In korte hoofdstukken vertelt de auteur hoe zij tegen heel veel zaken aankijkt die te maken hebben met ons leven op aarde.

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A New Chance for Infinitesimals? This article discusses the connection between the Zenonian paradox of magnitude and probability on infinite sample spaces. Two important premises in the Zenonian argument are: the Archimedean axiom, which excludes infinitesimal magnitudes, and perfect additivity. Standard probability theory uses real numbers that satisfy the Archimedean axiom, but it rejects perfect additivity. The additivity requirement for real-valued probabilities is limited to countably infinite collections of mutually incompatible events. A consequence of this is that there exists no (...) standard probability function that describes a fair lottery on the natural numbers. If we reject the Archimedean axiom, allowing infinitesimal probability values, we can retain perfect additivity and describe a fair, countable infinite lottery. The article gives a historical overview to understand how the first option has become the current standard, whereas the latter remains ‘non-standard’. (shrink)

Men kan op diverse wijzen filosofische concepten op literaire werken toepassen, zij het dat niet alle wegen even vruchtbaar of adequaat afgelegd werden. In dit essay zal daarvan een overzicht gegeven worden en een voorstel voor een verantwoorde wijsgerige benadering van literatuur gedaan worden. Ten slotte zal deze werkwijze aan de hand van een voorbeeld geconcretiseerd worden.

Politiek gaat over het verenigen van gemeenschappelijke en conflicterende belangen in bindende collectieve besluitvorming op een wijze die door winnaars en verliezers kan worden aanvaard. In dit artikel baseer ik mij op het politiek gezaghebbende duurzaamheidsconcept van de Brundtlandcommissie in Our Common Future: ‘Duurzame ontwikkeling is ontwikkeling die tegemoetkomt aan de behoeften in het heden zonder de mogelijkheid van toekomstige generaties om te voorzien in hun eigen behoeften in de weg te staan’ . Dan blijkt direct dat het vinden van (...) principes voor een duurzame politiek lastig is, want het gaat hier om een morele eis rekening te houden met de belangen van mensen in komende generaties die nu nog geen deel uitmaken van een politieke gemeenschap. (shrink)

This article deals with the question why the war in Yugoslavia was hardly an issue in Belgian politics and society. We analyze how the conflict was framed in the newspapers, by opinion-leaders and by the peace movement. We also reconstruct the parliamentary debate: what parliamentary initiatives were taken and which framing of the conflict dominated the discussions. We conclude that the Belgian debate was largely dominated by the realist frame. This was probably a result of the presence of Belgian UN-soldiers (...) in the conflict-zone, of the fact that the peace movement was divided and concentrated on other issues, and of the fact that the interventionist frame was claimed by the extreme rightwing Vlaams Blok party. (shrink)

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis is a technique which was originally developed as an alternative to prenatal diagnosis for couples at high risk of transmitting a genetic defect. It allows scientists to check specific genetic defects of the embryo obtained through in vitro fertilization so that only embryos not affected by the tested disease or balanced for the tested chromosomes can be replaced. Recently, case reports reveal that clinicians applying PGD are increasingly confronted with requests by parents with an affected child whishing (...) for PGD not only to test IVF-created embryos for genetic disease but also to test for a nondisease trial related to immune compatibility with a child in the family in need of a hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Only embryos HLA matched with an existing sibling in need of a compatible donor of haematopoietic stem cells would be transferred. In this article, our main objective is not to answer the question of the ethical permissibility of this technique. We rather want to clarify some anthropological options underpinning this technique, which have to be taken into account for an ethical evaluation. By virtue of its very being, the human person is multidimensional: open to itself, to another and to society. This multidimensional character of the human person is a real challenge in the field of human genetics and medically assisted reproduction: a couple never decides solely for itself, but its decision has an enormous impact on their offspring; the physician is a necessary third person in the decision making process; a parental decision is influenced by and ma y change the public support of PGD. First we have to evaluate the request of the couple to use PGD in order to create a donor sibling. The main ethical argument against this kind of request is the instrumentalization of the future child. The child becomes an instrument to cure another child. One of the fundamental rules underlying Western moral thinking is the Kantian imperative. The second formulation of the categorical imperative goes as follows: ‘Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end’. From this perspective we advance the ethical requirement to surpass the apparent discrepancy between the need of the parents to produce a healthy child and the desire of parents to have a child. Second, the physician should take into account the fact that a technological innovation may have such a compelling character that human reproductive freedom will be restricted rather than enlarged. Thus the physician should be guarded from engaging in so-called medical futile acts. Third, the experience of the donor child will be discussed. It could be argued that a heavy burden is placed on the donor child. The transplantation may fail and this may give the child a fundamental sense of unworthiness and deficiency and a feeling of not being able to live up to the expectations. The psychological impact of stem cell donation among siblings should indeed not be underestimated. Finally, on societal level, the need for instant success has contributed to ever more invasive reproductive technologies. We question however that reproductive success does not necessarily depends on the invasiveness of the techniques. Parents should be given time to put meaning on their lack of reproductive omnipotence. (shrink)

De mythe van de verdrijving van Adam en Eva uit de Hof van Eden en die van de wetgeving op de berg Sinaï vormden de grondslag van alle theorieën over de moraal. Vele denkers hebben in de loop van de tijd de moraal verbonden met de gehoorzaamheid aan de goddelijke wetten. Knud Logstrup en Emmanuel Levinas daarentegen houden het erop dat de kennis van goed en kwaad, waarvoor Adam en Eva uit het paradijs van het onbewuste bestaan zijn verdreven, de (...) voorwaarde voor een morele levenswandel is. (shrink)

This short essay argues that more attention should be paid to conventional norms in metaethics and metanormative theory.

Inleidend overzicht van de hoofdstromingen van de westerse filosofie van de presocratici tot heden.

Although some claim that the term cyber war is merely metaphorical, there are good reasons to see cyber war as a form of warfare ‐ even if it is not war as we have hitherto known it. This poses the question whether the principles of the Just War Tradition, which claims to offer an alternative for pacifism and realism, apply to this specific kind of war too. This article argues that the jus in bello principles of discrimination and proportionality are (...) applicable, and that actually applying them would limit the harm cyber-attacks currently cause. Most cyber-attacks of recent years wrongly target civilians, and this amounts to a serious breach of these principles. The final part of this article looks at those who actually conduct the cyber-attacks, the cyber soldiers ‐ how do they fit into the military profession, and to what extent can we expect them to uphold the principles of Just War? (shrink)

De vagebond was van oudsher een randfiguur die de samenleving de rug toekeerde en in verband werd gebracht met bedelarij, maar dat veranderde in de negentiende eeuw: kunstenaars en andere kritische geesten kozen de vagebond juist als voorbeeld. Zij vestigden zich op eenzame locaties en verafschuwden hebzucht en commercie.0Deze dwarsdenkers zijn de voorboden van een trend in de wereld van vandaag. Deels omdat zij de huizenprijzen niet meer kunnen betalen, deels omdat zij het postkapitalistische systeem verwerpen, ontwikkelen jongeren alternatieve levenswijzen. (...) Ze verlaten de gebaande paden en bouwen tiny houses aan de rafelranden van de maatschappij; verbeelding, liefde voor de natuur en vrijheidszin staan voor hen centraal.0In zijn 'Handboek voor de vagebond' presenteert Léon Hanssen belangrijke vertegenwoordigers van deze manier van zwerven, wonen en denken. Van de Amerikaan Henry David Thoreau met zijn pleidooi om de bossen in te trekken, via de Oostenrijkse filosoof Ludwig Wittgenstein, die zich in een hut aan een Noorse fjord installeerde, tot de Engelse schuurbewoner en schrijfster Catrina Davies anno nu: zij staan voor een levenshouding die voor ons allemaal inspirerend kan zijn. (shrink)