This is the first complete, one-volume English translation of the ancient Chinese text Xunzi, one of the most extensive, sophisticated, and elegant works in the tradition of Confucian thought. Through essays, poetry, dialogues, and anecdotes, the Xunzi articulates a Confucian perspective on ethics, politics, warfare, language, psychology, human nature, ritual, and music, among other topics. Aimed at general readers and students of Chinese thought, Eric Hutton’s translation makes the full text of this important work more accessible in English than ever (...) before. Named for its purported author, the Xunzi has long been neglected compared to works such as the Analects of Confucius and the Mencius. Yet interest in the Xunzi has grown in recent decades, and the text presents a much more systematic vision of the Confucian ideal than the fragmented sayings of Confucius and Mencius. In one famous, explicit contrast to them, the Xunzi argues that human nature is bad. However, it also allows that people can become good through rituals and institutions established by earlier sages. Indeed, the main purpose of the Xunzi is to urge people to become as good as possible, both for their own sakes and for the sake of peace and order in the world. In this edition, key terms are consistently translated to aid understanding and line numbers are provided for easy reference. Other features include a concise introduction, a timeline of early Chinese history, a list of important names and terms, cross-references, brief explanatory notes, a bibliography, and an index. (shrink)

Introduction: Platonic dramatology -- The political and philosophical problems. Using pre-Socratic philosophy to support political reform: the Athenian stranger ; Plato's Parmenides: Parmenides' critique of Socrates and Plato's critique of Parmenides ; Becoming Socrates ; Socrates interrogates his contemporaries about the noble and good -- Paradigms of philosophy. Socrates' positive teaching ; Timaeus-Critias: completing or challenging Socratic political philosophy? ; Socratic practice -- The trial and death of Socrates. The limits of human intelligence ; The Eleatic challenge ; The trial (...) and death of Socrates -- Conclusion: Why Plato made Socrates his hero. (shrink)

In 'Een handvol filosofen' staan de filosofen centraal die sinds de oprichting van de Vrije Universiteit in 1880 aan deze instelling verbonden zijn geweest. Het gaat hierbij niet alleen om de inhoud van hun werk, maar ook om de personen zelf. Er waren filosofiedocenten die zich met de universiteit identificeerden en zich volledig konden ontplooien. Er waren er echter ook voor wie dit niet gold, die geïsoleerd of in gewetensnood raakten. Veel filosofiestudenten waren actief betrokken bij wat er in hun (...) faculteit gebeurde. Zij namen initiatieven, protesteerden soms tegen de gang van zaken en kozen partij in conflictsituaties. Sinds het eind van de jaren zestig van de twintigste eeuw verloor de Vrije Universiteit geleidelijk haar christelijk karakter. Tegenwoordig werken alle stafleden vanuit hun eigen motivatie mee aan een hoofdzakelijk seculier geworden universiteit, die ruimte biedt voor religieuze en levensbeschouwelijke diversiteit. (shrink)

What role does the wild duck play in Ibsen's famous drama? I argue that, besides mirroring the fate of the human cast members, the duck is acting as animal subject in a quasi-experiment, conducted in a private setting. Analysed from this perspective, the play allows us to discern the epistemological and ethical dimensions of the new scientific animal practice (systematic observation of animal behaviour under artificial conditions) emerging precesely at that time. Ibsen's play stages the clash between a scientific and (...) a romantic understanding of animals that still constitutes the backdrop of most contemporary debates over animals in research. Whereas the scientific understanding reduces the animal's behaviour, as well as its environment, to discrete and modifiable elements, the romantic view regards animals as being at one with (or violently disconnected from) their natural surroundings. (shrink)

This article presents a response to Richard Rorty's paper "Is Philosophy Relevant to Business Ethics?" The author questions Rorty's views on the depreciation of the role of philosophy in applied ethics, and outlines four reasons why philosophy retains its relevance. The author addresses the role of moral reasoning in the development of the moral imagination. The author also concludes that humans have the means necessary to make moral progress and are capable of moral reasoning, and need only to develop a (...) strong moral imagination. (shrink)

In this paper, I will reread the history of molecular genetics from a psychoanalytical angle, analysing it as a case history. Building on the developmental theories of Freud and his followers, I will distinguish four stages, namely: (1) oedipal childhood, notably the epoch of model building (1943–1953); (2) the latency period, with a focus on the development of basic skills (1953–1989); (3) adolescence, exemplified by the Human Genome Project, with its fierce conflicts, great expectations and grandiose claims (1989–2003) and (4) (...) adulthood (2003–present) during which revolutionary research areas such as molecular biology and genomics have achieved a certain level of normalcy—have evolved into a normal science. I will indicate how a psychoanalytical assessment conducted in this manner may help us to interpret and address some of the key normative issues that have been raised with regard to molecular genetics over the years, such as ‘relevance’, ‘responsible innovation’ and ‘promise management’. (shrink)

In this philosophically sophisticated and historically significant work, John H. Zammito reconstructs Kant's composition of The Critique of Judgment and reveals that it underwent three major transformations before publication. He shows that Kant not only made his "cognitive" turn, expanding the project from a "Critique of Taste" to a Critique of Judgment but he also made an "ethical" turn. This "ethical" turn was provoked by controversies in German philosophical and religious culture, in particular the writings of Johann Herder and the (...) Sturm und Drang movement in art and science, as well as the related pantheism controversy. Such topicality made the Third Critique pivotal in creating a "Kantian" movement in the 1790s, leading directly to German Idealism and Romanticism. The austerity and grandeur of Kant's philosophical writings sometimes make it hard to recognize them as the products of a historical individual situated in the particular constellation of his time and society. Here Kant emerges as a concrete historical figure struggling to preserve the achievements of cosmopolitan Aufkl-rung against challenges in natural science, religion, and politics in the late 1780s. More specifically Zammito suggests that Kant's Third Critique was animated throughout by a fierce personal rivalry with Herder and by a strong commitment to traditional Christian ideas of God and human moral freedom. "A work of extraordinary erudition. Zammito's study is both comprehensive and novel, connecting Kant's work with the aesthetic and religious controversies of the late eighteenth century. He seems to have read everything. I know of no comparable historical study of Kant's Third Critique."-Arnulf Zweig, translator and editor of Kant's ;IPhilosophical Correspondence, 1759-1799;X "An intricate, subtle, and exciting explanation of how Kant's thinking developed and adjusted to new challenges over the decade from the first edition of the Critique of Pure Reason to the appearance of the Critique of Judgment. "--John W. Burbidge, Review of Metaphysics "There has been for a long time a serious gap in English commentary on Kant's Critique of Judgment Zammito's book finally fills it. All students and scholars of Kant will want to consult it."--Frederick Beiser, Times Literary Supplement. (shrink)

The present piece focuses on the influence of Plotinus' understanding of time and eternity as articulated in Plotinus' third and fifth Enneads upon Mīr Dāmād's (d. 1631–2) conception of eternity, perpetuity, and time found in his Book of Blazing Brands (Kitab al‐Qabasāt). Although Mīr Dāmād's conception of eternity, perpetuity, and time resembles that of Plotinus' cosmology and ontology, he departs from Plotinus' hypostases in establishing strict parameters for each domain. Unlike Plotinus, Mīr Dāmād argues that the realm of eternity is (...) reserved for God alone, while the realm of Perpetuity contains the Platonic Forms. For Mīr Dāmād, the realm of time is an effect of the realm of Perpetuity and a tool for human beings to understand how to measure events in the temporal world. Unlike many other Shī'ite philosophers, Mīr Dāmād's articulation of these three cosmological realms incorporates thought found in the works of both prominent Sunni and Shī'ite scholars such as Ibn Sīnā, Abū Ḥāmid al‐Ghāzālī, Suhrawardī, and Naṣīr al‐Dīn Ṭūsī. Although his most successful student, Mullā Ṣadrā Shirazī, had ultimately disagreed with his teacher's cosmological doctrine, he remained influenced by the multitude of sources that his teacher had used. (shrink)

Commentators disagree about the extent to which Kant’s ethics is compatible with consequentialism. A question that has not yet been asked is whether Kant had a view of his own regarding the fundamental difference between his ethical theory and a broadly consequentialist one. In this paper I argue that Kant does have such a view. I illustrate this by discussing his response to a well-known objection to his moral theory, namely that Kant offers an implicitly consequentialist theory of moral appraisal. (...) This objection was most famously raised by Mill and Schopenhauer, but also during Kant’s time by Pistorius and Tittel. I show that Kant’s response to this objection in the second Critique illustrates that he sees the fundamental difference between his moral theory and a broadly consequentialist one to be one that concerns methodology. (shrink)

Moritz Heepe entwirft ein Gerechtigkeitsprinzip, das die zwei Gesichtspunkte der Proportionalitat des Wohlergehens zum moralischen Verdienst und der Reziprozitat vereinigt. Es steht damit zum Teil in einer aristotelischen Tradition und weicht erheblich vom liberalen Mainstream der aktuellen Gerechtigkeitsphilosophie ab. Ausgangspunkt ist eine grundliche Bestandsaufnahme der empirischen, speziell psychologischen Erforschung der alltagsmoralischen Gerechtigkeitsidee. Die proportionale Reziprozitat erweist sich dabei als zentrales Merkmal des menschlichen Gerechtigkeitsempfindens. Nach einer koharenten Rekonstruktion der proportionalen Reziprozitat werden verschiedene ihrer systematischen Eigenschaften und Schwierigkeiten diskutiert. Vor dem (...) Hintergrund zentraler Positionen aus der Geschichte der Ethik wird sie zudem den wichtigsten aktuellen Gerechtigkeitskonzeptionen gegenubergestellt. Moritz Heepe leitet aus der abstrakten proportional-reziproken Grundnorm konkrete Handlungsnormen (Heuristiken) ab und legt damit einen hoch innovativen Entwurf philosophischer Gerechtigkeit vor. (shrink)

In the present study we scrutinize the historical development of a remarkable strategy to justify state punishment, conceived in the philosophy of the Enlightenment: the argument from the consent of the offender. We follow the development of this argument and its variants from Grotius to Hegel. Our particular interest lies in ascriptions of purely fictitious mental states to justify palpable moral or legal reactions. This investigation opens up a specific and illuminating perspective on the legal-philosophical theories of the investigated authors (...) and their conceptual connections. In that way it also helps to properly grasp important aspects of the systematic problem of criminal justice. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungDem sogenannten Knobe-Effekt zufolge bestimmt die moralische Valenz von Nebeneffekten menschlichen Verhaltens die Zuschreibung ihrer absichtlichen Verursachung. Wir argumentieren, dass erstens die empirisch ermittelten sozialpsychologischen Daten den Knobe-Effekt in der üblichen Lesart nicht belegen, vor allem wegen der unvollständigen Untersuchung der entscheidenden moralischen Varianzfaktoren. Zweitens zeigen wir, dass - und wie - eine spezifische Version des traditionellen Prinzips des Doppeleffekts den empirisch bestätigten Teil des Knobe-Effekts philosophisch erklärt. Die Erklärungskraft des Prinzips des Doppeleffekts kann auch als eine Rechtfertigung eben dieses (...) Prinzips gesehen werden. (shrink)

This study investigates Hobbe’s theory of natural rights. Hobbes conceived a natural right of every man to every thing that is necessary for his survival. This prima facie curious theory was consecutively attacked with conceptually illuminating arguments from the two main representatives of the next generation of natural lawyers, Pufendorf and Cumberland. Their objections and possible defences of Hobbe’s theory are reconstructed. Especially Pufendorf’s arguments help to understand Hobbe’s position in ascribing him a special concept of rights, namely non-obligatory rights. (...) This concept in turn was fully developed in Pufendorf’s extremely influential distinction of perfect and imperfect duties. (shrink)

This study analyses central concepts and arguments of Hume’s critique of the social contract theory, mainly presented in the Essay “Of the Original Contract” published in 1748. Hume’s work is interpreted here in broader perspective as an anti-voluntaristic argument in political philosophy that helped to form and cause the transition from natural law to utilitarianism in later British enlightenment. Therefore on the one hand the critical notions of consent and political obligation and on the other hand Hume’s carefully considered arguments (...) will be referred to their historical background in modern natural law theory proposed by Grotius, Pufendorf, Locke and others from the seventeenth century onwards. The strong influence of Hume’s critique on the next generation of enlightened philosophers will become as understandable as the historical acuteness of his reflections. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft Jahrgang: 24 Heft: 1 Seiten: 17-46.

Zusammenfassung Die religiöse Dimension des Nationalsozialismus ist Gegenstand einer sehr kontroversen Fachdebatte, die von der Ablehnung einer solchen über Begriffe wie Religionsersatz, Ersatzreligion und politische Religion bis hin zu „echter“ Religion reicht. Ansatz dieses Artikels ist, dass viele Hitler als das „Heilige“ im Sinne Rudolf Ottos erlebten. Um das zu verstehen, wird der Glaube Hitlers in Relation gesetzt zum Glauben an Hitler, und die damals populäre Ansicht, der Nationalsozialismus sei das „wahre“ Christentum, wird Hitlers Absicht gegenübergestellt, ein „Deutschtum“ nach dem (...) Vorbild des Judentums zu schaffen. Es entstand ein religiöser Glaube, der maßgeblich von der Wirkung Hitlers gespeist wurde. Nur weil Hitler über Jahrhunderte tradierte Wahrnehmungsmuster bediente, konnte das areligiöse Fusionserlebnis, das seine Reden hervorriefen, als das „Heilige“ interpretiert werden. (shrink)

To reach a deeper understanding of Kant's theory of legal punishment it's illuminating to examine the conceptions of early Kantian scholars. We look at writings of various authors from Gottlieb Hufeland to Johann Gottlieb Fichte that appeared after 1785 and before Kant published for the first time his own mature thoughts on criminal justice 1797 in the “Metaphysik der Sitten”. The investigated conceptions of the Early Kantians tend to support a rather conservative reading of Kant's theory as closely related to (...) the enlightened natural law tradition. (shrink)

To reach a deeper understanding of Kant’s theory of legal punishment it’s illuminating to examine the conceptions of early Kantian scholars. We look at writings of various authors from Gottlieb Hufeland to Johann Gottlieb Fichte that appeared after 1785 and before Kant published for the first time his own mature thoughts on criminal justice 1797 in the “Metaphysik der Sitten”. The investigated conceptions of the Early Kantians tend to support a rather conservative reading of Kant’s theory as closely related to (...) the enlightened natural law tradition. (shrink)

This study analyses the development of the relation between natural rights theories and the moral valuation of capital punishment in the European enlightenment up to Beccaria. The theories of Grotius, Hobbes and Cumberland are three eminent theoretical options in early modern natural law theory. In different ways they all approved capital punishment: Grotius proposed that the criminal forfeited his right to life through his criminal deed qua implicit consent or reciprocity. Hobbes saw the individual right to life of the citizen (...) as finally not binding for the state. And in Cumberland’s sight the right to live was only conditional on its maximizing effect on the collective welfare as he understood it. It was not until Beccaria published his famous book on crime and punishment that an enlightened natural law author rejected the legitimacy of the death penalty. Beccaria’s arguments concerning capital punishment are investigated in this study in the light of the foregoing debate based on natural rights. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung Derzeit florieren Verschwörungstheorien. Die erfolgreichsten sind die QAnon-, die Soros- und die Bill-Gates-Verschwörung. Tatsächlich handelt es sich um Mythen, und der Glaube daran ist vom religiösen Glauben nicht zu unterscheiden. Ihr Erzählmuster lässt sich über die Protokolle der Weisen von Zion auf die Offenbarung des Johannes zurückführen. Im Zentrum steht eine transzendente Macht. Psychologie und Denken sind die des religiösen Glaubens. Die Erkenntnisse der Neuro- und der Psychobiologie können aufzeigen, dass die Psychologie dieser Mythen unseren biologischen Programmen folgt und (...) dass sich in ihrem Denken unsere Gedächtnisarchitektur widerspiegelt. Wir besitzen zwei Arten des Denkens, einen phylogenetisch älteren, egozentrischen, irrationalen, gefühlsgeleiteten Modus und einen jüngeren, kognitiv- rationalen Modus. Unser Denken ist stets eine Mischung aus beiden Modi, wobei das Mischungsverhältnis vom Reflexionsgrad unseres Bewusstseins und unserem emotionalen Zustand abhängt. Im religiösen Glauben dominiert der erste Modus. (shrink)

Abstract:During recent years, the principle and practice of employment-at-will have been under attack. While progress has been made in eroding the practice, the principle still governs the philosophical assumptions underlying employment practices in the United States, and, indeed, EAW has been promulgated as one of the ways to address economic ills in other countries. This paper will briefly review the major critiques of EAW. Given the failure of these arguments to erode the underpinnings of EAW, we shall suggest new avenues (...) for approaching employment issues to achieve the desirable goal of employee dignity and respect. (shrink)