Based on recent insight into the thalamocortical system and its role in perception and conscious experience, a unified pathophysiological framework for hallucinations in neurological and psychiatric conditions is proposed, which integrates previously unrelated neurobiological and psychological findings. Gamma-frequency rhythms of discharge activity from thalamic and cortical neurons are facilitated by cholinergic arousal and resonate in networks of thalamocortical circuits, thereby transiently forming assemblies of coherent gamma oscillations under constraints of afferent sensory input and prefrontal attentional mechanisms. If perception is based (...) on synchronisation of intrinsic gamma activity in the thalamocortical system, then sensory input to specific thalamic nuclei may merely play a constraining role. Hallucinations can be regarded as underconstrained perceptions that arise when the impact of sensory input on activation of thalamocortical circuits and synchronisation of thalamocortical gamma activity is reduced. In conditions that are accompanied by hallucinations, factors such as cortical hyperexcitability, cortical attentional mechanisms, hyperarousal, increased noise in specific thalamic nuclei, and random sensory input to specific thalamic nuclei may, to a varying degree, contribute to underconstrained activation of thalamocortical circuits. The reticular thalamic nucleus plays an important role in suppressing random activity of relay cells in specific thalamic nuclei, and its dysfunction may be implicated in the biological vulnerability to hallucinations in schizophrenia. Combined with general activation during cholinergic arousal, this leads to excessive disinhibition in specific thalamic nuclei, which may allow cortical attentional mechanisms to recruit thalamic relay cells into resonant assemblies of gamma oscillations, regardless of their actual sensory input, thereby producing an underconstrained perceptual experience. Key Words: Charles Bonnet syndrome; gamma oscillations; hallucinations; late paraphrenia; Lewy body dementia; perception; schizophrenia; thalamocortical system. (shrink)

Social behaviour is but an expression of instinctive mechanisms whereby the aggressive instinct is of particular importance, having given rise to most of the complexity of social behaviour through processes of phylogenetic and cultural ritualisation. The role of the aggressive instinct is to dynamically maintain the ranking order in a group, and much of social interaction is concerned with this, including monetary exchange. What is certain, is that with the elimination of aggression, … the tackling of a task or problem, (...) the self-respect [in] everything that a man does from morning till evening, from the morning shave to the sublimest artistic or scientific creation, would lose all impetus; everything associated with ambition, ranking order, and countless other equally indispensable behaviour patterns would probably also disappear from human life. — Konrad Lorenz (1963/2002, p. 269) (Published Online April 5 2006). (shrink)

Affect mirroring allows infants to distinguish emotional and intentional states of significant others, which – in the pursuit of their own drive satisfaction, including satisfaction of the affiliative drive – become important contextual stimuli predictive of reward. Learning to perceive and manipulate others' attitudes toward oneself in pursuit of affiliative reward may be an important step in social development that is impaired in autism.

A “multifactorial” model should accommodate a psychological perspective, aiming to relate the phenomenology of complex visual hallucinations not only to neurobiological findings but also an understanding of the patient's psychological problems and situation in life. Greater attention needs to be paid to the role of the “lack of insight” patients may have into their hallucinations and its relationship to cognitive impairment.

Any attempt to elucidate the nature and mechanism of passivity phenomena, i.e., experiences that one’s conscious actions or thoughts have not been ‘willed’ by oneself, requires an integrative philosophical–neurobiological approach. The model proposed here adopts some fundamental positions that have long been advocated by philosophers and theoretical psychologists and have now found support from functional neuroanatomy. First, we experience our actions not from the standpoint of the executive but through the perception of its effects. Second, the ‘self’ is not an (...) agent of behaviour. Third, behaviour is energised and integrated by basic drives . Fourth, the view that the experience of an acting self is related to drive reduction associated with voluntary actions is perhaps less well developed. The model thus proposes that passivity phenomena are actions that are induced by the perception of salient events but that are not integrated with or conducive to the overall motivational state of the organism. It has been suggested that, following the perception of salient events, competition arises between automatic response tendencies seeking expression. The prefrontal cortex appears to play an important role not only in determining which events are to be perceived but also which of the corresponding response dispositions is to be selected and actualised in overt behaviour. Thus, action selection is the outcome of competition between response tendencies in the context of prefrontal biasing signals that represent drives and strivings for goals. Action selection may be uncoupled from drives and strivings as a result of a lowering of the threshold for action selection—as is suggested to be the case in schizophrenic passivity phenomena—or due to disconnection from prefrontal regions—as may be the case in the alien limb syndrome. (shrink)

Instinct theory parsimoniously clarifies the relationships between emotions, such as fear and anxiety, and perceptions, thoughts, and actions. Its acceptance allows more elegant insights into riddles of obsessions and compulsions. Their relationship to anxiety and dysexecutive function needs to be explained, as does their characteristic egodystonia, while avoiding the pitfalls of cognitivist, empiricist, and teleological thinking. (Published Online February 8 2007).

Co-morbidity of schizophrenia and autism is low because interpersonal concerns of schizophrenic patients presuppose developmental achievements that are absent in autism. Autism may arise if primary anxiety is not overcome at a key developmental stage by affective synchronisation between infant and caregiver. Schizophrenic patients will have learned to regulate primitive anxiety by affectively attuning to narrow social networks but remain highly vulnerable to exclusion from larger groups.

The commentators provide a wealth of additional neurobiological data that ought to be integrated in a comprehensive model. This response article, however, focuses on clarification of conceptual queries, thereby outlining the proposed theory of hallucinations more sharply, discussing its relationship with schizophrenia, and explaining why underconstrained thalamocortical activation may well be a candidate mechanism responsible for acute schizophrenic symptoms other than hallucinations.

The insight that, in terms of behaviour control, the mesodiencephalic system is superordinate to the cortex should have profound implications for behavioural sciences. Nevertheless, the thalamocortical system could still be deemed an “organ of consciousness” if we came to accept that consciousness is not central to purposeful behaviour, in accordance with instinct theory. Philosophically, Merker's concepts of basic consciousness and ego-centre warrant critical discussion. (Published Online May 1 2007).

How can be interchangeable with mirroring, which is an automatic response that, from a first-person perspective, enters awareness only after the act? The correspondence between perception of another's action and execution of one's similar action may be an example of a general perception-motor interface that maps perception onto behaviour or disposition towards action, without the need for simulation.

There are few commonalities between intraspecific aggression and predation and few convincing arguments for the conceptualisation of blood and pain as rewards for predation. Not cruelty, but ritualised intraspecific aggression is the predominant mechanism of accretion of social power and this, not cruelty, is what bestows reproductive advantages. Enjoyment of media cruelty is not reinforced by “emotional circuits” adapted to predation, but represents transient relief from culturally determined inhibition of aggression.

Genetically and neurodevelopmentally, there may be a thousand schizophrenias, yet there would be no schizophrenia at all without active contribution from all of us; none – outside the primitive processes that regulate our relationship with one another. In order to understand the nature of schizophrenia as it unfolds relatively uniformly in the social context, we need to depart from an evolutionarily more feasible understanding of society. (Published Online November 9 2006).

An increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises in the German organic agri-food sector involves citizens through different community financing models. While such models provide alternative funding sources as well as marketing opportunities to SMEs, they allow private investors to combine their financial and ethical concerns by directly supporting the development of a more sustainable food system. Due to the low level of financial intermediation, community financing is characterized by close relations between investors and investees. Against this background, we apply (...) the proximity concept from economic geography to explore spatial and relational aspects of community financing in the German organic agri-food sector. Based on a qualitative multiple case study approach, we find that the relevance of proximity is twofold. While different forms of proximity between SMEs and their potential investors are key success factors, proximity is also considered as one desired outcome of community financing. Furthermore, our results reveal that the extent to which SMEs rely on particular proximity dimensions distinguishes two different approaches to community financing. (shrink)

Objectives: To identify ethical attitudes about involuntary admission (known in Great Britain as formal admission) in mental health professionals and lay-people in England and Germany, especially looking at possible differences between Mental Health Professionals who are directly involved in the involuntary admission process and those who are not.Method: Three scenarios of potentially certifiable patients (known in Great Britain as sectionable patients) were presented to identify attitudes. A questionnaire asked about attitudes towards involuntary admission as well as treatment. A questionnaire analysis (...) was then performed.Results: There were similar attitudes towards involuntary admission between laypeople and mental health professionals involved in the involuntary admission process with the exception of professionals not actively involved in the involuntary admission process. Neither personal or professional experience with mental illness nor the different legal frameworks between Germany and England influenced attitudes much. Support for involuntary admission broadly increased with age.Conclusions: Psychiatrists and other mental health workers are in tune with society with regards to attitudes to involuntary admission. People involved with mentally ill patients but not in the involuntary admission process have negative attitudes towards involuntary admission. This may influence Mental Health Tribunals suggested in the new draft Mental Health Bill (2002) for England and Wales, because these Tribunals will potentially lack any involvement of professionals involved in the involuntary admission process. (shrink)

Historically, scientific and engineering expertise has been key in shaping research and innovation policies, with benefits presumed to accrue to society more broadly over time. But there is persistent and growing concern about whether and how ethical and societal values are integrated into R&I policies and governance, as we confront public disbelief in science and political suspicion toward evidence-based policy-making. Erosion of such a social contract with science limits the ability of democratic societies to deal with challenges presented by new, (...) disruptive technologies, such as synthetic biology, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, automation and robotics, and artificial intelligence. Many policy efforts have emerged in response to such concerns, one prominent example being Europe's Eighth Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, whose focus on “Responsible Research and Innovation” provides a case study for the translation of such normative perspectives into concrete policy action and implementation. Our analysis of this H2020 RRI approach suggests a lack of consistent integration of elements such as ethics, open access, open innovation, and public engagement. On the basis of our evaluation, we suggest possible pathways for strengthening efforts to deliver R&I policies that deepen mutually beneficial science and society relationships. (shrink)

Angesichts von Zweifel und Verzweiflung, von Furcht und Angst - jeweils verstanden als existentielle Grundbefindlichkeiten des Menschen - werden Haltungen gelingenden Lebens gesucht. Die Ethik bietet Tugenden als Wege zu einer gelingenden Lebensfuhrung an. Die Beitrager dieses Buches suchen nach Entwurfen, die die Verbindung des Tugendgedankens mit dem naturlichen Glucksverlangen des Menschen zu ermoglichen helfen und erortern, welche Bedeutung dabei Mut, Gelassenheit und Weisheit zukommt. Dabei werden ideengeschichtliche Entwurfe in heutigen Problemkontexten auf ihre Gultigkeit hin gepruft. Mit Beitragen von Martin (...) Ebner, Markus Enders, Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann, Stephan Herzberg, Hubert Irsigler, Margit Kopper, Matthias Kossler, Jean-Luc Marion, Peter Reifenberg, Ralf Rothenbusch, Gerd Theissen, Klaus Viertbauer und Gunther Wenz. (shrink)

We prove that every homogeneously Souslin set is coanalytic provided that either (a) 0long does not exist, or else (b) V = K, where K is the core model below a μ-measurable cardinal.

Im Mittelpunkt des Buchs steht die Frage, wie heute menschliches Leben im Medium des Unternehmens als geschöpfliches Leben erscheinen kann. Hierfür dienen neben biblischen Zeugnissen, Texten Martin Luthers und Arthur Richs sowie kirchlichen Schriften auch die ökonomischen Ethik-Theorien von Karl Homann, Peter Ulrich und Josef Wieland als Bezugspunkte. Außerdem werden exemplarisch die unternehmensethischen Profile dreier Firmen betrachtet. Die daraus gewonnenen Impulse für eine explorative Ethik geschöpflichen Lebens sind letztlich immer in der Unternehmenspraxis zu erproben, müssen sie sich doch im (...) Unternehmensalltag als tragfähig erweisen. (shrink)

Peter Abelard (1079–1142 ce) was the most wide‐ranging philosopher of the twelfth century. He quickly established himself as a leading teacher of logic in and near Paris shortly after 1100. After his affair with Heloise, and his subsequent castration, Abelard became a monk, but he returned to teaching in the Paris schools until 1140, when his work was condemned by a Church Council at Sens. His logical writings were based around discussion of the “Old Logic”: Porphyry's Isagoge, aristotle'S Categories (...) and On Interpretation and boethius'S textbook on topical inference. They comprise a freestanding Dialectica (“Logic”; probably c.1116), a set of commentaries (known as the Logica [Ingredientibus], c. 1119) and a later (c. 1125) commentary on the Isagoge (Logica Nostrorum Petititoni Sociorum or Glossulae). In a work Abelard called his Theologia, issued in three main versions (between 1120 and c.1134), he attempted a logical analysis of trinitarian relations and explored the philosophical problems surrounding God's claims to omnipotence and omniscience. The Collationes (“Debates,” also known as “Dialogue between a Christian, a Philosopher and a Jew”; probably c.1130) present a rational investigation into the nature of the highest good, in which the Christian and the Philosopher (who seems to be modeled on a philosopher of pagan antiquity) are remarkably in agreement. The unfinished Scito teipsum (“Know thyself,” also known as the “Ethics”; c.1138) analyses moral action. (shrink)

Continued confinement of those most vulnerable to COVID-19—e.g., the elderly, those with chronic diseases and other risk factors—is presented as an uncontroversial measure when planning exit strategies from lockdown measures. Policies for deconfinement assume that these persons will remain confined even when others will not. This, however, could last quite a long time, and for some this could mean that they will remain in confinement for the rest of their lives.In a policy brief on ethical, legal, and social issues of (...) transition strategies, the Swiss national COVID-19 science task force stated that:Specific interventions should target the risks associated with isolation... (shrink)

Die Entscheidung für oder gegen lebensverlängernde Behandlungsmaßnahmen geht inzwischen der Hälfte aller Todesfälle in Europa voraus. Sie wird im klinischen Alltag häufig als ethische Herausforderung wahrgenommen, zudem sind unter Klinikern juristische Unsicherheiten und Fragen der korrekten Vorgehensweise verbreitet. Die hier vorgestellte Münchner Leitlinie zu Entscheidungen am Lebensende soll rechtliche Unsicherheit reduzieren, Klinikumsmitarbeiter für die ethische Dimension von Therapieentscheidungen am Lebensende sensibilisieren und ethisch begründete Entscheidungen fördern. Aus organisationsethischer Perspektive soll mit der Leitlinie eine Reflexion und Meinungsbildung zu einem ethisch relevanten (...) Themenbereich erfolgen und ein Beitrag zur Qualitätssicherung der Patientenversorgung und damit auch zur Patientenzufriedenheit geleistet werden. Die Prozesse der Leitlinienentwicklung, -aktualisierung und -implementierung werden vorgestellt. Die wesentlichen inhaltlichen Elemente der Leitlinie mit Darstellung der Rechtslage, der Definition zentraler Begriffe und Klärung medizinischer Entscheidungskriterien werden an Hand eines Entscheidungsalgorithmus dargestellt. Inhalt und Prozess der Leitlinienentwicklung werden auf die folgenden organisationsethischen Qualitätskriterien hin überprüft: deliberativer Prozess, inhaltliche Transparenz, repräsentative Zusammensetzung der Arbeitsgruppe, Implementierung und Evaluation der Leitlinie. Institutionen, die diese Leitlinie übernehmen wollen, sollten diese von einem autorisierten Gremium überprüfen lassen und auf die spezifischen Bedürfnisse ihrer Institution adaptieren. Hierfür ist eine vorgeschaltete Bedarfserhebung hilfreich. In dem Gremium sollten all diejenigen vertreten sein, die in der Folge mit der Leitlinie arbeiten werden. (shrink)

Die Entscheidung für oder gegen lebensverlängernde Behandlungsmaßnahmen geht inzwischen der Hälfte aller Todesfälle in Europa voraus. Sie wird im klinischen Alltag häufig als ethische Herausforderung wahrgenommen, zudem sind unter Klinikern juristische Unsicherheiten und Fragen der korrekten Vorgehensweise verbreitet. Die hier vorgestellte Münchner Leitlinie zu Entscheidungen am Lebensende soll rechtliche Unsicherheit reduzieren, Klinikumsmitarbeiter für die ethische Dimension von Therapieentscheidungen am Lebensende sensibilisieren und ethisch begründete Entscheidungen fördern. Aus organisationsethischer Perspektive soll mit der Leitlinie eine Reflexion und Meinungsbildung zu einem ethisch relevanten (...) Themenbereich erfolgen und ein Beitrag zur Qualitätssicherung der Patientenversorgung und damit auch zur Patientenzufriedenheit geleistet werden. Die Prozesse der Leitlinienentwicklung, -aktualisierung und -implementierung werden vorgestellt. Die wesentlichen inhaltlichen Elemente der Leitlinie mit Darstellung der Rechtslage, der Definition zentraler Begriffe und Klärung medizinischer Entscheidungskriterien werden an Hand eines Entscheidungsalgorithmus dargestellt. Inhalt und Prozess der Leitlinienentwicklung werden auf die folgenden organisationsethischen Qualitätskriterien hin überprüft: deliberativer Prozess, inhaltliche Transparenz, repräsentative Zusammensetzung der Arbeitsgruppe, Implementierung und Evaluation der Leitlinie. Institutionen, die diese Leitlinie übernehmen wollen, sollten diese von einem autorisierten Gremium überprüfen lassen und auf die spezifischen Bedürfnisse ihrer Institution adaptieren. Hierfür ist eine vorgeschaltete Bedarfserhebung hilfreich. In dem Gremium sollten all diejenigen vertreten sein, die in der Folge mit der Leitlinie arbeiten werden. (shrink)

The relations of William of Champeaux, who began the founding of the abbey of Saint Victor in Paris, and Peter Abelard are known from the Historia calamitatum which the peripateticus palatinus wrote years after the event. We have no historical report that Abelard ever met Hugh of Saint Victor but already their contemporaries brought together their works in the manuscripts into which they copied them. A detailed analysis of their writings reveals tliat they had much more in common than (...) is generally believed They both use the terms 'potentia', 'sapientia' and 'benignitas' to refer to the three persons of the Trinity, and together with Walter of Mortagne they both deal with the wisdom ('sapientia') of the incarnated second person. Also, together with Bernard of Clairvaux they discuss the necessity of baptism for salvation. All these questions are linked to the question of universals for which Abelard is a famous protagonist and the comparison reveals that Hugh's position, to which we have only indirect access, is quite close to Abelard's in its nominalist orientation but differs because he has a different concept of how we achieve knowledge about God. Hugh also develops a special position-not to be found in other authors of his day-on how words signify things in the Sacred Scriptures. /// As relações de Guilherme de Champeaux, o qual deu início à fundação da abadia de S. Vítor em Paris, e Pedro Abelardo são conhecidas pela Historia calamitatum escritas pelo peripateticus palatinus alguns anos depois do acontecimento. Não possuímos qualquer relato histórico segundo o qual Abelardo se terá encontrado com Hugo de S. Vítor, mas é certo que já os seus contemporâneos coligiram as obras de ambos nos manuscritos para os quais as copiaram. Uma análise detalhada dos seus escritos revela que ambos têm muito mais em comum do que geralmente se crê ser o caso. Ambos usam os termos 'potentia', 'sapientia' e 'benignitas' para se referirem às três pessoas da Trindade; em conjunto com Gualtério de Mortagne ambos se referem à sabedoria ('sapientia') da segunda pessoa incarnada; e em conjunto com S. Bernardo de Clairvaux ambos discutem a necessidade do baptismo para a salvação. Todas estas questões estão relacionadas com a questão dos universais em relação à qual Abelardo é um dos mais famosos protagonistas, revelando a comparação entre ambos que aposição de Hugo, em relação à qual temos apenas um acesso indirecto, está muito próxima da de Abelardo no que se refere à sua orientação nominalista, mas difere na medida em que ele tem um conceito diferente no que se refere ao modo como alcançamos conhecimento acerca de Deus. Hugo desenvolve também uma posição especial–a qual não se encontra em autores seus contemporâneos–acerca do modo como as palavras significam as coisas na Sagrada Escritura. (shrink)

Der Staat hat die politische Moderne wie keine andere Institution und Ordnungsidee gepragt. Als eine Herrschaftsformation, die sich standig an die Umweltbedingungen anpasst, ist ihm die Funktionalitat des Wandels quasi institutionell in die Wiege gelegt. Dennoch ist der Nationalstaat im Prozess der Globalisierung und Europaisierung als Entgrenzung von Herrschaftsraumen der groae Verlierer geworden: Legitimations-, Souveranitats- und Steuerungsprobleme sind die Folge. Der Band erfasst den Staatswandel auf politik- und verwaltungswissenschaftlicher, geschichtswissenschaftlicher, soziologischer und offentlich-rechtlicher Ebene. Dabei behandeln die Beitrage exemplarisch Politikfelder wie (...) Soziales, Wirtschaft, Umwelt, Bildung, Wissenschaft und Verwaltung und bieten so ein breites Forum interdisziplinarer Staatsforschung. Inhalt Einfuehrung - Staat im Wandel. Ruediger Voigt zum 65. Geburtstag I. Konzeptualisierung und Systematisierung von Staatswandel Ralf Walkenhaus: Entwicklungslinien moderner Staatlichkeit. Konzeptualisierungsprobleme des Staatswandels Peter Nahamowitz: Themenkonjunkturen der Politikwissenschaft als Indikatoren fuer nachhaltige Veranderungen der Staatlichkeit in Deutschland? Zugleich ein Nachruf auf die okonomische Globalisierung II. Staatliche Steuerung in einzelnen Politikfeldern Nicolai Dose: Der informierende Staat: Information als Instrument staatlicher Steuerung Lutz R. Reuter: Zum Wandel des staatlichen Handelns im Bildungswesen Helmuth Schulze-Fielitz: Staatliche Wissenschaftssteuerung als organisations- und verfahrensrechtliche Aufgabe Dietrich Fuerst: Der Beitrag der Regionalplanung zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung. Eine steuerungstheoretische Perspektive Erhard Treutner: Staat und nachhaltige Entwicklung. Zur Bedeutung staatlicher Steuerung fuer Prozesse nachhaltiger Entwicklung III. Einzelaspekte Emanual Richter: Zur Rekonstruktion der Kategorie aNachhaltigkeito Stefan Machura: Der Einfluss der Parteien auf die dritte Gewalt Axel Gorlitz / Oliver Sigrist: Des Staates neue Kleider. Demokratie- und Rechtsstaatsdefizite der Verwaltungsreformkonzepte Peter Nitschke: Die Reterritorialisierung Europas auf subnationaler Identitatsebene. Uberlegungen zu einer Rekonstruktion der Theorie des apolitischen Raumeso Klaus A. Ziegert: Weltgesellschaft und Nationalstaat im 21. Jahrhundert. Eine rechtssoziologische Analyse Michael Staack: Multilateralismus, Unilateralismus und das Volkerrecht. Deutschland und die aBush-Revolutiono IV. Historische Bezuege Otwin Massing: Der (europaische) Praambelgott. Fetisch, sakralisierende Uberhohung oder Skandalon? Uber den Atavismus politischer Symbolsprache in amoderneno Staaten Rainer S. Elkar: Die Meister des Staates. Vom Scheitern und von der Aktualitat des Korporatismus Walter Demel: Verwaltung in China und Japan aus der Sicht des fruehneuzeitlichen Europa Georg-Christoph von Unruh: Widerstandsrecht und Widerstandspflicht Verzeichnis der Publikationen von Ruediger Voigt Verzeichnis der Doktoranden und Habilitanden von Ruediger Voigt Verzeichnis der Autoren. (shrink)

Marianne Hirsch’s influential concept of postmemory articulates the ethical significance of representing trauma in art and literature. Postmemory, for Hirsch, “describes the relationship of children of survivors of cultural or collective trauma to the experiences of their parents, experiences that they ‘remember’ only as the narratives and images with which they grew up, but that are so powerful, so monumental, as to constitute memories in their own right”. Through appeal to recent philosophical work on memory, the ethics of remembering, and (...) Peter Goldie’s discussion of empathy, I explore the virtues and limitations of Hirsch’s concept of postmemory. I take particular issue with her recent attempt to place author W.G. Sebald in league with the postmemory generation. (shrink)

A review of Ralf Dreier's posthumously published memoirs.

Wir haben die Pflicht, bestimmte Dinge zu tun, andere zu unterlassen. Wenn wir Pflichten haben, sprechen Gründe dafür, sie zu erfüllen. Wie aber verhalten sich Gründe und Pflichten genau zueinander? Im vorliegenden Aufsatz wird dafür argumentiert, dass a) es keine Pflichten gibt, für deren Erfüllung keine moralischen Gründe sprechen; und dass b) moralische Gründe stark genug sein müssen, um uns unter eine Pflicht zu stellen, und eine Pflicht in bestimmten Fällen bloß durch die Ausübung einer normativen Fähigkeit entstehen kann.

Die gängigen Prognosen, nach denen die Religionen im Kontext der Moderne oder im Zuge der Globalisierung an Bedeutung verlieren würden, haben sich nicht bestätigt. Das Gegenteil ist der Fall: Jenseits von nihilistischen Entwürfen und virtuellen Konstruktionen öffneten sich auch und gerade in der Literatur Räume für die Belebung religiöser Weltsicht. Ausgehend von Heinrich Böll und seiner Anfang der 1960er Jahre eingeleiteten Distanzierung von der Institution Kirche, wird am Beispiel von Botho Strauß und Peter Handke, die seit den 1970er und (...) 1980er Jahren eine ins Metaphysische zielende Subjektivität repräsentieren, eine Renaissance des Religiösen konstatiert, die sich in den Werken des jüngeren Autors Ralf Rothmann seit den 1990er Jahren mit selbstbewusster Deutlichkeit fortschreibt. Anhand der geistesgeschichtlichen Trias Gnostizismus, Philosophie und Mystik nimmt die Verfasserin eine Fokussierung vor, die die ästhetischen Konzeptionen der Autoren deutlich werden lässt und sie zueinander in Beziehung setzt. (shrink)

There is a fear of death that persistently eludes adequate explanation by contemporary philosophers of death. The reason for this is their focus on mortal harm issues, such as why death is bad for the person who dies. Claims regarding the fear of death are assumed to be contingent on the resolution of questions about the badness of death. In practice, however, consensus on some mortal harm issues has not resulted in comparable clarity on mortal fear. I contend we cannot (...) do justice to fear of death unless we detach it from theories about the badness of death, including the overwhelmingly-popular deprivation theory. The case for this involves disambiguation of certain aspects of mortal harm, a broad conception of what is involved in accounting for an emotion, and close attention to the nature of the fear in question. The source of fear of death is our departure from a context in which self-directed emotions have coherent application; our attitudes become ‘unmoored,’ in Samuel Scheffler’s phrase. While this does not result in a fear that is sui generis, it does demand that we remove the object of fear from the realm of well-being in order to make sense of it. (shrink)

This article aims to make progress towards an account of social cohesion and participation in terms of which we can better understand how groups of people come to constitute stable social orders. It argues for a conceptual distinction between "inclusion" and "integration" and sheds new light on their theoretical relationship. While "integration" refers to group members' willingness to act in accordance with the given norms of a social structure, "inclusion" is linked to their participation opportunities. Although inclusion also plays an (...) essential role in integrating a normative order, levels of inclusiveness necessary for social cohesion may vary across different contexts. (shrink)

It is the purpose of this paper to address ethical issues concerning the development and application of Assistive Technology at Workplaces (ATW). We shall give a concrete technical concept how such technology might be constructed and propose eight technical functions it should adopt in order to serve its purpose. Then, we discuss the normative questions why one should use ATW, and by what means. We argue that ATW is good to the extent that it ensures social inclusion and consider four (...) normative domains in which its worth might consists in. In addition, we insist that ATW must satisfy two requirements of good workplaces, which we specify as (a) an exploitation restraint and (b) a duty of care. (shrink)

Bis heute hält die Politische Philosophie an dem staatsphilosophischen Diktum einer in viele Staaten zerfallenden Welt fest, die stets Formen der Ausgrenzung und der Trennung hervorbringt. Ralf Rother thematisiert hingegen die Dekonstruktion des Politischen als eine Repolitisierung des politischen Denkens, indem er sich einer Diskussion um Heideggers Terminus »Mitsein« widmet, die von Levinas, Blanchot, Nancy und Derrida initiiert wurde. Im Fokus dieser Debatte steht die Frage: Wie ist ein Zusammenleben derjenigen möglich, die unter Rückgriff auf Hobbes'sche und Schmitt'sche Positionen (...) - z.B. aufgrund unterschiedlicher Herkunft oder Feindschaft - als nicht zusammengehörig verstanden werden? (shrink)

Viele Philosophen sind überzeugt, daß unser Wahrnehmungsbewußtsein phänomenale Charakteristika aufweist, die sich in ein physikalistisches Weltbild entweder gar nicht oder nur mit Schwierigkeiten integrieren lassen. Aber wie ist überhaupt unsere reflexive Einsicht erklärbar, daß unser Bewußtsein solche Charakteristika aufweist? An prominenten Beispielen läßt sich zeigen, daß dazu keineswegs die Annahme ausreicht, sie seien intrinsische Bestimmungen unserer Bewußtseinszustände. Vielmehr ist eine radikalere internalistische Konzeption der Inhalte unseres Bewußtseins erforderlich, wie sie Hector-Neri Castañeda entwickelt hat. Eine kritische Untersuchung von Castañedas Ontologie und (...) Wahrnehmungstheorie liefert die Theorieelemente, mit denen die phänomenologische Reflexion erklärbar wird. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungDie traditionsreiche Deutsche Gesellschaft für Innere Medizin war durch ihr Agieren in der NS-Zeit belastet. Vor ihrem ersten Nachkriegskongress 1948 in Karlsruhe fiel dem Bonner Klinikdirektor Paul Martini die Rolle eines Reorganisators zu. Martini, der während der NS-Zeit in Opposition zum Regime gestanden hatte, wählte einen Kurs umfassender Integration. Verfolgte des NS-Staats versuchte er ebenso in die DGIM einzubinden wie einstige gemäßigte Nationalsozialisten. Zugleich bemühte er sich um die Bewahrung des gesamtdeutschen Charakters der Kongresse sowie um einen zügigen Anschluss an (...) die internationale Forschung. Dennoch führte der eingeschlagene Weg die DGIM in nur scheinbar unpolitische Wissenschaftlichkeit und Jahrzehnte weitgehender Kritiklosigkeit gegenüber ihrer NS-Geschichte. (shrink)

As I write this, in November 1971, people are dying in East Bengal from lack of food, shelter, and medical caxc. The suffering and death that are occurring there now axe not inevitable, 1101; unavoidable in any fatalistic sense of the term. Constant poverty, a cyclone, and a civil war have turned at least nine million people into destitute refugees; nevertheless, it is not beyond Lhe capacity of the richer nations to give enough assistance to reduce any further suffering to (...) very small proportions. The decisions arid actions of human beings can prevent this kind of suffering. Unfortunately, human beings have not made the necessary decisions. At the individual level, people have, with very few exceptions, not responded to the situation in any signihczmt way. Generally speaking, people have not given large sums to relief funds; they have not written t0 their parliamentaxy representatives demanding increased government assistance; they have not demonstrated in the streets, held symbolic fasts, or done anything else directed toward providing thc refugees with the means to satisfy their essential needs. At thc government level, no govcrmmcnt has given the sort of massive aid that would enable the refugees to survive fm: more than a few days. Britain, for instance, has given rather more than most countries. It has, to date, given £14,750,000. For comparative purposes, B1~itain’s share of thc nonreccverabla development costs of the Anglo-French Concorde project is already in excess of £275,000,000, and on present estimates will reach £440,000,¤00. The implication is that the British government values a supersonic transport more than thirty times as.. (shrink)