This is a series of short summaries and brief overviews of many main ideas within general semantics, all couched in the style of personal letters. It is designed to give people an intimate view into many insights offered with general semantics, and just as equally, it represents how principles of general semantics can be applied within everyday life.

Husserls "Logische Untersuchungen" sind eines der detailliertesten Bücher, die je über die Phänomenologie des Bewusstseins geschrieben wurden. Die beiden 1900 ("Prolegomena") und 1901 ("Logische Untersuchungen") erschienenen Bände enthalten nicht nur Beiträge zu den in den Logikbüchern der Zeit vielfach diskutierten Themen Bedeutung, Begriff, Urteil, Erkenntnis und Wahrheit, sie weiten diese Analysen auch auf Bewusstseinsakte, wie Wahrnehmungen, Imaginationen, Gefühle und die Intentionalität schlechthin aus. Immer wieder Erkenntnisse früherer Kapitel aufnehmend, verbinden sie sich schließlich zu einem umfassenden Gesamtbild der Struktur von mentalen (...) Erlebnissen. Damit liefern sie wichtige Beiträge zu heute hochaktuellen Debatten in der Erkenntnistheorie und der Philosophie des Geistes. Die phänomenologische Methode erweist sich in der Philosophie immer mehr als unverzichtbare Quelle der Information und Argumentation, die empirischen Bestimmungen vorgeschaltet und deshalb auch für die Einzelwissenschaften von Bedeutung ist. Sowohl für die analytische wie für die kontinentale Philosophie bieten die "Logischen Untersuchungen" zahlreiche Anknüpfungspunkte. Ganz im Sinne Husserls vereinigt der Kommentarband Forscher aus unterschiedlichen Schulen zu einer Kooperation in Sachen Phänomenologie. (shrink)

Husserls "Logische Untersuchungen" sind eines der detailliertesten Bücher, die je über die Phänomenologie des Bewusstseins geschrieben wurden. Die beiden 1900 und 1901 erschienenen Bände enthalten nicht nur Beiträge zu den in den Logikbüchern der Zeit vielfach diskutierten Themen Bedeutung, Begriff, Urteil, Erkenntnis und Wahrheit, sie weiten diese Analysen auch auf Bewusstseinsakte, wie Wahrnehmungen, Imaginationen, Gefühle und die Intentionalität schlechthin aus. Immer wieder Erkenntnisse früherer Kapitel aufnehmend, verbinden sie sich schließlich zu einem umfassenden Gesamtbild der Struktur von mentalen Erlebnissen. Damit liefern (...) sie wichtige Beiträge zu heute hochaktuellen Debatten in der Erkenntnistheorie und der Philosophie des Geistes. Die phänomenologische Methode erweist sich in der Philosophie immer mehr als unverzichtbare Quelle der Information und Argumentation, die empirischen Bestimmungen vorgeschaltet und deshalb auch für die Einzelwissenschaften von Bedeutung ist. Sowohl für die analytische wie für die kontinentale Philosophie bieten die "Logischen Untersuchungen" zahlreiche Anknüpfungspunkte. Ganz im Sinne Husserls vereinigt der Kommentarband Forscher aus unterschiedlichen Schulen zu einer Kooperation in Sachen Phänomenologie. (shrink)

In diesem Sammelband werden Aufsätze von renommierten Husserl-Forschern und Nachwuchswissenschaftlern zu systematischen Fragen und Problemen von Husserls Phänomenologie versammelt. Die Texte basieren teilweise auf Vorträgen der Tagung „Die Aktualität Husserls", die 2009 an der LMU München stattgefunden hat. In drei thematischen Blöcken, die sich schwerpunktmäßig auf Probleme der Ontologie, Sprachphilosophie/ Philosophie des Geistes und Handlungstheorie/Ethik konzentrieren, wird die systematische Breite und Komplexität von Husserls Denken deutlich, das sich nahezu nahtlos auf aktuelle Fragestellungen beziehen lässt - wenngleich es sich diesen nicht (...) immer anpasst und in kritischer Distanz insbesondere zur Naturalisierbarkeit des Geistes bleibt. Mit Beiträgen von Emanuele Caminada, Christian Beyer, Christopher Erhard, Sophie Loidolt, Verena Mayer, Uwe Meixner, Roberta De Monticelli, Henning Peucker, Sonja Rinofner-Kreidl, Rochus Sowa und Thomas Vongehr. (shrink)

This article describes the UniversAAL platform, an open platform intended to facilitate the development, distribution, and deployment of technological solutions for Ambient assisted living. The platform is intended to benefit end users, authorities with responsibility for AAL, and organizations involved in the development and deployment of AAL services. It consists of an extensive set of resources aimed at these different groups. The resources are classified into three main groups: runtime support, development support, and community support. The article presents the benefits (...) that can be expected from the widespread adoption of the platform. The article also describes progress on prototype implementations of some of the software resources, and the results of initial evaluations of the platform. The work is partially based on results from earlier European Union-funded research projects in the area. (shrink)

In contrast to Christopher Kelty’s case for the “careful cultural analysis of the domesticated forms that open source is taking” – which we agree to be a very useful endeavor – we would like to stick with the original call for papers for this special issue, that explicitly addresses the critical power of free software and a necessary shift to epistemologies. In our contribution we are responding to the aims of this special issue and to some of the contributions (...) from the perspective of feminist epistemology. There are several reasons for this decision. First of all, feminist scholars have been amongst the rst and most explicit to stress the linkages between knowledge and power. Apart from this generic focus, speci c feminist approaches, namely the approaches proposed by Helen Longino, Karen Barad and Lucy Suchman, o er invaluable insights for understanding the critical power of free software as a practice, which enables the materialization of principles into objects, as Kelty rightly emphasizes. Furthermore, feminist approaches suggest looking at epistemological politics and the situatedness of knowledge practices including e ects of perspectivism and marginalization. We adopt a performative understanding of epistemic practices, an understanding that take the interrelations between epistemology, ontology and ethics seriously. Thus, we start our inquiry from Kelty’s observation that free software “promises a sequence of [...] values: experimentalism and creativity, provisionality and modi ability, recti cation and refraction, dissent and critique, participation and obligation“ and that it „allows values and principles to be turned into material objects“. These and other values have already been inscribed in the launch of the GNU project in the beginning 1980s, the creation of the GPL, and they are continuously realized in the Free Software movement. Hence the interesting question is how they are realized and how are they shaped vice-versa by practices. (shrink)

ABSTRACT We are interested in the case of Friedrich Christoph Mayer, who in the 1720s, while at the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, developed a system of the aurora borealis, as well as a mathematical method for calculating the height of the aurora from the geometrical characteristics of the auroral arc. Mayer, encountering a major contradiction in his system which placed the aurora at the height of the clouds, whereas his mathematical method led to an altitude (...) a hundred times higher, never applied his method to concrete cases to deduce the height of the aurora, and quickly lost interest in their detailed description, a task that was nevertheless assigned to him at the St. Petersburg Observatory. Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan suggests that Mayer’s abandonment was due to his lack of confidence in observations. We set Mayer’s case against that of Leonhard Euler who, working with Mayer and being aware of the great height of the aurora, later developed a system of the aurora borealis that was compatible with the observational fact. We put forward possible hypotheses to explain Mayer’s disinterest in observing the aurora and in the mathematical method he himself had developed. (shrink)

Dass Husserl auch im Hundert-Jahres-Jubiläum der Ideen I tatsächlich „aktuell“ und für eine Reihe gegenwärtiger philosophischer Trends höchst anschlussfähig ist, das verspricht nicht nur der Titel, dies belegen auch eindrücklich die zwölf Aufsätze des vorliegenden Bandes. Das Buch stellt nicht nur eine hervorragende Ergänzung zu dem thematisch stärker fokussierten rezenten Sammelband Husserl und die Philosophie des Geistes (Frank and Weidtmann 2010) dar, zumal auch hier der Anti- bzw. Non-Naturalismus Husserls einen der Leitfäden des Buches bildet; insgesamt handelt es sich dabei (...) in Breite und Tiefe, aber auch was die Qualität der Mehrzahl der Beiträge betrifft, vielmehr um eines der gelungensten der neueren, und nicht nur der deutschsprachigen, Kompendien zu Husserl (vgl. etwa Ierna et al. 2010; Centrone 2013; Embree and Nenon 2013).Entlang einer klugen editorischen Organisation fügen sich die Beiträge gut in die drei Teile Ontologie, Sprachphilosophie & Philosophie des Geistes und Ha. (shrink)

This book contributes to the contemporary revival of pragmatism as a practical and ultimately, as Mayer argues, necessary philosophical stance within democratic schools. Given that pragmatism addresses the question of how people can move forward in the absence of transcendent Truth, the author shows how pragmatism also-and not incidentally-provides grounds for pluralistic democratic societies to move forward in the absence of shared belief systems. Weaving together philosophical analysis and classroom discourse research, Mayer explores the relationships among pragmatism, progressive (...) educational theory, and democratic knowledge construction processes and their implications for enacting progressive educational practices in schools. Several original, research-based heuristics that can serve in reliably identifying, studying, and orchestrating distinctively democratic knowledge construction processes are presented. The importance of granting all students a share of interpretive authority is also emphasized. For in learning to observe and reflect on one's own terms, attend closely to the observations and interpretations of one's peers, and reason collaboratively in a transparent and principled manner, young people are enculturated into essential democratic values, commitments, and practices. This book is written for a general audience and is intended for all those concerned with strengthening the democratic character of schools and societies. It is likely to appeal to scholars, researchers, and practitioners with interests in philosophy and classroom discourse and curriculum studies, as well as philosophers of education and the social sciences more broadly. (shrink)

In Minimal Rationality, Christopher Cherniak boldly challenges the myth of Man the the Rational Animal and the central role that the "perfectly rational...

Next SectionWhilst there has been considerable debate about the fit between moral theory and moral reasoning in everyday life, the way in which moral problems are defined has rarely been questioned. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with 15 general practitioners (GPs) in South Australia to argue that the way in which the bioethics literature defines an ethical dilemma captures only some of the range of lay views about the nature of ethical problems. The bioethics literature has (...) defined ethical dilemmas in terms of conflict and choice between values, beliefs and options for action. While some of the views of some of the GPs in this study about the nature of their ethical dilemmas certainly accorded with this definition, other explanations of the ethical nature of their problems revolved around the publicity associated with the issues they were discussing, concern about their relationships with patients, and anxiety about threats to their integrity and reputation. The variety of views about what makes a problem a moral problem indicates that the moral domain is perhaps wider and richer than mainstream bioethics would generally allow. (shrink)

Are you a Reluctant Metaphysician? A career change, an upsetting external event, a serious illness, a painful breakup, or an unravelling culture can all be invitations to enter a deeper world behind the world. You may not have chosen to go there, but you evolve thereby. This book weaves together stories and reflections to introduce teachings and practices from ancient wisdom traditions that illuminate our unique life path.The Path of a Reluctant Metaphysician speaks to the importance of a holistic spiritual (...) philosophy in our current times of the "great unraveling" of our political, economic, cultural, and ecological world. Here you will find an approach to finding your life stance in such troubled times. The metaphysical path is an "all vector approach" that incorporates both "spiritual" and "soulful" pathways, traditions of postural initiation such as Tai Chi, mythology, depth psychology, bodymind healing methods, a non-deterministic approach to astrology, and a multi-dimensional approach to the political sphereDr. Mayer transmits stories, teachings, and practices from his multifaceted career that are so captivating, they may lead you to reluctantly take time out of your busy everyday life. Be forewarned if you read this book you too may become a Reluctant Metaphysician! Kirkus Reviews says: "A meaningful contribution to the spiritual self-help library...A psychologist blends spiritual paths from the East, West, and beyond for an innovative approach to healing...an expansive tale told with humility and insight." Larry Dossey, MD says, Dr. Mayer's revelations in various metaphysical domains are a guide for anyone who desires a richer and more fulfilling experience of life. If you think life must contain more juice than you have known so far, this book is for you. (shrink)

T. 1. Beim jungen Augustinus.--T. 2. Die antimanichäische Epoche.

This study takes inquiry as the starting point for epistemological theorising. It uses this idea to develop new and systematic answers to some of the most fundamental questions in epistemology, including about the nature of core epistemic phenomena as well as their value and the extent to which we possess them.

The coherence objection to the doctrine of the Incarnation maintains that it is impossible for one individual to have both the attributes of God and the attributes of a human being. This article examines Thomas Aquinas’s answer to this objection. I challenge the dominant, mereological interpretation of Aquinas’s position and, in light of this challenge, develop and defend a new alternative interpretation of Aquinas’s response to this important objection to Christian doctrine.

The concept of noncombatant immunity prohibits the intentional targeting of noncombatants. The availability of nonlethal weapons (NLW) may weaken this prohibition, especially since using NLWs against noncombatants may, in some cases, actually save the noncombatants' lives. Given the advancement of NLWs, I argue that their probable appearance on the battlefield demands close scrutiny due to the moral problems associated with their use. In this paper, I examine four distinct cases and determine whether the use of NLWs is morally permissible. While (...) it seems that the reduced harm caused by NLWs makes their use more acceptable, adhering to noncombatant immunity requires more than not killing noncombatants. It also requires that military forces treat noncombatants a certain way. In the cases I present, to use NLWs against noncombatants treats them as combatants and coerces them to do something against their will. While a consequentialist foundation for noncombatant immunity may permit this action, a rights-based concept of noncombatant immunity does not. I contend that only a rights-based concept of noncombatant immunity is viable, and that the availability of NLWs should not significantly alter the prohibitions prescribed by noncombatant immunity. (shrink)

Assertion is the central vehicle for the sharing of knowledge. Whether knowledge is shared successfully often depends on the quality of assertions: good assertions lead to successful knowledge sharing, while bad ones don't. In Sharing Knowledge, Christoph Kelp and Mona Simion investigate the relation between knowledge sharing and assertion, and develop an account of what it is to assert well. More specifically, they argue that the function of assertion is to share knowledge with others. It is this function that supports (...) a central norm of assertion according to which a good assertion is one that has the disposition to generate knowledge in others. The book uses this functionalist approach to motivate further norms of assertion on both the speaker and the hearer side and investigates ramifications of this view for other questions about assertion. (shrink)

Macht ist allgegenwärtig; sie kann soziale, wirtschaftliche oder politische Formen annehmen und wirkt zu jeder Zeit in und um uns. Die Beschäftigung mit Macht und Ohnmacht ist daher auch keineswegs neu - seit Jahrtausenden steht sie im Mittelpunkt des Denkens berühmter Philosophen wie Thukydides, Machiavelli oder Thomas Hobbes. Was aber heißt und ist Macht eigentlich? Wie entsteht und vergeht sie? Was bewirkt sie? Was macht mächtig? Können Recht, Ethik oder Religion ihr Grenzen setzen? Diesen Fragen geht der Rechts-, Politik- und (...) Kulturwissenschaftler Peter Cornelius Mayer-Tasch nach. Facettenreich und kurzweilig führt er die verschiedenen Phänomene und Ausprägungen von Macht in diesem Band zusammen: Angefangen beim Begriff der Macht über die Anbetung von Macht - etwa in Religion oder Politik - schlägt Mayer-Tasch den Bogen bis hin zur Dialektik von Segen und Fluch der Macht und der Utopie von Verzicht auf Macht. Peter Cornelius Mayer-Tasch untersucht eines der bedeutsamsten Phänomene des sozialen Lebens: Was ist Macht und was macht mächtig? Kann man Macht Grenzen setzen? Geschickt verknüpft Mayer-Tasch die philosophisch-historischen Hintergründe von Macht mit ihren unerwarteten, alltäglichen Ausprägungen - oder hätten Sie Macht mit Liebe, Schönheit oder Gartengestaltung in Verbindung gebracht? (shrink)

Highlights of a difficult history -- The preliminary identification of our topic -- Approaches -- Bradley's protest -- James's disjunctive theory -- The source of Bradley's dissatisfaction -- Behaviourism and after -- Heirs of Bradley in the twentieth century -- The underlying metaphysical issue -- Explanatory tactics -- The basic distinction -- Metaphysical categories and taxonomies -- Adverbialism, multiple realizability, and natural kinds -- Adverbialism and levels of explanation -- Taxonomies and supervenience relations -- Rejecting the process : first view (...) -- Supervenience-failure -- The modal commitments of the process : first view -- The interference argument : a putative problem for adverbialist accounts -- Cognitive unison -- The problem with attitude based adverbialism -- Gilbert Ryle and Alan White -- White's argument against disposition-based adverbialism -- The cognitive unison theory -- Tasks -- Cognitive processes -- Potential service of a task -- Superordinate tasks -- Some features of the theory -- Divided attention -- Degrees of attention and merely partial attention -- The causal life of attention -- Mental causation -- How to respond to mental causation objections -- The causal role of attention -- Attention as an enabling condition -- Counterfactuals -- The causal relevance of attention per se -- Counterfactuals and causally relevant properties -- Objections to counterfactual analysis of causation and of causal relevance -- The extrinsicness of unison -- The privative character of unison and the problem of absence causation -- Causal exclusion -- Consequences for cognitive psychology -- Psychology and metaphysics -- The metaphysical commitments of the process-identifying project -- The diverse explanatory construals of current psychological results -- Reasons for deflation -- Inductively unreliable properties -- Questions without answers -- The positive payoff -- Philosophical work for the theory of attention -- Putting attention to philosophical work -- Attention and reference -- Attention and consciousness -- Prospects for optimism. (shrink)

El profesor Mayer nos ofrece m s que una historia del pensamiento pol tico. Es un intento de descubrir lo que hay de com n en la tradici n europea -occidental- del pensamiento pol tico. Este libro es producto de un momento de crisis en esa tradici n, de una crisis que es acaso la m s grave que haya sufrido en el curso de su historia.

The ethics of autonomous cars and automated driving have been a subject of discussion in research for a number of years :28–58, 2016). As levels of automation progress, with partially automated driving already becoming standard in new cars from a number of manufacturers, the question of ethical and legal standards becomes virulent. For exam-ple, while automated and autonomous cars, being equipped with appropriate detection sensors, processors, and intelligent mapping material, have a chance of being much safer than human-driven cars in (...) many regards, situations will arise in which accidents cannot be completely avoided. Such situations will have to be dealt with when programming the software of these vehicles. In several instances, internationally, regulations have been passed, based on legal considerations of road safety, mostly. However, to date, there have been few, if any, cases of a broader ethics code for autonomous or automated driving preceding actual regulation and being based on a broadly composed ethics committee of independent experts. In July 2016, the German Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Alexander Dobrindt, appointed a national ethics committee for automated and connected driving, which began its work in September 2016. In June 2017, this committee presented a code of ethics which was published in German and in English. It consists of 20 ethical guidelines. Having been a member of this committee, I will present the main ethical topics of these guidelines and the discussions that lay behind them. (shrink)