Normal 0 21 In 1802 Hegel publishes in Jena “On the Relationship of Skepticism to Philosophy”. This article has the objective of criticizing the skepticism of Gottlob Ernst Schulze. The accomplishment of that critic will demand from Hegel the review of some fundamental aspects of the ancient skepticism. It treats here of reconsidering Hegel’s interpretation of the ancient skepticism, starting from that critic to the modern skepticism of Schulze.

A contradição é um conceito central para que se compreenda o desenvolvimento dialético da filosofia de Hegel. Desde a Antiguidade é debatido pelos filósofos se a contradição seria ou não uma anomalia a ser combatida quando se pensa na possibilidade da constituição de um discurso acerca das coisas e qual o seu alcance. No que se refere a Hegel, a contradição não está presente apenas no domínio dos conceitos, mas também na natureza. O que pretendemos aqui é apreender o significado (...) dessa contradição na natureza e do conceito de movimento que dela deriva. Para tanto, primeiro acompanharemos certos aspectos dessa temática no debate de Hegel com alguns autores da Antiguidade e a seguir trataremos da exposição hegeliana do mesmo tema na Filosofia da Natureza da Enciclopédia a partir da dedução do conceito de tempo. The contradiction is a central concept in order to understand the dialectical development of Hegel's philosophy. Since ancient times is debated by philosophers if the contradiction would or wouldn’t be an anomaly to be fought when considering the possibility of setting up a speech about things and what its scope is. With regard to Hegel, the contradiction is not only present in the field of concepts, but also in the nature. What we intend here is to grasp the significance of this contradiction in the nature and the concept of movement derived from it. For this, first we will follow certain aspects of this theme in Hegel’s discussion with some authors of antiquity and then dealing with the hegelian exposition of the same theme in the Philosophy of Nature of the Encyclopaedia from the deduction of the concept of time. (shrink)

Para que se compreenda a crítica de Hegel a Kant em _Crença e saber_, artigo publicado pelo filósofo no _Jornal Crítico de Filosofia_, editado em conjunto com Schelling, retomaremos inicialmente no escrito sobre a _Diferença_ o primeiro esboço da exposição hegeliana daquilo que pare ele constitui a tarefa filosófica, de modo que ela dê conta das cisões originadas pela cultura filosófica moderna. O ponto de vista filosófico de Hegel no artigo está apoiado nesse texto. A seguir, reconstituiremos o contexto da (...) criação do _Jornal Crítico_, as diretrizes a serem atendidas pela crítica filosófica e expostas no artigo introdutório do _Jornal_, para só então abordar os traços gerais da crítica às filosofias da reflexão e, por fim, a crítica de Hegel a Kant. Com respeito a esta, procura o filósofo tanto apontar aquilo que há de limitado no projeto filosófico crítico, quanto aquilo que pode ser considerado um prenúncio da autêntica especulação filosófica. (shrink)

Podemos afirmar de modo fundamental que a crítica de Jacobi à filosofia deriva de seu afastamento do sensível em direção à constituição de verdades cada vez mais abstratas e passíveis de demonstração. Com isso a filosofia apenas conseguiu gerar disputas a respeito do que ela seja, sem conseguir demonstrar qual posição filosófica deu conta da tarefa e que terminam por levar à perda de confiança no empreendimento, ou em outras palavras, levar ao ceticismo. Trata-se aqui de, sem desconsiderar a influência (...) da filosofia do senso comum de Thomas Reid, além em certa medida também da influência de Hume, como Jacobi procura sair desse impasse a partir do modo como compreende a noção de crença. (shrink)

A articulação entre psicanálise e hermenêutica não é algo de incomum no pensamento dos últimos anos, em especial a partir da segunda metade do século vinte. Ocorre, todavia, que essa articulação muito raramente é postulada como constitutiva ou intrínseca, se tomarmos em consideração os pressupostos da psicanálise freudiana comparativamente à filosofia da hermenêutica filosófica de Hans-Georg Gadamer. O presente artigo tem por objetivo pavimentar essa clareira comum entre ambos, tomando como base a interpretação na especificidade da clínica do inconsciente e (...) do compreender gadameriano. (shrink)

Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 No seminário de 1959-60, o psicanalista Jacques Lacan anuncia sua decisáo de abordar ali o tema da ética da psicanálise. Para uma clara compreensáo da contribuiçáo freudiana, ele resgata, como contraponto, a referência aristotélica da Ethica Nicomachea . Nessa obra, Aristóteles está em busca de um bem mais excelente, e este corresponde à felicidade. Ele pode ser alcançado pelo uso da atividade racional aliado à prática da virtude. Se, para Lacan, a investigaçáo aristotélica (...) comporta certa idealidade, o registro psicanalítico funda-se a partir da realidade. Para isso, ele retoma a noçáo freudiana de das Ding . Como objeto da primeira experiência de satisfaçáo, das Ding fundará todo o encaminhamento do sujeito. Na estrutura neurótica, entretanto, o reencontro com das Ding é excessivo; o sujeito náo o pode suportar. É por trás dessa realidade sem predicaçáo que é das Ding que Lacan encontrará a realidade que ordena, a saber, a lei da interdiçáo do incesto. É nessa dimensáo que o sujeito, em análise, é convocado a advir. O presente estudo, portanto, tem como objetivo realizar esse percurso – do bem supremo aristotélico à ética do desejo –, apontando as contribuições da psicanálise à discussáo ética. (shrink)

ABSTRACT The presence of truth and honesty is a permanent demand, and becomes vital the more committed and intimate a relationship is. Medical practice is relevant to this discussion when one questions whether or not a physician should always tell their patient the truth in the face of a progressive or potentially fatal disease, regarding the diagnosis, outcome, therapy and evolution of the specific disease. From this discussion we aim, with the present report, to look at the truth applicable to (...) the patient‐physician relationship, and its ethical and moral implications; and also to look at where the Brazilian Code of Medical Ethics (BCME) and the medical literature stand regarding this issue. One concludes that there are only two moments not to tell a patient the truth: when the patient does not want to be informed, and when the truth could be iatrogenic. The question now is, when would the truth be iatrogenic? Physicians, in our opinion, would not be able to judge solitarily when the truth might be deleterious to their patient. Alternatively, we propose the appointment of a multidisciplinary commission to help the doctor with such a decision. (shrink)

Os governos de Fernando Henrique Cardoso são considerados responsáveis por uma forte redução do Estado através de políticas de contenção dos gastos públicos, as quais atingiram também as Forças Armadas. Inversamente, os governos de Lula da Silva apresentaram um discurso desenvolvimentista, que, supostamente, favoreceu o investimento nas Forças Armadas, invertendo as tendências das gestões anteriores. O artigo faz, a partir da leitura de dois textos do cientista político João Roberto Martins Filho e de dados estatísticos da SEORI, a análise crítica (...) e comparativa entre os governos citados em relação aos investimentos – e somente em relação aos investimentos – em Defesa Nacional, na manutenção e modernização das Forças Armadas. (shrink)

Resumo: Este artigo mostra a abordagem hermenêutica realizada por Martin Heidegger dos conceitos de natureza e vida a partir da ontologia fundamental. Em Ser e Tempo, Heidegger elabora as condições hermenêuticas para que se possa apreender ontologicamente a vida através do que ele chama de interpretação privativa da vida. O desenvolvimento sistemático do sentido de ser da vida é apresentado por Heidegger na preleção Os conceitos fundamentais da metafísica : mundo, finitude, solidão, de 1929/1930. Nela, para apresentar o fenômeno (...) da vida, Heidegger parte da tese central de que todo vivente é organismo, de modo a desenvolver uma investigação ontológica em conjunto com pesquisas biológicas e zoológicas. Por conseguinte, após a explicitação dos modos de encontro com a natureza, será evidenciado como a natureza em sentido originário mostra-se a partir de um retraimento na abertura de mundo do ser-aí em sua relação com os organismos vivos. Palavras-chave: Heidegger; ontologia; hermenêutica da natureza; vida; mundo.: This article shows the hermeneutical approach performed by Martin Heidegger to the concepts of nature and life from the fundamental ontology. In Being and Time, Heidegger elaborates the hermeneutical conditions so that we can apprehend ontologically life through what he calls the private interpretation of life. The systematic development of the sense of being of life is presented by Heidegger in the lecture course The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics: World, Finitude, Solitude, of 1929/1930. In this lecture, to present the phenomenon of life Heidegger uses the central thesis that every living being is organism in order to develop an ontological investigation in conjunction with biological and zoological research. Therefore, after the explanation of the ways of meeting with nature, will be shown as nature in the original sense shows itself from a withdrawal in the world opening of the being-there in its relationship with living organisms. Keywords: Heidegger; ontology; hermeneutic of nature; life; world. (shrink)

This paper deals with the recent Swedish proposals of a Intuitionistic notion of Truth, by Dag Prawitz and Per Martin-Löf.

Jean Greisch3 (1942-), ainda pouco conhecido no Brasil, é um filósofo e professor luxemburguês. Realizou seus estudos em filosofia e teologia em seu próprio país, completando-os com um doutorado em filosofia, no Instituto Católico de Paris, onde defendeu sua tese sobre Martin Heidegger. Suas principais pesquisas estão relacionadas com as problemáticas contemporâneas da ontologia, da hermenêutica e da religião. Em A idade hermenêutica da razão, instigado em como a hermenêutica se inseriu no coração da filosofia ao ponto de hoje (...) tratarmos como corrente filosófica o que, antes, era uma disciplina auxiliar, Greisch analisa três sentidos possíveis da expressão razão hermenêutica: (i) o sentido descritivo, onde é realizada uma investigação histórica; (ii) o sentido crítico, onde se analisa os debates que envolve tal expressão; (iii) o sentido heurístico, onde ele questiona o quanto esta expressão implica ou não em uma ideia própria de razão. (shrink)

O presente tem como finalidade analisar a terapia do reencontro mediado como resgate da cidadania e cultura da paz. Modelo esse proposto por Luiz Alberto Warat. em uma concepção transformadora da mediação, construída para fomentar a autonomia e emancipação dos sujeitos numa relação conflitiva, como um novo paradigma de autoconhecimento. A metodologia utilizada será o hipotético dedutivo e como técnica de pesquisa indireta em doutrinas. A discussão e aprofundamento se dá pelos conceitos da teoria do reencontro mediado proposto com (...) o resgate da cidadania e da cultura de paz. O tema é de abrangente e se justifica pelo debate em torno da mediação na teoria do reencontro mediado. (shrink)

En partant de quelques transformations sociétales majeures, et en s’appuyant sur la fiction romanesque française, l’article dessine deux grandes constellations imaginaires de la mobilité dans la modernité. La première associe le but du déplacement, l’existence d’un ailleurs, le goût de l’aventure, l’attitude de départ actif et le rôle de la mobilité comme logique de pouvoir. La deuxième, souvent en résonance avec les items précédents, souligne plutôt l’exigence de la mobilité pour la mobilité, la fin de l’idée de dehors, l’impératif de (...) la fuite, la prolifération de l’expérience du départ passif, enfin, la centralité croissante de la mobilité dans le saisissement de la domination. Au terme de ce parcours, l’imaginaire de la mobilité apparaît comme une boussole privilégiée pour cerner les transformations de la modernité.The article tracks two major imaginary constellations of modern mobility, through the analysis of important social transformations, illustrated by certain French novels. The first joins the goal of mobility, the existence of an « elsewhere », the taste for adventure, an active departure, and the role of mobility as a logic of power. The second, frequently in relationship with the precedent, emphasizes the idea of mobility for itself, the end of elsewhere utopia, the need to run away, the multiplication of experiences of passive departure, and finally the growing link between mobility and domination. The mobility imaginary appears at last as a privileged compass to surround the transformations of modernity. (shrink)

This text is a survey of main Marxist conceptions of contemporary capitalism. Is shows that, if Marxist problemacy is a fructuous one, the implicit model in Capital is radically insufficient as a foundation for today capitalism's analysis.

v. 1. Montaigne, Schlegel -- v. 2. Kafka.

O objetivo deste trabalho é a analisar a utilização e impacto das fake news nos últimos anos da vida política brasileira enquanto propulsão ao esvaziamento do pensamento e uma zona de anomia entre democracia e totalitarismo que captura e sacraliza a vida biológica humana ao mesmo tempo que a abandona, reconhecida como estado de exceção permanente. Para tanto, abordamos as obras de Hannah Arendt e Giorgio Agamben, bem como analisamos fenomenologicamente algumas das fake news mais divulgadas entre a população brasileira (...) no período das eleições presidenciais de 2018. Por fim, entendemos que a verdade factual, resguardada pelas humanidades e transmitida pela mídia é capaz de levar a população novamente à percepção da realidade e ao resgate do sentido da política pela ação. (shrink)

In this volume Martin Heidegger confronts the philosophical problems of language and begins to unfold the meaning begind his famous and little understood phrase "Language is the House of Being." The "Dialogue on Language," between Heidegger and a Japanese friend, together with the four lectures that follow, present Heidegger's central ideas on the origin, nature, and significance of language. These essays reveal how one of the most profound philosophers of our century relates language to his earlier and continuing preoccupation (...) with the nature of Being and himan being. One the Way to Language enable readers to understand how central language became to Heidegger's analysis of the nature of Being. On the Way to Language demonstrates that an interest in the meaning of language is one of the strongest bonds between analytic philosophy and Heidegger. It is an ideal source for studying his sustained interest in the problems and possibilities of human language and brilliantly underscores the originality and range of his thinking. (shrink)

Filozofia pamięci jest gorącym tematem w kognitywistyce i filozofii umysłu. Niniejsza praca analizuje spór między symulacjami a przyczynową teorią pamięci poprzez badanie poczucia swojskości i jego związku ze śladami pamięciowymi, a dokładniej w jaki sposób zwiększają one płynność rekonstrukcji przeszłych epizodów. Zrozumienie relacji między śladami swojskości i pamięci, a ponadto relacji między pełnoprawną fenomenologią pamięci a poczuciem subiektywnej pewności epizodu, jaki miał miejsce w przeszłości, prowadzi do odmiennej interpretacji rywalizacji między tym, co przyczynowe, a tym, co symulacyjne.

Online supplement, "Mulsow: Additions to Notes drawn from the 2002 edition of Moderne aus dem Untergrund" full versions of nearly 300 notes that were truncated in the print edition. Hosted on H. C. Erik Midelfort's website. Martin Mulsow's seismic reinterpretation of the origins of the Enlightenment in Germany won awards and renown in its original German edition, and now H. C. Erik Midelfort's translation makes this sensational book available to English-speaking readers. In Enlightenment Underground, Mulsow shows that even in (...) the late seventeenth century some thinkers in Germany ventured to express extremely dangerous ideas, but did so as part of a secret underground. Scouring manuscript collections across northern Europe, Mulsow studied the writings of countless hitherto unknown radical jurists, theologians, historians, and dissident students who pushed for the secularization of legal, political, social, and religious knowledge. Often their works circulated in manuscript, anonymously, or as clandestinely published books. Working as a philosophical microhistorian, Mulsow has discovered the identities of several covert radicals and linked them to circles of young German scholars, many of whom were connected with the vibrant radical cultures of the Netherlands, England, and Denmark. The author reveals how radical ideas and contributions to intellectual doubt came from Socinians and Jews, church historians and biblical scholars, political theorists, and unemployed university students. He shows that misreadings of humorous or ironic works sometimes gave rise to unintended skeptical thoughts or corrosively political interpretations of Christianity. This landmark book overturns stereotypical views of the early Enlightenment in Germany as cautious, conservative, and moderate, and replaces them with a new portrait that reveals a movement far more radical, unintended, and puzzling than previously suspected. (shrink)

The contributors represent the complete spectrum of positions between a relativism that challenges the very concept of a single world and the idea that there are ascertainable, objective universals.

L’addition, dans la cinquième édition en 1683 de La Logique ou L’Art de penser, d’un chapitre consacré à la définition générale du signe et de plusieurs chapitres relevant spécifiquement d’une analyse des signes linguistiques, a été parfois interprétée comme une apparition tardive du “problème du langage” dans le traité d’Arnauld et Nicole. Parce que la plupart de ces chapitres supplémentaires sont la transposition de passages auparavant destinés dans la Perpétuité de la foi (1669-1674) à réfuter le sens calviniste de Ceci (...) est mon corps, on a été enclin à attribuer l’importance de la question du signe et du “problème du langage” dans l’édition de 1683 à une origine théologique. J’essaie au contraire de montrer que, dès la première édition de L’Art de penser en 1662, la problématisation des écarts des expressions linguistiques avec une correspondance terme à terme entre les mots et les idées a été indissociable pour Port-Royal de l’analyse des opérations de l’esprit. Selon moi, dans la Perpétuité de la foi, la critique du sens calviniste de la formule eucharistique constitue elle-même une application de cette analyse logique du langage : les passages incorporés ensuite dans L’Art de penser sont dans le prolongement des réflexions de 1662 sur les difficultés d’adéquation entre le dire et le vouloir-dire. Je montre pour finir que la définition générale du signe à Port-Royal suppose une restructuration de la définition augustinienne du De doctrina christiana, et fonde en 1683 une identification de la relation de signification linguistique à un rapport de représentation des mots aux idées, qui vient redoubler le rapport de représentation des idées aux choses établi en 1662. (shrink)

In this paper the author introduces two questions for discussion in Descartes, namely: 1. How to understand the “liberty of indifference” in the thought of Descartes; 2. How to understand the conception of the indivisibility of the soul (or spirit). The first one is a classical topic, already studied, among others, by Martial Guéroult and Lívio Teixeira. It concerns the moral conception of Descartes and the related question about the existence of a “permanent moral” in the thought of Descartes, compared (...) to his “provisory moral”. The second question has more contemporary ramifications, since it is about the relation between body and spirit, or mind, which is central in the philosophical reflections of the XXIst Century. The paper doesn’t try to solve these questions, of course, but intends to point some lines of research taking these issues as starting points. This paper also constitutes a tribute to Professor Franklin Leopoldo e Silva (USP). (shrink)

Many philosophers and psychologists argue that out everyday ability to predict and explain the actions and mental states of others is grounded in out possession of a primitive 'folk' psychological theory. Recently however, this theory has come under challenge from the simulation alternative. This alternative view says that human beings are able to predict and explain each other's actions by using the resources of their own minds to simulate the psychological aetiology of the actions of the others. This book and (...) the companion volume Folk Psychology: The Theory of Mind Debate together offer a richly woven fabric of philosophical and psychological theory, which promises to yield real insights into the nature of our mental lives. (shrink)

The Routledge International Handbook of Neuroaesthetics is an authoritative reference work that provides the reader with a wide-ranging introduction to this exciting new scientific discipline. The book brings together leading international academics to offer a well-balanced overview of this burgeoning field while addressing two questions central to the field; how the brain computes aesthetic appreciation for sensory objects, and how is art created and experienced.

Of course, although this view on meaning was the prevailing one for almost a century, many of the people who initiated the enterprise of logical semantics, including people like Frege and Wittgenstein, had an open eye for all that it did not catch. However, the logical means which Frege, Wittgenstein, Russell, and the generation that succeeded them, had at their disposal were those of classical mathematical logic and set-theory, and these indeed are not very suited for an analysis of other (...) aspects of meaning than those which the slogan covers. A real change in view then had to await the emergence of other concepts, which in due course became available mainly under the influence of developments in computer science and cognate disciplines such as artificial intelligence. And this is one of the reasons why it took almost a century before any serious and successful challenge of the view that meaning equals truthconditions from within logical semantics could emerge. (shrink)

Foi o filósofo Friedrich Schleiermacher quem primeiro intentou transformar a hermenêutica, técnica interpretativa do XVII dirigida exclusivamente à exegese de textos bíblicos e jurídicos, numa ciência da compreensão dos discursos em geral. Elevada a princípio interpretativo universal, a hermenêutica schleiermacheriana aspirava para os discursos escritos àquilo que a retórica aristotélica e a de Quintiliano (II, XVII, 37-38), entre outras que lhes são posteriores, propuseram para todo hábito discursivo, não somente para os escritos, muitos séculos antes. Mais restrita, contudo, porquanto re" (...) etida no modelo da cienti! cidade, o núcleo dessa nova metodologia, a compreensão, diferentemente da invenção,disposição,ação,memória,elocução retóricas, fechava-se sobre si mesma como movimento impelido pela autoconsciência!metodológica inerente às epistemologias modernas. (shrink)

This book explores a question central to philosophy--namely, what does it take for a belief to be justified or rational? According to a widespread view, whether one has justification for believing a proposition is determined by how probable that proposition is, given one's evidence. In this book this view is rejected and replaced with another: in order for one to have justification for believing a proposition, one's evidence must normically support it--roughly, one's evidence must make the falsity of that proposition (...) abnormal in the sense of calling for special, independent explanation. This conception of justification bears upon a range of topics in epistemology and beyond. Ultimately, this way of looking at justification guides us to a new, unfamiliar picture of how we should respond to our evidence and manage our own fallibility. This picture is developed here. (shrink)

Written by a nurse and a philosopher, Ethics in Nursing blends the concrete detail of recurring problems in nursing practice with the perspectives, methods, and resources of philosophical ethics. It stresses the aspects of the nurses role and relations with others -- physicians, patients, administrators, other nurses -- that give ethical problems in nursing their special focus. Among the issues addressed are deception, parentalism, confidentiality, conscientious refusal, nurse autonomy, compromise, and personal responsibility for institutional and public policy. The third edition (...) has been enlarged with new cases and case discussions related to AIDS and an additional chapter on the expanding scope of nursing ethics as it addresses issues related to scarce resources, cost containment, justice, and the possibilities of health care rationing. (shrink)

This paper seeks to analyze the construction of ethics in sexuality research in which qualitative methods are employed in the field of social sciences. Analyses are based on a bibliographic review of current discussions on research methods of queer theory and on the authors' own experiences of past research on sexuality. The article offers a theoretical perspective on the ways ethnography and in‐depth interviews become methods that can rely on a consensual method and create a politics of intimacy between the (...) researchers and research participants. The politics of intimacy may contribute to the production of a politically engaged knowledge while escaping from the moral matrix that usually governs the relationship between researchers and research participants. It is argued here that the researcher's sexed and gendered body matters for fieldwork; that the consensual method among participants may be employed in sexuality research as a fruitful tool; and that the relationships created among researchers and participants can pose a challenge to predetermined ethical guidelines in research. As a result, discussions problematize the existence of a politics of intimacy in sexuality research that is characterized by ethical relations among research participants. (shrink)

Este artigo questiona a dimensão anárquica da democracia defendida por Jacques Rancière. A crítica de Rancière à democracia convencional pode ser resumida como, em primeiro lugar, uma crítica ao consenso. Ele não condena o desejo de que as partes conflitantes cheguem a um acordo sobre um tópico de disputa. O que Rancière critica é a construção de um consenso básico ao sugerir a participação igualitária no logos, ao mesmo tempo em que expulsa os enunciados dos que não têm parte – (...) geralmente, os pobres. Sempre que se fazem ouvir, encenam um desacordo, o que prova a injustiça do consenso original. Em segundo lugar, em sua desconstrução da noção liberal de consenso, Rancière, no entanto, concorda com a ênfase dos contratualistas na igualdade como pré-condição para sociedades modernas desiguais. Terceiro, sua definição de democracia contradiz o conceito de democracia representativa; no entanto, como demonstrado, ele não rejeita a representação em si. Em vez disso, ele se opõe à ideia de que a representação define a democracia. As reivindicações representativas, ao contrário, podem fazer parte do conceito de política de Rancière. (shrink)

In this paper I propose a new solution to the problem of change: situationalism. According to this view, parts of reality fundamentally disagree about what is the case and reality as a whole is unsettled (i.e. metaphysically indeterminate). When something changes, parts of the world irreconcilably disagree about what properties it has. From this irreconcilable disagreement, indeterminacy arises. I develop this picture using situations, which are parts of possible worlds; this gives it the name situationalism. It allows a B-theory endurance (...) view on which there is genuine incompatibility when things change. There are costs to the view, which are explored, but it is a novel approach which offers a distinct explanation of what happens when things exist through change. (shrink)

This book is about power and freedoms in our technological world and has two main objectives. The first is to demonstrate that a theoretical exploration of the algorithmic governmentality hypothesis combined with the capability approach is useful for a better understanding of power and freedoms in Ambient Intelligence, a world where information and communication technologies are invisible, interconnected, context aware, personalized, adaptive to humans and act autonomously. The second is to argue that these theories are useful for a better comprehension (...) of privacy and data protection concepts and the evolution of their regulation. Having these objectives in mind, the book outlines a number of theses based on two threads: first, the elimination of the social effects of uncertainty and the risks to freedoms and, second, the vindication of rights. Inspired by and building on the outcomes of different philosophical and legal approaches, this book embodies an effort to better understand the challenges posed by Ambient Intelligence technologies, opening paths for more effective realization of rights and rooting legal norms in the preservation of the potentiality of human capabilities. (shrink)

. Science at the interface with society is regarded with mistrust among parts of the public. Scientific judgments on matters of practical concern are not infrequently suspected of being incompetent and biased. I discuss two proposals for remedying this deficiency. The first aims at strengthening the independence of science and suggests increasing the distance to political and economic powers. The drawback is that this runs the risk of locking science in an academic ivory tower. The second proposal favors “counter-politicization” in (...) that research is strongly focused on projects “in the public interest,” that is, on projects whose expected results will benefit all those concerned by these results. The disadvantage is that the future use of research findings cannot be delineated reliably in advance. I argue that the underlying problem is the perceived lack of relevance and reliability and that pluralism is an important step toward its solution. Pluralism serves to stimulate a more inclusive research agenda and strengthens the well-testedness of scientific approaches. However, pluralism also prevents the emergence of clear-cut practical suggestions. Accordingly, pluralism is part of the solution to the credibility crisis of science, but also part of the problem. In order for science to be suitable as a guide for practice, the leeway of scientific options needs to be narrowed – in spite of uncertainty in epistemic respect. This reduction can be achieved by appeal to criteria that do not focus on the epistemic credentials of the suggestions but on their appropriateness in practical respect. (shrink)