In bildungspolitischen Diskussionen melden sich aktuell immer mehr Vertreter*innen politisch ambitionierter Pädagogiken zu Wort, die die pädagogische Nutzung ganz unterschiedlicher Kulturprodukte kritisieren, indem sie diese als Ausdruck von Rassismus, Sexismus, Kolonialismus oder Klassismus deuten. Bei solchen politisch und pädagogisch umkämpften Kulturprodukten handelt es sich beispielsweise um Kinderspielzeug, Dreadlocks oder Schokoladenverpackungen, um Kunstwerke, Fernsehserien, Gedichte und um Bücher. In dem Band werden diese engagierte Pädagogiken, die pädagogische und politische Vorgaben für den angemessenen und richtigen Umgang mit Kulturprodukten machen, anhand von Beispielen (...) - vom Kinderbuch 'Jim Knopf ́ bis hin zu 'Gonzo' aus der Muppetshow - aus der gebotenen Distanz analysiert und auf den Prüfstand gestellt. (shrink)

Johannes Kepler belonged to a long tradition of inquiring into nature with reference to God. This applies to Ptolemy, N. Copernicus, Chr. Clavius. Kepler's „new kind of poem” is analyzed in five sections which are based on Keplerian key words: Innovation, Hypothesis, Cause, Soul, Picture. Kepler consciously adhered to new questions, new answers, new methods. He relied on a new notion of hypothesis. His celestial dynamics included a celestial psychology whereby he used a visual conception of astronomy.

In 1661, Kaspar Schott published his comprehensive textbook Cursus mathematicus in Würzburg for the first time, his Encyclopedia of all mathematical sciences. It was so successful that it was published again in 1674 and 1677. In its 28 books, Schott gave an introduction for beginners in 22 mathematical disciplines by means of 533 figures and numerous tables. He wanted to avoid the shortness and the unintelligibility of his predecessors Alsted and Hérigone. He cited or recommended far more than hundred authors, (...) among them Protestants like Michael Stifel and Johannes Kepler, but also Catholics like Nicolaus Copernicus. The paper gives a survey of this work and explains especially interesting aspects: The dedication to the German emperor Leopold I., Athanasius Kircher’s letter of recommendation as well as Schott’s classification of sciences, explanations regarding geometry, astronomy, and algebra. (shrink)

There are eleven known manuscripts of Hobbes’s Elements of Law. As they divide on textual grounds into two groups, they are effectively two separate editions, employing two different texts. While two of the manuscripts apparently were Hobbes’s working copies, it also seems clear that he never definitively established the text of the Elements. There are reasons for thinking it unlikely that, as has been suggested, Hobbes intended the work to influence debate in the Short Parliament. More likely, he hoped his (...) patron, Newcastle, would transmit his principles to the monarch and his chief advisors. (shrink)

The time and opportunity have finally arrived for the next phase of Septuagint research. Even though not all the books of the LXX have been completed by the Septuaginta-Unternehmen in Göttingen, by far the largest number of books have been assigned and are being prepared. Thus, text-critical work has largely been completed, or is in the process of being prepared. The next phase, hermeneutical research, is at hand. This phase naturally requires correct methodology. This applies to an acceptable textual theory (...) as well as to the reconstruction of the textual history of the LXX. This article takes the Septuagint of Proverbs as its point of comparison and discusses the following issues: novel research (monographs) and new research projects in conjunction with existing projects (exegetical commentaries, a theology of the Septuagint). (shrink)

Das geniale Jugendwerk "Die Bestimmung des Menschen", das der Aufklarungstheologe Johann Joachim Spalding 1748 erstmals vorlegte und bis 1794 in insgesamt 11 autorisierten Auflagen ausgehen liess, gab einer "Basisidee der deutschen Aufklarung" (N. Hinske) literarischen Ausdruck und trug zur Karriere der philosophischen Anthropologie im 18. Jahrhundert massgeblich bei. Diese popularphilosophische, auf rationale Evidenz zielende und darum offenbarungstheologisch voraussetzungslose Schrift sollte in der Form eines inneren Dialogs den Prozess existentieller Selbstverstandigung exemplarisch skizzieren. In der religiosen Vertiefung des Moralitatsgedankens erscheinen Gott (...) und Unsterblichkeit fur Spalding, darin auf seinen spateren Briefpartner I. Kant vorausweisend, als regulative Ideen: Erst der Begriff des "ganzen Lebens" gibt zu erkennen, dass der Mensch in "diesem Leben" dazu bestimmt ist, "rechtschaffen und in der Rechtschaffenheit gluckselig zu seyn". Die vorliegende Edition bietet erstmals eine integrative Wiedergabe aller Textstufen sowie vorab den fortlaufenden Text der Erstausgabe. Der Band ist durch eine bundige Einleitung, eingehende Erlauterungen und ausfuhrliche Register erschlossen. Mit ihm wird der theologischen, philosophischen und literaturwissenschaftlichen Aufklarungsforschung ein zentraler Leittext editorisch prazise und leserfreundlich zur Verfugung gestellt. (shrink)

Band 7 der «Gesammelten Schriften» von Johann Georg Sulzer bietet erstmals eine philologisch zuverlässige Präsentation sowie eine detaillierte Kommentierung und Kontextualisierung von Sulzers Beiträgen zur Dichtung und Literaturkritik der Aufklärungsepoche. Abhandlungen, Vorreden und Rezensionen dokumentieren seine vielfältige Partizipation an den literarischen Debatten seiner Zeit. Zugleich rückt Sulzer selbst als Dichter ins Blickfeld, der etwa die Erzählung «Damon oder die platonische Liebe» und das Schauspiel «Cymbelline» verfasste. Die versammelten literarischen und literaturkritischen Texte umfassen Sulzers gesamte Schaffensphase (1745-1779) und stellen eine (...) entscheidende Schnittstelle zu weiteren Bänden der Edition dar, etwa zu den ästhetischen und philosophischen Schriften (Band 2, 3 und 4) und zu dem Briefwechsel Sulzers mit Johann Jacob Bodmer (Band 10). (shrink)

Preliminary Material /Hans Adler and Rainer Godel -- Formen des Nichtwissens im Zeitalter des Fragens /Hans Adler and Rainer Godel -- Das gewisse Etwas der Aufklärung /Hans Adler -- Zur Prekarität der Aufklärung. Vernunftkritik und das Paradigma der Anthropologie (Taine, Horkheimer / Adorno, Foucault, Lyotard) /Heinz Thoma -- Von den berechenbaren Grenzen des Nichtwissens zur Zeit der Aufklärung /Eberhard Knobloch -- L'effi cace de la raison /Bertrand Binoche -- Aufgeklärtes Nicht-Wissen /Rainer Enskat -- 'Fabelhaft' und 'wunderbar' in Aufklärungsdiskursen. Zur (...) Genese des modernen Mythosbegriffs /Stefan Matuschek -- Un-Möglichkeit der Ausnahme: Die Wunderkritik der Aufklärung /Daniel Weidner -- La sagacité de l'esprit. La conjecture au XVIIIe siècle /Denis Thouard -- Séjourner dans la contradiction. L'idée de «nouvelles Lumières» et les contradictions de l'universalism /Etienne Balibar -- Doing Without Knowing in Kant and Diderot: Experiments in Enlightenment /Claudia Brodsky -- Ways of Being Ignorant: A Field Guide /Arnd Bohm -- Wissenwollen trotz Nichtwissenkönnens. Von den Erkenntnisgrenzen der psychologischen und pädagogischen Wissenschaften des späten 18. Jahrhunderts /Gunhild Berg -- "Ein Abgrund innerer dunkeln Kräfte". Nichtwissen in den Bildungsdiskursen der Aufklärung /Stefan Metzger -- "There is nothing so intrinsically rational as religion is." Zum Versuch einer vernünftigen Entschlüsselung des Nicht-mehr-Wissbaren in der Frühaufklärung /Insa Kringler -- Ein falsches Bild. Oder: Was passiert, wenn Katharsis Form wird? Zu Lessings Emilia Galotti /Ralf Simon -- Die Schattenseiten der Seele: Zu Johann Georg Sulzers Theorie der dunklen Vorstellungen /Élisabeth Décultot -- Arten der Unwissenheit im anthropologischen Diskurs der Aufklärung /Angela Holzer -- Die Zone der Unbestimmtheit - Melancholiediskurs zwischen Wissen und Nichtwissen /Cornelia Bogen -- Die Produktion des Nicht-Wissens vom Selbst: Autobiographie bei Goethe und Hegel /Fritz Breithaupt -- "Charakter" - Die Konkurrenz einer metaphorischen und einer begriffl ichen Erkenntnisform des Nicht-/Wissens vom Menschen /Monika Sproll -- Unzuverlässige Leser - unzuverlässige Erzähler; oder: Literarische Wege aus dem Nicht-Wissen /Rainer Godel -- Labyrinthe der Aufklärung. Goethes Roman Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre /Harald Tausch -- Nichtwissen in Johann Gottfried Herders Geschichtsphilosophie /Luca Crescenzi -- Ins Narrenschiff mit Sokrates! Formen des Abderitismus bei Christoph Martin Wieland /Geneviève Espagne -- Zur Interdependenz von Wissen und Nichtwissen. Anthropologie als Aufklärungskritik bei Christoph Martin Wieland /Antonio Roselli -- Nichtwissen und Glaube. Zur Erkenntnistheorie und Ethik Friedrich Heinrich Jacobis /Mark-Georg Dehrmann -- Darstellung und Gegendarstellung von Aufklärung. Handlung, Erzählung und Schein in Schillers Geisterseher /Dirk Oschmann -- Wissen und Nicht-Wissen von anderen Menschen. Das Problem der Gemütererkenntnis von Gracián bis Schiller /Daniel Fulda -- Historische Vaterschaftsprozesse: Nichtwissen, verborgenes und verkehrtes Wissen bei Goethe, Hogarth und Kleist /Alexander Košenina -- Translating Knowledge and Prescribing Taste: English Enlightenment Critics /Sabine Volk-Birke -- Autorenverzeichnis /Hans Adler and Rainer Godel -- Namenregister /Hans Adler and Rainer Godel. (shrink)

What moral reasons, if any, do we have to ensure the long-term survival of humanity? This article contrastively explores two answers to this question: according to the first, we should ensure the survival of humanity because we have reason to maximize the number of happy lives that are ever lived, all else equal. According to the second, seeking to sustain humanity into the future is the appropriate response to the final value of humanity itself. Along the way, the article discusses (...) various issues in population axiology, particularly the so-called Intuition of Neutrality and John Broome’s ‘greediness objection’ to this intuition. (shrink)

This article is part of a research project, Conversations after God. The focus of this article is to reflect on the theory and methodology of practical theology in a post-metaphysical context. It will be suggested that practical theology can redefine itself as public theology, but specifically as Christology by engaging the public texts within their contexts, but from a Christ-science hermeneutical approach. The proposed approach is a hermeneutical approach where the Christ-Ereignis guides the inner- and inter-textual reading of texts within (...) contexts. This Christ-Ereignis cannot be translated into a science or even a definable philosophy and therefore the logos is crossed out. Christology, as public theology is done from the margins of the dominant discourses and therefore it could be seen as a Christology from the margins of the market to create spaces of kingdom life: life in fullness. (shrink)

Is it necessary to have an ideal of perfection in mind to identify and evaluate true biotechnological human “enhancements”, or can one do without? To answer this question we suggest employing the distinction between ideal and non-ideal theory, found in the debate in political philosophy about theories of justice: the distinctive views about whether one needs an idea of a perfectly just society or not when it comes to assessing the current situation and recommending steps to increase justice. In this (...) paper we argue that evaluating human enhancements from a non-ideal perspective has some serious shortcomings, which can be avoided when endorsing an ideal approach. Our argument starts from a definition of human enhancement as improvement, which can be understood in two ways. The first approach is backward-looking and assesses improvements with regard to a status quo ante. The second, a forward-looking approach, evaluates improvements with regard to their proximity to a goal or according to an ideal. After outlining the limitations of an exclusively backward-looking view, we answer possible objections against a forward-looking view. Ultimately, we argue that the human enhancement debate would lack some important moral insights if a forward-looking view of improvement is not taken into consideration. (shrink)

Contents \t\t\t\t\t \tTRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION \t\t1 \t \tNOTE ON THE TRANSLATION \t\t39 \t OBSERVATIONS ON THE FEELING OF THE BEAUTIFUL AND SUBLIME \t\t\t\t\t \tSECTION ONE: \t\t\t\t \t\tOf the Distinct Objects of the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime \t\t45 \tSECTION TWO: \t\t\t\t \t\tOf the Attributes of the Beautiful and Sublime.

The rise of fake news, climate change denial, and the anti-vaccination movement all pose important challenges to contemporary views about freedom of expression. This paper attempts to delineate the limits of freedom of expression, specifically with regard to truth, lies, and harm. My strategy is to offer a critical reading of John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty to demonstrate its enduring relevance to contemporary issues in the freedom of expression. My critical reading of Mill provides guidance on when state interference is (...) justified, the role of education, the nature of harm in the age of mass media and globalisation, and the relevance of truth and lies in the freedom of expression. Ultimately, I demonstrate that the Millian account I present can deal adequately with contemporary issues in the freedom of expression in line with the current social context, relevant empirical facts, and our considered judgements. (shrink)

'My city of ruins' is the title of a song by Bruce Springsteen and will accompany a public theological reflection of imagining alternative cities. A city of ruins is either a city of ruins in the sense that it is a city in ruins. Alternatively it is a city of ruins in the sense that it is a city that is built from ruins, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The article will reflect on the second alternative namely the (...) poiesis of a habitable, sustainable and political space in a time when all the meta-discourses of constructing and social engineering lie in ruins . The article will focus on Derrida's ideas of deconstruction and the hope and prayer of perhaps. Springsteen's song includes the prayer: 'come on, come on, rise up!' A city of ruins prayed into existence, rising up by the call of those longing for a liveable, sustainable city to rise up from the ruins of too many empty promises of the various political agendas. Creating and imagining a city of prayer, which involves the prayers for justice incarnate in the broken language of revolutions, and transformations and political construction, thus calls a city of promise into existence. (shrink)

The attempts to interpret Russian and Southeast European history in light of a Byzantine background tend to focus on traditions of political culture, and to claim that patterns characteristic of the late Roman Empire have had a formative impact on later developments. But the effects attributed to political culture presuppose a civilizational framework, and arguments on that level must come to grips with evidence of historical discontinuity, during the Byzantine millennium as well as in later centuries and on the periphery (...) of the Byzantium cultural world. The path to a historically grounded civilizational analysis is, however, obstructed by persisting images of Byzantium as a stagnant culture, immobilized by a complete fusion of secular and sacred authority. The article discusses and criticizes some of the most influential versions of this view. (shrink)