It is shown that the basic postulate of utilitarianism does not work when we must decide whether a person should be brought into existence. Utilitarianism must be supplemented by further axioms. Those proposed lead to the consequence that as far as the potential child's utility is concerned, it is morally preferable not to produce children at all. This consequence is accepted. It is still recommended when parents? utility is taken into account.

In this paper I want to discuss some basic problems of inductive logic, i.e. of the attempt to solve the problem of induction by means of a calculus of logical probability. I shall try to throw some light upon these problems by contrasting inductive logic, based on logical probability, and working with undefined samples of observations, with mathematical statistics, based on statistical probability, and working with representative random samples.

Field Life examines the practice of science in the field in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains of the American West between the 1860s and the 1910s, when the railroad was the dominant form of long-distance transportation. Grounded in approaches from environmental history and the history of technology, it emphasizes the material basis of scientific fieldwork, joining together the human labor that produced knowledge with the natural world in which those practices were embedded. Four distinct modes of field practice, which (...) were shared by different field science disciplines, proliferated during this period—surveys, lay networks, quarries, and stations—and this book explores the dynamics that underpinned each of them. Using two diverse case studies to animate each mode of practice, as well as the making of the field as a place for science, Field Life combines textured analysis of specific examples of field science on the ground with wider discussion of the commonalities in the practices of a diverse array of field sciences, including the earth and physical sciences, the life and agricultural sciences, and the human sciences. By situating science in its regional environmental context, Field Life analyzes the intersection between the cosmopolitan knowledge of science and the experiential knowledge of people living in the field. Examples of field science in the Plains and Rockies range widely: geological surveys and weather observing networks, quarries to uncover dinosaur fossils and archaeological remains, and branch agricultural experiment stations and mountain biological field stations. (shrink)

Ausgehend von einer Kritik an der Kultur der Aufklärung entwickelt Friedrich Schiller eine Anthropologie echter idealistischer Denkungsart. In seiner ästhetischen Lehre vom Menschen spürt er den Bedingungen der Möglichkeit von Freiheit und Humanität nach und entdeckt in der Schönheit die Voraussetzung einer jeden Bildung. Mittels einer transzendentalen Explikation wird in der vorgelegten Studie Schillers anthropologischer Entwurf kritisch geprüft und der Zusammenhang von Schönheit, Freiheit und Bildung philosophisch entfaltet. Auf diese Weise kann die ungebrochene Bedeutung ästhetischen Denkens für die Pädagogik der (...) Gegenwart aufgezeigt werden"--Back cover. (shrink)

Der »Grundriss Heidegger« versteht sich als eine Einführung zu Martin Heideggers Leben und vor allem als Nachschlagewerk zu seinen Schriften. Diese haben (Stand Frühjahr 2012) einen Umfang von nahezu 27.000 Seiten, verteilt auf die bisher erschienenen 79 Bände der Gesamtausgabe, wozu noch zahlreiche Einzelveröffentlichungen und Briefbände kommen. Der erste Teil, Synopsis, ist der Versuch, über ein Denken umfassend zu orientieren, das sein Autor unter das Motto »Wege, nicht Werke« gestellt hat. In acht Hauptteilen (Sein, Welt und Sein, In-der-Welt-Sein, Kehre zum (...) Sein, Sein und Nichts, Ereignis und Sein, Bauen am Sein, Haus des Seins) soll die Einheit dieses Denkens sichtbar werden, die durchlaufend nummerierten Paragraphen folgen mit kleineren sachlich bedingten Abweichungen dem chronologischen Ablauf. Der zweite Teil, Lemmata, ist ein Heidegger-Lexikon mit 241 Stichworten von »Abendland« bis »Zwischen«. Um diesen Index in überschaubaren Grenzen zu halten, werden verwandte Stichworte gelegentlich in einem Artikel zusammengefasst; zudem ermöglicht eine Fülle von Verweisstellen eine weitergehende Orientierung. Den Stichworten folgen im Allgemeinen Angaben zur Sekundärliteratur. Der dritte Teil, Daten, umfasst drei Abschnitte: eine Übersicht über die wichtigsten Daten von Heideggers Leben und Wirken, Kurzbiographien wichtiger Personen aus Heideggers engerem Umfeld sowie Kurzbeschreibungen zu allen in den Bänden der Gesamtausgabe enthaltenen und einigen in dieser noch nicht erschienenen kleineren Schriften. Der vierte Teil, Appendices, enthält ein Abkürzungsverzeichnis, ein Verzeichnis aller im Buch zitierten Literatur, das Sachregister zum ersten Teil und das Inhaltsverzeichnis des Grundrisses. (shrink)

Schmitz zieht in diesem Buch die Bilanz eines mehr als fünfzigjährigen Fortschreitens im Dienst der Aufgabe, den Menschen ihr wirkliches Leben begreiflich zu machen. Er stellt zu diesem Zweck vier Säulen seines Werkes vor - unter den Titeln: Subjektivität, Mannigfaltigkeit, Leib und Gefühl, Welt - und bringt grundlegende Fragestellungen der Neuen Phänomenologie zur Sprache: Der Leib war seit der...

Any account of “what is special about the human brain” (Passingham 2008) must specify the neural basis of our unique ability to produce speech and delineate how these remarkable motor capabilities could have emerged in our hominin ancestors. Clinical data suggest that the basal ganglia provide a platform for the integration of primate-general mechanisms of acoustic communication with the faculty of articulate speech in humans. Furthermore, neurobiological and paleoanthropological data point at a two-stage model of the phylogenetic evolution of this (...) crucial prerequisite of spoken language: (i) monosynaptic refinement of the projections of motor cortex to the brainstem nuclei that steer laryngeal muscles, presumably, as part of a “phylogenetic trend” associated with increasing brain size during hominin evolution; (ii) subsequent vocal-laryngeal elaboration of cortico-basal ganglia circuitries, driven by human-specificFOXP2mutations.;>This concept implies vocal continuity of spoken language evolution at the motor level, elucidating the deep entrenchment of articulate speech into a “nonverbal matrix” (Ingold 1994), which is not accounted for by gestural-origin theories. Moreover, it provides a solution to the question for the adaptive value of the “first word” (Bickerton 2009) since even the earliest and most simple verbal utterances must have increased the versatility of vocal displays afforded by the preceding elaboration of monosynaptic corticobulbar tracts, giving rise to enhanced social cooperation and prestige. At the ontogenetic level, the proposed model assumes age-dependent interactions between the basal ganglia and their cortical targets, similar to vocal learning in some songbirds. In this view, the emergence of articulate speech builds on the “renaissance” of an ancient organizational principle and, hence, may represent an example of “evolutionary tinkering” (Jacob 1977). (shrink)

Individual objects have potentials: paper has the potential to burn, an acorn has the potential to turn into a tree, some people have the potential to run a mile in less than four minutes. Barbara Vetter provides a systematic investigation into the metaphysics of such potentials, and an account of metaphysical modality based on them. -/- In contemporary philosophy, potentials have been recognized mostly in the form of so-called dispositions: solubility, fragility, and so on. Vetter takes dispositions as (...) her starting point, but argues for and develops a more comprehensive conception of potentiality. She shows how, with this more comprehensive conception, an account of metaphysical modality can be given that meets three crucial requirements: Extensional correctness: providing the right truth-values for statements of possibility and necessity; formal adequacy: providing the right logic for metaphysical modality; and semantic utility: providing a semantics that links ordinary modal language to the metaphysics of modality. -/- The resulting view of modality is a version of dispositionalism about modality: it takes modality to be a matter of the dispositions of individual objects. This approach has a long philosophical tradition going back to Aristotle, but has been largely neglected in contemporary philosophy. In recent years, it has become a live option again due to the rise of anti-Humean, powers-based metaphysics. The aim of Potentiality is to develop the dispositionalist view in a way that takes account of contemporary developments in metaphysics, logic, and semantics. (shrink)

On Moral Certainty, Justification and Practice presents a view of morality that is inspired by the later Wittgenstein. Hermann explores the ethical implications of Wittgenstein's remarks on doubt, justification, rule-following, certainty and training, offering an alternative to interpretations of Wittgenstein's work that view it as being intrinsically ethical. The book scrutinises cases in which doubt and justification do not make sense, and contrasts certain justificatory demands made by philosophers with the role of moral justification in concrete situations. It offers (...) an account of moral certainty, which is linked to a view of moral competence. Contrary to the views propounded by philosophers who emphasise the importance of moral principles, it is argued that moral agency is first and foremost a matter of having certain capacities. The book takes an anti-intellectualist stance and remains close to concrete practices. The practice-based view of morality it endorses has implications for moral education, intercultural moral dialogue and the prospects for moral agreement, change and progress. (shrink)

Eine systematische Diskussion der Rolle von Dispositionen in den Wissenschaften, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der folgenden Positionen: (GCP) Mumford, S./Anjum, R., 2011, Getting Causes from Powers, Oxford: Ox- ford University Press. (MP) Marmodoro, A. (Hrsg.), 2010, The Metaphysics of Powers, NY: Routledge. (DC) Handfield, T. (Hrsg.), 2009, Dispositions and Causes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (DD) Damschen, G./Schnepf, R./Stüber, K.R. (Hrsg.), 2009, Debating Dispo- sitions – Issues in Metaphysics, Epistemology and Philosophy of Mind, Berlin/ NY: DeGruyter. (LDC) Manley, D./Wasserman, R., 2008,,On Linking (...) Dispositions and Con- ditionals‘, Mind 117: 59–84. (NM) Bird, A., 2007, Nature’s Metaphysics: Laws and Properties, Oxford: Ox- ford University Press. (DCP) Kistler, M./Gnassounou, B. (Hrsg.), 2007, Dispositions and Causal Po- wers, NY: Routledge. (shrink)

The under-representation of women on boards is a heavily discussed topic—not only in Germany. Based on critical mass theory and with the help of a hand-collected panel dataset of 151 listed German firms for the years 2000–2005, we explore whether the link between gender diversity and firm performance follows a U-shape. Controlling for reversed causality, we find evidence for gender diversity to at first negatively affect firm performance and—only after a “critical mass” of about 30 % women has been reached—to (...) be associated with higher firm performance than completely male boards. Given our sample firms, the critical mass of 30 % women translates into an absolute number of about three women on the board and hence supports recent studies on a corresponding “magic number” of women in the boardroom. (shrink)

Einleitung. Auftakt ; Welt, Anschauung, Weltanschauung : Begriffshorizonte für Musik ; Weltanschauung und Kunst ; Der Begriff "Weltanschauung" ; Zur Konzeption des Buches : Ästhetisch-kulturelle Inbilder der Moderne ; Ästhetische und gesellschaftlische Moderne -- Gemeinschaft. Eine Idee und ihre Korruption : zur Einführung ; Das Finale von Beethovens neunter Symphonie -- Bildung. Anagogische Formationen : zur Einführung ; Symphonische Mythen bei Franz Liszt ; Musiklyrische Schicksalsformen bei Johannes Brahms -- Religion. Religion, Nation, Kunst : zur Einführung ; Geistliche Weltanschauungmusik von (...) Bach, Mendelssohn Bartholdy und Brahms ; Konfessionelle Markierungen bei Max Reger ; Verheißung und Erlösung im Bühnenweihfestspiel Parsifal -- Heldentum. Im Ausgang von der Eroica : zur Einführung ; Totenfeier und Gedächtniskultur bei Wagner und Mahler ; Diskursnormen bei Richard Strauss und Max Reger ; Kommunismus gegen Nationalsozialismus : Ideologien im Kampf um Deutschland -- Liebe. Destruktion und Kosmogonie : zur Einführung ; Frau Minne in Wagners Tristan und Isolde ; Lyric-Energien bei Schönberg und Zemlinsky ; Schöpfung aus Liebe : Gustav Mahlers Faust-Komposition in der Achten Symphonie -- Allnatur. Von "Natur" bis "All" : zur Einführung ; Nietzsche-Spiegelungen mit Delius, Strauss und Mahler ; Der Atem des Monismus bei Schönberg und Webern ; Der Gesang der Planeten in Kosmos-Musik Langgaards und Hindemiths. (shrink)

Je mehr über unser Bildungswesen publiziert und getagt wird, umso heilloser scheint die Verwirrung in der Sache zu werden. Zudem droht im Dickicht jahrzehntelanger Reformen, Gegenreformen und Reform-Reformen das Pädagogische zu Gunsten bürokratischer und ökonomischer Maßstäbe zu verschwinden. In Kritik dieser Tendenz geht es dem Autor darum, die Pädagogik wieder als eine eigentümliche, unverwechselbare und gesellschaftlich notwendige Praxis des Forderns und Förderns zu entdecken und sie gegen unangemessene ideologische und wissenschaftliche Ansprüche von außen zu verteidigen. Dabei wählt der Autor eine (...) Perspektive von unten - aus der Sicht derer, die pädagogisch handeln müssen. Der Band entwirft einen Vorstellungszusammenhang, von dem aus der gegenwärtige Zustand des Bildungswesens besser verstanden und im Hinblick auf künftige Verbesserungen kritisch reflektiert werden kann. (shrink)

Die klassischen Gegenuberstellungen in der Philosophie gleichen oft dem Verschieben von Figuren im Theater oder auf dem Schachbrett. Das liegt daran, dass man alles fur einzeln und Identitat mit etwas fur selbstverstandlich halt. Es versteht sich aber nicht von selbst, dass alles, was ist, selbst ist. Selbstsein, Einzelheit, Identitat mit etwas haben tiefliegende und kontingente Voraussetzungen in der Dynamik des spurbaren Leibes. Von dieser hangt durch die subjektiven (nicht neutralen) Tatsachen des affektiven Betroffenseins auch das Selbstbewusstsein der Person ab. Um (...) sich mit etwas zu identifizieren, muss sie sich schon kennen, und dafur bedarf sie der leiblichen Dynamik, wie fur alles Konkrete der aus dieser sich ergebenden leiblichen Kommunikation. Durch die Ambivalenz von Eintauchen in den Leib und Auftauchen aus ihm wird die Person labil und zwiespaltig. Als Wege zu ihrer Stabilisierung und Integration werden hier die Fassung, die Komik und der Humor erortert. Alle Erfahrung wird auf leibliches Verstehen zuruckgefuhrt. Aber was ist der spurbare Leib im Gegensatz zum sichtbaren und tastbaren Korper? Er muss erst begrifflich freigelegt werden, denn seine eigentumliche Ausdehnung und Dynamik waren der europaischen Intellektualkultur unbekannt. (shrink)

This paper examines how board gender diversity affects corporate risk disclosure. We exploit an exogenous shock on firms’ risk environment created by the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union and analyze related risk disclosure in annual reports of public firms in the UK. Using this unique setting, we mitigate concerns about omitted variables in concurrent studies. The findings suggest that board gender diversity is positively related to corporate risk disclosure. However, our results also indicate that the proportion of (...) female directors needs to reach a critical mass to impact the risk disclosure decision. Moreover, we find lower bid–ask spreads immediately after the referendum date for those firms that disclosed Brexit-related risks in their annual reports prior to the vote. Collectively, our results are consistent with board gender diversity promoting the disclosure of decision-relevant information through improved board group dynamics. (shrink)

Outlines of Metaphysic - dictated portions of the lectures of Hermann Lotze is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1884. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to (...) the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future. (shrink)

Dispositions are modal properties. The standard conception of dispositions holds that each disposition is individuated by its stimulus condition(s) and its manifestation(s), and that their modality is best captured by some conditional construction that relates stimulus to manifestation as antecedent to consequent. I propose an alternative conception of dispositions: each disposition is individuated by its manifestation alone, and its modality is closest to that of possibility — a fragile vase, for instance, is one that can break easily. The view is (...) expounded in some detail and defended against the major objections. (shrink)

Abilities are in many ways central to what being an agent means, and they are appealed to in philosophical accounts of a great many different phenomena. It is often assumed that abilities are some kind of dispositional property, but it is rarely made explicit exactly which dispositional properties are our abilities. Two recent debates provide two different answers to that question: the new dispositionalism in the debate about free will, and virtue reliabilism in epistemology. This paper argues that both answers (...) fail as general accounts of abilities, and discusses the ramifications of this result. (shrink)

Abilities, in contrast to mere dispositions, propensities, or tendencies, abilities seem to be features of agents that put the agent herself in control. But what is the distinguishing feature of abilities vis‐à‐vis other kinds of powers? Our aim in this paper is to point, in answer to this question, to a crucial feature of abilities that existing accounts have tended to neglect: their adaptivity. Adaptivity is a feature of how abilities are exercised. The main reason for its relative neglect has (...) been that most extant accounts have focused solely on whether abilities are exercised successfully in certain possible situations and have mostly understood the exercise of an ability in terms of complete successful performance. We begin by pointing out two aspects of abilities with regard to which current accounts seem (at best) incomplete: control and exercise. We then introduce adaptivity as we understand it, and end by putting it to work in developing a fuller understanding of abilities that does better than current accounts. (shrink)

Hermann Karl Usener published his monumental Epicurea in 1887. The volume is a collection of Epicurean texts and citations from a wide range of classical authors including Arrian, Cicero, Diodorus, Euripides, Plato and Seneca. The volume includes critical texts of Epicurus' most important letters: Letter to Menoeceus, Letter to Herodotus and Letter to Pythocles, preserved by the third-century compiler Diogenes Laertius. The letters give important summaries of Epicurus' philosophy. Usener's pioneering work represented the first attempt to deal critically with (...) the manuscript traditions behind Epicurean texts. His reconstructions of the texts included in this volume are based on a thorough understanding of the trajectories of textual transmission. Each text is supported by a detailed critical apparatus, and another apparatus records manuscript glosses and scholia. This work provided for the first time accurate and reliable texts for the critical study of Epicureanism. (shrink)