concepts typically are defined in terms of lacking physical or perceptual referents. We argue instead that they are not devoid of perceptual information because knowledge of real-world situations is an important component of learning and using many abstract concepts. Although the relationship between perceptual information and abstract concepts is less straightforward than for concrete concepts, situation-based perceptual knowledge is part of many abstract concepts. In Experiment 1, participants made lexical decisions to abstract words that were preceded by related and unrelated (...) pictures of situations. For example, share was preceded by a picture of two girls sharing a cob of corn. When pictures were presented for 500 ms, latencies did not differ. However, when pictures were presented for 1,000 ms, decision latencies were significantly shorter for abstract words preceded by related versus unrelated pictures. Because the abstract concepts corresponded to the pictured situation as a whole, rather than a single concrete object or entity, the necessary relational processing takes time. In Experiment 2, on each trial, an abstract word was presented for 250 ms, immediately followed by a picture. Participants indicated whether or not the picture showed a normal situation. Decision latencies were significantly shorter for pictures preceded by related versus unrelated abstract words. Our experiments provide evidence that knowledge of events and situations is important for learning and using at least some types of abstract concepts. That is, abstract concepts are grounded in situations, but in a more complex manner than for concrete concepts. Although people's understanding of abstract concepts certainly includes knowledge gained from language describing situations and events for which those concepts are relevant, sensory and motor information experienced during real-life events is important as well. (shrink)

El objetivo fundamental del presente artículo consiste en vincular el concepto de comunidades interpretativas a una posible hermenéutica de la música. De este modo, el lenguaje musical podría ser interpreteado más fácilmente, si se describe analogicamente con su raiz lingüística. De ello deviene que una descripción de las prácticas y comunidades intepretativas de la música, estaría ampliamente emparentada con las prácticas y comunidades interpretativas de los lenguajes naturales. Esta tentación metodológica quiere razonar a través de un caso. Se pretende ver (...) la plausibilidad de la hipótesis con un experimento. El experimento consiste en mostrar cómo se leyó la música de Francisco Guerrero en la Bogotá de la colonia, y señalar si en este caso existen relaciones con el desarrollo de la lectura de lenguajes naturales o, si por el contrario, hay discontinuidades. Se quiere ver si el concepto de comunidades interpretativas puede dar cuenta en cierta medida de la dialéctica entre obra musical y el sentido extratextual del lenguaje musical. Se intentará mostrar así que quizá la música no sea solamente un lenguaje sintáctico, sino que su semántica puede devenir de lo extramusical que se cuela en las prácticas de quien la escribe y quien la lee. (shrink)

Últimamente se ha producido una copiosa traducción de textos de Hei-degger. Ante la complejidad de sus expresiones, es necesario un trabajo de revisión y unificación de los términos castellanos. Con el ánimo de abrir un proceso de diá-logo entre los traductores, expondremos brevemente algunos puntos en los que se ejemplifica el problema. Por un lado, se trata de mostrar las tareas de traducción todavía pendientes de Ser y tiempo, a pesar de las dos traducciones existentes. A tal efecto se realizan (...) una serie de calas de pasajes, tanto de la versión de Gaos como de la de Rivera, ofreciendo en cada caso las propias sugerencias de traduc-ción. Y, por otro lado, se expone a discusión un elenco de términos que todavía están pendientes de una traducción definitiva.In recent times, there has been a lot of translation of Heidegger's texts. The complexity of his philosophical expressions and the diversity of translation solu-tions offered so far need to be unified. In order to open a dialogue among transla-tors we would like to expose briefly some examples that illustrate the problem of translation. On the one hand, we show that the task of translating Sein und Zeit is not yet finished, despite the translations of Gaos and Rivera. We take under consid-eration some quotes from Gaos's and Rivera's versions, offering in each case our own translation suggestion. On the other hand, we bring up for discussion different Heideggerian terms whose translations are still problematic. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is phe-nomenological interpretation of the various faces of divinity in the later Heidegger and elucidation of the human comportment corresponding to this divinity. In the first chapter, I will make clear the relation between ontological difference in the sense of the later Heidegger and the primordial dimension of divinity which is called the last god and the sacred. Further, the relation between such divinity and entity as a whole will be clarified. In the second chapter, (...) I will elucidate the place of the divinities in the manifestation of entity as a whole by considering the role of the godlikes in the fourfold. When the primordial alterity of the last god should be experienced in entity as whole, which leads to the notion of the godlikes, it must confront human subject in totally asymmetrical manner. Such asymmetrical communication can be structurally made explicit by taking the concept of “discourse” in Being and Time into account. Finally, I will consider the character of human comportment called preservation with focusing on its relation to the later Heidegger’s conceptions of divinity. This will shed light on how human beings could properly appreciate the experience of what is beyond our understanding and nevertheless supporting our existence.El objetivo de la ponencia es llevar a cabo una interpretación fenomenológica de las diversas facetas de la divinidad en el Hei-degger tardío y elucidar el comportamiento humano respecto de esta divinidad. En el primer capítulo, se esclarece la relación entre la diferencia ontológica en el sentido que le da el segundo Heidegger y la dimensión primordial de la divinidad, llamada el último dios y lo sagrado. A conti-nuación, se esclarecerá la relación entre la divinidad así concebida y lo ente en totalidad. En el segundo apar-tado, se elucidará el lugar de las divinidades en la manifestación de lo ente en totalidad considerando el papel de los divinos la Cuaternidad. Cuando la alteridad primordial del último dios se experimente en lo ente en totaliadd, lo cual conduce a la noción de los divinos, tiene que enfrentarse al sujeto humano de una forma totalmente asimétrica. Esta comunicación asimétrica puede explicitarse estructuralmente mediante la consideración del concepto del discurso en Ser y tiempo. Final-mente, consideraré el carácter del comportamiento humano denominado la preservación, con especial atención a su relación con la noción de lo divino en Heidegger tardío. Esto arrojará luz sobre cómo los seres humanos podrían apreciar de manera adecuada lo que está más allá de nuestra comprensión y sin embargo, sostiene nuestra existencia. (shrink)

I Leben und Objektivierung Die Hegelsche Forderung, „in der Sache zu sein und ‚nicht immer darüber hinaus‘ “, hat Adorno nicht nur als Anweisung für die philosophische Arbeit verstanden. Sein ganzes Leben galt dem Versuch, sich zu objektivieren – in der Doppelbedeutung objektiv, das heißt konkret gegenständlich zu denken und Gegenstände, nämlich Werke zu produzieren. Der Bezug zur Sache ist für Adorno Maßnahme, um noch im „Freiluftgefängnis“ der Moderne seiner selbst mächtig zu bleiben. Das Subjekt gewinnt sich, indem es sich (...) an das Objekt entäußert – dieser klassischen Idee der Bildung hat er eine neue Fassung gegeben, die explizit als Gegenmittel zu den Regressionen des 20. Jahrhunderts formuliert ist. Denn umgekehrt ist der Ausbruch des Bösen eine Folge der Objektlosigkeit, und der Antisemitismus wird als Projektion verstanden, in der die Beziehung zum Objekt verloren gegangen und die Reflexion ausgefallen sei. Adornos Leben und Werk enthält demgegenüber das anspruchsvolle Programm, es mit der komplexen und schlechten Welt intellektuell aufzunehmen, indem man ihre kulturellen Objektivationen deutet: die großen Kunstwerke und Philosophien ebenso wie die Formen der Popkultur, bis hin zu Umfragen in Frauenzeitschriften und zur Horoskopspalte der Los Angeles Times. Nicht der schlechteste Grund, sich heute mit Adorno zu beschäftigen, ist sein Denken an den Gegenständen entlang. (shrink)

Gefühle gehen nicht in dem auf, was wir über sie wissen und denken oder in den Beschreibungen, die wir von ihnen geben. Gefühle sind autochthon, in ihrem Selbstsein unerreichbar. Und dennoch können wir uns über Gefühle in gewisser Weise verständigen, sicherlich insoweit, als Gefühle betrachtet, beschrieben und interpersonal verglichen werden können. Insofern sind Gefühle mit »wirklichem Leben« und dem personalen/interpersonalen Status von Menschen untrennbar verbunden und stehen dennoch zu den begrifflichen Leistungen des Bewußtseins in erheblicher Distanz. So heißt es in (...) den Confessions von J.-J. Rousseau: »Ich fühlte, ehe ich dachte; das ist das gemeinsame Los der Menschheit.«. (shrink)

Últimamente se ha producido una copiosa traducción de textos de Hei-degger. Ante la complejidad de sus expresiones, es necesario un trabajo de revisión y unificación de los términos castellanos. Con el ánimo de abrir un proceso de diá-logo entre los traductores, expondremos brevemente algunos puntos en los que se ejemplifica el problema. Por un lado, se trata de mostrar las tareas de traducción todavía pendientes de Ser y tiempo, a pesar de las dos traducciones existentes. A tal efecto se realizan (...) una serie de calas de pasajes, tanto de la versión de Gaos como de la de Rivera, ofreciendo en cada caso las propias sugerencias de traduc-ción. Y, por otro lado, se expone a discusión un elenco de términos que todavía están pendientes de una traducción definitiva.In recent times, there has been a lot of translation of Heidegger's texts. The complexity of his philosophical expressions and the diversity of translation solu-tions offered so far need to be unified. In order to open a dialogue among transla-tors we would like to expose briefly some examples that illustrate the problem of translation. On the one hand, we show that the task of translating Sein und Zeit is not yet finished, despite the translations of Gaos and Rivera. We take under consid-eration some quotes from Gaos's and Rivera's versions, offering in each case our own translation suggestion. On the other hand, we bring up for discussion different Heideggerian terms whose translations are still problematic. (shrink)

Bethany Henning argues that within the naturalistic strains of American philosophy, there is an implicit theory of the unconscious that finds its fullest expression within the work of John Dewey. Although the unconscious contributes to all experience, it plays a principal role in experiences that are emphatically aesthetic.

¿Por qué democracia? Referencia a los derechos humanos y a la ciudadanía. Why democracy? Reference to human rights and citizenship. Bozo de Carmona, Ana Julia Libertad de expresión y "libertad cómica". Free speech and "comical liberty".Calvo González, José La justicia según J. Finnis. Justice according to John Finnis. Hocevar G., Mayda G. El lenguaje sagrado y su escritura. The sacred language and its writing. Lizaola, Julieta Del carácter coactivo de la μετηνεστασζ en Tucídides. On cornening to compelling nature of Thucydides' (...) μετηνεστασζ. Meabe, Joaquín E. Apuntes para una filosofía crítica de la historia regional. Notes for a critical philosophy concern to the regional history. Mora García, José Pascual Competencia política partidista en los textos de Simón Bolívar . The defender political competition in the Simon Bolivar’s writings . Ortiz Palanques, Marco Fundamentación socio-jurídica de los procesos normativos. Social and juridical reasoning about the normatives changes. Pavó Acosta, Rolando Filosofía y psicopatología en Karl Jaspers: los entramados de la existencia. Philosophy and psychopathology in Karl Jaspers: the studworks of the existence. Portuondo Pajón, Gladys L. La doctrina platónica del alma en la «república». The platonic doctrine of the soul in the «republic» dialogue. Suzzarini, Andrés Una aproximación a la concepción romana del derecho. An estimate study to the roman concept of law. Terán Pimentel, Milagros Interdisciplinares Lo dionisíaco y lo apolíneo en Don Juan Tenorio. The dionysiac and the apolline in Don Juan Tenorio. Pérez Lo Presti, Alirio. (shrink)

Do cultural models facilitate particular ways of perceiving interactions in nature? We explore variability in folkecological principles of reasoning about interspecies interactions. In two studies, Indigenous Panamanian Ngöbe and U.S. participants interpreted an illustrated, wordless nonfiction book about the hunting relationship between a coyote and badger. Across both studies, the majority of Ngöbe interpreted the hunting relationship as cooperative and the majority of U.S. participants as competitive. Study 2 showed that this pattern may reflect different beliefs about, and perhaps different (...) awareness of, plausible interspecies interactions. Further probes suggest that these models of ecological interaction correlate with recognition of social agency in nonhuman animals. We interpret our results in terms of cultural models of nature and nonhuman agency. (shrink)

Environmental problems often outstrip the abilities of any single scientist to understand, much less address them. As a result, collaborations within, across, and beyond the environmental sciences are an increasingly important part of the environmental science landscape. Here, we explore an insufficiently recognized and particularly challenging barrier to collaborative environmental science: value pluralism, the presence of non-trivial differences in the values that collaborators bring to bear on project decisions. We argue that resolving the obstacles posed by value pluralism to collaborative (...) environmental science requires detecting and coordinating the underlying problematic value differences. We identify five ways that a team might coordinate their problematic value differences and argue that, whichever mode is adopted, it ought to be governed by participatory virtues, pragmatic resolve, and moral concern. Relying on our experiences with the Toolbox Dialogue Initiative, as well as with other dialogical approaches that support team inquiry, we defend the claim that philosophical dialogue among collaborators can go a long way towards helping teams of environmental scientists and fellow travelers detect their problematic value differences. Where dialogical approaches fare less well is in helping teams coordinate these differences. We close by describing several principles for augmenting philosophical dialogue with other methods, and we list several of these methods in an appendix with brief descriptions and links for further learning. Overall, the article makes three main contributions to the research collaboration and values in science literatures: It deepens our understanding of problematic value pluralism in team science; It provides actionable guidance and methods for improving values-oriented philosophical dialogue interventions; and It demonstrates one way of doing engaged philosophy. (shrink)

In this study, Bethany Somma argues for a dichotomous interpretation of human desire developed by late ancient Greek and medieval Islamic philosophers in response to an ambiguity in Aristotle’s account of desire.

Human connection is universally important, particularly in the context of serious illness and at the end of life. The presence of close family and friends has many benefits when death is close. Hospital visitation restrictions during the Coronavirus pandemic therefore warrant careful consideration to ensure equity, proportionality, and the minimization of harm. The Australian and New Zealand Society for Palliative Medicine COVID-19 Special Interest Group utilized the relevant ethical and public health principles, together with the existing disease outbreak literature and (...) evolving COVID-19 knowledge, to generate a practical framework of visiting restrictions for inpatients receiving palliative and end-of-life care. Expert advice from an Infectious Diseases physician ensured relevance to community transmission dynamics. Three graded levels of visitor restrictions for inpatient settings are proposed, defining an appropriate level of minimum access. These depend upon the level of community transmission of COVID-19, the demand on health services, the potential COVID-19 status of the patient and visitors, and the imminence of the patient’s death. This framework represents a cohesive, considered, proportionate, and ethically robust approach to improve equity and consistency for inpatients receiving palliative care during the COVID-19 pandemic and may serve as a template for future disease outbreaks. (shrink)

We used attractiveness judgements as a proxy to visualize the ideal female and male body for male and female participants and investigated how individual differences in the internalization of cultural ideals influence these representations. In the first of two studies, male and female participants judged the attractiveness of 242 male and female computer-generated bodies which varied independently in muscle and adipose. This allowed us to map changes in attractiveness across the complete body composition space, revealing single peaks for the attractiveness (...) of both men and women. In the second study, we asked our participants to choose the most attractive male and female bodies in a method of adjustment task in which they could independently vary muscle and adipose to create the most attractive body. We asked whether individual differences in internalization of cultural ideals, drive for muscularity, eating disorder symptomatology and depressive symptoms could systematically shift the location of peak attractiveness in body composition space. We found a clear preference by both genders for a male body with high muscle and low adipose, and a toned, low adipose female body. The degree of internalization of cultural ideals predicted large individual differences in the composition of the most attractive bodies. (shrink)

Research teams have made considerable progress in treating absolute uterine factor infertility through uterus transplantation, though studies have differed on the choice of either deceased or living donors. While researchers continue to analyze the medical feasibility of both approaches, little attention has been paid to the ethics of using deceased versus living donors as well as the protections that must be in place for each. Both types of uterus donation also pose unique regulatory challenges, including how to allocate donated organs; (...) whether the donor / donor's family has any rights to the uterus and resulting child; how to manage contact between the donor / donor's family, recipient, and resulting child; and how to track outcomes moving forward. (shrink)

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo básico analizar las relaciones entre la arqueología, disciplina que se institucionaliza en Japón durante el período Meiji (1868-1912), y el conjunto de relatos definido como “mitología japonesa”. Como se discute en este artículo, la arqueología japonesa estableció desde sus orígenes dos espacios discursivos, uno creado exclusivamente a partir del conocimiento arqueológico, y otro, de carácter mito-histórico, que se apoyaba en las crónicas compiladas por el poder político durante la Antigüedad. Los estudios mitológicos en un sentido (...) estricto surgen en Japón a principios del siglo XX, una época en la que el nuevo Estado Meiji ya había incorporado el relato mítico a la enseñanza de la historia japonesa. Ante el uso político de esta narrativa, la comunidad arqueológica nipona no constituirá un ente monolítico, variando sus reacciones entre el revisionismo, un ferviente colaboracionismo, y el silencio. (shrink)

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo básico analizar las relaciones entre la arqueología, disciplina que se institucionaliza en Japón durante el período Meiji (1868-1912), y el conjunto de relatos definido como “mitología japonesa”. Como se discute en este artículo, la arqueología japonesa estableció desde sus orígenes dos espacios discursivos, uno creado exclusivamente a partir del conocimiento arqueológico, y otro, de carácter mito-histórico, que se apoyaba en las crónicas compiladas por el poder político durante la Antigüedad. Los estudios mitológicos en un sentido (...) estricto surgen en Japón a principios del siglo XX, una época en la que el nuevo Estado Meiji ya había incorporado el relato mítico a la enseñanza de la historia japonesa. Ante el uso político de esta narrativa, la comunidad arqueológica nipona no constituirá un ente monolítico, variando sus reacciones entre el revisionismo, un ferviente colaboracionismo, y el silencio. (shrink)

In this paper, we consider ethical issues related to the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combat zones, via exposure therapy. Exposure-oriented interventions are the most well-researched behavioral treatments for PTSD, and rigorous studies across contexts, populations, and research groups provide robust evidence that exposure therapy for PTSD is effective and can be widely disseminated. Clinical procedures for Prolonged Exposure therapy, a manualized exposure-oriented protocol for PTSD, are reviewed, and we illustrate the potential benefits, as well as the potential (...) difficulties, associated with providing this treatment in combat zones. Several ethical considerations are identified: (1) Assuming successful treatment, is it ethical to send individuals with a known risk of developing PTSD back into combat? (2) If treatment is unsuccessful in theater (perhaps due to the confounding factor of ongoing danger), could that impact treatment effectiveness for soldiers who attempt therapy again post-deployment? (3) If the military finds combat-zone treatment effective and useful in maintaining an efficient work force, will treatment become mandatory for those diagnosed with PTSD? (4) What unintended consequences might be associated with large-scale dissemination of exposure therapy in or near combat, outside of mental health care infrastructures? (5) How would genetic variations known to be associated with PTSD risk influence decisions regarding who receives treatment or returns to combat? We conclude with a review of the personal and societal costs associated with not providing evidence-based PTSD treatments wherever possible. (shrink)

Treatment of military-related posttraumatic stress disorder is a major public health care concern. Since 2001 over 2.5 million troops have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, many of whom have experienced direct combat and sustained threat. Estimates of PTSD rates related to these wars range from 8% to over 20%, or 192,000 to 480,000 individuals. Already, nearly 250,000 service members of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn have sought VA health care services for PTSD. This recent increased need (...) for mental health services comes in addition to the ongoing needs of Vietnam-era and other veterans who continue to suffer from PTSD. PTSD is related to high co-morbidities of other mental health difficulties, poorer physical health status, and increased medical care utilization. Such high demand for services is an important contributor to the large cost associated with combat-related PTSD. Accordingly, promoting successful, cost-effective treatment strategies for PTSD is a chief public health care priority. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to investigate the emotional impact of sarcasm. Previous research in this area has mainly required participants to answer questions based on written materials, and results have been mixed. With the aim of instead examining the emotional impact of sarcasm when used in a more conversational setting, the current study utilized animated video clips as stimuli. In each clip, one individual answered general knowledge questions while the other provided feedback that could be delivered either literally or sarcastically, and (...) either complimented or criticized the question answerer’s performance. Participants rated the feedback based on the anticipated emotional impact on the recipient, how the speaker intended the recipient to feel, and whether the speaker intended to be humorous. Results overall supported the Tinge Hypothesis, showing that sarcastic criticism was rated as less negative than literal criticism, and sarcastic compliments were rated as... (shrink)

»Immanence of the forms« – the precise meaning of this very famous self-characterization of Aristotelian philosophy remained almost unexplored until recently. This article shows that the immanence means neither being contained, nor inherency, nor being spatially embraced, nor just and only inseparability from matter. Moreover, what is at stake is a special case of such inseparability, so that the Form – as something conceptually separated – nevertheless provides a full definition of the substantial object having that form. This account is (...) justified – as Michael Frede and Robert Heinaman have proved in their analysis of Metaph. VII 11 – on the basis of the causal role that the form in these cases has to play for the substantial object. It is also clear that only living forms can be immanent in this sense, not the mathematical forms or the forms of the artificial. Immanent forms are therefore for Aristotle exclusively souls of material living beings. The immanence of a form can be described – also according to the paradigm from the De anima – as the living activity of the materially existing body. (shrink)

The field of narrative medicine holds that personal narratives about illness have the potential to give illness meaning and to create order out of disparate facets of experience, thereby aiding a patient’s treatment and resisting universalizing medical discourse. Two narratives of bipolar disorder, Kay Redfield Jamison’s prose memoir An Unquiet Mind and Ellen Forney’s graphic memoir Marbles challenge these ideas. These writers demonstrate that one result of bipolar disorder is a rupture to their sense of identity, making straightforward and verbal (...) forms of narrative impossible. During periods of relative mood stability, reliable memories of mania or depression are equally impossible. As a result, these memoirists seek to develop sources of self-knowledge other than memory and introspection, long the foundations of personal narrative. Finally, An Unquiet Mind and Marbles return attention to questions of selfhood at a time when scholarship on memoir rejects interpretations of life stories as clear and reliable expressions of identity. (shrink)

Nuestra época está marcada por el movimiento de poblaciones diaspóricas arrojadas al centro de las paradojas entre los derechos humanos y el sistema político global organizado en torno a la Nación-Estado. Refugiados que son criminalizados y abandonados a morir en el Mediterráneo e inmigrantes indocumentados recluídos en campos de detención en la frontera de Estados Unidos con México. Prisioneros torturados abiertamente por Estados liberales como se vio en Abu Gharib o, personas declaradas "enemigos combatientes" presas en Guantánamo sin que medie (...) ninguna acusación de delito o en proceso judicial. En India y otros países están siendo desnacionalizados aquellos que no cumplen con los criterios fundamentalistas de definición de la nacionalidad que impone el Estado, y así, sucesivamente. Mientras tanto, los partidos y movimientos de la derecha extrema, xenofóbica y racista, están en ascenso en distintas partes del mundo. Ante este alarmante escenario, la pertinencia de este libro que aborda la crisis de los "derechos humanos" desde una perspectiva interdisciplinaria en la que se destacan el entrecruzamiento conceptual de las ópticas vinculadas al Derecho, Psicoanális, las Ciencias Sociales, la Filosofía y la Historia. Más importante aún, Derechos y reveses de lo humnao demuestra la potencia del pensamiento teórico para comprender los problemas del mundo contemporáneo"--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Ein Gespräch zwischen zweien, die sich nicht sicher sind, ob sie schon denken -/- Der Begriff des Denkens zieht sich als emphatischer Begriff durch das Werk von Jean-Luc Nancy. Zugleich lehnt er es ab, sich selbst als »Denker« bezeichnen zu lassen. Denken ist für ihn stets mit einem »noch nicht« zu versehen. Anknüpfend an Heideggers berühmte Vorlesung »Was heißt Denken?« spricht Nancy in diesem Band mit dem Philosophen und Kurator Daniel Tyradellis über das, was Denken macht: über prägende Lektüren und (...) einflussreiche Lehrer, über Misosophie und das Unerträgliche, über ästhetische Erfahrungen und ihre Medien. In Nähe und Abgrenzung zu Heidegger entsteht ein Bild des Denkens, das darum ringt, dem »uns« und dem »wir« Raum zu geben und das Mit-Sein als ontologische Kategorie zu fassen. (shrink)

„Historische Verantwortung“ wird zunächst an der Erfahrung von Nationalsozialismus und Holocaust diskutiert. Die moralische Reflexion führt auf einen kollektiven Begriff historischer Verantwortung, der auf einen kommunikativ-dynamischen Prozess der Bearbeitung des geschichtlichen Bedeutungsraums verweist. Systematischer Kern ist eine politische Ethik in internationaler Perspektive, die retrospektive wie prospektive Relevanz besitzt.

Wir erleben gegenwärtig im intellektuellen Diskurs ebenso wie in der Alltagssprache eine geradezu inflationäre Verwendung des Begriffes Kultur. Wenn aber alles und jedes Kultur heißen kann, verlieren Begriff und Sache ihre diagnostische und analytische Kraft. Der Aufsatz versucht – unter Rückgriff auf das Werk Max Webers und auf die neuere philosophische Anthropologie – zu zeigen, daß Kultur eine anthropologisch begründete, gesellschaftliche Grundtatsache darstellt, ohne deren Macht weder die Lebensführung des Einzelnen möglich noch die Geschichte und Entwicklung von Völkern, Nationen und (...) Gesellschaften verstehbar ist. Im Hintergrund einer solchen Neuvergewisserung des Verstehens von Kultur stehen aktualitätsbestimmte Fragen wie: Kampf der Kulturen ? Kann es multikulturelle Gesellschaften geben? Bedürfen Gesellschaften, Völker und Nationen als Bedingung ihres Überlebens einer „Leitkultur”? usw. (shrink)