This paper raises the question – based on the works of Marc Richir and Dominique Pradelle – if and how phenomenology deals with an “anti-Copernican” revolution, considering that the motif of a “Copernican” revolution seems to have gone through some modifications that reflect a certain deposition of the constitutive role of the subject. Its fundamental thesis is that a certain dimension “beyond” the Copernican revolution does not reestablish a “Ptolemaic” realism but rather opens a dimension “beneath”: beneath the subject and (...) the object where can take place a mutual relationship between an a-subjective constitutive power and a pre-empirical foundational being. This dimension “beneath” means that the alternative does not concern a “pre-Copernican” realism on the one hand and an “idealism” leaving in the shadows the relationship between the transcendental method and an ontological perspective on the other, but rather puts forward a constructive circularity between the transcendental constitution and an ontological foundation. It follows that “normativity” is not achieved on the basis of pre-given objectivity – because it would mean a petition principia – but draws upon the “pre-immanent generativity”. (shrink)

Der umfassende Prozess der weltweiten Digitalisierung prägt alle gesellschaftlichen Systeme in unterschiedlicher Weise. Wie sehr verändert die Digitalisierung die uns bekannte Welt und die Vulnerabilität des Lebens? Sind die damit verbundenen Transformationen gar wünschenswert und/oder notwendig? In Hinblick auf eine Vergewisserung dessen, was als (unsere) Welt anzusehen ist, bietet sich der Begriff der Lebenswelt im Ausgang von Edmund Husserl an. Demnach ist es eine wirklich anschauliche, wirklich erfahrene und erfahrbare Welt, in der sich unser ganzes Leben praktisch abspielt. Technisierung bedeutet (...) eine Veränderung dieses menschlichen Weltverhältnisses. Husserl attestierte seinerzeit eine Lebensweltvergessenheit, die zu einer Krise Europas und des europäischen Menschentums beitragen würde. Daher setzte er sich für eine Rehabilitierung der Lebenswelt als Sinnesfundament ein. Diese berühmte Diagnose und jene Massnahme sind seit Husserls Tagen immer wieder aufgegriffen worden. Wird die Digitalisierung die Welt in eine komplett künstliche Welt transformieren, die den Zusammenhang von persönlicher Erfahrung, Leiblichkeit, gesellschaftlichen Institutionen und Erscheinungen der Natur aufgekündigt hat? Bevor eine solche Befürchtung geglaubt werden kann, gilt es, grundlegende Muster der Digitalisierung im Hinblick auf ihre lebensweltliche Konkretion zu befragen. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht Prozesse und deren Querverbindungen aus den Bereichen Politik, Wirtschaft, Verkehr, Wissen, Bildung, Literatur, Gesundheit und Erotik. (shrink)

Donald Davidson argues in "Thought and Talk" that all speakers must be interpreters of other speakers: linguistic competence requires the possession of intentional concepts and the ability to attribute intentional states to other people. Kristin Andrews (in Philosophical Psychology, 15) has argued that empirical evidence about autism undermines this theoretical claim, for some individuals with autism lack the requisite "theory of mind" skills to be able to interpret, yet are competent speakers. In this paper, Davidson is defended on the grounds (...) that the high-functioning autistic individuals in question have a more robust theory of mind than has been acknowledged, and that this is sufficient for them to be interpreters of other speakers. It is argued, further, that Davidson's theory would remain intact even if one or more autistic speakers lacking a theory of mind were to exist, as he makes conceptual claims about thought and language that are not vulnerable to empirical counterexamples. (shrink)

How does consciousness vary across the animal kingdom? Are some animals ‘more conscious’ than others? This article presents a multidimensional framework for understanding interspecies variation in states of consciousness. The framework distinguishes five key dimensions of variation: perceptual richness, evaluative richness, integration at a time, integration across time, and self-consciousness. For each dimension, existing experiments that bear on it are reviewed and future experiments are suggested. By assessing a given species against each dimension, we can construct a consciousness profile for (...) that species. On this framework, there is no single scale along which species can be ranked as more or less conscious. Rather, each species has its own distinctive consciousness profile. (shrink)

Sentience is the capacity to have feelings, such as feelings of pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, warmth, joy, comfort and excitement. It is not simply the capacity to feel pain, but feelings of pain, distress or harm, broadly understood, have a special significance for animal welfare law. Drawing on over 300 scientific studies, we evaluate the evidence of sentience in two groups of invertebrate animals: the cephalopod molluscs or, for short, cephalopods (including octopods, squid and cuttlefish) and the decapod crustaceans or, (...) for short, decapods (including crabs, lobsters and crayfish). We also evaluate the potential welfare implications of current commercial practices involving these animals. (shrink)

An extension of Alasdair MacIntyre's concept of 'virtues of acknowledged dependence', to include relationships with the non-human world, offers an organising principle for environmental virtue ethics. It situates ecological virtue among more traditional virtues of inter-human relationships, and may thereby contribute to an ethical reconciliation of policies aimed at encouraging ecological virtue with those aimed at protecting the freedoms required for personal autonomy. Within this eudaimonist framework, ecological virtue may be understood and promoted as directly contributing to a good life.

The aim of this contribution is to establish the role of movement in the reconsideration of ontology proposed by Eugen Fink in his 1951 summer semester course Nachdenkliches zur ontologischen Frühgeschichte von Raum - Zeit - Bewegung. In this lecture, first published in 1957, Fink successively discusses how Parmenides, Zeno of Aeneas, Plato and Aristotle approach the concepts of time, space and movement in the overall economy of ontology, and how they might be overcome in a cosmology. This refection on (...) the notion of. (shrink)

In this paper, I provide further support for my earlier claim that the existence of high-functioning autistic speakers does not undermine Davidson's theory of radical interpretation. Andrews and Radenovic, in criticizing my arguments for this position, have presented fresh evidence from the clinical literature on autism for the existence of an individual who speaks but does not interpret, and maintain that the existence of such an individual seriously challenges Davidson's theory. I counter this claim by showing that the evidence they (...) point to in fact better supports the conclusion that this autistic speaker, and others like him, are Davidsonian interpreters. (shrink)

The story of this book of 'materials on Ludwik Fleck' is also the story of the reception of Ludwik Fleck. In this volume, some essential materials which have been produced by that reception have been gathered together.

This paper considers the ways that concepts such as social justice and law were used as semiotic objects-in-tension by a group of five US undergraduates considering law school to make sense of their ideas about entering the discourse communities and communities of practice associated with being a lawyer. This group was made up of undergraduate women who had completed a summer residency program sponsored by the Law School Admissions Council to increase enrollment of students from under-represented groups. Of the five (...) participants, two were US-born; the others immigrated to the US as teenagers; each was aware of her position as multiply marginalized, by gender as well as other factors, including refugee or immigrant status, religious affiliation, sexual identity, and/or association with “at risk” labeling. Data analyzed reflect a 3-year study of their changing perceptions of their relationships to law school discourse communities, using text, interviews, individual video narratives, and informal, face-to-face group meetings. A sociolinguistic approach to multimodal discourse analysis is used to examine the ways that the women, each in a unique way, articulated an increased investment in direct and embodied engagement, lived experience, and personal testimony—not as supplements to doing/being a lawyer, but as necessary and expected practices therein. Over time and through various modalities, they used their vantage point from outside the dominant discourse communities of law to stage social critique and to contest the binary logic and normative criteria that forge the boundaries of exclusion from and inclusion in these communities. Specifically, they resemiotized notions of being a lawyer from the margins in ways that demanded a more fluid and polysemous interpretation of what it means to do ethically rigorous social justice work—hence reworking the relationships between justice and the law and widening the semiotic potential of their own future work. Particularly significant are the ways that semiotic trajectories progressed from an emphasis on what Halliday identifies as textual functions of language to interpersonal and ideational functions. Such a trajectory away from entextualization suggests that voices and perspectives from the margins may be using those imaginary margins tactically as sites from which to contest the boundaries that define whose voices count within the legal system and to contest normative limits on semiotic potentialities for lawyers working toward more just social futures. (shrink)

This article explores atheist meaning-making by employing a multidimensional model of meaning operationalized by the Sources of Meaning and Meaning in Life Questionnaire. When compared to a representative sample of “religionists” and “nones”, atheists show lower degrees of meaningfulness, but they do not suffer from crises of meaning more frequently. However, subsequent cluster analysis reveals that heterogeneity within atheism has to be taken into account. Three types of atheists are identified. ‘Low-commitment’ atheists are characterised by generally low commitment; they report (...) very low meaningfulness and a high frequency of crises of meaning. ‘Broad-commitment’ atheists exhibit considerably higher levels of meaningfulness and rare crises of meaning. They evidence, in particular, high scores on the dimension of well-being and relatedness. The third type, primarily committed to “selfactualization,” exhibits moderate levels of meaningfulness, with crises of meaning being literally absent. Common to most atheists is a particular commitment to self-knowledge, freedom, knowledge, individualism, and comfort. In comparing male and female atheists, gendered patterns of commitment are discovered. (shrink)

At the very beginning of L’Homme-Machine, La Mettrie claims that Leibnizians with their monads have “rather spiritualized matter than materialized the soul”; a few years later Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, President of the Berlin Academy of Sciences and natural philosopher with a strong interest in the modes of transmission of ‘genetic’ information, conceived of living minima which he termed molecules, “endowed with desire, memory and intelligence,” in his Système de la nature ou Essai sur les corps organisés. This text first (...) appeared in Latin in 1751 under the title Dissertatio inauguralis metaphysica de universali naturae systemate, with the pseudonym Dr Baumann; it was translated by Maupertuis in 1754 as Essai sur la formation des corps organisés and was later included in his 1756 Œuvres under the title Système de la nature. Now, it is clear that Maupertuis was a kind of Leibnizian; and that his molecule possessed higher-level, ‘mental’ properties. In that sense he falls under the first category described by La Mettrie. But he was also involved in a debate on this issue with Diderot, who put forth a sustained critique of Maupertuis’ theory of the molecule in the additions to his 1753 Pensées sur l’interprétation de la nature. Where Maupertuis attributes higher-level properties to his living minima, Diderot argues that these properties are ‘organizational’, i.e., they can only be properties of the whole. At issue here is the degree of commitment to a form of materialism. (shrink)

"This is an excellent textbook on Neoplatonism which gives the reader a very concise and lucid overview of the basic doctrines and leading thinkers of the last great philosophy to emerge before the Christianization of the Roman Empire. I’ve no doubt that my students next semester will benefit from the analyses contained in the book. The contents of the chapters are very informative and adequately place developments in their socio-cultural context." --Michael B. Simmons, Auburn University at Montgomery.

The increasing unethical practices of graduates’ admissions have heightened concerns about the integrity of the academy. This article informs this important subject that affects the students, admission systems, and the entire scientific community, thus, representing an approach against scholarly black market activities including falsified documents and unethical practices by consultants and students’ recruitment agencies.

English summary: This essay demonstrates that phenomenon is a philosophical concept in itself. Following on Kants use of the term, and its complexity under German idealism and phenomenology, the authors argues that the concept of phenomenon is an excellent window onto German philosophy. French description: Repondre a la question de savoir ce qu'est le phenomene peut paraitre un peu etrange de prime abord: n'aurait-on pas tendance, spontanement, a se demander ce qu'est un phenomene? Cet essai se propose de montrer que (...) le phenomene est un concept philosophique a part entiere. Introduit par Kant pour etablir ce qu'il est possible de connaitre, cette notion change de sens et se complexifie dans les traditions philosophiques post-kantiennes (notamment dans l'idealisme allemand et dans la phenomenologie). L'auteur se propose d'ouvrir differentes pistes, relatives a cette notion, qui se degagent dans le debat avec l'auteur de la Critique de la raison pure et qui interrogent la portee et les limites du transcendantalisme kantien. Il apparait par la que le phenomene constitue une excellente introduction a la problematique de la philosophie allemande. (shrink)

This study contributes to the exploration of self-rated spirituality by anchoring self-ratings of spirituality and religiosity in an integrative model of personality. For the measurement of personality dispositions and characteristic adaptations, the NEO Personality Inventory Revised and the Sources of Meaning and Meaning in Life Questionnaire have been administered to a sample of German-speaking students. A three-step study design is employed. First, previous findings on associations between personality and religiosity/spirituality are replicated and supplemented. Second, sources of meaning are shown to (...) explain a considerably higher amount of unique variance in religiosity and spirituality than do personality dispositions. Third, two types of spirituality—religious-and-spiritual and spiritual-but-not-religious—are identified and distinguished on the basis of personality traits. The spiritual-but-not-religious type shows significantly higher degrees of Neuroticism, and lower degrees of Agreeableness. Possible interpretations and lines of future research on ‘spirituality without religion’ are sketched out. (shrink)

This article aims at a new interpretation of paragraph §1 of Fichte’s main work of 1794/95, the Grundlage der gesammten Wissenschaftslehre. This well-known text of the early Jena period explicitly introduces a number of thought motifs that will prove to be valuable for the later versions of the Wissenschaftslehre – including the second version of 1804 – and these motifs will furthermore illuminate the significance of the first principle for Fichte’s entire Wissenschaftslehre.

The Impacts of Lasting Occupation examines the effects that Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories have had on Israeli society. The consequences of occupation are evident in all aspects of Israeli life, including its political, social, legal, economic, cultural, and psychological spheres.

This essay tries to account for a certain “speculative turn” in contemporary philosophy (Q. Meillassoux, G. Harman, M. Gabriel, etc.) from a phenomenological point of view . A first objective of it will consist in exposing the link between, on the one hand, the methodological sense of Husserl’s concrete phenomenological analyses (concerning, for example, time and intersubjective structure of transcendental subjectivity,) and on the other hand, the consequences that follow from the grounding of phenomenology as first philosophy. This will allow (...) a largely underestimated research angle to be opened up, one that I call a “constructive phenomenology,” that constitutes an essential and original figure of transcendental philosophy in general. A second objective will then consist in the attempt to sketch the foundation of knowledge as knowledge , the core of a “phenomenological metaphysics.” Whereas the first part will remain within a Husserlian framework, the second will develop some elements of a “speculative transcendentalism” in a phenomenological perspective. (shrink)

"La dimension philosophique de la pensée et de l'œuvre de Novalis constitue le cœour de cet ouvrage bilingue. Des philosophes examinent sous toutes les coutures, en allemand et en français, les écrits scientifiques, littéraires et philosophiques du penseur romantique, non sans s'appuyer sur - et majorer - la dimension proprement réflexive de cette œuvre."--Page 4 de la la couverture.

Die Vermittlung ethischer Kompetenzen ist wesentlicher Bestandteil in berufsqualifizierenden und postgraduellen Studiengängen. Dabei werden praktisch-ethische Problemlösungskompetenzen, je nach Studiengang aber auch die forschungsethische Betrachtung von Studien thematisiert. Die Überprüfung dieser ethischen Kompetenzen stellt sich als Herausforderung dar. Das schriftliche oder mündliche Abfragen von Lehrinhalten greift zu kurz, da somit lediglich Wissen, jedoch nicht Fertigkeiten oder gar Haltung erfasst werden können.Bei der Reakkreditierung des Masterstudiengangs Pflegewissenschaft an der Universität Witten/Herdecke wurde dieser Herausforderung mit der Umsetzung eines für die postgraduelle Ausbildung innovativen (...) Prüfungsformats begegnet. Für das Modul „Ethik in der Pflegepraxis und -forschung“ wurde ein Format ausgearbeitet, welches sich an den „Objective Structured Clinical Examinations“ orientiert und somit die erworbenen Fertigkeiten und Haltungen der Studierenden mit einbezieht. Der Beitrag zeigt auf, wie das OSCE-Prüfungsformat konzipiert und eine Adaption erfolgt ist. (shrink)

Background Teaching ethical competencies is an essential component of professional and postgraduate curricula. Developing practical–ethical problem-solving competencies as well as appraising program-specific studies and related research ethics are topics typically addressed. However, assessment of these ethical competencies poses a challenge. Written or oral assessment formats addressing relevant learning objectives is mainly limited to knowledge testing alone, often not capturing relevant skills or attitudes pertinent to those competencies. Aim During the reaccreditation of the masters of science program in Nursing Science at (...) Witten/Herdecke University, this challenge was addressed by implementation of an innovative examination format for postgraduate education. Procedure For the module “Ethics in nursing practice and research” a format based on the Objective Structured Clinical Examination format was developed. This assessment method incorporates evaluation of acquired skills and attitudes of nursing students. Conclusion The article demonstrates development and adaption of the OSCE format for this purpose. (shrink)

In this study, the author develops an original reading of the Fifth Cartesian Meditation. This text, far from giving rise to a “transcendental solipsism”, as classical commentators claim, leads to a constitution of intersubjectivity on various levels . In its center, a “phenomenological construction” operates, i.e. a methodological piece that masters the genetic approach of intersubjectivity. Closely following the “almost mathematical” rigour of this crucial text of Husserl’s phenomenology, the author equally tackles the issue of the constitution of the experience (...) of the other and the truly intersubjective structure of transcendental subjectivity. The article concludes with the metaphysical results of the analysis of the experience of the other. (shrink)

Although anger as a negative emotion is associated with unpleasantness, recent research on anger highlights its motivational effect. The present study tested whether individuals experience both, an unpleasant and an activating affect, after real-life provocations. Results revealed that an anger situation evoked not only typical subjective and cardiovascular anger reactions but also a sense of strength, which is a positive affect. A comparison of participants with low versus high anger disposition according to the STAXI-2 at baseline, treatment, and recovery showed (...) that participants with high trait anger consistently scored higher in subjective ratings of feeling strong than their counterparts did. Moreover, we found a larger and longer lasting effect of feeling strong than feeling angry after an anger treatment. Thus, differences in anger disposition influence the positive correlation between trait anger and positive affect. (shrink)

Alexander Schnell | : La position défendue dans cette contribution consiste à montrer que la compréhension de la phénoménologie comme philosophie transcendantale implique le recours à la philosophie allemande classique. L’auteur étudie, à ce dessein, une perspective d’abord gnoséologique puis ontologique, commandées sur différents registres par les concepts d’« intuition », de « construction » et de « possibilisation ». Dans un troisième moment, il établit comment, dans une perspective tirant les conclusions « métaphysiques » de ces élaborations phénoménologiques, (...) ces deux volets peuvent être envisagés dans un projet unitaire où la « possibilisation » est conçue comme une « réflexion de la réflexion ». | : In this paper I defend the idea, that the comprehension of Phenomenology as “transcendental philosophy” requires to establish the link between Phenomenology and Classical German Philosophy. I analyze for this purpose an epistemological and than an ontological perspective where the concepts of “intuition”, of “construction”, and of “possibilisation” play a first role. Then I try to show — in a perspective drawing the metaphysical conclusions of these phenomenological analyses — that these two perspectives can be integrated in a common project where “possibilisation” is conceived of as a “reflexion of the reflexion”. (shrink)