With an intellectual autobiography by Hans J. Morgenthau.

The famous thesis of the underdetermination of our theories about the world through the available observational data is the basis of Quine's skepsis which forces him to commit himself to the theses of the inscrutability of reference and the indetermination of translation. On the basis of an examination of Quine's distinction between observational and theoretical sentences, I intend to show the impossibility of translating observational sentences without their being affected by the indeterminacy of translation. They too, cannot be translated without (...) the aid of analytical hypotheses only by equating them with observational reports of the language into which they are to be translated. The consequence of this is that the basis of this assumption, the empirical equivalence of logically incompatible systems of the world, loses its point. (shrink)

To this day, an adequate interpretation in English of Fichte’s entire philosophy is lacking. Even Frederick Copleston, whose sixty-two pages on Fichte in his History of Philosophy I should recommend as the best general introduction so far available, capitulates at the end before the task of seeing a unity in the thought of this philosopher.

In March 1980, the oil-platform Alexander L. Kielland capsized in the North Sea resulting in the death of 123 workers. The Norwegian inquiry into the disaster was closed to the public and the survi...

The European Legacy, Volume 16, Issue 4, Page 535-537, 01Jul2011.

Det foreliggende arbejde er en i mange henseender ufærdig gennem­skrivning af dispositionen, noter etc. til et foredrag vi holdt i ldehisto­risk Forening i foråret 1983.

Memory is a general attribute of living species, whose diversification reflects both evolutionary and developmental processes. Episodic-autobiographical memory is regarded as the highest human ontogenetic achievement and as probably being uniquely human. EAM, autonoetic consciousness and the self are intimately linked, grounding, supporting and enriching each other’s development and cohesiveness. Their development is influenced by the socio-cultural–linguistic environment in which an individual grows up or lives. On the other hand, through language, textualization and social exchange, all three elements leak into (...) the world and participate to the dynamic shaping and re-shaping of the cultural scaffolding of the self, mental time traveling and EAM formation. Deficits in self-related processing, autonetic consciousness, emotional processing and mental time traveling can all lead to or co-occur with EAM disturbances, as we illustrate by findings from EAM impairments associated with neurological or psychiatric disorders. (shrink)

Résumé — Cet article se propose d’explorer les thèses d’Adorno sur les thèmes de la solidarité et de la métaphysique, au moment où ces derniers perdent de leur importance. Le point de vue qu’Adorno défend de façon réactionnaire peut être qualifié de « métaphysique de la sécularisation ». Cette prise de position a joué un rôle crucial dans son opposition au capitalisme tardif, au nominalisme, au positivisme et plus généralement à la prohibition de la réflexion. L’article développe enfin les affinités (...) et les différences fondamentales entre les idées d’Adorno concernant la métaphysique et la perspective critique de Heidegger sur ce sujet, dans un contexte de décadence de la métaphysique classique.— The article investigates Adorno’s idea concerning solidarity towards the metaphysics at the moment when it collapses. The position which he indignant defends could be called metaphysics in secularization. It plays a part in his showdown with late capitalism, nominalism, positivism and in general the prohibition against thinking. The article furthermore shows the affinity but also the essential difference between Adorno’s idea concerning metaphysics after the breakdown of the classical metaphysics and Heidegger’s criticism of the metaphysics. (shrink)

The principles of relativity are assertions about the structure of physical laws, whose validity or nonvalidity can only be empirically confirmed or falsified. The weakest forms of those principles are the so-calledglobal propositions. They furnish statements as to which operations—assumed to be performed simultaneously throughout the whole universe—have no influence upon the physical events. Much stronger principles are those of alocal nature. These assert that the physical properties of a system do not change, when the relation of the system is (...) altered vis-à-vis the universe at large. On formulating these local principles, we presuppose either that it is possible to eliminate any influence of the environment or that the influence can be compensated as in the case of universal forces (e.g., gravitational) which can principally not be removed. Still weaker, however, are those formulations of the relativity principles which postulate relativity only for infinitesimally small space-time domains or regions. This distinction yields clarification of all discussions about existence and meaning of a general relativity principle. Such an analysis was already performed by Einstein and Abraham in 1912. (shrink)

Worldwide implementation of the centrat concept sustainable development has given rise to very different interpretations, some extending to central issues within the field of ecological ethics. This is especially true of the two economic approaches termed >Strong weak weak strong< sustainability theory merits interdisciplinary consideration through a theologically oriented ethics of sustainable development.

Jeff Mitscherling and Paul Fairfield, two Canadian philosophers, struggle, as have artists and scholars across disciplines before them, to solve the riddle of what artistic creation is all about. T...