This text explores how we understand living and other complex systems. The conventional basis of understanding rests on abstract general theories, but this book proposes conceptual continuity as a new means of comparing systems of divergent complexity and resolving problems in complex systems.

This article investigates the plausibility of the proof presented at the Sixth Ecumenical Council to show that the Logos of Patriarch Menas and the two letters of Pope Vigilius were forgeries. These texts were among the most important testimonia of the so-called Monotheletes, and prove the assertion of one operation and one will in Christ long before the controversy of the seventh century. Through an analysis of the conciliar acts and other texts it is shown that the argumentation of the (...) council was not only incoherent and self-contradictory but actually scandalous, since the evidence presented by an authentic papyrus roll of the Acts of the Fifth Council, with its clear proof of the authenticity of the Vigilius letters, was ignored. In an adoption and further development of the frequently overlooked treatment of this matter in the 1971 edition of the Acts of the Fifth Ecumenical Council the following is demonstrated: the discovery of the longer first edition of the Acts, containing the Vigilius letters, in the original papyrus rolls of the Acts of the Fifth Council led, from the beginning of the so-called monenergist-monothelete controversy, to the introduction of the disputed texts into the shorter second edition contained in codices. It is indisputable that these texts are authentic. (shrink)

The article attempts a reformulation of globalization theory. We identify ‘flow speak’ and the flattened ontology of the social that goes with it as a major limitation in contemporary globalization theory. Contrary to the prevailing overemphasis on mobility and deterritorialization, we suggest an existential turn that orients future globalization thinking more towards issues of belonging, choice and commitment, and the rhythmicity of social relations. To highlight the processual character of this shift of perspective, we shall draw on the paradigmatic figure (...) of the ‘homecomer’. S/he, in our understanding, embodies the ambivalence between the lure of global options and the need for commitment to lasting bonds. Thus, we do not argue for a post-mortem on globalization theory, but maintain that a deeper understanding of globalization as a ‘way of being in the world’ would require a phenomenologically inclined repositioning of the concept. (shrink)

Epiphenomenalism (with respect to the intentional) may be construed as the claim that intentional events as such are causally inert. If property-dualism is true, that is if intentional properties aren't identical with or reducible to physical properties, then epiphenomenalism is inevitable. Some philosophers (most notably Fodor) have argued that their irreducibility notwithstanding intentional properties are causally responsible properties (or at least supervenient upon causally responsible properties). The arguments supporting these promising allegations aren't convincing. Given the tmth of property-dualism, there is (...) no (Fodorian or any other) escape-route from epiphenomenalism. (shrink)