What is a human being according to Augustine of Hippo? The question has occupied a group of researchers from Brazil and Europe and has been explored at two workshops during which the contributors to this volume have discussed anthropological themes in Augustine's vast corpus. In this volume, the reader will find articles on a wide spectrum of Augustine's anthropological ideas. Some contributions focus on specific texts, while others focus on specific theological or philosophical aspects of Augustine's anthropology. The authors of (...) the articles in this volume are convinced that Augustine's anthropology is of major importance for how human beings have been understood in Western civilization for better or for worse. The topic is therefore highly relevant to the present times in which humanity is under pressure from various sides. (shrink)

Parker’s article is a welcome attempt to address the importance of environmental sustainability in the realm of clinical ethics.1 We support the recent movement to seriously consider the environmental impact of healthcare institutions in bioethics.2 3 Still, we find two partly linked weaknesses of Parker’s analysis and guideline suggestion. These relate to a need in ‘green’ bioethics to see beyond the normal healthcare ethical focus on health-related values related to individual patients, and to primarily adopt institutional ways of framing central (...) decision problems. Traditional bioethics applies a restricted scope of values to assess clinical decisions: primarily health-related patient well-being (including life) and patient autonomy. If a decision improves (or, as in Parker’s inhaler case, maintains) a patient’s health-related well-being, this supports it. However, if a decision improves a patient’s non health-related well-being, say, winning a beauty contest or securing a job by having cosmetic surgery, it is not supported. And so on. This idea of healthcare as, in Michael Walzer’s classic terminology, a separate ‘sphere of justice’ has two interrelated limitations: it reflects a bias towards individual patients over other people, and it restricts the scope of values allowed to influence healthcare ethical judgements. These limitations appear once we see that the issue addressed by Parker can be framed either as prescription decisions taken by individual doctors against the background of …. (shrink)

In participatory activities in the workplace, employees are invited to raise problems and suggest improvements to the management. Although it is widely acknowledged that employees rarely control decisions in these settings, little is known about the interactional resources that employees and managers draw upon when negotiating consensus about which initiatives to pursue in the future. We analyse interactions from participatory meetings in an industrial setting in relation to the topic of work shoes, showing how the participants orient to both their (...) relative deontic rights and epistemic rights. The analysis suggests that besides their low deontic status, employees’ fragile epistemic status constitutes an important but overlooked challenge to achieving improved working conditions through the participatory activities. (shrink)

Monitoring the environment for visual events while performing a concurrent task requires adjustment of visual processing priorities. By use of Bundesen's (1990) Theory of Visual Attention (TVA), we investigated how monitoring for an object-based brief event affected distinct components of visual attention in a concurrent task. The perceptual salience of the event was varied. Monitoring reduced the processing speed in the concurrent task, and the reduction was stronger when the event was less salient. The monitoring task neither affected the temporal (...) threshold of conscious perception nor the storage capacity of visual short-term memory nor the efficiency of top-down controlled attentional selection. (shrink)

This article argues that standard models of person-centred care (PCC) and shared decision making (SDM) rely on simplistic, often unrealistic assumptions of patient capacities that entail that PCC/SDM might have detrimental effects in many applications. We suggest a complementary PCC/SDM approach to ensure that patients are able to execute rational decisions taken jointly with care professionals when performing self-care. Illustrated by concrete examples from a study of adolescent diabetes care, we suggest a combination of moral and psychological considerations to support (...) the claim that standard PCC/SDM threatens to systematically undermine its own goals. This threat is due to a tension between the ethical requirements of SDM in ideal circumstances and more long-term needs actualized by the context of self-care handled by patients with limited capacities for taking responsibility and adhere to their own rational decisions. To improve this situation, we suggest a counseling, self-care, adherence approach to PCC/SDM, where more attention is given to how treatment goals are internalized by patients, how patients perceive choice situations, and what emotional feedback patients are given. This focus may involve less of a concentration on autonomous and rational clinical decision making otherwise stressed in standard PCC/SDM advocacy. (shrink)

This book concentrates upon how economic rationalities have been embedded into particular historical practices, cultures, and moral systems. Through multiple case-studies, situated in different historical contexts of the modern West, the book shows that the development of economic rationalities takes place in the meeting with other regimes of thought, values, and moral discourses. The book offers new and refreshing insights, ranging from the development of early economic thinking to economic aspects and concepts in the works of classical thinkers such as (...) Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Karl Marx, to the role of economic reasoning in contemporary policies of art and health care. With economic rationalities as the read thread, the reader is offered a unique chance of historical self-awareness and recollection of how economic rationality became the powerful ideological and moral force that it is today. (shrink)

The project “A Plurality of Lives” was funded and hosted by the Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies at Lund University, Sweden. The aim of the project was to better understand how a second origin of life, either in the form of a discovery of extraterrestrial life, life developed in a laboratory, or machines equipped with abilities previously only ascribed to living beings, will change how we understand and relate to life. Because of the inherently interdisciplinary nature of the project aim, (...) the project took an interdisciplinary approach with a research group made up of 12 senior researchers representing 12 different disciplines. The project resulted in a joint volume, an international symposium, several new projects, and a network of researchers in the field, all continuing to communicate about and advance the aim of the project. (shrink)

To facilitate recruitment of conscript cyber soldiers in Sweden, the Cyber Test for Future Soldiers was developed as a complement to the existing generic enrolment test. Consisting of several parts, CTFS measures different aspects of computer-related knowledge and cognitive abilities that we believe are of particular relevance to cyber security. This article describes the evaluation regarding CTFS’s validity and reliability based on data from 62 conscripts that took the test and the 27 selected conscripts finishing the training 1 year later. (...) Reliability was predicted through internal consistency and test–retest measures. Cronbach’s alpha for CTFS ranges from 0.79 to 0.86 whereas the test–retest reliability is 0.60. Evidence regarding validity was collected based on test content and internal structure. Convergent, discriminant, and predictive evidence are also presented. Perhaps most importantly, CTFS could predict the cyber soldiers’ performance during their training and added incremental validity to I-prov 2000. When adjusted for range restriction, I-prov 2000 predicted 20% of the variation in course score, while 34% of the variance was explained when CTFS was used in conjunction with I-prov 2000. The results show that CTFS already in its first version is adding value for the Swedish Armed Forces. (shrink)

Emergence of the novel pathogenic coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 and its rapid pandemic spread presents challenges that demand immediate attention. Here, we describe the development of a semi‐quantitative high‐content microscopy‐based assay for detection of three major classes (IgG, IgA, and IgM) of SARS‐CoV‐2 specific antibodies in human samples. The possibility to detect antibodies against the entire viral proteome together with a robust semi‐automated image analysis workflow resulted in specific, sensitive and unbiased assay that complements the portfolio of SARS‐CoV‐2 serological assays. Sensitive, specific (...) and quantitative serological assays are urgently needed for a better understanding of humoral immune response against the virus as a basis for developing public health strategies to control viral spread. The procedure described here has been used for clinical studies and provides a general framework for the application of quantitative high‐throughput microscopy to rapidly develop serological assays for emerging virus infections. (shrink)

Understanding how individual agency and group agency relate is of great importance for a range of philosophical and practical concerns, including responsibility ascription and institutional design. This article discusses the relation between corporate and individual responsibility in agency—in particular, the relation between corporate and individual control of actions. First, I criticize Christian List and Philip Pettit’s causal account of combined corporate and individual control. Second, I develop an alternative account in terms of structural control, and I show how this (...) gives a better grasp of the issue. Third, I argue for an act-dualism that complements my account of control and sheds further light on the relation between corporate and individual agency and responsibility. (shrink)

Recently, philosophers and social scientists have shown increased interest in questions of social, global, and intergenerational distributive justice related to energy production and consumption. However, so far there have been only a few attempts to analyse questions of distributive energy justice from a religious point of view, which should be considered a lack since religions are an important basis of morality for a large part of the world’s population. In this article, I analyse issues of distributive energy justice from a (...) Christian theological viewpoint by employing the Catholic common good tradition as a theoretical framework. First, I present and argue for a global and ecological interpretation of the Catholic common good tradition. Then I analyse the implications of such an interpretation on questions of distributive energy justice, focusing on the view of property rights within the Catholic common good tradition. I conclude that, in comparison with Nussbaum’s liberal capabilities approach, the common good tradition provides stronger reasons for individuals and groups in more economically developed countries to share their resources and knowledge with individuals and groups in less economically developed countries. (shrink)

This first volume of the new Brill series "Ancient Philosophy & Religion" offers analyses of Platonic philosophy and piety, the emergence of a common religio-philosophical discourse in Antiquity, the place of Jesus among ancient philosophers, and responses of pagan philosophers to Christianity from the second century to Late Antiquity.

Anders, Rudi The articles in AH I like best are the ones with which I disagree to a greater or lesser degree, because they force me to re-think and clarify my position. One such article was by John Perkins, titled 'Let's admit that Islam is a problem'. Although the article is very well-written, and I admire John's fact-finding regarding Islam, I think he misses the elephant in the room. Namely, Christian Europe and North America killed far more people (...) than Islam ever did. Buddhist and Shinto Japan did shocking things in the last world war. Jews in Israel ignore the rights of Palestinians. The atheist communist Soviet Union was as bad as Christian Czarist Russia. There is gross injustice in Hindu India. I don't think Islam should be singled out as a problem. I agree that religion can be a problem but the many atheist dictators, for example: Napoleon Bonaparte, Mussolini and Stalin, are also a problem, so atheism as such is not a guarantee of justice. (shrink)

Biographical note: Christina Ada Anders, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.

In this first full-length study of male homosexuality in Cather's short stories and novels, John P. Anders examines patterns of male friendship ranging on a continuum from the social to the sexual. He reveals how Cather's work assumes an unexpected depth and complexity by drawing on both the familiar tradition of friendship literature inspired by classical and Christian texts and a homosexual legacy that is part of, yet distinct from, established literary traditions. Anders argues that Cather's artistic (...) achievement is distinguished by her sexual aesthetics, an elusive literary style inextricably associated with homosexuality. His analysis demonstrates how a homosexual ethos and eros helped Cather develop a sensitivity to human variation and a style to accommodate it and thus became the objective correlative of her art, dramatizing the diversity of human nature as it deepens the mystery of her work. (shrink)

In this paper I explicate and assess a logical argument from evil put forth by the Swedish analytic philosopher Ingemar Hedenius in his book Tro och vetande, by far the most famous and influential critique of Christianity in Swedish intellectual history. I seek to show that Hedenius’ argument is significantly different from, and indeed stronger than, the paradigmatic logical argument from evil in the analytic tradition, i.e. that of John Mackie. Nevertheless, Hedenius’ argument is, I argue, ultimately unconvincing.

According to Paul Russell’s irreligious interpretation of Hume’s Treatise, the aim of the Treatise is to discredit “Christian theology” generically construed. In this paper, I argue that in seeking to discredit Christian theology in the Treatise, Hume uses an early eighteenth-century Anglican version of Christian theology rather than “Christian theology” in a generic sense as his theological paradigm. Taking Hume’s attacks on “hidden powers” and “the liberty of indifference” as test-cases, I show that whereas Hume’s views (...) on these topics are subversive of the Anglican theology of his day, they are not subversive of other major forms of Christian theology that were current at the time, including the Calvinist theology of the Kirk of Scotland. If this is right, then the immediate theological target of Hume’s Treatise should be deemed narrower than Russell’s irreligious interpretation takes it to be. (shrink)

The article analyzes the varied meanings historically associated with concepts of voluntarism in relation to social relief as they were articulated by changing moral elites in Denmark from the late nineteenth century until the present. Concepts of voluntarism have historically constituted “normative counterconcepts” that link voluntary practices to desired futures in opposition to alternative modes of organizing. The “proximity” of voluntarism vis-à-vis the “distance” of the state has always been a core meaning, but the concept has drifted across the political (...) spectrum from its first articulation by nineteenth-century conservative Christians to its rediscovery by leftist social researchers in the late twentieth century. Paradoxically, the welfare state helped “proximity” become a core meaning, in contrast to its original social-conservative meaning emphasizing proximity and distance. (shrink)

This essay focuses on the topic of the emergence of Christianity and Judaism as related but distinct religious traditions, as an example of a process of religious and cultural change, which has had an enormous impact on Western and other societies around the world. At the heart of this question lies what appear to be contradictions between normative practices in antiquity and those we know of today, leading us to consider the historical and hermeneutical issue of continuity and change over (...) time; its how, when and why. Rejecting the idea that theological differences between Judaism and Christianity necessitated a ‘parting of ways’ between them, it is argued that social, political and colonial decision-making was essential to this process, and that, furthermore, a historical focus on institutional realities in the ancient Mediterranean world, including in Jewish society, will challenge many long-held assumptions about the origins not only of Christianity but also of Judaism. The general historical reconstruction offered is then applied to a specific archaeological site, Capernaum, showing how traces of the larger pattern of development from the first to the fifth century CE may be seen in the histories of two buildings in this town. (shrink)

This paper is a contribution to the conceptual history of subjective rights. The subjective right is generally understood as an individual right in contradistinction to the system of legal rules, which are named the ‘objective right.’ These notions have enjoyed immense popularity among Continental legal scholars and historians. This article gives an explanation of how the terms “subjective” and “objective” right came into usage in Germany, and it shows how these terms were elaborated within a metaphysical context. This paper suggests (...) that the origin of this terminology is to be found in the philosophy of Christian Wolff and in particular in that of one of his pupils, Joachim Georg Darjes. The notion of a subjective right thus has its origin in an intellectualistic and perfectionist philosophy, where rights in a primary sense are at the same time conceived as duties. (shrink)

Introduction -- Theses and discussions -- Analytical concepts -- General approach -- Moral philosophy in antiquity -- Christian moral philosophy -- Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas -- William of Ockham -- From William of Ockham to Francisco Suarez -- Protestant natural law -- John Locke -- The American and French declarations of rights -- Early critique of the Declaration of Rights -- Immanuel Kant and modern moral philosophy -- Human rights today.

Philo's argument from evil in a much-discussed passage in Part X of Hume's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (1779) has been interpreted in three main ways: as a logical argument from evil, as an evidential argument from evil, and as an argument against natural theology's inference of a benevolent and merciful God from the course of the world. I argue that Philo is not offering an argument of any of these sorts, but is arguing that there is a radical disanalogy between (...) the meanings of terms like ‘merciful’ and ‘benevolent’ when applied to God and human beings respectively. Drawing on the new ‘Irreligious Interpretation’ of Hume's philosophy developed by Paul Russell (2002, 2008), I suggest that the underlying aim of Philo's argument appears to be to show, in opposition to Christian teaching, that these terms, when applied to God, are in effect meaningless. (shrink)

This article presents an overview of discussions on the ecumenical document ‘Christian witness in a multi-religious world’. Beginning in Germany, it highlights the attention the document received and tracks some of the arguments through the changing contexts of the last decade connected to the document’s invitation for a mission in respect of others. The challenge to implement the recommendations the document offers in a common endeavour to witness to Christ is then emphasized. The reception process for the document is (...) described as an invitation to adopt and contextualize the principles and recommendations in one’s own practising of mission and evangelism instead of sending comments on the text for revision. (shrink)

Keine ausführliche Beschreibung für "Das Andere der Vernunft als ihr Prinzip" verfügbar.

This article is about a coming project concerning a coherentist approach to ethics in school. The project has two main parts; one theoretical and one empirical. The former focuses on philosophical problems and issues concerning coherentism as a metaethical position in general, and particularly when applied to the field of value education, and the latter aims to study some consequences of a coherentist approach to the study of discussing ethical matters with children.Metaethical coherentism is a position in the discussion about (...) justification of moral judgements. According to coherentism, we build some kind of web in which different moral judgements are connected by some justification‐relation or the like. Some judgements might be more central than others, but these can be justified by the more particular and peripheral ones, and vice versa. Coherentism differs from foundationalism, according to which there are some foundational judgements that are not justified by any other judgements. The rest of our judgements are justified if they are justified by this foundation. We wish to study what benefits a coherentist approach might have in the study of ethical discussions in school. In Sweden, the educational system has as one of its main purposes to mediate a "value foundation" based on "Christian ethical tradition and western humanism" to the pupils. Suppose now that you have a foundationalist approach to ethical discussion in schools, as many seem to have had historically, and that some pupil expresses the judgement that some of his classmates have a lower value than him, due to the colour of their skin. This judgement conflicts with the judgement that the colour of ones skin does not have any bearing of ones value, included in the value foundation of the school. According to a foundationalist, we here have a conflict between foundational values, or so we can suppose. In this case, there is nothing obvious to do to resolve this conflict, because the foundational values cannot be justified; it is supposed that we simply realise the correctness of them by our moral intuition, or the like. A coherentist, on the other side, could point to how these two different judgements gain different amount of justification from other judgements, and thereby hopefully find consensus, and hence dissolve the conflict.Coherentism is not theoretically unproblematic, though. One problem is how to understand the justification‐relation. What does it mean that two propositions justify each other? Philosophers have discussed several different proposals. We give a new proposal, based on some of Arne Naess' theories. With regard to methods for ethical discussion in relation to a coherentistic approach, it seems as a "philosophy with children" approach will seem as a natural choice. (shrink)

The figure of the Palmyrean queen Zenobia plays an important part in three vitae of the Historia Augusta. The discrepancy in her representation was attributed to different sources or different authors. Since the representation of Zenobia even changes within one vita, there is no need to assume different authors. Being a counterpart to Gallienus, Odaenathus and Aurelianus, the figure of Zenobia changes correspondingly to these male figures. Her voluntary submission to the real – male – emperor finds an equivalent in (...) the nation's voluntary submission to the real – male – ruler. The category of gender proves valuable in the analysis of characterisation and text intention. The vita Aureliani is interpreted as deconstructing the panegyric tones of the vitae Gallieni and triginta tyrannorum. (shrink)

Alter und Altern werden heute von verschiedenen Wissenschaften intensiv erforscht. Biologen, Soziologen, Psychologen und andere sprechen vom Alter - und scheinen dabei als selbstverständlich vorauszusetzen, dass sie alle über das Gleiche reden. Christiane Mahr untersucht erstmals, ob die verschiedenen wissenschaftlichen Begriffe des Alters tatsächlich dieselbe Bedeutung haben. Ihre Analyse zeigt, dass der Anschein der semantischen Einheitlichkeit trügt, weil zwischen den verschiedenen Altersbegriffen signifikante Unterschiede bestehen. Die Untersuchung führt zu einer begrifflichen Klärung, die für die Optimierung der interdisziplinären Kommunikation fruchtbar gemacht (...) werden kann. (shrink)

Nach den Anschlagen in Paris, Brussel und Nizza und den verzweifelten Erklarungsversuchen sind die Baden-Badener Reden von Alfred Grosser, Hans Gert-Pottering und Robert Zollitsch eine grosse Hilfe. Eine Hilfe, die schmerzenden Erfahrungen des Augenblicks in einen grosseren Zusammenhang zu bringen. Wenn etwa Alfred Grosser in seiner Rede den Bogen zu seiner eigenen Biografie hin zu den Banlieues unserer Tage in Paris spannt. "Ich bin seit 1937 Franzose, unsere Erziehungsministerin ist Franzosin seit 1995, unser Premierminister seit 1982, die Burgermeisterin von Paris (...) seit 1973, Nicolas Sarkozy ist Fluchtlingssohn. Niemand wird sagen, sie sind nicht Franzosen. Aber die jungen Leute in den sogenannten "Vororten" sind fast alle franzosische Staatsburger und werden total diskriminiert. Also, sie haben die franzosische Identitat, gewiss, aber sie suchen eine andere Identitat und das ist der Islam. Nicht der Islam war zuerst da, sondern die Diskriminierung.". (shrink)

Wie vermag ich eigentlich die Annahme zu rechtfertigen, daß der Andere eine Person ist, die zumindest für einige ihrer Handlungen moralisch verantwortlich ist? Die theoretische Option, die ich ergreife, um diese Frage zu beantworten, lautet: Simulationstheorie des Personenverstehens plus Metavolitionstheorie der moralischen Personalität. Ich skizziere zunächst Frankfurts metavolitionale Personenkonzeption. Sodann kritisiere ich seine Theorie der Verantwortung und unterbreite einen Alternativvorschlag. Anschließend wird das Verhältnis zwischen Metavolitionen und evaluativen Metaeinstellungen beleuchtet. In diesem Zusammenhang diskutiere ich Watsons Kritik an Frankfurt, die auf (...) die Unterscheidung zwischen Bewertungs- und Motivationssystem zurückgreift. Ich weise Watsons Kritik zurück und argumentiere, daß diese Unterscheidung in metarepräsentationaler Begrifflichkeit zu interpretieren ist. Daraufhin wird der systematische Ort der Bewertungen erster Stufe bestimmt. Abschließend untersuche ich das Verhältnis zwischen Rationalität, Moralität und Personenverstehen aus Sicht der Metavolitions- und Simulationstheorie. Im Mittelpunkt stehen dabei die Ideen der kritischen Selbstbewertung, der partikularen Lebensweise und der gemeinsamen Lebensform. Als dialektische Reibungsfläche dient eine Wittgensteinsche Sicht auf moralische Bewertungen. (shrink)

Main description: In seinem Werk untersucht Christian Dessau die rechtskulturelle Einbettung von Rechtstheorie in nationale Kontexte. Untersucht wird die Frage, welchen Einfluss externe Faktoren auf die Themenwahl und inhaltliche Ausprägung von Rechtswissenschaftlern, insbesondere Rechtstheoretikern, haben.Zu diesem Zwecke werden in der Studie drei Wissenschaftler internationalen Ranges aus Finnland, Schweden und Deutschland als Beispiele herangezogen, die in ihrem jeweiligen eigenen rechtskulturellen Kontext betrachtet werden: Aulis Aarnio, Aleksander Peczenik und Robert Alexy. Diesen ist gemeinsam, dass sie in den 1970er und 80er Jahren (...) jeweils eine Variation einer Argumentationstheorie des Rechtes vorgelegt haben. Die Veröffentlichungen der Wissenschaftler aus dieser Zeit werden vor dem Kontext ihrer jeweiligen Rechtskultur ausgelegt, um Hinweise auf eine Beeinflussung in Rahmen von vier Zonen herauszuarbeiten. Aufgrund ihres textorientierten Ansatzes stellt sich der disziplinäre Kontext bei allen drei Wissenschaftlern als besonders ergiebig heraus. Im Gegensatz zu klassischen rechtstheoretischen Arbeiten beschränkt sich der Verfasser nicht auf den theorieimmanenten Kontext, sondern betrachtet beispielsweise eine rechtswissenschaftliche Schule auch als einen sozialen Kontext. Methodisch ist die Studie interdisziplinär angelegt, so nutzt sie neben den rechtswissenschaftlichen Methoden parallel oder zu Zwecken der Validierung auch andere geistes- und sozialwissenschaftliche Methoden.Im Ergebnis zeigt der Autor viele Aspekte auf, die es als evident erscheinen lassen, dass auch im Feld der Rechtstheorie, die sich selbst eher als abstrakte und vom nationalen Recht losgelöste internationale Theorie versteht, eine Auslegung unter Berücksichtigung des rechtskulturellen Kontextes einen neuen Erkenntnisgewinn verspricht. (shrink)

Il volume fornisce una nuova traduzione italiana, con introduzione storico-filosofica e commento del trattato plotiniano Sulla bellezza intelligibile (Enn. V 8 [31]). In Enn. V 8 [31] Plotino cerca di indagare il complesso rapporto tra il carattere “ideale” e quello “reale” della bellezza e delle sue diverse forme di manifestazione nel mondo. Tra queste, che la tradizione precedente aveva recluso negli spazi angusti dell’arte imitativa, il filosofo neoplatonico prende spunto dall’opera dello scultore, per poi ampliare lo sguardo verso altri aspetti (...) della bellezza: in particolare, quello del suo essere (ontologia) e quello del suo valore (etica). Lungi dall’essere una semplice testimonianza della corrente mistica del pensiero antico, il trattato Sulla bellezza intelligibile è anche (forse soprattutto) un invito all’azione e un comando a rendere oggetto del proprio agire innanzitutto sé stessi. Come Fidia dimostrò, grazie al suo Zeus Olimpio, che un grande artista non può limitarsi a concepire l’ideale, ma deve anche realizzarlo concretamente nella realtà; così ogni uomo, se vero uomo, sa ergersi sulla materia che lo circonda e farsi tempio della Luce intelligibile. *** Der vorliegende Band bietet eine neue italienische Übersetzung samt einer philosophiegeschichtlichen Einleitung und Kommentar zur Abhandlung Plotins Über die intelligible Schönheit (Enn. V 8 [31]). In Enn. V 8 [31] untersucht Plotin die komplizierte Beziehung zwischen dem ‚ideellen‘ und dem ‚realistischen‘ Charakter der Schönheit und ihren verschiedenen Erscheinungsformen in der Welt, die von der früheren Tradition als künstliche Nachahmungen kritisiert wurden. Als Beispiel zieht der neuplatonische Philosoph das Werk des Bildhauers heran und erweitert daraufhin seine Untersuchung im Hinblick auf andere Aspekte der Schönheit, insbesondere ihr ‚Sein‘ (Ontologie) und ihren ‚Wert‘ (Ethik). Weit davon entfernt ein Beweis für den mystischen Teil des antiken Denkens zu sein, ist die Abhandlung Über die intelligible Schönheit auch im Besonderen ein Aufruf zum Handeln und ein Befehl an jeden Menschen, sich selbst zum Objekt seines Handelns zu machen. Wie Phidias anhand seines Zeus bewies, ist es für einen großen Künstler nicht möglich, nur das Ideale zu denken, er muss es auch in der Realität verwirklichen. Auf dieselbe Art und Weise muss jeder (wahre) Mensch über der Materie stehen und sich selbst zum Tempel des intelligiblen Lichtes erheben, das überall sein Leben beleuchtet. (shrink)

Drawing upon the example of Tucholsky's 1927 Pyrenäenbuch [Book of the Pyrenees], the paper inquires into the possibilities of disciplinary competences and methodology-driven interpretations in the field of cultural studies. It asks whether in the case of the Pyrenäenbuch , the combination strategies of text and photography necessarily predetermine the interpretation, or whether there are other competitive horizons of interpretation beyond this wellestablished theoretical topos of media studies. If it is read in the context of Arnold Gehlen's 1927 Reflexionen über (...) Gewohnheit [Reflections on habit] and Walter Benjamin's Kunstwerkessay , Tucholsky's Reisebuch [Book/journal of voyages] presents itself as an contemporary reading of Kierkegaard and thus as a systematic discussion of medial usages and practices under the sign of repetition. German Der Aufsatz fragt am Beispiel von Tucholskys Pyrenäenbuch von 1927 nach den Möglichkeiten disziplinärer Zuständigkeiten und methodisch gesteuerter Interpretationen im Feld der Kulturwissenschaft. Gibt im Falle des Pyrenäenbuchs die aus Sicht der Medienwissenschaft avancierte Kombinatorik von Text und Photographie die Auslegung vor oder lässt sich jenseits dieser etablierten medienwissenschaftlichen Theorie-Topik dem Text selbst noch ein anderer konkurrenzfähiger Auslegungshorizont abgewinnen? Gelesen im Umfeld von Arnold Gehlens Reflexionen über Gewohnheit (1927) und Walter Benjamins Kunstwerk -Aufsatz wird Tucholskys Reisebuch lesbar als aktualisierte Kierkegaard-Lektüre und damit als systematische Abhandlung über mediale Gebrauchsweisen und Praktiken im Zeichen der Wiederholung. (shrink)

Bislang wurde Walter Benjamins Werk nicht auf Staatlichkeit hin gelesen, weist es doch weder eine Staatstheorie noch deren explizite Kritik auf. Der Staat als genuin politische Kategorie wird zwar kaum direkt, dafur aber uber andere Begriffe adressiert, wie Souveranitat und Gewalt, Produktionsverhaltnisse und Warenform oder soziale Kollektive wie Klasse und 'Volk'. Mit Problemen moderner Staatlichkeit beschaftigte sich Benjamin zeitlebens uber die kulturelle Sphare, und sein politisches Denken motivierte sich wesentlich aus Beobachtungen an Alltagsdingen und Konsumgutern sowie der Auseinandersetzung mit neuen (...) kunstlerischen Verfahren und Technologien. Der Band stellt diesen mittelbaren Zugriff heraus und versucht aufzuzeigen, welche Problemfelder von Benjamins politischem Denken je schon auf die Phanomene Staat und Staatlichkeit verweisen, ohne dass diese direkt angesprochen und ausgefuhrt wurden. Mit Beitragen von: Nils Baratella, Christine Blattler, Astrid Deuber-Mankowsky, Wolfram Ette, Jeanne Marie Gagnebin, Sebastian Jahn, Heinz Dieter Kittsteiner, Esther Leslie, Daniel Loick, Gerard Raulet, Sven Rucker, Gerhard Scheit, Falko Schmieder, Uwe Steiner, Martin Vialon, Christian Voller, Jannis Wagner. (shrink)