Wirth beschreibt in diesem Buch Volkstum und Weltmacht in der Geschichte, im Original 1904 erschienen.

This paper suggests a method to calculate a degree of validity for the proof of a statement which is derived from empirical statements by means of logic conclusions. The empirical statements are assumed not to be completely valid or their validity to be doubtful. The suggested rules are consistent with two-valued logic, yield decreasing validities with increasing number of applications of modus ponens and obey the law of the excluded middle. The actual calculation of validity values, the relation of the (...) suggested method to some truth tables of multi-valued logic and to fuzzy logic are discussed. (shrink)

Truth, semblance, reconciliation -- The dialectic of modernism and postmodernism -- Art and industrial production -- Ethics and dialogue.

Similar problems keep reappearing in both the discussion about the “hard” problem of consciousness and in fundamental issues in quantum theory. We argue that the similarities are due to common problems within the conceptual foundations of both fields. In quantum physics, the state reduction marks the “coming into being” of a new aspect of reality for which no causal explanation is available. Likewise, the self-referential nature of consciousness constitutes a “coming into being” of a new quality which goes beyond a (...) fully causal account of reality. Both subjects require a categorical scheme which is significantly richer then the one used in addressing factual aspects of reality alone. While parts of this categorical scheme are realized in the formalism of quantum theory, they are seldom applied in the context of consciousness. We show what the structural limitations of a classical categorical framework are, how a richer framework can be developed, and how it can be applied to both quantum physics and consciousness. (shrink)

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1982.

A revision of the author's thesis, Stuttgart, 1972.

In a world permeated by digital technology, engineering is involved in every aspect of human life. Engineers address a wider range of design problems than ever before, raising new questions and challenges regarding their work, as boundaries between engineering, management, politics, education and art disappear in the face of comprehensive socio-technical systems. It is therefore necessary to review our understanding of engineering practice, expertise and responsibility. This book advances the idea that the future of engineering will not be driven by (...) a static view of a closed discipline, but rather will result from a continuous dialogue between different stakeholders involved in the design and application of technical artefacts. Based on papers presented at the 2016 conference of the forum for Philosophy, Engineering and Technology in Nuremberg, Germany, the book features contributions by philosophers, engineers and managers from academia and industry, who discuss current and upcoming issues in engineering from a wide variety of different perspectives. They cover topics such as problem solving strategies and value-sensitive design, experimentation and simulation, engineering knowledge and education, interdisciplinary collaboration, sustainability, risk and privacy. The different contributions in combination draw a comprehensive picture of efforts worldwide to come to terms with engineering, its foundations in philosophy, the ethical problems it causes, and its effect on the ongoing development of society. (shrink)

The invention of the laser in 1960 and the innovation process of laser technology during the following years coincided with the dramatic increase of the East-West-conflict during the 1960s – the peak of the so-called Cold War after the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The predictable features of the new device, not only for experimental sciences, but also for technical and military applications, led instantly to a laser hype all over the world. Military funding and research played a (...) major part in this development. Especially in the United States military laser research and development played an important role in the formation of Cold War sciences. The European allies followed this example to a certain degree, but their specific national environments led to quite different solutions and results. This article describes and analyzes the special features and background of this development for the Federal Republic of Germany in the area of conflict between science, politics and industry from 1960 to the early 1970s. (shrink)

A selective excavation of labor history and an analysis of recent worker experiences in Detroit's bankruptcy expose the conflict of rights that shapes the US capitalist society. Masked by myths, forbidden memories, and selective values, the trumpeting of "workers' rights" in the United States today weakens workers' claims to rights, denying many "an existence worthy of human dignity". Thirty years ago, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' Economic Justice for All called for a "New American Experiment" establishing positive economic human (...) rights. Today, the problems they identified have worsened, and the conversion they called for is absent from dominant political and economic discourse. The survival strategies of marginalized communities suggest a praxis of conversion creating possibilities for a future of human dignity. (shrink)

Platynereis dumerilii, a marine polychaetous annelid with indirect development, can be continuously bred in the laboratory. Here, we describe its spectacular reproduction and development and address a number of open research problems. Oogenesis is easily studied because the oocytes grow while floating in the coelom. Unlike the embryos of other model spiralians, the Platynereis embryo is transparent giving insight into the dynamic structures and processes inside the cells that accompany the prevailing anisotropic cleavages. Functional studies on cell specification and differential (...) gene expression in embryos, larvae, and later stages are underway. Lifelong proliferation of uniform trunk segments qualifies Platynereis as a model for the study of gene expression and of the functional circuitry of this process. Platynereis can also become a stepping stone in the comparison of segmentation between annelids and arthropods because it comes closer to the putative ancestral morphology and style of development than other model annelids. BioEssays 26:314–325, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

This article describes a rhetorical characteristic of Kierkegaard’s thirteen Discourses “at the Communion” on Fridays, namely, their way of expressing religious truths, theological distinctions, and homiletic statements by a certain concept of space, place and movement, thus making them existentially accessible. It illustrates the fundamental meaning of this series of discourses and especially the last discourse for Kierkegaard’s entire work as an author. By focussing on the topological categories and correlations in the last discourse, the article demonstrates the constitutive role (...) of spatial terms and meanings and so discovers the theological topology of the series as a whole with its coincidences of soteriological, anthropological, liturgical, rhetorical, and existential movements—leading the listener/reader to the “place of rest at the foot of the altar.”. (shrink)