by her/himself. The effectiveness of the language used in philosophical practice is not so much in applying philosophical ideas or theories as in the philosophical knowledge, skills and attitudes attained by the visitor. (shrink)

Betrifft die Handschrift Cod. 579 der Burgerbibliothek Bern.

Even after yet another grand conjecture has been proved or refuted, any omniscience principle that had trivially settled this question is just as little acceptable as before. The significance of the constructive enterprise is therefore not affected by any gain of knowledge. In particular, there is no need to adapt weak counterexamples to mathematical progress.

It is necessary to consider medieval Western Neoplatonism as a current of thought inserted in a wide cultural atmosphere where liturgical, theological, aesthetic, and artistic patterns play an important role as elements of a common historical past. In this article the author argues to what extent Neoplatonic concepts (Epiphany, Negative Theology, Theology of Light and Metaphor of Light) derived from Johannes Scotus Eriugena, translator of the Corpus Areopagiticum into latin, relate to the Iconography of Crist-Light or Maiestas domini in a (...) mandorle of light. Writings of various thinkers, paintings from the 12th century and medieval epigraphy are taken as primary sources in order to understand the relationship between Neoplatonism and Iconography in the European Middle Ages. (shrink)

The objective of this article is to contribute to an understanding of Hannah Arendt’s special place in present-day political theory by means of a contrast between her Origins of Totalitarianism and four important political science studies of National Socialism and totalitarianism, three written by authors who shared the status of involuntary emigrant with Arendt, that are offered as constituting the original context of her work. A critical appreciation of the seminal works by Ernst Fraenkel, Franz L. Neumann, Sigmund Neumann, and (...) Carl Joachim Friedrich and Zbigniew Brezinski, with special emphasis on questions of method, opens the way to a reconsideration of the distinctly philosophical character of Arendt’s work, and its shocking challenges to the scientific orientations of political science. (shrink)

It is necessary to consider medieval Western Neoplatonism as a current of thought inserted in a wide cultural atmosphere where liturgical, theological, aesthetic, and artistic patterns play an important role as elements of a common historical past. In this article the author argues to what extent Neoplatonic concepts (Epiphany, Negative Theology, Theology of Light and Metaphor of Light) derived from Johannes Scotus Eriugena, translator of the Corpus Areopagiticum into latin, relate to the Iconography of Crist-Light or Maiestas domini in a (...) mandorle of light. Writings of various thinkers, paintings from the 12th century and medieval epigraphy are taken as primary sources in order to understand the relationship between Neoplatonism and Iconography in the European Middle Ages. (shrink)

John Stuart Mill, whose relevance for Nietzsche’s late work has been documented by recent research, is not directly mentioned in On the Genealogy or Morality (1887). This article argues that Mill’s On Liberty (1859) nevertheless played a crucial role in the development of the Genealogy. Following a source-based methodology, three major references demonstrate how Nietzsche used On Liberty as a resource as he initiated and developed his own exploration into the origin of morality. After tracing Nietzsche’s reading of Mill through (...) pencil marks in his copy of On Liberty, I discuss the reappearance of Mill’s motives and terminology as well as the explanatory power of Mill as a source for the respective sections in the Genealogy. It becomes clear to what extent Nietzsche adapts Mill and how he turns Mill’s own weapons against him through skillful transformations. The article concludes that instead of delivering the “better” Mill, Nietzsche builds up a fruitful tension between a then-common take on morality and its transgression. (shrink)

In all major Western countries except France and Spain, conservative governments have come to power by proposing policies opposed to the interests of the majority of the people. This reversal challenges democratic legitimation processes since democratic consensus today is used to justify cutting back the welfare state, to reduce real income to strengthen inner and external security forces instead of developing public services. Apparantly, most people accept this reversal — at least insofar as electoral results reveal what people want. The (...) implementation of last decade's neo-conservative ideologies is a reaction to the international economic crisis. Neo-conservative politics attempts to manage an economic crisis which even a retired Realpolitiker like Helmut Schmidt recently compared to the situation of the Thirties. (shrink)