‘That in our times a kind of supernumerary person is appearing who is egoless, who in reality is not a human being, is a terrible truth.’ – Rudolf Steiner Are there people on earth today who do not have a self – a human ego or ‘I’? The phenomenon of ‘egolessness’ – the absence of a human being’s core – was discussed by the spiritual teacher Rudolf Steiner in lectures and personal conversations. An egoless individual, he intimated, is an empty (...) sheath through which other spiritual entities could operate. Erdmuth J. Grosse brings together many little-known quotations from Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual research and supports them with a wealth of disquieting reports, testimonies and examples from literature and politics. He places these insights within the broader context of the riddle of the human self, throwing light on the spiritual development of the individual and humanity as a whole. In this thought-provoking study, Grosse goes on to discuss the role of comets, the effects of cyanide on the human constitution – especially in the light of the Holocaust – and the hidden effects of ceremonial magic, occult lodges, cults and sects. In conclusion, he offers positive solutions to humanity’s present predicament by describing the healing impulses of social threefolding, the invisible spiritual beings seeking to help humanity, the role of the gods, the Christ impulse and the true goals of human evolution. (shrink)

In the context of our recently developed emergent quantum mechanics, and, in particular, based on an assumed sub-quantum thermodynamics, the necessity of energy quantization as originally postulated by Max Planck is explained by means of purely classical physics. Moreover, under the same premises, also the energy spectrum of the quantum mechanical harmonic oscillator is derived. Essentially, Planck’s constant h is shown to be indicative of a particle’s “zitterbewegung” and thus of a fundamental angular momentum. The latter is identified with quantum (...) mechanical spin, a residue of which is thus present even in the non-relativistic Schrödinger theory. (shrink)

An analysis of the nature of good governance as it figures into the Royal Government of Bhutan's policy of Gross National Happiness.

Die vorliegende Arbeit hat zum Ziel, „dem Latinisten/Romanisten für eine Reihe vulgärlat. Phänomene griech. Belege zur Verfügung zu stellen“…; „wer ein primär gräzistisches Interesse verfolgt, ….wird eine Antwort auf die Frage finden, welche „ungewöhnlichen“ Schreibungen (in griechischen Texten JNP) Verf. für den Niederschlag von Prozessen der lat. Sprachgeschichte hält“ (S. 18). Die Verf. geht dem gr.-lat. Sprachkontakt der Kaiserzeit, der früh- und mittelbyzantinischen Epoche nach (bis etwa zur Jahrtausendwende), und zwar anhand der lat. Lehnwörter (LWW) im Gr. von der Antike (...) bis in die neugriechischen Dialekte, nicht wie üblich dem umgekehrten Einfluss. „Lehnwörter sind eine ausgezeichnete sprachgeschichtliche Quelle sowohl für die Nehmer – als auch für die Gebersprache“, …„Zeugen eines historischen Vorgangs, nämlich des Sprachkontakts und damit Kulturkontakts;“… an ihnen „lassen sich …Akkulturationsphänomene zeigen“ (S. 1). Dass das byz. Gr. und das Ngr. eine Fülle von lat. LWW enthalten, die durch die historische Rolle Byzanz‘ als Nachfolger des Römischen Reiches, aber auch durch die Präsenz von Romanen in Südosteuropa bis heute (Rumänen, Vlachen/Aromunen) zu erklären sind, hat die Forschung am Ende des 19. und in den ersten Dezennien des 20. Jhd. stärker beschäftigt, und die Verf. setzt sich in ihrer „Einführung“ ausführlich mit den Ergebnissen ihrer Vorgänger auseinander: Gleich, ob diese einen altertumswissenschaftlichen (L. Hahn), papyrologischen, epigraphischen, romanistischen oder byzantinistisch-neogräzistischen Hintergrund (G. Meyer, M. Triantaphyllides) hatten – das Thema, so stellt die Verf. zu Recht fest, ist nach den Veröffentlichungen Zilliacus' (1935) und Dölgers umfangreicher Rez. (BZ 36, 108-117) seit den dreissiger Jahren praktisch liegengeblieben, wenn man von der Arbeit der beiden Kahanes absieht, in denen freilich (S. 15)„Lautliches und Morphologisches ausser Betracht bleibe“ (S. 15). So ist denn für die Romanistik, ausser für J. Kramer und seine Schule, das „Balkanlatein“ weiterhin eine feste Grösse: Zu ihm wird traditionell das Rumänische mit seinen Dialekten (Aromunisch und Megleno – Rumänisch), der lat. LWortschatz im Albanischen, das (ausgestorbene) Dalmatische und eben der lat. Anteil im Byz. – Ngr. gerechnet. (shrink)

Johann Gottlieb Fichtes Wissenschaftslehre von 1812 stellt die letzte umfassende Ausarbeitung der Grundlegung der Fichteschen Transzendentalphilosophie dar. Historisch handelt es sich um die 'Endgestalt' eines Projekts, das in Zürich und Jena knapp zwanzig Jahre zuvor begonnen worden war, systematisch um den wichtigsten Anwärter auf den Titel der 'Vollendungsgestalt' einer Philosophie, mit der Fichte eine ebenbürtige Alternative zu den Systemen Schellings und Hegels vorlegt. Die Autoren des vorliegenden Bandes tragen dem End- und Vollendungscharakter der 'Wissenschaftslehre' in ihrer Version aus dem Jahre (...) 1812 Rechnung. Dafür knüpfen sie etwa bei der neuen Nähe zu Kant an oder buchstabieren den transzendentallogisch so faszinierenden Versuch Fichtes durch, die Erscheinung als absoluten Ort des Wissens zu denken. Auch das Bild als das grosse Leitthema der Fichteschen Spätphilosophie wird verhandelt, während zugleich ältere Motive wie das 'Selbstbewusstsein' oder die 'Reflexion' in ein neues Licht gerückt werden. (shrink)

The book examines the discourse on attention emerging in the European Enlightenment (1650-1780) with a focus on German philosophy and literature. It argues that this discourse influenced the formation of aesthetic philosophy in the eighteenth century. Notable figures discussed include René Descartes, G.W.F. Leibniz, Christian Wolff, and Alexander Baumgarten.

Pars 1. Contemplativa -- Pars 2. Activa.

"Evidence of a flight from reason is as old as human record-keeping: the fact of it certainly goes back an even longer way. Flight from science specifically, among the forms of rational inquiry, goes back as far as science itself... But rejection of reason is now a pattern to be found in most branches of scholarship and in all the learned professions."--from the introduction In the widely acclaimed Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science, Paul R. Gross (...) and Norman Levitt offered a spirited response to the "science bashers," raising serious questions about the growing criticism of scientific practice from humanists and social scientists on the academic left. Now, in The Flight from Science and Reason, Gross and Levitt are joined by Martin W. Lewis to bring together a diverse and distinguished group of scholars, scientists, and experts to engage these questions from a wide variety of perspectives. The authors take on critics of science whose views range from moderate to extreme, from social constructivists to deconstructionists, from creationists and feminists to Afro-centrists. They discuss the rise of "alternative medicine" and radical environmentalism (here skewered as "ecosentimentalism"). They explain why the "uncertainty principle" does not work as a metaphor for ambiguity, and why "chaos theory" cannot be invoked without an understanding of mathematics. Throughout, they grapple with the paradox inherent in arguing with opponents who contend that reason itself, and thus logic, is suspect. Distributed for the New York Academy of Sciences. (shrink)

Zenon Pylyshyn argues that cognitively driven attentional effects do not amount to cognitive penetration of early vision because such effects occur either before or after early vision. Critics object that in fact such effects occur at all levels of perceptual processing. We argue that Pylyshyn’s claim is correct—but not for the reason he emphasizes. Even if his critics are correct that attentional effects are not external to early vision, these effects do not satisfy Pylyshyn’s requirements that the effects be direct (...) and exhibit semantic coherence. In addition, we distinguish our defense from those found in recent work by Raftopoulos and by Firestone and Scholl, argue that attention should not be assimilated to expectation, and discuss alternative characterizations of cognitive penetrability, advocating a kind of pluralism. (shrink)

This leading anthology contains legal cases and essays written by the best scholars in legal philosophy, representing all major points of view on central topics in philosophy of law. This classic text is distinguished by its clarity, readability, balance of topics, balance of substantive positions on controversial questions, topical relevance, imaginative use of cases and stories, and the inclusion of only lightly-edited or untouched classics. This revision is marked by inclusion of many articles relevant to womens issues and a greater (...) emphasis on concrete legal problems. (shrink)

Bescheidene Antwort auf Herrn Christian Wolffens Anmerckungen über das Buddeische Bedencken ; D. Io. Francisci Buddei Bedencken über die Wolffianische Philosophie -- Bescheidener Beweis, dass das Buddeische Bedencken noch fest stehe, wieder Hrn. Christian Wolffens Nöthige Zugabe aufgesetzet.

The malicious acts of terrorism in New York and Washington emphasized the need for states to combat terrorism. Likewise, Israel has suffered various terrorist attacks since its establishment. There are distinctive features in contemporary terrorism which call for a new assessment of its nature and the status of terrorists in domestic and international law. In October 2000, a violent conflict erupted between organizations operating within the territory of the Palestinian Authority--an entity that is not a state but is a sovereign (...) authority--and the State of Israel. This is a new type of armed conflict, one different from that treated in the international law of armed conflicts. No clear view exists as to the rules which should be applied in such a situation. This is one of the questions that shall be raised in this article. As a result of the violence against Israel, Israel initiated a policy which the media has called 'Israel's elimination policy', but which I believe may be more appropriately described as 'preventive action' taken by Israel within the framework of a military policy aimed at neutralizing terrorist organizations by targeting the perpetrators or their commanders. In this article I shall examine whether this policy is legitimate as a matter of law and morality. (shrink)

Ever since Democritus of Abdera (460-370 B.c.E.) introduced the concept of atoms in Western thought, later to be elaborated by Epicuros (as transmitted by Diogenes Laertius) and Lucretius, it lay at the basis of materialistic and atheist world views. Therefore, it may be less surprising to know that as late as 1624 in France, the teaching of atomism was a crime punishable by death. Even when atoms had been accepted, after the time of John Dalton (1766-1844), and indeed were considered (...) indispensable by chemists, resistance against them continued among many physicists. Ludwig Boltzmann, who derived the laws of thermodynamics from the hypothetical existence of "atoms" was the foremost advocate of atomism in the nineteenth century, while another Austrian, Ernst Mach, was its most prominent opponent. Einstein’s first articles were entirely within the Boltzmann tradition. As he explained in his autobiography, his work on fluctuations and Brownian motion was undertaken because of his desire to guarantee the existence of atoms of definite finite size. Boltzmann’s statistical methods were also used by Max Planck for the quantum hypothesis of light, so &dquo;both roots of quantum theory, the Planck root and the Einstein root, go back to Boltzmann&dquo; (Boltzmann, 1981). (shrink)

This book describes the development of the scientific article from its modest beginnings to the global phenomenon that it has become today. The authors focus on changes in the style, organization, and argumentative structure of scientific communication over time. This outstanding resource is the definitive study on the rhetoric of science.

The article examines the subject of ‘primitive’ art in Johannes Volkelt’s System der Ästhetik (1905–1927) against the backdrop of the broad debate on the ethnological refounding of aesthetics around 1900. Unlike contemporaries such as the ethnologist Ernst Grosse, Volkelt tries to prove that the art of ‘primitive peoples’ is an inadequate basis for aesthetics. In doing so, he follows 19th-century idealistic metaphysics of beauty. However, his argumentation against Grosse and others, which contradicts itself in crucial points, attests the challenge (...) of philosophy by ethnology as the leading discipline of aesthetics at the beginning of the 20th century. (shrink)

It is a frequent assumption that—via superluminal information transfers—superluminal signals capable of enabling communication are necessarily exchanged in any quantum theory that posits hidden superluminal influences. However, does the presence of hidden superluminal influences automatically imply superluminal signalling and communication? The non-signalling theorem mediates the apparent conflict between quantum mechanics and the theory of special relativity. However, as a ‘no-go’ theorem there exist two opposing interpretations of the non-signalling constraint: foundational and operational. Concerning Bell’s theorem, we argue that Bell employed (...) both interpretations, and that he finally adopted the operational position which is associated often with ontological quantum theory, e.g., de Broglie–Bohm theory. This position we refer to as “effective non-signalling”. By contrast, associated with orthodox quantum mechanics is the foundational position referred to here as “axiomatic non-signalling”. In search of a decisive communication-theoretic criterion for differentiating between “axiomatic” and “effective” non-signalling, we employ the operational framework offered by Shannon’s mathematical theory of communication, whereby we distinguish between Shannon signals and non-Shannon signals. We find that an effective non-signalling theorem represents two sub-theorems: Non-transfer-control theorem, and Non-signification-control theorem. Employing NTC and NSC theorems, we report that effective, instead of axiomatic, non-signalling is entirely sufficient for prohibiting nonlocal communication. Effective non-signalling prevents the instantaneous, i.e., superluminal, transfer of message-encoded information through the controlled use—by a sender-receiver pair —of informationally-correlated detection events, e.g., in EPR-type experiments. An effective non-signalling theorem allows for nonlocal quantum information transfer yet—at the same time—effectively denies superluminal signalling and communication. (shrink)

Unlike most Western nations, Israel does not recognize full separation of church and state but seeks instead a gentle fusion of Jewish and democratic values. Inasmuch as important religious norms such as sanctity of life may clash with dignity, privacy, and self-determination, conflicts frequently arise as Israeli lawmakers, ethicists, and healthcare professionals attempt to give substance to the idea of a Jewish-democratic state. Emerging issues in Israeli bioethics—end-of-life treatment, fertility, genetic research, and medical ethics during armed conflict—highlight this conflict vividly.

The capacity to control emotion is important for human adaptation. Questions about the neural bases of emotion regulation have recently taken on new importance, as functional imaging studies in humans have permitted direct investigation of control strategies that draw upon higher cognitive processes difficult to study in nonhumans. Such studies have examined (1) controlling attention to, and (2) cognitively changing the meaning of, emotionally evocative stimuli. These two forms of emotion regulation depend upon interactions between prefrontal and cingulate control systems (...) and cortical and subcortical emotion-generative systems. Taken together, the results suggest a functional architecture for the cognitive control of emotion that dovetails with findings from other human and nonhuman research on emotion. (shrink)

The proposed list of 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals sets out to reframe development according to a more holistic perspective. Yet, drawing on the example of the need for sustainable, resilient and biodiverse agriculture, it is argued here that the SDGs remain essentially grounded within one cultural understanding of how to address poverty. At least with regard to agriculture, the SDGs thus remain mono-cultural, one-dimensional, overly technocratic, and are far from universal as they fail to acknowledge the stipulated alternative pluriverse, (...) frequently understood in the Global South. The problem outlined is neither a technical nor political one: being essentially related to knowledge production it calls for the pluralization of approaches to both global ethics and sustainability. (shrink)

Who are the best subjects for judgment tasks intended to test grammatical hypotheses? Michael Devitt ( [2006a] , [2006b] ) argues, on the basis of a hypothesis concerning the psychology of such judgments, that linguists themselves are. We present empirical evidence suggesting that the relevant divide is not between linguists and non-linguists, but between subjects with and without minimally sufficient task-specific knowledge. In particular, we show that subjects with at least some minimal exposure to or knowledge of such tasks tend (...) to perform consistently with one another—greater knowledge of linguistics makes no further difference—while at the same time exhibiting markedly greater in-group consistency than those who have no previous exposure to or knowledge of such tasks and their goals. (shrink)

Von der Prämoderne zur Integralen Moderne -- Philosophische Begriffe : philosophische Exkurse -- Integrale Demokratie -- Ökolonomie -- Kultur als Werte- und Intelligenzübertragungssystem -- Kulturell-innovative Visionen, Entwürfe, Klang-Projekte -- Ansätze für eine integral-moderne Ethik.

We show that the common claim that internal validity should be understood as prior to external validity has, at least, three epistemologically problematic aspects: experimental artefacts, the implications of causal relations, and how the mechanism is measured. Each aspect demonstrates how important external validity is for the internal validity of the experimental result.

Emergent quantum mechanics (EmQM) explores the possibility of an ontology for quantum mechanics. The resurgence of interest in realist approaches to quantum mechanics challenges the standard textbook view, which represents an operationalist approach. The possibility of an ontological, i.e., realist, quantum mechanics was first introduced with the original de Broglie-Bohm theory, which has also been developed in another context as Bohmian mechanics. This Editorial introduces a Special Issue featuring contributions which were invited as part of the David Bohm Centennial symposium (...) of the EmQM conference series (www.emqm17.org). Questions directing the EmQM research agenda are: Is reality intrinsically random or fundamentally interconnected? Is the universe local or nonlocal? Might a radically new conception of reality include a form of quantum causality or quantum ontology? What is the role of the experimenter agent in ontological quantum mechanics? The Special Issue also includes research examining ontological propositions that are not based on the Bohm-type nonlocality. These include, for example, local, yet time-symmetric, ontologies, such as quantum models based upon retrocausality. This Editorial provides topical overviews of thirty-one contributions which are organized into seven categories to provide orientation. (shrink)

O objetivo principal deste artigo é esclarecer como Brentano define a relação entre (a) o conhecimento de nossos próprios fenômenos de consciência e (b) o conhecimento de fenômenos de consciência de outros sujeitos. Por um lado, Brentano argumenta, seguindo a tradição moderna, que o conhecimento dos próprios atos mentais é absolutamente fundamental. Ao mesmo tempo, porém, ele quer mostrar com sua Psicologia do ponto de vista empírico uma clara alternativa ao introspeccionismo. Mostraremos como Brentano busca unir estes dois objetivos e (...) como ele também aderiu a esta linha em sua Psicologia Descritiva. Sua psicologia como um todo pode, portanto, ser entendida como um apelo ao pluralismo epistemológico. (shrink)