The humanities, natural and technical sciences seemingly have little to say to each other – despite all the trans-disciplinary efforts. The “Applied Virtuality” series will comprise four volumes that create and examine a discourse on the correlations between the larger contexts of ther present. Printed Physics, the first volume, begins with the discussion of developments in information technology that make the physical behavior of matter technologically programmable, allow for its factual construction, industrial production and its determination with symbols. Is it (...) possible that a revitalization of the field of physics looms in the future similar to that which took place with geometry in the 19th century? (shrink)

'Symbolizing existence' deals with the current rapidly happening deterritorialization of everything which was once regarded stable and binding. What we today regard as statistically encoded information is capable to explicate and index the entire realm of what can be expressed and represented through a cascade of geometrical, functional, or finally logified schemes. We are currently experiencing a rapid loss of grounding of that which we once considered binding in our cultural and intellectual history. How can we obtain an articulate, cultivate (...) way of thinking about instances that does not fall back into a schematic model Platonism (thereby falling behind Plato), and that does not remain enmeshed in an Aristotelian realization dynamics with a naturalism organized by original genus, kinds, and specific marks of distinction? The central phenomenon considered was the technological process of doping material: At the quantum level, a particle or its representation, the point, is no longer "that which has no parts" (Euclid). (shrink)

After a short sketch of Lowe’s account of his four basic categories, I discuss his theory of formal ontological relations and how Lowe wants to account for dispositional predications. I argue that on the ontic level Lowe is a pan-categoricalist, while he is a language dualist and an exemplification dualist with regard to the dispositional/categorical distinction. I argue that Lowe does not present an adequate account of disposition. From an Aristotelian point of view, Lowe conflates dispositional predication with hôs epi (...) to poly statements about what is normally or mostly the case. (shrink)

_Religion, War and the Crisis of Modernity: A Special Issue Dedicated to the Philosophy of Jan Patočka_ _The New Yearbook for Phenomenology and Phenomenological Philosophy_ provides an annual international forum for phenomenological research in the spirit of Husserl's groundbreaking work and the extension of this work by such figures as Scheler, Heidegger, Sartre, Levinas, Merleau-Ponty and Gadamer. Contributors: Ivan Chvatík, Nicolas de Warren, James Dodd, Eddo Evink, Ludger Hagedorn, Jean-Luc Marion, Claire Perryman-Holt, Marcia Sá Cavalcante Schuback, Michael Staudigl, Christian (...) Sternad, and Ľubica Učník. (shrink)

In cognitive science, long-term anticipation, such as when planning to do something next year, is typically seen as a form of ‘higher’ cognition, requiring a different account than the more basic activities that can be understood in terms of responsiveness to ‘affordances,’ i.e. to possibilities for action. Starting from architects that anticipate the possibility to make an architectural installation over the course of many months, in this paper we develop a process-based account of affordances that includes long-term anticipation within its (...) scope. We present a framework in which situations and their affordances unfold, and can be thought of as continuing a history of practices into a current situational activity. In this activity affordances invite skilled participants to act further. Via these invitations one situation develops into the other; an unfolding process that sets up the conditions for its own continuation. Central to our process account of affordances is the idea that engaged individuals can be responsive to the direction of the process to which their actions contribute. Anticipation, at any temporal scale, is then part and parcel of keeping attuned to the movement of the unfolding situations to which an individual contributes. We concretize our account by returning to the example of anticipation observed in architectural practice. This account of anticipation opens the door to considering a wide array of human activities traditionally characterized as ‘higher’ cognition in terms of engaging with affordances. (shrink)

Introducing formal causation / Ludger Jansen and Petter Sandstad -- Form, intention, information : from scholastic logic to artificial intelligence / Gyula Klima -- Formal causation : accidental and substantial / David S. Oderberg -- A non-hylomorphic account of formal causation / Petter Sandstad and Ludger Jansen -- Formal causes for powers theorists / Giacomo Giannini and Stephen Mumford -- Away with dispositional essences in trope theory / Jani Hakkarainen and Markku Keinänen -- Functional powers / Michele Paolini (...) Paoletti -- An Aristotelian approach to existential dependence / Benjamin Schnieder and Jonas Werner -- Finean feature dependence and the Aristotelian alternative / Wolfgang Sattler -- A problem for natural-kind essentialism and formal causes / José Tomás Alvarado and Matthew Tugby -- Form as cause and the formal cause : Aristotle's answer / James G. Lennox -- Form, cause, and explanation in biology : a neo-Aristotelian perspective / Christopher J. Austin -- Formal explanation and mechanisms of conceptual representation / Sandeep Prasada. (shrink)

Die Tradition der Metaphysik, auf die sich die Neuzeit bezieht verdankt ihre Physiognomie den systematischen Ansätzen, die den nach Aristoteles „zweiten“ Anfang der Metaphysik im 13. Jhd. Bestimmen. Der Zusammenhang, der die mittelalterliche Metaphysik mit der neuzeitlichen Metaphysik und Metaphysikkritik verbindet, ist jedoch immer noch zu wenig erforscht. Die vorliegende Untersuchung greift den einflußreichsten der mittelalterlichen Ansätze, den des Johannes Duns Scotus, auf und verfolgt seine Rezeption und Transformation über Francisco Suárez und Christian Wolff zu Immanuel Kant und Charles Sanders (...) Peirce. Nach Duns Scotus ist Metaphysik als Wissenschaft vom Seienden als Seienden nur dann möglich, wenn man sie nicht als Wissenschaft vom ersten ausgezeichneten Seienden, sondern als Wissenschaft vom ersterkannten Begriff des Seienden versteht. Da dieser Begriff nur im Rückgang auf die Voraussetzungen unserer kategorialen Prädikate erfaßt und nur im Durchgang durch seine modalen Bestimmungen entfaltet werden kann, faßt Scotus Metaphysik strikt als „Transzendentalwissenschaft“ (scientia transcendens) und ordnet ihr als Inhalt die formalmodale Bestimmung und Explikation der „ratio entis“ zu. Die Erkenntnis des unendlichen Seienden ist Teil dieser Explikation und nur als solche möglich. Die neuzeitliche Gestalt der Metaphysik, die sich auf der bisher meist herangezogenen Folie der Metaphysik des Thomas von Aquin als Traditionsbruch darstellt, erweist sich im Blick auf das Konzept des Scotus als Resultat einer kritischen Transformation. (shrink)

Semiotics, the age-old investigation of signs, is still striving for acknowledgement as a scientific discipline. Though the ‘linguistic turn’ in the philosophical disciplines seemed to be followed by a ‘semiotic turn’ in many sciences during the 1970s, efforts were not crowned by great success. When seen from a certain distance, a definition of semiotics as a discipline can only be obtained from its history. Research into the sources of the human pre-occupation with signs, and with concepts or conceptions of signs, (...) is really desirable and even necessary when a field of considerable scientific interest at the brink of being awarded the rank of a discipline runs the risk of getting lost between the unificationism of the Morris-type and the elegance of pseudo-mathematical empty classificationism on the one side, and profitable exploitation of the sign's popularized design qualities on the other. (shrink)

The future will tell whether or not the European Union is developing a political philosophy of its own. But the current trend indicates several interesting features structurally different, or asymmetric, to the experiences with the evolution of key notions of political philosophy in relation to the past experience with the development of statehood. The paper gives examples which call for deepened research and provides stimulating material for a new and innovative reflection on the process and substance of European integration, this (...) most unique feature of political history in the course of the 20th century. (shrink)

Ludger Schwarte (Münster, 1965) es profesor de filosofía en la Kunstakademie de Düsseldorf. Es ampliamente considerado como uno de los representantes más importantes de la filosofía de la arquitectura, una disciplina que ha venido desarrollándose rápidamente en las últimas dos décadas y cuya actualidad es cada vez mayor. En su monumental libro Philosophie der Architektur (2009), desarrolla una filosofía política ―y no meramente estética o simbólica― de la arquitectura. Su original planteamiento consiste en entender la arquitectura, en primer lugar, (...) como construcción de posibilidades, esto es, en su capacidad de instaurar, definir o movilizar los fundamentos del «mundo de la vida» vigente en cada caso a través de la producción de espacios, registros temporales y medios de interacción que determinan nuestra experiencia. En este sentido, para Schwarte la filosofía de la arquitectura tiene una importancia fundamental en la medida en que ayuda a rastrear la génesis de una especie de «sentido fundamental» que constituye la raíz común de las formas de vida y de los órdenes lingüísticos. El presente artículo, la primera traducción del autor alemán al español, ofrece una síntesis de su proyecto de una filosofía de la arquitectura. (shrink)

Imagination is often considered the pinnacle of representational cognition. Looking at the concrete details of imagining in context, this paper aims to contribute to the emerging literature that is challenging this representational view by offering a relational and radically situated alternative. On the basis of observing architects in the process of making an architectural art installation, we show how to consider imagination not as de-contextualized achievement by an individual but as an opening up to larger-scale “affordances,” i.e. the unfolding possibilities (...) for action. We show how the architects coordinate the enactment of multiple affordances across different timescales, from small-scale affordances of picking up a mobile phone to the large-scale affordance of making the installation that takes months to unfold. These affordances get co-determined as they are jointly enacted. It is within this determining process that imagination too finds its place. On our view it is the indeterminacy of multiple affordances unfolding in action simultaneously that can be experienced as imaginative. The indeterminate character of this coordinative process allows activities to widen and open up, letting new possibilities for action enter into them. (shrink)

Band 1. Paradigmen personaler Identität -- Band 2. Soziale Gruppen und Identitätspraktiken.

The "immeasurable lightness and fragility of the human fact." Jan Patočka and the Crisis of HumanismThe article addresses Jan Patočka’s writings in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. The paper’s title – "The Immense Lightness and Fragility of the Human Fact" – is taken from a short, yet immensely crucial 1946 text of his that formulates a severe criticism of ideology/ideologies and eventually offers a profound questioning of humanist ideals. Accentuating his critique against the backdrop of Sartre's and (...) Heidegger's contemporaneous challenges to humanism, the paper argues that Patočka debunks a misconceived "cult of the human being" and ideologies of progress while insisting on the integrity of a human life in confrontation with its inherent weakness and fragility. (shrink)

Classical spinning particles are interpreted in terms of an underlying geometric theory. They are described by trajectories on the Poincaré group. Upon quantization an eleven-dimensional Kaluza-Klein type theory is obtained which incorporates spin and isospin in a local SL(2, C)×U(1)×SU(2) gauge theory, unifying gravity and the pre-Higgs standard model. The relation to parametrized relativistic quantum theory is discussed.

Das Ziel des Bandes besteht darin, einen Überblick über die Grundfragen, Kernthemen und Handlungsfelder der praktischen Wirtschaftsphilosophie zu geben. Zu diesem Zweck befasst sich Teil I einführend mit dem Verhältnis von Ökonomie und Ethik, der Verbindung zwischen Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft und Politik sowie dem Zusammenhang von Globalisierung, Transnationalisierung und Interkulturalität. Teil II setzt sich mit den Kernthemen der praktischen Wirtschaftsphilosophie auseinander. Es werden Begriffe und Themen vorgestellt, die sowohl für die ökonomische Wissenschaft als auch für die Realökonomie relevant sind. Hierzu zählen (...) systematische und normative Begriffe wie Präferenzen, Rationalität oder Regeln, Grundlagenthemen wie Freiheit, Verantwortung oder Gerechtigkeit und operative Themenfelder wie Handel, Markt, Kooperation oder Digitalisierung. Teil III beschäftigt sich abschließend aus wirtschaftsphilosophischer Perspektive mit zentralen Praxisfeldern der Ökonomie. Dazu gehören das Verhältnis von Unternehmens- und Konsumentenverantwortung, die Rolle von Stakeholder-Beziehungen, Shared Value-Ansätze, die Verbindung von Governance und Institutionen sowie alternative Wirtschaftsformen und die Wirtschaftspolitik. Das Handbuch Wirtschaftsphilosophie verbindet in interdisziplinärer Perspektive philosophische Grundlagenreflexion mit theoretischer und praktischer Erschließung des ökonomischen Handelns. Methodisch werden dabei wissenschaftstheoretische, normative, kulturbezogene und historische Aspekte miteinander verbunden. (shrink)

Die Vertreibung jüdischer Psychoanalytiker aus NS-Deutschland ging damit einher, dass sie von ihren eigenen Kollegen aus der DPG gedrängt wurden. Dieser Bruch hat die Wiederanknüpfung echter Beziehungen zwischen beiden Gruppen nach dem Zusammenbruch des NS-Regimes und der deutschen Niederlage im Zweiten Weltkrieg erheblich belastet. Anhand erhaltener Korrespondenzen wird diese gestörte Nachkriegskommunikation rekonstruiert und auf ihre Langzeitfolgen geprüft.

Being an "untimely review", this paper reviews Aristotle's 'Categories' as if they were published today, in the era of computerised information, where categorisation becomes more and more essential for information retrieval. I suggest a systematic ordering of Aristotle's list of categories and argue that Aristotle's discussion of ontological dependency and his focus on concrete entities are still a source of new insight and can indeed be read as a contribution to the emerging field of applied ontology and ontological engineering.

Die Aufzeichnungen, die Ludger Kühnhardt in 235 Ländern und Territorien der Erde verfasst hat, lassen ein faszinierendes Panorama entstehen, gespiegelt in persönlichen Eindrücken, Begegnungen und Erfahrungen eines in aller Welt tätigen Politikwissenschaftlers und Publizisten. Das Buch rekonstruiert die Verknüpfungen zwischen den Transformationen Europas und dem entstehenden globalen Zeitalter während sechs Jahrzehnten ab 1960 bis zur Schwelle der post-Corona-Welt 2020.

Functional explanations apply not only in cases of normal functioning, but also in the case of malfunctioning. According to a straightforward analysis, a bearer of the function to F is malfunctioning if and only if it does not F although it should do so. This makes malfunctions and malfunctionings analogous to negative causation and thus peculiarly problematic, because they seem to involve absent dispositions and absent processes. This analysis seems also to require that the function to F cannot be identical (...) with the disposition to F. Then we seem to be trapped in a dilemma: Either the realm of functions is separated from the realm of dispositions; then it seems that functions cannot be causally efficacious. Alternatively, functions are considered to be identical with dispositions; but then malfunctioning seems to be conceptually impossible. The paper defends and further develops the thesis of Röhl and Jansen that functions are not a special type of dispositions. For this purpose, it first reviews different varieties of malfunction and malfunctioning and suggests definitions of both malfunction and malfunctioning. It reviews how causal, etiological and intentional theories of functions can deal with these problems. In particular, the paper discusses the special-disposition account of the Basic Formal Ontology. Spear, Ceusters and Smith :103--128, 2016) have defended the special-disposition account of the Basic Formal Ontology by suggesting various strategies how a special-disposition account can deal with malfunctions. On the one side, the paper evaluates these strategies and indicates several problems arising from them. On the other hand, it describes how to account for the non-optionality and the causal efficacy of functions, if functions are not dispositions. While function types are not identical to disposition types, there are important interrelations between functions and dispositions, namely heuristically, from a design perspective for artefact functions, and from an evolutionary perspective for types of biological functions. (shrink)

Radical empiricists at the turn of the twentieth century described organisms as experiencing the relations they maintain with their surroundings prior to any analytic separation from their environment. They notably avoided separating perception of the material environment from social life. This perspective on perceptual experience was to prove the inspiration for Gibson’s ecological approach to perceptual psychology. Gibson provided a theory of how the direct perception of the organism-environment relation is possible. Central to his account was the notion of a (...) medium for direct perception. However Gibson provided two mutually inconsistent accounts of the medium leading to problems for his radical empiricism. We develop an account of the medium that does justice to ecological psychology’s radical empiricist roots. To complement this account of the medium we detail a usage-based account of information. Together they allow us to propose a novel radical empiricist view of direct perception. We then return to the notion of medium and expand it to include sociomaterial practices. We show how direct perception happens in the midst of social life, and is made possible by an active achieving and maintaining of a pragmatic relation with the environment. (shrink)

This volume offer a manifold approach to a less evident and until now much neglected undercurrent in the work of Hannah Arendt., namely her ambiguous relation to the Judeo-Christian relligious heritage. Arendt's dissertation was dedicated to the concept of love in the works of Augustine, where she set her tone and developmed her frame for approaching theological matters. Her understanding of secularity might provide a model for the reconciliation of secularization and the persistence of religious belief in the contemporary world. (...) Thought Hannah Arendt wad certainly and outspokenly a secular thinker, her work also harbors ways of understanding secularization as the possibility of a new, maybe even messianic, attitude towards finite life and earthly reality. She famously depicts this attitude as "faith in and hope for the world". --Book cover. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Paragrana Jahrgang: 26 Heft: 1 Seiten: 100-114.

In der Geschichte der Philosophie waren Bilder oft dem Verdacht des Lügens ausgesetzt. Doch wenn sie lügen können, können sie dann auch die Wahrheit sagen?0Der Vorwurf des Lügens unterstellt nicht, dass jemand beim Gebrauch eines Bildes die Unwahrheit sagt, sondern dass Bilder selbst agieren. Viele Kulturtechniken unterstellen Bildern eine Wahrheitsfähigkeit, ein Potenzial der Verifizierung und Bezeugung. In Bildern wird etwas anschaulich, auf das sich die visuelle Wahrheitsgewinnung stützen kann. Das vorliegende Buch versucht eine systematische Bestimmung dieser »pikturalen Evidenz±: Bilder »sagen± (...) die Wahrheit nicht, aber sie können Sachverhalte überprüfbar präsentieren. Sie können Aspekte der Wirklichkeit erhellen, die außerhalb des pikturalen Objekts nicht wahrnehmbar sind. Um diese Wahrheitsfähigkeit präzise zu erfassen, gilt es, Gestaltungseigenschaften von Bildern sowie Funktionen und Wirkungsweisen ins Zentrum der Analyse zu stellen. Es zeigt sich, dass die pikturale Evidenz weniger aus der Bezugnahme auf ein Vorbild herrührt, noch aus den ästhetischen Qualitäten der Abbildung, sondern aus einer Anschaulichkeit, die nur das Bild als ein gestaltetes Ding eröffnet. (shrink)