This piece of work intends to shed light on Alexander of Aphrodisias from the second-century Aristotle commentator through the history of Aristotelian psychology up to the sixteenth century's clandestine prompter of the new philosophy of nature. In the millennium after his death the head of the Peripatetic school in Athens served as the authority on Aristotle in the Neo-Platonic school, survived the Arabic centuries of philosophy as Averroes' exemplary exponent of the mortality of the soul and as such was not (...) considered worthy of translation by the Latin Scholastics. This attitude changed only in the Late Middle Ages, when the resistance against Averroes grew fierce and Alexander emerged as the only Aristotelian alternative to him. In 1495 his account of Aristotle's psychology was translated and published and the underlying principles of a natural philosophy, based on sense perception and exempt from metaphysics, became accessible. The prompt reception and widespread endorsement of Alexander's teaching testify to his impact throughout the sixteenth century. (shrink)

While the Marxist theory of the state was predominant in the 1970s, this account began to fade in the 1980s because, by overemphasizing the autonomy or “relative autonomy” of state and politics, “many of its crucial insights were lost to view in a welter of starting points and obscure formulations.” As Giddens points out, to speak of “relative autonomy” is redundant since in society and politics all autonomy is “relative.” If such is the case, why not approach state and politics (...) first as “autonomous” realms and then focus on their relations with other spheres? The only theory of the state which explicitly postulates the autonomy of the state and politics is Max Weber's, as formulated in “Intermediate Reflections.”. (shrink)

Modern Jewish Theology is the first comprehensive collection of Jewish theological ideas from the pathbreaking nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, featuring selections from more than thirty of the most influential modern Jewish thinkers of the era.

Admiration is thought to have essential functions for social interaction: it inspires us to learn from excellent models, to become better people, and to praise others and create social bonds. In intergroup relations, admiration for other groups leads to greater intergroup contact, cooperation, and help. Given these implications, it is surprising that admiration has only been researched by a handful of authors. In this article we review the literature, focusing on the definition of admiration, links to related emotions, measurement, antecedents, (...) and associated behaviors. We propose a conceptual model of admiration that highlights admiration’s function for approaching and emulating successful models, thus contributing to social learning at the interpersonal level and to cultural transmission at the group and societal level. (shrink)

Francesco Petrarca ist heute fast ausschließlich als Verfasser des Canzoniere bekannt, mit dem er für Jahrhunderte die europäische Liebeslyrik geprägt hat. Seinen Zeitgenossen und anscheinend auch ihm selbst galten jedoch seine lateinischen Werke - das Epos Africa, die Viten, die moralphilosophischen Schriften, Invektiven und Briefsammlungen, in denen er die wechselnden Fragen des privaten und öffentlichen Lebens reflektierte - höher; in ihnen fand nicht nur die italienische Umwelt, sondern auch noch ein Jahrhundert später die europäische Nachwelt den Philosophen, der angesichts der (...) Ausweglosigkeit spätmittelalterlicher Scholastik neue Wege zu einem dem Menschen gemäßen Selbst- und Weltverständnis wies. Eckhard Keßlers Untersuchung, die mit dem Premio Montecchio ausgezeichnet wurde, stellt Petrarca in den Kontext der Spätscholastik und zeigt, dass er, gerade weil er die Probleme der spätscholastischen Philosophie ernst nahm, zum exemplarischen Wegbereiter neuzeitlichen Denkens geworden ist. "Eckhard Keßler hat in Petrarca und die Geschichte wie keiner zuvor herausgearbeitet, daß die Prozesse der Säkularisierung als Kern jeder Geschichte der Neuzeit zum ersten Mal von Petrarca nach eigener Erfahrung beschrieben und in ihrer Konsequenz durchdacht worden sind. [.] Petrarcas Auffassungen von einer notwendigen Säkularisierung sind seit dem Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts völlig aus dem Bewußtsein der politischen Philosophen und künstlerischen Verweltlicher ausgeblendet gewesen; auch Schlegel und seine Zeitgenossen besaßen von Petrarcas Leistungen nicht einmal eine Ahnung. Daß die politische Theologie, die politische Philosophie, die politische Poesie gegenwärtig nicht nur in fernen Theokratien Konjunktur haben, sondern auch bei uns herbeigesehnt werden, sollte uns für Petrarcas Alternativen interessieren. Keßler gebührt die Ehre; ihm sollten wir zuhören, wenn er über Petrarca spricht." Bazon Brock. (shrink)

This volume presents readings in philosophy from around the world and across history, from the Buddha to bell hooks, organized around traditional Anglo-European philosophical themes such as freedom and the existence of God. An introductory section discusses the nature of philosophy and gives advice on reading philosophical texts, and introductions to selections provide background and questions for thought.

_Fifty Key Thinkers on Religion_ is an accessible guide to the most important and widely studied theorists on religion of the last 300 years. Arranged chronologically, the book explores the lives, works and ideas of key writers across a truly interdisciplinary range, from sociologists to psychologists. Thinkers covered include: Friedrich Nietzsche James Frazer Sigmund Freud Emile Durkheim Ludwig Wittgenstein Mary Douglas Talal Asad Søren Kierkegaard Providing an indispensable one volume map of our understanding of religion in the west, the book (...) is fully cross-referenced throughout and provides authoritative guides to important primary and secondary texts for students wishing to take their studies further. (shrink)

This book presents a comprehensive overview of what the criminal law would look like if organised around the principle that those who deserve punishment should receive punishment commensurate with, but no greater than, that which they deserve. Larry Alexander and Kimberly Kessler Ferzan argue that desert is a function of the actor's culpability, and that culpability is a function of the risks of harm to protected interests that the actor believes he is imposing and his reasons for acting in (...) the face of those risks. The authors deny that resultant harms, as well as unperceived risks, affect the actor's desert. They thus reject punishment for inadvertent negligence as well as for intentions or preparatory acts that are not risky. Alexander and Ferzan discuss the reasons for imposing risks that negate or mitigate culpability, the individuation of crimes, and omissions. (shrink)

Biotechnology might contribute to solving food safety and security challenges. However, gene technology has been under public scrutiny, linked to the framing of the media and public discourse. The study aims to investigate people’s perceptions and acceptance of food biotechnology with focus on transgenic genetic modification versus genome editing. An online experiment was conducted with participants from the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The participants were presented with the topic of food biotechnology and more specifically with experimentally varied vignettes on transgenic (...) and genetic modification and genome editing. The results suggest that participants from both countries express higher levels of acceptance for genome editing compared to transgenic genetic modification. The general and personal acceptance of these technologies depend largely on whether the participants believe the application is beneficial, how they perceive scientific uncertainty, and the country they reside in. Our findings suggest that future communication about gene technology should focus more on discussing trade-offs between using an agricultural technologies and tangible and relevant benefits, instead of a unidimensional focus on risk and safety. (shrink)

Kaum ein Thema scheint im privaten wie gesellschaftlichen Leben so umstritten zu sein wie die gesunde Lebensfuhrung - Pravention ist ein Kampfplatz von politischen Steuerungsinteressen, okonomischem Kalkul und weltanschaulichen Positionen. Durch die Aufarbeitung der soziohistorischen Entwicklung verschiedener Praventionsverstandnisse tragt dieser interdisziplinare Sammelband zu einem umfassenden Verstandnis von Gesundheitsfursorge und -vorsorge bei und lasst die politischen, soziologischen, rechtlichen und philosophischen Aspekte klar hervortreten.