"In this paper I shall attempt to sketch a defense of the plain man's view that the job of the judge, qua judge is to apply the law." What seems to have lead to the other view is the pervasive role of policy and principle in the justification of judicial decisions. This is no argument, however, for the existence of discretion: "For while it must be admitted that judges are entitled to appeal to certain general policies and principles, this by (...) no means implies that they are entitled to exercise discretionary judgment in the formulation of such standards." With Dworkin, distinguishes weak and strong discretion: the former means merely final or controversial; the latter implying that judges are at some point free to reach decisions not controlled by authoritative standards. Agrees with Dworkin that non-rule standards are part of law. "Both Dworkin and I are in agreement that law is a system of entitlements, although, as we shall see, we differ as to what is their basis." "At any rate, we share the view that a litigant before a court of law is not in the position of one begging a favor from a potential benefactor, but rather in that of one demanding a particular decision as a matter of right, as something to which the law entitles him. Such a demand has two aspects: a claim that a right exists which the law recognizes; a claim that this right takes precedence over any competing legal rights or obligations involved. Let us refer to these two sorts of claims respectively as ones involving decisions as to recognition, and weight.:" Argues that we cannot distinguish between legal moral principles and non-legal moral principles without a rule of recognition. The same is true for the problem of establishing weight between various principles - here we have to consider how well a principle coheres with the institutional practice of a legal system. "[I]t is the distinctive feature of the institutionalized role of the judiciary, in contrast to the legislative, that it may not directly base decisions on substantive considerations of the value of competing social policies." "The theoretical possibility of the law being indeterminate with regard to what it requires...does not imply any correspondign indeterminacy with regard to what is required of the judge.". (shrink)

The order in which Plato’s thoughts follow upon one another in the Republic is logical, but the dramatic or the picturesque medium through which he is constantly presenting his ideas disguises the logical structure of the work.

La democracia en el sentido contemporáneo del término, como autogobierno político de los seres humanos basado en la libertad y a igualdad, es de muy reciente implantación y cuenta con limitaciones geográficas y temáticas. Hoy, cuando la democracia representativa ha alcanzado nuevos espacios, en su marco tradicional del Estado-nación, las nuevas tecnologías y la globalización y la globalización de los procesos económicos la han puesto de nuevo en crisis. La expansión ilimitada del capital –semejante a la del universo- no ha (...) tenido un equivalente en el terreno de la política, en el mejor de los casos, democrática, que sigue encorsetada en los estrechos límites del Estado-nación. Límites que sólo serán sobrepasados cuando la democracia, también, se haga expansiva. El subsistema democrático español, dentro del sistema de democracias europeas, es reciente y se considera producto de una determinada relación de fuerzas en un proceso histórico convulso en el que se han conocido, sobre todo, dictaduras. A pesar de ser el actual régimen político una democracia normalizada, contiene insuficiencias o limitaciones que conviene concretar. Éstas se manifiestan en cuestiones geoestratégicas de cierta dependencia: un deficiente sistema productivo no incrustado en la ciencia ni en la innovación; una insuficiente cohesión social y un excesivo poder económico; un problema territorial no resuelto y un Estado que no acaba de ser laico. (shrink)

Pt. 1. The context -- pt. 2. Principles of ethics in psychiatry -- pt. 3. The applications of the ethical principles in psychiatric practice and research -- pt. 4. Non-medical uses of psychiatry -- pt. 5. Teaching ethics in psychiatry -- pt. 6. Conclusions and summary.

The publication of the DSM-5 awakened the interest in the classification of mental disorders and in factors which influence the production of a classification and its use. Among these are the debates about the limits between mental disorders and normality, the impact of vested interest in the publication of a revised version of a classification or its postponement, the problems of making those concerned use the classification and numerous others. The chapter discusses these issues and makes suggestions about the way (...) forward. (shrink)

Hippocampal neurogenesis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of and recovery from depression. However, most of the underlying studies were endpoint investigations in experimental animals yielding conflicting results, and it has been under debate to which extent these results could be transferred to human patients. Now, researchers have developed a powerful new tool to address these questions by a non‐invasive method in humans and animals in vivo, using magnetic resonance spectroscopy to detect a biomarker for proliferating progenitor cells that give (...) rise to new neurons.1 This makes it possible to study the role of neural progenitor cells in a wide variety of human brain disorders. BioEssays 30:806–810, 2008. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

The question 'Why should I obey the law?' introduces a contemporary puzzle that is as old as philosophy itself. The puzzle is especially troublesome if we think of cases in which breaking the law is not otherwise wrongful, and in which the chances of getting caught are negligible. Philosophers from Socrates to H.L.A. Hart have struggled to give reasoned support to the idea that we do have a general moral duty to obey the law but, more recently, the greater number (...) of learned voices has expressed doubt that there is any such duty, at least as traditionally conceived. (shrink)

E. W. Ch. Sartorius , a forgotten lutheran theologian of the 19th century, provides a comprehensive understandig of God as love in the three volumes of his dogmatics . He sees love as the intentional relative property of the surrrender of one self-conscious particular being to another. In applying this concept to the being of God, Sartorius develops the trinity of three divine persons from the statement ‘God is love’. However, this conception seems to fail because this particular (...) concept of love implicitly presupposes a concept of individual self-consciousness. Consequently, God is “loving selfconsciousness” – three times. The main problem consists in the fact, that Sartorius, although he is able to develop the trinity from the concept of love, he is unable to show how the persons are constituted by love. However, the relationship of the notions of ordo amoris and surrender, the concept of faith as trusting in being loved and his concept of a specific relationship of the doctrine of the trinity to soteriology in order to avoid forms of “panentheism” could provide interesting suggestions for the present discussion of the doctrine of God. (shrink)

The purpose of this essay is to defend a claim that a certain consideration, which I call unworkability, is universally and necessarily relevant to legal reasoning. By that I mean that it is a consideration that must carry legal weight in the justification of some judicial decisions in every legal system in which (1) all disputed matters of law can be adjudicated, and (2) all judicial decisions are to be legally justified. Unworkability's necessary relevance has important implications for a theory (...) of relevance presented by Rolf Sartorius. On this theory, nearly all considerations that are relevant to a judicial decision are supplied by legal principles embedded in the legal rules and decisions, or by extralegal principles dependent, in some way, on the legal principles. (The exceptions to the embedding thesis that Sartorius would, no doubt, recognize are elaborated in the text but can be set aside here.) But there are possible legal systems which do not contain an embedded legal principle concerning unworkability; and nonetheless, unworkability is relevant to judicial reasoning in those systems. Hence, a theory of relevance that relies on principles embedded in the content of rules is too simplistic. Some substantive considerations are relevant for other reasons. (shrink)

Many contemporary philosophers of law agree that a necessary condition for a decision to be legally justified, even in a hard case, is that it coheres with established law. Some, namely Sartorius and Dworkin, have gone beyond that relatively uncontroversial claim and described the role of coherence in legal justification as analogous to its role in moral and scientific justification, on contemporary theories. In this, I argue, they are mistaken. Specifically, coherence in legal justification is sometimes specific to a (...) branch of law, and there is nothing isomorphic to this in the models of moral and scientific justification. Although Dworkin and Sartorius rely on the concept of coherence, they do not explicate it. In the course of examining their views, this essay offers a partial analysis of coherence on their models. Finally, two canons of relevance, governing when global coherence considerations are appropriate to legal justification, are presented. (shrink)

Der gute Mensch von Kopenhagen - Niels Bohr und die Entfesselung des Atoms Der Physiker und Nobelpreisträger Niels Bohr (1885?1962) veränderte durch seine Forschung unseren Blick auf die Welt. Mit seinem Atommodell konnte erstmals die Stabilität von Materie erklärt werden, doch zugleich machten die darauf aufbauende Atomphysik und Nukleartechnik unsere Welt so unsicher wie nie zuvor. Ernst Peter Fischer beleuchtet Leben und Werk dieses faszinierenden Mannes, dessen Erkenntnisse uns bis heute beschäftigen. Ernst Peter Fischer, geboren 1947 in Wuppertal, studierte Mathematik, (...) Physik und Biologie und promovierte 1977 am California Institute of Technology. 1987 habilitierte er sich im Fach Wissenschaftsgeschichte und lehrt seither an der Universität Konstanz. Als Wissenschaftspublizist schreibt er für GEO, Bild der Wissenschaft, Die Weltwoche und die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Fischer ist Autor zahlreicher Bücher, darunter der Bestseller?Die andere Bildung?(2001) und die Max-Planck-Biographie?Der Physiker?(2007). Für seine Arbeit erhielt er mehre Preise, u. a. den Sartorius-Preis der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to describe and assess the energetic-metabolic activity of selected muscles of upper and lower extremities during Rotational Training (RT). The influence of RT on temperature changes in the biceps and triceps brachii muscles as well as the quadriceps and biceps femoris muscles of healthy university students were verified, in addition to temperature differences between the left and right side before and after RT. The study was conducted on 18 subjects. RT was conducted in accordance (...) with accepted forms of training methodology of collective fitness. An important part of RT was the performance of circular and rotational movements. Thermograms taken before and immediately after RT focused on 4 regions of selected agonists and synergists in the upper and lower body. The camera used was the infrared hand-held CEDIP Titanium 560M IR (USA), located at a distance of 10 m from the subject. After RT, median Tsk (skin temperature) decreased in almost all of the examined ROIs, except for the left and right Qf (the quadriceps femoris, rectus femoris, and sartorius muscles) as well as the left Tb (triceps brachii) in female subjects. In male subjects, left and right Tsk of Qf increased both for the left and right Tb. Left-Right ΔTsk (temperature difference) was statistically significant (p <0.05) for Of, Bf, Bb, Tb in female as well as male subjects. It was concluded that thermography is a non-invasive, safe, and low-cost method for the recording of physiological response of the skin to RT. (shrink)

This is a collection of essays on themes of legal philosophy which have all been generated or affected by Hart's work. The topics covered include legal theory, responsibility, and enforcement of morals, with contributions from Ronald Dworkin, Rolf Sartorius, Neil MacCormach, David Lyons, Kent Greenawalt, Michael Moore, Joseph Raz, and C.L. Ten, among others.

The main aim of this paper is to clarify the dispute over judicial discretion by distinguishing the different senses in which claims about judicial discretion can be understood and by examining the arguments for these various interpretations. Three different levels of dispute need to be recognized. The first concerns whether judges actually do exercise discretion, the second involves whether judges are entitled to exercise discretion, and the third is about the proper institutional role of judges. In this context, the views (...) of Dworkin, Raz, Perry, Greenawalt, and Sartorius are examined. Finally, it is suggested that a resolution of the judicial discretion controversy requires a satisfactory theory of the justification of judicial decisions. (shrink)

The theological energies released by Martin Luther in 1517 created a set of theological insights and problems that eventually led to the development of kenotic Christology. This article traces how kenotic Christology originated in the Eucharistic Controversy between Luther and Zwingli, before receiving its first extensive treatment in the debate between the Lutheran theologians of Tübingen and Giessen in,the early seventeenth century. Attention then turns to the nine-teenth century, when doctrinal tensions resulting from the enforced union of the Prussian Lutheran (...) and Reformed churches created the conditions for a new flowering of kenotic Christology in the theologies of Ernst Sartorius and, subsequently, Gottfried Thomasius. Kenotic Christology ultimately originates with Luther, however, for it owes its existence to the creative theological energies he unleashed and which remain his lasting legacy. (shrink)

The purpose of this essay is to defend a claim that a certain consideration, which I call unworkability, is universally and necessarily relevant to legal reasoning. By that I mean that it is a consideration that must carry legal weight in the justification of some judicial decisions in every legal system in which (1) all disputed matters of law can be adjudicated, and (2) all judicial decisions are to be legally justified. Unworkability's necessary relevance has important implications for a theory (...) of relevance presented by Rolf Sartorius. On this theory, nearly all considerations that are relevant to a judicial decision are supplied by legal principles embedded in the legal rules and decisions, or by extralegal principles dependent, in some way, on the legal principles. (The exceptions to the embedding thesis that Sartorius would, no doubt, recognize are elaborated in the text but can be set aside here.) But there are possible legal systems which do not contain an embedded legal principle concerning unworkability; and nonetheless, unworkability is relevant to judicial reasoning in those systems. Hence, a theory of relevance that relies on principles embedded in the content of rules is too simplistic. Some substantive considerations are relevant for other reasons. (shrink)

La historia personal y profesional de Carlos París discurre al hilo de la convulsa historia de España del último medio siglo, y la narra con una honestidad de la que muy pocos pueden hacer gala. Así, sin ira y sin tapujos, describe, por ejemplo, cómo pasó de una adhesión inicial a presupuestos falangistas a ser candidato del PCE, valorando cada etapa y cada motivo de cambio con un gran sentido crítico. Por su pluma desfilan también personajes fundamentales en la vida (...) española de los últimos cincuenta años con quienes Carlos París ha tenido una sólida relación, como Manuel Fraga, Javier Solana, Manuel Castells, Rosa Regàs, Ricardo de la Cierva, José Antonio Maravall, José María Valverde, Nicolás Sartorius y un largo etcétera. De la lectura de estas memorias se desprende, en fin, el retrato de una gran figura intelectual y humana que jamás se ha limitado a ser convidado de piedra ni en su país ni en el tiempo que le ha tocado vivir.Carlos París (Bilbao, 1925) es Catedrático Emérito de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, en la que fundó su Departamento de filosofía y de cuya Facultad de Filosofía y Letras fue elegido decano en las primeras elecciones. Es Doctor Honoris Causa por la Universidad de Valencia y ha sido Presidente de la Sociedad Española de Filosofía y del Ateneo Científico, Literario y Artístico de Madrid. Su obra ha sido objeto de diversos estudios y congresos internacionales, y recientemente se ha creado un Foro dedicado al análisis y difusión de su pensamiento. Hay que destacar, sobre todo, sus ensayos: Física y filosofía, 1952; Crítica de la civilización nuclear, 1985 o Fantasía y razón moderna-Don Quijote, Odiseo y Fausto, 2001, entre muchos otros; y también sus obras de creación literaria: la novela Bajo constelaciones burlonas (1981) o el libro de relatos La machina speculatrix-Cuatro sarcasmos sobre el mundo actual (1989). (shrink)

Although most contemporary utilitarians believe that their theory can be held only in a modified form, Sartorius contends that the traditional position, act-utilitarianism, is defensible. He explains the traditional position and defends it against the often made objection that it does not require sufficiently strict adherence to socially valuable legal and moral rules. Act-utilitarianism makes every useful act right, but utility sometimes is maximized if rules are adopted which disallow individually useful violations. If all useful acts are right regardless (...) of any rule they violate, then general rules become nothing more than summary rules or rules of thumb which, in appropriate circumstances, need not be followed. Act-utilitarians need not, according to Sartorius, consider general rules to be only summary ones. Once a rule is seen to be most productive of utility if no exceptions are allowed, the adoption of sanctions to enforce the rule would be justified; when enforced by sanctions, summary rules become genuine social norms because they are capable of directing behavior into desired channels. Besides his account of social norms, Sartorius discusses many other issues related to the utilitarian theory; he criticizes Rawls’ account of distributive justice, provides utilitarian analyses of the obligations to keep promises and obey the law, supports Narveson’s well-known solution to the population problem and discusses how the principle of utility can be vindicated. Because this book deals so clearly with many important issues, it should be read by all those interested in normative ethical theories.—M.G. (shrink)