I propose a cautionary assessment of the recent debate concerning the impact of the dynamical approach on philosophical accounts of scientific explanation in the cognitive sciences and, particularly, the cognitive neurosciences. I criticize the dominant mechanistic philosophy of explanation, pointing out a number of its negative consequences: In particular, that it doesn’t do justice to the field’s diversity and stage of development, and that it fosters misguided interpretations of dynamical models’ contribution. In order to support these arguments, I analyze a (...) case study in computational neuroethology and show why it should not be understood through a mechanistic lens; I specially focus on Zednik’s mechanistic interpretation of the case study. In addition, I argue for a greater appreciation of the relation between explanation and other epistemic goals in the field, as well as an increased sensitivity towards the associated contextual factors. (shrink)

I focus on the concept of the receptive field of a sensory neuron, taking it as a prominent case to address conceptual change in the history of neuroscience. I argue for an interpretation of its ro...

Driven by an appreciation of the field’s early stage of development, I apply the concept of exploratory experimentation, originally put forward in the late 90s philosophy of biology, to current research in cognitive neuroscience. I concentrate on functional magnetic resonance imaging and how this wide-spread technique is used, from experimental design to data analysis. I claim that, although subject to certain significant modifications with respect to the concept’s original rendering, the exploratory character of neuroimaging experiments can be appreciated considering their (...) goals, centered on the stabilization of experimental systems for phenomenological description, and the relevance of their methodological facet. Although I do not claim that there is a specific kind of experiment that one can single out as definitely exploratory, exploration can be seen as a general trait imbuing fMRI-based experimentation. (shrink)

Der Beitrag analysiert den Aphorismus 377 des 5. Buch der Fröblichen Wissenschaft, die eine ausführliche Charakterisierung der Idee eines gutes Europäers enthält. Durch die Betrachtung der komplexen Entstehung des Aphorismus werden die vielschichtigen Bedeutungen dieser Auffassung beleuchtet. Die Evokationskraft, die den gesamten Aphorismus prägt, wird als Symptom eines offenen Systems unde einer dynamischen Ganzheit, in denen die Auffassung des guten Europäers ihre Konturen annimmt, besonders betont. Innerhalb dieser Offenheit stellt sich der gute Europäers ihre Kunturen annimmt, besonders betont. Innerhalb dieser (...) Offenheit stellt sich der gute Europäer als Produkt einer Übergangszeit dar, die mit Situationen jenseits der traditionellen Wertbestimmung experimentieren will. So schwantk der gut Europäer zwischen Modernität und Unzeitgemäßheit; eine solche paradoxe Schwankung erlaubt, auch die möglichen "politischen" Konnotationen der Idee eines guten Europäers besser zu verstehen.This study analyses aphorism 377 of the fifth book of the Gay Science, which contains an exhaustive characterization of the idea of the good European. Consideration of the complex genesis of the aphorism brings to light the many meanings of this concept. The evocative force that characterizes the entire aphorism is particularly highlighted as a indication of the openness of the system and its dynamic totality. Within this openness, the good European is a product of an era of transition that creates situations beyond traditional determinations of value. In this way, the good European oscillates between modernity and timelessnes. This paradoxical oscillation permits a better understanding also of possible "political" connotations of the idea of the good European. (shrink)

Anhand historischer und quellenkritischer Untersuchungen analysiert das Buch entscheidende Momente des Verhältnisses von Kunst und Wissenschaft in Nietzsches Werk. Zum Leitmotiv der vorgeschlagenen Interpretation wird die Idee einer "Tragödie der Erkenntnis" als Vervollständigung der ästhetischen Tragödie. Aldo Venturelli beleuchtet damit auch Aspekte von Nietzsches besonderer Stellung im philosophischen Diskurs der Moderne.

Friedrich Nietzsche has emerged as one of the most important and influential modern philosophers. For several decades, the book series Monographien und Texte zur Nietzsche-Forschung (MTNF) has set the agenda in a rapidly growing and changing field of Nietzsche scholarship. The scope of the series is interdisciplinary and international in orientation reflects the entire spectrum of research on Nietzsche, from philosophy to literary studies and political theory. The series publishes monographs and edited volumes that undergo a strict peer-review process. The (...) book series is led by an international team of editors, whose work represents the full range of current Nietzsche scholarship. (shrink)

This article analyses the origin of TI 49–51 on the basis of several posthumous fragments from the autumn of 1887, which had been reworked in 1888. This analysis highlights significant connections that got lost along the way to the final version of these aphorisms, such as Nietzsche’s comparison between Goethe and Spinoza which, in 1887, was the beginning of his updated reflections on Goethe. The origin and context of these aphorisms allow for a better understanding of the long-established image of (...) Goethe expressed in the aphorisms of Twilight of the Idols and their close connection to the new reflections on Goethe as they had already come to the fore in Human, All Too Human when Nietzsche distanced himself from Wagner’s ideas. This also presents the opportunity for a more careful consideration of Nietzsche’s conception of European culture and its intellectual heritage and his relation to Napoleon as well as his characterization of the eighteenth-century and the need for self-overcoming during the nineteenth-century. Nietzsche considered this self-overcoming to be an important aspect of his thinking, and Goethe was an important precursor for Nietzsche’s conception of self-overcoming. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Nietzsche-Studien Jahrgang: 46 Heft: 1 Seiten: 284-296.

La resonancia magnética funcional es una de las técnicas de neuroimagen más difundidas en las neurociencias cognitivas. Su influencia tuvo un rol central en la configuración del aspecto experimental de este campo. Frente a esto, consideramos que su estatus como evidencia no ha sido suficientemente discutido en la literatura filosófica. En este trabajo nos centramos sobre este punto abordando el problema clásico de definir el alcance que puede tener la estrategia localizacionista en neurociencias. Atendemos al modo en que este problema (...) se manifiesta hoy, tomando algunos ejemplos recientes de abordajes neurocientíficos caracterizados por estudiar el carácter dinámico de la actividad a gran escala en el cerebro. Tomamos en cuenta un número de limitaciones que presenta la resonancia magnética funcional, distinguiendo aquellas cuyo tratamiento pone en juego problemáticas de una índole no meramente técnica. A partir del análisis de algunas maneras en que los investigadores les hacen frente, sostenemos que existe una medida importante en que este tipo de estudios de neuroimagen pueden ser orientados sobre la base de supuestos y consideraciones teóricas generales. Concluimos que esta particular permeabilidad teórica de la resonancia magnética funcional es un factor central que incide sobre su estatus como evidencia neurocientífica. (shrink)

Reading and commenting on Nietzsche. New interpretations of Beyond Good and Evil. Two recent volumes on Nietzsche’s text highlight its fundamental ambivalence. On the one hand, Beyond Good and Evil is marked by a dynamic openness for experiment, critique of dogmatism, and stylistic sophistication; on the other hand, the argument centers on themes, such as the opposition between slaves and nobles, exploitation and new forms of tyranny, decadence and will to power, harshness and cheerfulness. Following the two volumes under discussion, (...) I examine how and whether these diametrically opposed aspects of Nietzsche’s text can be brought together in a way that also allows us to reassess other basic themes of Nietzsche’s thought. The latter include the oppositions between the unity and the plurality of the will to power, Nietzsche’s emphasis on the „free spirit“ and his search for a „higher type“, his critique of morality and the creation of new values, his commitment to Europe and authoritarianism. (shrink)