The scale is the most famous emblem of the law, including intellectual property (IP). Because IP rights impose social costs on the public by limiting access to protected work, the law can be justified only to the extent that, on balance, it encourages enough creation and dissemination of new works to offset those costs. The scale is thus a potent rhetorical trope of fairness and objectivity, but also an instrument the law thinks with – one that is constantly invoked to (...) justify or to question the extent of available IP protection. The balancing act that underlies the legitimacy of IP is, however, literally impossible to perform. Because we are unable to measure the benefits that IP has for inventors or the costs it has for the public, the scale has nothing to weigh. It conveys a clear sense that IP law can be balanced, but in fact propagates only a visible simulacrum of balance – one that is as empty as it is powerful. (shrink)

This book presents a philosophical interpretation to numerical cognition based on dual process theories and heuristics. It shows how investigations in cognitive science can shed light on issues traditionally raised by philosophers of mathematics. The analysis will also help readers to better understand the relationship between current neuroscientific research and the philosophical reflection on mathematics. The author seeks to explain the acquisition of mathematical concepts. To accomplish this, he needs to answer two questions. How can the concepts of approximate numerosity (...) become an object of thought that is so accessible to our consciousness? How are these concepts refined and specified in such a way as to become numbers? Unfortunately, there is currently no model that can truly demonstrate the role of language in the development of numerical skills starting from approximate pre-verbal skills. However, the author details a solution to this problem: dual process theories. It is an approach widely used by theorists focusing on reasoning, decision making, social cognition, and consciousness. Here, he applies this approach to the studies on mathematical knowledge. He details the results brought about by psychological and neuroscientific studies conducted on numerical cognition by key neuroscientists. In the process, he develops the foundations of a new, potential philosophical explanation on mathematical knowledge. (shrink)

In the De mineralibus, Albert the Great clearly states that minerals do not possess life, since – following the Aristotelian path – life is always connected with the operations of the soul. Nevertheless, dealing with the virtues of stones, Albert speaks about a curious difference between “living” and “dead” stones: living stones are substances that possess virtues caused by their forms, while non-living stones are called stones only equivocally because their virtues have expired. Moreover, throughout his work, Albert often seeks (...) help from the biological world to explain the nature and the processes of mineral substances: the coming-into-being of stones and metals is often compared to the generation of plants and animals; places where minerals are formed act as the mother’s womb for the embryo; sulphur and quicksilver are said to be the father and the mother of all metals; etc. The tendency to biologise inorganic nature is a key strategy that Albert uses to explain the processes and functions of the mineral world. (shrink)

Ossip K. Flechtheim war Politologe, Rechtssoziologe, Historiker und Mitbegrunder der Zukunftsforschung. Der in der Ukraine geborene Forscher und Universitatslehrer wirkte in Deutschland, der Schweiz und den USA. Sein Leben wurde durch die Bruche und Katastrophen des 20. Jahrhunderts gepragt.Flechtheim schrieb uber Kardinalprobleme seiner Zeit: Krieg und Frieden, Demokratie und Diktatur, Faschismus und Antifaschismus, Kommunismus und Nord-Sud-Konflikt. Er war ein Wegbereiter des Faches Politische Wissenschaft in Deutschland und befasste sich schon fruh mit dem Verhaltnis von Okonomie und Okologie.

Ossip K. Flechtheim war Politologe, Rechtssoziologe, Historiker und Mitbegrunder der Zukunftsforschung. Der in der Ukraine geborene Forscher und Universitatslehrer wirkte in Deutschland, der Schweiz und den USA. Sein Leben wurde durch die Bruche und Katastrophen des 20. Jahrhunderts gepragt.Flechtheim schrieb uber Kardinalprobleme seiner Zeit: Krieg und Frieden, Demokratie und Diktatur, Faschismus und Antifaschismus, Kommunismus und Nord-Sud-Konflikt. Er war ein Wegbereiter des Faches Politische Wissenschaft in Deutschland und befasste sich schon fruh mit dem Verhaltnis von Okonomie und Okologie.

Im ‚Pfaffen Amis‘ des Strickers aus der ersten Hälfte des 13. Jahrhunderts finden sich äußerst eigenwillige Bildbeschreibungen, die in der Wort-Bild-Forschung wenig Beachtung erfahren haben. Dies liegt darin begründet, daß es sich um eine Schilderung nicht vorhandener bzw. imaginierter Bilder handelt. Es zeigt sich aber, dass gerade diese so unkonventionelle Ekphrase das mittelalterliche Repräsentations- und Imaginationsverständnis auf signifikante Weise thematisiert. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird die Beschreibung dieser unsichtbaren imagines einerseits in den größeren Kontext des ‚Pfaffen Amis‘ gestellt und andererseits der (...) paradigmatische, metafiktionale Charakter dieses Textes für das mittelalterliche Repräsentations- und Fiktionsverständnis dargelegt. Hierzu wird die Ekphrase parallel zu mittelalterlichen gehirnanatomischen Texten und zur Zweikörperlehre von Ernst H. Kantorowicz gelesen. (shrink)

Los llamados a huir del capitalismo, a “cambiar el mundo sin tomar el poder” y construir inmediatamente un afuera de las relaciones de dominación intrínsecas al primero han capturado de forma efectiva el imaginario político de los movimientos sociales en las últimas décadas. Este artículo pretende criticar lo que llamaré la “ideología de la huida”, presentándola como un ejemplo de falsa alternativa al capitalismo. Me centraré para ello en el análisis crítico de John Holloway y Raúl Zibechi como exponentes teóricos (...) de la misma, y en las llamadas “Escuelas alternativas” como una de sus expresiones prácticas, para después exponer cómo El Capital de Marx contiene una crítica de esta clase de proyectos. Se argumentará, primero, que sus defensores yerran al tratar de ubicar las potencias revolucionarias en un elemento externo al capitalismo, pues este acaba revelándose como una ficción ideológica. Posteriormente se demostrará que los intentos de buscar o construir un “más allá” de las relaciones de producción capitalistas son tan viejos como el propio capitalismo, y que la necesidad de su fracaso viene dictada por la misma naturaleza de este último, para acabar argumentando que la concepción marxiana de la política revolucionaria contiene una alternativa real a la ideología de la huida en todas sus versiones. (shrink)

In the fluid cultural context of today, where the significance of sexual difference is continually diminished, if not completely denied , the encounter with the phenomenology of E. Stein and E. Levinas can be both stimulating and fruitful. Even though they have speculative perspectives that are very different and do not always reach the same conclusions, both authors agree that sexual difference and paternity and maternity connected with it, is not exclusively biological but also anthropological and philosophical. This significant convergence (...) certainly has its origin in a common phenomenological inspiration, which continues to bear fruit, as witnessed by the recent work of J.-L. Marion and of a writer of a clearly feminist inspiration, such as F. Giardini. (shrink)

Agent Communication Languages (ACLs) have recently acquired a primary role in open multiagent systems, which need a standard communication framework shared by all interacting heterogeneous agents. According to the most important ACL standard proposals so far, agents are supposed to carry out the communication process by performing actions of a specific type, namely, communicative acts, whose semantics is defined in terms of the agents’ mental states. Although following the mainstream guidelines inspired by the Speech Act Theory, our work illustrates an (...) alternative model of agent communication, by shifting the focus from agents’ mental states to their social state. Taking an existing communicative act library, we provide a semantics for a significant set of acts based on the concept of commitment, and prove that our approach tackles some issues that have not been dealt with in an effective way yet and that may have hindered the rise of an universally accepted ACL standard. (shrink)

Os estudos acerca da estética musical de Eduard Hanslick geralmente enfatizam sua tese negativa, causadora de inúmeras controvérsias e discussões. A investigações de sua tese positiva é geralmente deixada de lado pelos musicólogos. Neste artigo são discutidos não apenas os fundamentos da tese negativa, mas também os da tese positiva, bem como as noções de forma, conteúdo e Conteúdo espiritual. Ao mesmo tempo, examinamos em que medida os pontos de vista de Hanslick são tributários das concepções de alguns autores franceses (...) do século XVIII, bem como de autores roânticos como Wackenroder, Tieck e Hoffmann. (shrink)

O presente artigo aborda a questão da tolerância religiosa no Iluminismo alemão, por meio da análise e interpretação de trechos selecionados da peça Nathan der Weise (1779), de Lessing. Pretende-se mostrar que essa obra tem sua origem intimamente ligada ao debate teológico (“Fragmentenstreit”) entre Lessing e o pastor Johann Melchior Goeze, de Hamburgo, podendo ser lida como uma reação e uma resposta às críticas e objeções deste último.

The gambler’s probing of luck in games of chance cannot be reduced to rational calculation. The art of gambling flourishes at the margins of societies and undermines the correlation of effort and entitlement. This paper interprets the peculiar thrill of gambling in modern times by drawing on social systems theory and critical theory. It argues that gambling is a specific mode of agency that consists in a playful engagement with risk and contingency. The gambler reveals a highly aroused and yet (...) passive consciousness. Success in gambling depends on the art of proper timing as well as a preconscious awareness of fortune. (shrink)

While ancient civilizations worshipped strong, active emotions, modern societies have favored more peaceful attitudes, especially within the democratic process. We have largely forgotten the struggle to make use of _thymos_, the part of the soul that, following Plato, contains spirit, pride, and indignation. Rather, Christianity and psychoanalysis have promoted mutual understanding to overcome conflict. Through unique examples, Peter Sloterdijk, the preeminent posthumanist, argues exactly the opposite, showing how the history of Western civilization can be read as a suppression and return (...) of rage. By way of reinterpreting the _Iliad_, Alexandre Dumas's _Count of Monte Cristo_, and recent Islamic political riots in Paris, Sloterdijk proves the fallacy that rage is an emotion capable of control. Global terrorism and economic frustrations have rendered strong emotions visibly resurgent, and the consequences of violent outbursts will determine international relations for decades to come. To better respond to rage and its complexity, Sloterdijk daringly breaks with entrenched dogma and contructs a new theory for confronting conflict. His approach acknowledges and respects the proper place of rage and channels it into productive political struggle. (shrink)

Cerebral Protuberances. Towards a History of Intellectual Work. In this paper, I unfold the implications of Warburg's notion of “cerebral protuberance” (German: “Gehirnhirnausstülpung”) for a historical epistemology of intellectual work and material imagination. Attention to the penultimate character of conceptual language, I argue, allows for an analysis of unconscious aspects in the process of knowledge formation. Revisiting Gaston Bachelard's conception of historical epistemology in the age of neuroplasticity, I suggest to attend to the reverberations between history of science and intellectual (...) history in order to arrive at a better understanding of the exteriority of intellectual activity and the importance of affect in scientific and scholarly production. (shrink)