Das Thema „Dialektik“ bildet in verschiedensten Feldern einen Hauptschwerpunkt im Werk von Wolfdietrich Schmied-Kowarzik. Mit dem Stichwort „Dialog“ wird zugleich sein spezifischer Zugang zur Dialektik und den mit ihr verbundenen Problemhorizonten angedeutet. So verweist Dialog darauf, dass Wolfdietrich Schmied-Kowarzik Dialektik immer als eine der gesellschaftlichen Praxis versteht, in der die Menschen in ihrer Geschichte ihr gesellschaftliches Zusammenleben in dialogisch-praktischer Auseinandersetzung miteinander gestalten. Und so ist ihm der gelungene gesellschaftlich-geschichtlich vermittelte Dialog in wechselseitiger Anerkennung und Offenheit der Dialogpartner ein (...) gleichsam paradigmatisches Geschehen, das auf die unhintergehbare Möglichkeit einer befreiten gesellschaftlichen Praxis hindeutet. Zugleich ist der Hinweis auf eine befreiende dialogische gesellschaftliche Praxis auf ein Hinführen zu einer solchen Praxis bezogen, die sich in Bildungs- und Erziehungsprozessen zeitigt, die einen weiteren Schwerpunkt im Schaffen Wolfdietrich Schmied-Kowarziks bilden. Der erzieherisch-bildende Dialog zwischen Erziehenden und zu Erziehenden, mithin das Problem einer Hinführung zu einer gesellschaftlich und geschichtlich reflektierten freien Praxis sowie die Notwendigkeit, den Erzieher selbst zu einer befreiten gesellschaftlichen Praxis zu erziehen, stellt nicht nur den Kern seiner pädagogischen Schriften, sondern zugleich die fortdauernde Bemühung seiner eigenen pädagogischen Praxis als Hochschullehrer dar. Drittens schließlich findet sich der Dialog auch im inter- bzw. transkulturellen Dialog der Kulturen wieder, der im Werk Wolfdietrich Schmied-Kowarziks eine ebenso zentrale Rolle spielt. Die kulturelle Praxis und die offene Anerkennung der Kulturen in ihren je eigenen Traditionszusammenhängen im Hinblick auf einen befreiten dialogischen Austausch menschlicher Kultur(en) jenseits kolonialer Übergriffe und kapitalistisch-vereinheitlichender Gleichschaltung ist Wolfdietrich Schmied-Kowarzik ein durchgängiges Anliegen in seinem Werk, insofern ein solcher offener Dialog die Voraussetzung für das Gelingen einer anzustrebenden wahrhaft menschlichen Kultur ist, die in ihrer wechselseitigen Freiheit zugleich ihre produktive Vielfältigkeit behält. (shrink)

Annie Besant is primarily remembered as the international president of the Theosophical Society. One of the most important aspects of her career were the years that she was a professional atheist, which has given her a place in history as a pioneer feminist. _The Origins of Theosophy _contains thirteen of Besant’s pamphlets, originally published from 1883-1890. This book is ideal for students of theology.

Zur bewusstseinsanalytischen Philosophie von Walther Schmied-Kowarzik.

David Annis is professor of philosophy at Ball State University. In this essay, Annis offers an alternative to the foundationalist-coherent controversy: "contextualism." This theory rejects both the idea of intrinsically basic beliefs in the foundational sense and the thesis that coherence is sufficient for justification. he argues that justification is relative to the varying norms of social practices.

Siopis has always engaged in a critical and controversial way with the concepts of ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ in South Africa. For politically sensitive artists whose work has involved confronting the injustices of apartheid, the current post-apartheid situation has forced a reassessment of their practice and the terms on which they might engage with the fundamental changes which are now affecting all of South African society. Where mythologies of race and ethnicity have been strategically foregrounded in the art of any engaged (...) artist, to the exclusion of many other concerns, the demise of apartheid offers the possibility of exploring other dimensions of lived experience in South Africa. For feminists, this is potentially a very positive moment when questions of gender – so long subordinated to the structural issue of ‘race’ under apartheid – can now be explored. Penny Siopis’ work has long been concerned with the lived and historical relations between black and white women in South Africa. The discussion focuses on the ambivalent and dependent relationships formed between white middle-class women and black domestic labour during apartheid. Siopis’ work engages with how the appropriation of black women's time, lives, labour and bodies has shaped her ‘own’ history. (shrink)

Twenty-first-century biology rejects genetic determinism, yet an exaggerated view of the power of genes in the making of bodies and minds remains a problem. What accounts for such tenacity? This article reports an exploratory study suggesting that the common reliance on Mendelian examples and concepts at the start of teaching in basic genetics is an eliminable source of support for determinism. Undergraduate students who attended a standard ‘Mendelian approach’ university course in introductory genetics on average showed no change in their (...) determinist views about genes. By contrast, students who attended an alternative course which, inspired by the work of a critic of early Mendelism, W. F. R. Weldon, replaced an emphasis on Mendel’s peas with an emphasis on developmental contexts and their role in bringing about phenotypic variability, were less determinist about genes by the end of teaching. Improvements in both the new Weldonian curriculum and the study design are in view for the future. (shrink)

Das Buch versucht den Denkweg Schellings von den frühesten Anfängen bis zum Spätwerk aus dem Grundmotiv, unser Existieren zu denken, nachzuzeichnen. Meist wird Schelling nur in der Reihe der Idealisten von Fichte bis Hegel wahrgenommen, die die Einheit von Denken und Sein aus dem Vorrang des Geistes sehen. Aber im Gegensatz zu Hegel beharrt Schelling auf der Eigenständigkeit und Unableitbarkeit der Existenz, in die wir einbezogen sind. So wird er zum Vorläufer einer weitgefassten Existenzphilosophie. Doch was im Idealismus und in (...) der Existenzphilosophie radikal auseinanderfällt und sich unversöhnlich entgegensteht, sind bei Schelling zwei elliptische Brennpunkte, die in uns selbst liegen. Ihre Einheit und ihre Differenz sind das, was Schelling in seinen philosophischen Arbeiten in immer wieder neuen Anläufen umkreist.0Wir selbst tragen die beiden Brennpunkte in uns, wir sind ihre lebendige Einheit: seiend und denkend. (shrink)

In a recent paper, Al Mele (2003) suggests that the Simple View of intentional action is “fiction” because it is “wholly unconstrained” by a widely shared (folk) concept of intentional action. The Simple View (Adams, 1986, McCann, 1986) states that an action is intentional only if intended. As evidence that the Simple View is not in accord with the folk notion of intentional action, Mele appeals to recent surveys of folk judgments by Joshua Knobe (2003, 2004a, 2004b). Knobe’s surveys appear (...) to show that the folk judge unintended but known side effects of actions to be performed intentionally. In this paper we will reject Mele’s suggestion that the Simple View is “fiction.” We will also discuss the relationship between surveys and philosophical theories, and the abilities of surveys to access folk core concepts. We will argue that considerations of both fail to support Mele’s suggestion. (shrink)

Policies and position statements regarding decision-making for extremely premature babies exist in many countries and are often directive, focusing on parental choice and expected outcomes. These recommendations often state survival and handicap as reasons for optional intervention. The fact that such outcome statistics would not justify such approaches in other populations suggests that some other powerful factors are at work. The value of neonatal intensive care has been scrutinized far more than intensive care for older patients and suggests that neonatal (...) care is held to a higher standard of justification. The relative value placed on the life of newborns, in particular the preterm, is less than expected by any objective medical data or any prevailing moral frameworks about the value of individual lives. Why do we feel less obligated to treat the premature baby? Do we put newborns in a special and lesser moral category? We explore this question from a legal and ethical perspective and offer several hypotheses pertaining to personhood, reproductive choices, “precious children,” and probable evolutionary and anthropological factors. (shrink)

The extremely preterm infant, born before 28 weeks of gestational age, has been the focus of much ethical discussion. These infants have a significant risk of mortality and morbidity, and it is not...

In this study, we examined the perception of actual and ideal ethical climate type among 95 nurses working in the internal medicine wards of one central hospital in the state of Israel. We also examined whether nurses’ demographic characteristics influence that perception and if a relationship between perceptions of an actual and an ideal ethical climate type influences nurses’ job satisfaction. A questionnaire composed of three subquestionnaires was administered and the responses analyzed using multiple linear regressions, analysis of variance and (...) Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The results demonstrated that demographic characteristics (such as: gender, job tenure and level of education) partially influence the perception of an ideal ethical climate. Incongruence in perceptions of ‘caring’ and ‘independence’ climate types indicated a decline in nurses’ job satisfaction, while perception of actual ‘caring’ and ‘service’ climates positively influenced all aspects of job satisfaction. We recommend constructing training programs emphasizing the ethics of nursing practice and also to help lead nurses to clarify an ethical framework and guide nursing staff in dealing with ethical dilemmas. (shrink)

Despite recent critiques of agrofuels, the industry is booming, signaling transformations in the world's food and fuels systems. International financial institutions, biotechnology firms, governments, and agribusiness are restructuring control over land, genetic resources, economic space, and market power. These moves prefer transnational capital at the expense of farmers in the North and extensive areas vital to the livelihoods of small producers in the Global South. This article suggests that the agrofuels boom may be a new—and particularly destructive—stage in industry's extractive (...) transformations of agriculture. The movement-based logic of food sovereignty—people's right to define their own food and agriculture systems—suggests a rollback of the “agrofuels transition” is possible. (shrink)

This paper presents a qualitative study of four Grade 1 and Grade 2 national mathematics curricula coming from francophone countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Canada (Québec), and France. A comparative analysis was performed to identify differences that potentially lead to inequities among the countries. We identified all the concepts present in the Grade 1 and Grade 2 mathematics curriculum using the mathematical literacy framework developed by the OECD through its PISA assessment: quantity, change and relationship, data and uncertainty, and space and (...) shape. Then we looked across countries to find the major differences among them. The findings show three categories of possible inequities among the different curricula: some mathematical concepts are not presented in culturally relevant ways to students, some concepts present in the mathematics curricula are not mathematical concepts, and some important mathematical concepts are not part of the mathematics curricula. Our results show that these inequities appear in all four national curricula analysed here. Those findings highlight the need to question the political inequities among mathematics curricula around the world in order to give a chance for all students to learn strong and meaningful mathematics. (shrink)

Catholic social teaching appeals to the universal dimension of the Church. Specific details and lived experience are sacrificed in an effort to address the universal Church. In striving to speak to the universal, particular voices are missing. American case law approaches the universal through the particular by grounding law in the cases of specific persons. Narrative is tied to the case, and as a result, embedded in the law. This paper asks how the study of Church teaching might be enriched (...) by being in conversation with American case law. In examining the benefits and liabilities of including narrative in an apostolic exhortation, this paper addresses ecclesiological questions and the relationship of law and religion. (shrink)

»Ich lebe und webe gegenwärtig in der Philosophie. Die Philosophie ist noch nicht am Ende [...]. Fichte wird die Philosophie auf eine Höhe heben, vor der selbst die meisten der bisherigen Kantianer schwindeln werden [...]. Glücklich genug, wenn ich einer der ersten bin, die den neuen Helden, Fichte, im Lande der Wahrheit begrüßen! -- Segen sei dem großen Mann! Er wird das Werk vollenden.«.

This study investigated the effect of stroking vs. simple human presence on later reactions of dairy cows to routine veterinary handling. While in two groups of cows the experimenter stroked the ventral part of the neck or the withers for three consecutive weeks, the third group was exposed to close visual presence. After the treatment period the cows were subjected to rectal palpation. The three groups differed significantly in stepping during rectal palpation, which occurred less often in Neck- and Withers-animals (...) than in control animals. Heart rate increase was significantly higher in the control group than in the two stroking groups. Previous stroking led to fewer stress reactions during the rectal palpation, possibly due to a combined effect of improved relationship towards and thus perception of humans and lasting anti-stress effects of tactile stimulation. (shrink)

Friendship was an important topic for classical philosophers; the analysis, Value, And duties of friendship all received considerable attention. But friendship has been a relatively dormant topic among more recent philosophers. This paper (a) presents an analysis of friendship and explains its core elements, (b) discusses several different models for explaining the value of friendship, And (c) argues that there are special duties of friendship and that these aren't based solely on utilitarian considerations.

For a minority of children managed in the NICU, there is a need for more complex technologic assistance in order to sustain life, mitigate a more chronic debilitation from a pervasive life-limiting condition, or provide a bridge from life-sustaining therapy to a more semi-permanent treatment such as organ transplantation. This chapter will address two major types of technology assistance for infants and children—tracheostomy and assisted home ventilation, and dialysis—and the myriad complications and considerations that they raise. Some attention to why (...) clinicians may be so inclined to impose technology as a solution to life-limiting conditions will be noted, as well as why some parents may seem to insist on pursuing technology. (shrink)

Children acquiring languages with noun classes have ample statistical information available that characterizes the distribution of nouns into these classes, but their use of this information to classify novel nouns differs from the predictions made by an optimal Bayesian classifier. We use rational analysis to investigate the hypothesis that children are classifying nouns optimally with respect to a distribution that does not match the surface distribution of statistical features in their input. We propose three ways in which children's apparent statistical (...) insensitivity might arise, and find that all three provide ways to account for the difference between children's behavior and the optimal classifier. A fourth model combines two of these proposals and finds that children's insensitivity is best modeled as a bias to ignore certain features during classification, rather than an inability to encode those features during learning. These results provide insight into children's developing knowledge of noun classes and highlight the complex ways in which statistical information from the input interacts with children's learning processes. (shrink)

This paper argues that the augmented reality gaming application for smart devices, _Pokémon GO_ shows the fate of the legal subject as a neoliberal monster subjugated to the limitations imposed by hypercapitalism. The game, derived from Nintendo’s iconic Pokémon franchise, reveals the legal subject as a frenzied, diminished and impulsive being, allowed to see, move, catch and accumulate but unable to participate in more meaningful self-narration. It is not that the game is lawless, notwithstanding, anxieties in the semiosphere about users (...) trespassing or engaging in criminal behaviour. Rather the game is over structured and highly limited, both within its game-play which is repetitive and impulsive, and in its absence of narrative. Unlike the classic Nintendo Pokémon games which are within the role-playing game genre, _Pokémon GO_ abstracts the seeing, moving, catching and accumulating features of the classic games without the overarching narrative, questing and competition. In this _Pokémon GO_ manifests the transformation of the liberal legal subject of capitalism to the neoliberal subject of a digital orientated hypercapitalism where seeing, moving, catching and accumulating is immediate and impulsive, obliterating the ‘prudent’ subject participating in their own self-narration. (shrink)

In einundzwanzig aus individueller Problemgestaltung ausgewählten Studien versucht Wolfdietrich Schmied-Kowarzik das philosophische Gottesverständnis der letzten 250 Jahre im Kontext der philosophischen Letztbegründung aufzuhellen und auf unsere anstehenden Menschheitsprobleme hin weiterzudenken. Hierbei kommen maßgebliche Denker wie Kant, Hegel, Schelling, Schleiermacher, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger und Lévinas in ihrer je eigenen Argumentation zu Wort. In der Zusammenschau ergeben die höchst verschiedenen Denkansätze ein differenziertes Bild der neueren Religionsphilosophie.

Etienne Balibar, Olivier Bloch, Jean-Claude Bourdin, Isabelle Garo, Alain Gigandet, Pascale Gillot, Annie Ibrahim, Irène Pereira et André Tosel se penchent dans cet ouvrage sur les problèmes et les perpectives induites par le matérialisme althusserien. " Jamais un coup de dés n'abolira le hasard ". Althusser fait un bref commentaire de cette célèbre sentence mallarméenne dans un texte de 1982 - Le courant souterrain du matérialisme de la rencontre. II y conclut que l'histoire n'est que la révocation permanente du (...) fait accompli par le "fait à accomplir" sans qu'on sache à l'avance ni jamais, ni où, ni comment. Affaire de jeu de dés à jeter sur la table vide... Ainsi est déterminée une position en philosophie et en politique, assiette inédite qui en appelle à l'aléatoire et se donne comme un " chantier " ouvert à nos explorations. De fait, les catégories du sujet, de l'aliénation, de la dialectique, de l'idéologie, sont bradées ou ébranlées au profit du processus hasardeux et de la vicissitude des formes. Pourtant, ni le primat de la lutte des classes ni la thèse de la matérialité objective du monde ne sont sacrifiés au nouvel horizon de la conjoncture. Il se peut qu'il y ait deux voies du matérialisme, aussi légitimes l'une que l'autre - matérialisme de la nécessité et matérialisme de la rencontre. Gageons que ce dernier puisse faire que les éléments vivants d'un ensemble politique"s'accrochent " entre eux et au tout de telle sorte que ce qui est vrai en théorie le soit aussi en pratique. (shrink)

Die globalisierende Vermarktung der Welt bedroht auch die kulturelle Selbstbestimmung der Völker. Daher haben wir uns erneut und verstärkt dem Problem des Miteinanders verschiedener Kulturen zu stellen. Die Auseinandersetzung mit fremden Kulturen hat sich zunächst um das Problem des VerStehens bemüht, wie es methodologisch von der Ethnologie oder Cultural Anthropology entwickelt worden ist. Aber diesem Verstehen haftet grundsätzlich eine Einseitigkeit an. Daher wurde von politikwissenschaftlicher Seite eine Disziplin der Xenologie eingeklagt, die von einer mehrpoligen Verständigung der Kulturen untereinander ausgeht. Darüber (...) hinaus versteht sich die neu etablierte Fragestellung der Interkulturellen Philosophie von vornherein sowohl der Doppelaufgabe von Verstehen und Verständigung verpflichtet als auch in die Schnittstelle von theoretischer und praktischer Philosophie gestellt. Die Interkulturelle Philosophie ist nicht nur ein neues Arbeitsfeld der Philosophie, sondern sie fordert vom Philosophieren insgesamt auch ein neues, sich verschiedenen kulturellen Sinnfragen öffnendes Selbstverständnis. Der Vernunftbegriff, den sie dabei zugrundelegt, ist keine vorausbestimmte Gegebenheit, sondern eine menschheitliche Aufgabe, die sie in inter kultureller Kommunikation bezogen auf ein sittliches Menschsein in der Welt zu vollbringen hat. (shrink)

»Ich lebe und webe gegenwärtig in der Philosophie. Die Philosophie ist noch nicht am Ende [...]. Fichte wird die Philosophie auf eine Höhe heben, vor der selbst die meisten der bisherigen Kantianer schwindeln werden [...]. Glücklich genug, wenn ich einer der ersten bin, die den neuen Helden, Fichte, im Lande der Wahrheit begrüßen! -- Segen sei dem großen Mann! Er wird das Werk vollenden.«.

This study investigated the effect of stroking vs. simple human presence on later reactions of dairy cows to routine veterinary handling. While in two groups of cows the experimenter stroked the ventral part of the neck or the withers for three consecutive weeks, the third group was exposed to close visual presence. After the treatment period the cows were subjected to rectal palpation. The three groups differed significantly in stepping during rectal palpation, which occurred less often in Neck- and Withers-animals (...) than in control animals. Heart rate increase was significantly higher in the control group than in the two stroking groups. Previous stroking led to fewer stress reactions during the rectal palpation, possibly due to a combined effect of improved relationship towards and thus perception of humans and lasting anti-stress effects of tactile stimulation. Keywords: cattle; tactile stimulation; human–animal relationship; animal welfare. (shrink)