Die Wissenschaftspsychologie wird als ein Gebiet interdisziplinärer Forschungen an der Grenze zwischen Psychologie und allgemeiner Theorie und Geschichte der Wissenschaft erörtert und ihr Verhältnis zu den anderen Richtungen der Wissenschaftsforschung, insbesondere zur Logik der Wissenschaftsentwicklung und zur Wissenschaftssoziologie dargestellt. Dabei heben die Autoren hervor, daß die Ausarbeitung jeder dieser Disziplinen eine Umgestaltung ihrer Ausgangsbegriffe und -methoden voraussetzt, was der Natur der Wissenschaft als spezifischen Systems und als besonderer sich historisch entwickelnder Tätigkeitsform entspricht. Als Grundprobleme werden u.a. behandelt: Kreativität, Motivation und (...) Schaffensdynamik des Wissenschaftlers, das Verhältnis von Persönlichkeit und Kollektiv in der modernen Wissenschaft und das Funktionieren "kleiner Gruppen". (shrink)

We present a model of steady state solute and water reabsorption along the rat proximal tubule. Major co-and counter-transport systems in the apical and basolateral cell membranes are described using kinetic descriptions based on data from the flows and solute concentrations along the length of the proximal tubule as a function of filtration rate and peritubular solute concentrations. We show that for many aspects of proximal tubule transport physiology this kinetics-based model is an adequate representation of the mammalian proximal tubule.

The rule of rescue describes the powerful human proclivity to rescue identified endangered lives, regardless of cost or risk. Deciding whether or not to perform a decompressive craniectomy as a life-saving or ‘rescue’ procedure for a young person with a severe traumatic brain injury provides a good example of the ethical tensions that occur in these situations. Unfortunately, there comes a point when the primary brain injury is so severe that if the patient survives they are likely to remain severely (...) disabled and fully dependent. The health resource implications of this outcome are significant. By using a web-based outcome prediction model this study compares the long-term outcome and designation of two groups of patients. One group had a very severe injury as adjudged by the model and the other group a less severe injury. At 18 month follow-up there were significant differences in outcome and healthcare requirements. This raises important ethical issues when considering life-saving but non-restorative surgical intervention. The discussion about realistic outcome cannot be dichotomised into simply life or death so that the outcome for the patient must enter the equation. As in other ‘rescue situations’, the utility of the procedure cannot be rationalised on a mere cost–benefit analysis. A compromise has to be reached to determine at what point either the likely outcome would be unacceptable to the person on whom the procedure is being performed or the social utility gained from the rule of rescue intervention fails to justify the utilitarian value and justice of equitable resource allocation. (shrink)

This early work by Robin G. Collingwood was originally published in 1939 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'An Autobiography' is the story of Collingwood's personal and academic life. Robin George Collingwood was born on 22nd February 1889, in Cartmel, England. He was the son of author, artist, and academic, W. G. Collingwood. He was greatly influenced by the Italian Idealists Croce, Gentile, and Guido de Ruggiero. Another important influence was his father, a professor (...) of fine art and a student of Ruskin. He published many works of philosophy, such as Speculum Mentis (1924), An Essay on Philosophic Method (1933), and An Essay on Metaphysics (1940). (shrink)

This book aims to provide an introduction to Aristotle's Politics, highlighting the major themes and arguments offered in the scholar's work. It begins with a discussion on what Aristotle perceives as human good, which he had described as the ethical purpose of political science, and how he views the political community, or the polis, as a community of persons formed with a view to some good purpose and a supreme entity in the sense that it is not just one aspect (...) of city-state society but is the whole of that society. The book also discusses Aristotle's arguments against the abolition of the household for the ruling class and the communism of families and property, which Plato advocates, and highlights certain inconsistencies and vulnerabilities in his arguments supporting natural slavery and on how the husband should rule over his wife and children. The book presents Aristotle's account of the relative merits of six different types of constitution and his views on the best possible constitution that will help in the realization of the polis' true purpose of achieving the good life. It ends with a discussion on Aristotle's view of political science in relation to the protection of particular constitutions against constitutional change and political disorder. (shrink)

Ethical arguments about caregiver responsibility and the limits of client autonomy rely on best evidence about the risks and benefits of medical interventions. But when the evidence is unclear, or when the peer-reviewed literature presents conflicting accounts of the evidence, how are clinicians and their clients to recommend or decide the best course of action? Conflicting evidence about the outcomes of home and hospital birth in the peerreviewed literature offers an opportunity to explore this question. We present the contrary evidence (...) and describe the social and cultural elements that influence the production of the science of birth, including professional, publication, and critical bias. We then consider how the science of birth has been used an misused in making ethical arguments about preferred place of birth. We conclude with a number of recommendations about the responsible use of the evidence, arguing for an “ethics of information” that can be drawn on to guide caregivers and clients in the use of evidence for clinical decision making. (shrink)

An index listing all the places in which words occur in Thomas' Summa Theologica. Only philosophically indifferent words have been omitted. --R. G. S.

A careful discussion of the major logical and epistemological issues raised and solutions suggested by the original members and followers of the "Vienna Circle." The author shows the progressive elaboration of the positions of this school by its major figures and shows where opinions diverge within the movement. The discussion is amply documented with references to the standard literature. The book aims at reviving interest in the "scientific method of philosophising" in the German speaking world.--R. G. S.

Two lectures which argue for increased study of comparative philosophy and which point out some of the main differences between the philosophies of East and West.--R. G. S.

Rome, the author holds, is not only the symbol of a political empire and a world at peace but also of a definite image of man. As a consequence it became the focus of the controversy between humanistic and other worldly Christianity. The present work deals with Augustine's views on Rome as political symbol and as moral symbol.--R. G. S.

Based on papers read to the Centre Catholique des Intellectuels Français by a group of Catholic authors, including Gustave Thibon and Daniel-Rapa. Freedom is not mere independence: it is the choice of bonds to those we love. Since the Christian is related to his God in love, Christianity is the source and basis of genuine freedom. The authors attempt to substantiate this thesis in essays on Hinduism, Islam, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and Freedom in the Greek World. The concluding essays examine (...) the requirements for the preservation of freedom in our day.--R. G. S. (shrink)

The eminent Spanish biologist Suñer has brought together a variety of texts illustrating the development of the key concepts of modern biology, ranging from cell theory to mechanism and teleogy, consciousness, and the notion of organism. Each chapter is provided with a brief but lucid introduction outlining the significance of the concept and the major stages of its development.--R. G. S.

An attempt to defend Bultmann's existentialist re-interpretation of Protestant Theology against its critics. The major areas of disagreement center around the existentialists' rejection of the subject-object scheme in epistemology, rival conceptions of history, and the relation of faith to the Bible as an historical document. Provides an interesting view of the troubled waters of contemporary Protestant Theology.--R. G. S.

A scholarly yet very readable analysis and criticism of Marxism according to the "Moscow orthodoxy," stressing problems of Marxist theory of knowledge, of science and of history, and virtually omitting consideration of Marxist economics. Attempting to be partisan without being unfair, the author devotes the final chapters to an exposition of democratic theory and compares it to Marxism. The obscurities of the democratic theory make the constructive argument less authoritative than the destructive criticisms. This does not, however, remove the main (...) value of what is an enlightening study of competing political philosophies.--R. G. S. (shrink)

Following von Arnim, the author regards De Virtute, the Magna Moralia and the Eudemian Ethics as genuine. He not only shows that Aristotle grounds his philosophy of law in the ethical virtue of justice, but he also traces the development from the early Aristotelian-Platonic concept of justice to the concept of justice of the Nichomachean Ethics. Justice both in the general and more specific senses, as well as Equity are discussed in considerable detail. A careful analysis with a slight Platonic (...) bias. --R. G. S. (shrink)

von Recklinghausen did not publish any of his philosophical writings in his lifetime. The present volume contains a very summary statement of his organic philosophy based on the unpublished materials, together with critical and historical appreciations by the editor of the papers.--R. G. S.

An attempt to overcome current continental philosophies of despair by a rediscovery and reaffirmation of the human spirit. The vehicle of this attempt is a detailed statement of Goethe's philosophy of man, his place in the universe and his relation to God.--R. G. S.

A collection of essays from various of Bultmann's works, including one previously unpublished, offering interesting glimpses into the new existential theology which tries to reinterpret concepts of traditional theology in the light of analyses of human existence. The characteristic use of familiar terms in unfamiliar ways is still somewhat confusing.--R. G. S.

A "scientific...objective study of a social phenomenon," not an argument for democracy. The author maintains that the historical opposition between autocracy and democracy reflects the opposition between philosophical absolutism and philosophical relativism. Only relativism can justify an egalitarian democracy ruled by a majority, since today's truths may be to-morrow's errors; Christian and Natural Law theories of democracy are criticised. The work, unfortunately, lacks an adequate philosophical foundation. The discussion of the function of democracy fails to be fully convincing because the (...) underlying distinction between philosophical absolutism and relativism is oversimplified and unclear.--R. G. S. (shrink)

An interesting essay in the phenomenology of moral value. The authors regard all traditional ethics as "deformations" of the Christian ethics of love and submission to God. Traditional mores, or the laws of the state, are seen as substitutes for Christian ethics--as are liberalism, identification of morality with honor, humaneness, self-development, altruism, self-control, moderation, etc. The work is primarily descriptive, and arguments in defense of viewing Christian ethics as the only genuine morality of which all others are preversions, are scarce.--R. (...) G. S. (shrink)

An Italian translation; the original French appeared in 1944. The preface by Léon Robin and an appendix on Galileo and Plato appear for the first time in this edition.--R. G. S.

A copiously documented, scholarly, and detailed history of the elaboration of the concept of the inalienability of sovereignty and the uses to which it was put in the late Middle Ages, when national monarchies were first emerging.--R. G. S.