Die alte Frage, wie Menschen zusammen leben wollen, muss nach Kopernikus neu gestellt werden. Anthropologie und Kosmologie verweisen aufeinander, und doch fügen sie sich nicht in einen gemeinsamen Erklärungsrahmen. Das zeigt sich unter anderem an den Erörterungen über den freien Willen und der daran hängenden Möglichkeit der Moral. In der Überzeugung, dass wahrheitsfähiges Wissen nur in den Naturwissenschaften zu erlangen sei, überschreitet man deren Grenzen. Dieses Buch will, anknüpfend an Kants Kritik der dogmatischen Denkungsart, einen Beitrag dazu leisten, diese einengenden (...) Vorgaben zu überwinden. (shrink)

Les sociétés découvrent leur vrai visage dès qu'on les observe depuis leurs marges. La figure du mendiant offre, de ce point de vue, un cas idéal. Personnage déclassé et toujours soupçonné d'être un parasite, le mendiant est victime de tous les préjugés, de toutes les violences. Dans la société grecque classique, il est l'anti-modèle de l'homme accompli, que définit son statut de propriétaire terrien, de chef de famille et de citoyen. Mais il en est en même temps le miroir et (...) le révélateur : il lui renvoie ses propres valeurs et ses propres défauts. A travers l'étude de cinq représentations littéraires et philosophiques du mendiant puisées chez Homère, Sophocle, Aristophane, Platon et les cyniques, Etienne Helmer montre comment ce personnage, objet de mépris et de suspicion, est toujours en même temps présenté comme le porte-parole de la vérité, aussi bien sur les plans éthique et politique que métaphysique et anthropologique. Cet ouvrage, le seul en langue française consacré à cette question, n'est pas destiné aux seuls spécialistes de l'Antiquité : il s'inscrit dans un champ de recherches plus large autour de l'une des questions centrales de notre temps. (shrink)

This comment questions Lister's reading of the reciprocity condition in three respects. First, it challenges the view that this condition necessarily leads to egalitarian claims about just distribution. Secondly, it questions Lister's argument that the reciprocity condition is linked to substantial schemes of egalitarian distribution irrespective of context. Thirdly, it claims that entitlements to justice for people with mental or psychological impairments cannot be based on a distinction between willingness and unwillingness to contribute to the cooperative venture of a society.

Le 4e de couverture indique : « Au nom de l'universel, la plupart des philosophes font abstraction de notre ancrage local : ils appréhendent l'homme comme être au monde en général, comme être-là. C'est pourtant toujours dans des lieux particuliers que nous nous trouvons, avec leurs contingences topographiques, historiques et matérielles : c'est toujours ici que nous sommes là. Mais qu'est-ce qu'un lieu, et qu'est-ce que la philosophie peut en dire? En mobilisant la géographie, la littérature, l'anthropologie et l'histoire pour (...) comprendre cet objet négligé de la philosophie occidentale, Étienne Helmer montre combien les lieux sont bien plus que les simples cadres physiques de nos existences : tout à la fois matrices identitaires et formes événementielles, ils engagent le rapport politique que les individus et les groupes entretiennent avec l'universel dans ses aspects théoriques et pratiques. ». (shrink)

Né à Sinope au IVe siècle avant J-C et mort à Corinthe après un long séjour à Athènes, Diogène est un personnage exubérant et scandaleux dont les provocations sont restées célèbres : il fait l'amour et se masturbe en public, éconduit Alexandre le Grand comme un importun et insulte ses contemporains. Figure de la transgression, il n'est pourtant pas un apôtre de l'ensauvagement : ce n'est pas la civilisation que Diogène conteste, mais les servitudes encombrant notre vie matérielle et les (...) conventions nous inféodant aux puissants. Mode de vie et pensée tout ensemble, le cynisme de Diogène est une manière neuve de philosopher qui, loin des constructions théoriques complexes, reste au plus près des réalités quotidiennes. En proposant l'idéal d'une vie simple soustraite aux illusions du désir, cette philosophie offre aux individus et aux sociétés un contre-pouvoir libérateur. Sa critique des valeurs sociales et sa puissance de dérangement n'ont pas échappé à Nietzsche ni à Foucault. Elles gardent toute leur actualité pour qui s'interroge sur les bienfaits et les méfaits de la croissance économique, sur les exclusions déchirant le monde humain. (shrink)

In this comment I challenge Kerr’s claim that a coherent expression of a ‘liberalism of freedom’ needs an extended first Rawlsian principle of justice incorporating the principle of fair equality of opportunity for two reasons. First, such an extended first principle leads to illiberal consequences by narrowing down the scope of individual responsibility for choice and effort way too much. Second, such an extended first principle misses a main Rawlsian insight, namely that in a theory of justice the principle securing (...) basic liberties and the principle of fair equality of opportunity serve different purposes. (shrink)

An integrated approach of the topics ‘population’, ‘energy’ and ‘climate’ results in conclusions contrary to public opinion. Population growth will lead to disaster ten times faster than global warming. 2.5 billion people in the poor countries account for a population growth of one billion every 12 years. Fertility rates decrease with increasing gross domestic products (GDPs). Increasing GDPs correlate with increasing energy consumption. Wind power and solar energy are too expensive for the poor countries. Low-price energy can only be produced (...) with coal, gas, oil and uranium. Therefore, many more coal-fired power stations and nuclear reactors need to be built and hopefully population growth will slow down. Once population is stabilized environmental issues can be addressed. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to link empirical findings concerning environmental inequalities with different normative yard-sticks for assessing whether these inequalities should be deemed unjust, or not. We argue that such an inquiry must necessarily take into account some caveats regarding both empirical research and normative theory. We suggest that empirical results must be contextualised by establishing geographies of risk. As a normative yard-stick we propose a moderately demanding social-egalitarian account of justice and democratic citizenship, which we take to (...) be best suited to identify unjust as well as legitimate instances of socio-environmental inequality. (shrink)

Within the highly organized nuclear structure, specific nuclear domains (ND10) are defined by accumulations of proteins that can be interferon-upregulated, implicating ND10 as sites of a nuclear defense mechanism.Compatible with such a mechanism is the deposition of herpesvirus, adenovirus, and papovavirus genomes at the periphery of ND10. However, these DNA viruses begin their transcription at ND10 and consequently initiate replication at these sites, suggesting that viruses have evolved ways to circumvent this potential cellular defense and exploit it. Other ND10-associated proteins (...) belong to ubiquitin-related pathways. These findings, together with the accumulation of various overexpressed cellular and viral proteins, suggest that ND10 function as nuclear dumps or as nuclear depots. Consistent with the recruitment or deposition of various proteins and viral genomes adjacent to ND10, ND10 themselves may only be protein accumulations at specific but as yet undefined nuclear deposition sites. The concept of specific nuclear deposition sites may explain the juxtaposition of various nuclear bodies and allows testable predictions about a potential supramolecular regulatory mechanism whereby proteins are selectively segregated or released by global changes induced in nuclear functions such as viral infections, stress, or hormonal induction. BioEssays 20:660–667, 1998.© 1998 John Wiley & Sons Inc. (shrink)

Within the highly organized nuclear structure, specific nuclear domains (ND10) are defined by accumulations of proteins that can be interferon-upregulated, implicating ND10 as sites of a nuclear defense mechanism.Compatible with such a mechanism is the deposition of herpesvirus, adenovirus, and papovavirus genomes at the periphery of ND10. However, these DNA viruses begin their transcription at ND10 and consequently initiate replication at these sites, suggesting that viruses have evolved ways to circumvent this potential cellular defense and exploit it. Other ND10-associated proteins (...) belong to ubiquitin-related pathways. These findings, together with the accumulation of various overexpressed cellular and viral proteins, suggest that ND10 function as nuclear dumps or as nuclear depots. Consistent with the recruitment or deposition of various proteins and viral genomes adjacent to ND10, ND10 themselves may only be protein accumulations at specific but as yet undefined nuclear deposition sites. The concept of specific nuclear deposition sites may explain the juxtaposition of various nuclear bodies and allows testable predictions about a potential supramolecular regulatory mechanism whereby proteins are selectively segregated or released by global changes induced in nuclear functions such as viral infections, stress, or hormonal induction. BioEssays 20:660–667, 1998.© 1998 John Wiley & Sons Inc. (shrink)

This commentary argues that, in discussing the racial and cultural identities of cinematic representations of humanoid AI robots, nuances and differentiations are beneficial. It suggests that the essay on which the present text comments does not sufficiently acknowledge the range of identities found in AI films, in particular in Alex Garland's Ex Machina.

A response to Lindsay Craig's essay, The So-Called Extended Synthesis and Population Genetics.

Simple Heuristics That Make Us Smart invites readers to embark on a new journey into a land of rationality that differs from the familiar territory of cognitive science and economics. Traditional views of rationality tend to see decision makers as possessing superhuman powers of reason, limitless knowledge, and all of eternity in which to ponder choices. To understand decisions in the real world, we need a different, more psychologically plausible notion of rationality, and this book provides it. It is about (...) fast and frugal heuristics--simple rules for making decisions when time is pressing and deep thought an unaffordable luxury. These heuristics can enable both living organisms and artificial systems to make smart choices, classifications, and predictions by employing bounded rationality. But when and how can such fast and frugal heuristics work? Can judgments based simply on one good reason be as accurate as those based on many reasons? Could less knowledge even lead to systematically better predictions than more knowledge? Simple Heuristics explores these questions, developing computational models of heuristics and testing them through experiments and analyses. It shows how fast and frugal heuristics can produce adaptive decisions in situations as varied as choosing a mate, dividing resources among offspring, predicting high school drop out rates, and playing the stock market. As an interdisciplinary work that is both useful and engaging, this book will appeal to a wide audience. It is ideal for researchers in cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, and cognitive science, as well as in economics and artificial intelligence. It will also inspire anyone interested in simply making good decisions. (shrink)

The well-known proposal to consider the Lüders-von Neumann measurement as a non-classical extension of probability conditionalization is further developed. The major results include some new concepts like the different grades of compatibility, the objective conditional probabilities which are independent of the underlying state and stem from a certain purely algebraic relation between the events, and an axiomatic approach to quantum mechanics. The main axioms are certain postulates concerning the conditional probabilities and own intrinsic probabilistic interpretations from the very beginning. A (...) Jordan product is derived for the observables, and the consideration of composite systems leads to operator algebras on the Hilbert space over the complex numbers, which is the standard model of quantum mechanics. The paper gives an expository overview of the results presented in a series of recent papers by the author. For the first time, the complete approach is presented as a whole in a single paper. Moreover, since the mathematical proofs are already available in the original papers, the present paper can dispense with the mathematical details and maximum generality, thus addressing a wider audience of physicists, philosophers or quantum computer scientists. (shrink)

Significant disagreement remains in ethics about the duties we have towards wild animals. This paper aims to mediate those disagreements by exploring how they are supported by, or diverge from, the common-sense ethical principles of non-maleficence, beneficence, autonomy and justice popular in medical ethics. We argue that these principles do not clearly justify traditional conservation or a ‘hands-off ’ approach to wild-animal welfare; instead, they support natural negative duties to reduce the harms that we cause as well as natural positive (...) duties to promote the welfare of wild animals. (shrink)

This is Michael Picard's translation of Gerd Achenbach’s _Philosophische Praxis_ Beset by life-problems you can neither get rid of nor solve? Stuck? Over- or under-burdened by reality? Not living up to your potential? Philosophical Praxis is the alternative to psychotherapy for people not satisfied to muddle through life or merely exist. Not a method or a teaching, not diagnosis, treatment, or therapy, not a ready-made rule of life for you to conform to. It is no preformed application, but the (...) use of philosophy to aid the individual, organization and society to come to self-understanding, so that people may thrive and live up to being themselves. Philosophical Praxis is not the prepossession of any trained philosopher, but a specialization in the practice of philosophy aimed to liberate guests (not ‘clients’) through sympathetic co-thinking toward their own fresh appraisals of their life and its circumstances. This book is the chief statement of German philosopher, Gerd Achenbach, founder of Philosophical Praxis, who in pioneering this revival of philosophy for life spawned a global movement. (shrink)

In this volume the author tackles this problem in a rigorous analysis which begins with the general dynamics of living systems and leads the reader step-by-step ...

At the time of the crisis culminating in the First World War, Bloch, a long time opponent of the authoritarian German state, was taking liberal, pacifist and finally even socialist positions. This criticism was also directed at German scholarly philosophy. In order to elaborate the fundamental idea of his theory – a metaphysics of inwardness – without being affected by current trends, Bloch refers back to the classical antique and neoplatonic gnostic metaphysics as well as to Manichaeism. These elements, which (...) constitute the very basis of his idea of the anticipating consciousness, are then related to a central problem facing the 19th century: the fate of subjectivity in the context of capitalist reification. In essayistic style Bloch develops and exemplifies classical themes using references to contemporary culture in all its complexity. (shrink)