In general terms, one way of describing the world we live in is to say that it is made up of nature and society, and that human beings belong to both. This is the first volume to be published that addresses the historical contexts of the relations between these two characteristics of human nature. Individual essays and the general conclusions of the volume are important not only for our understanding of the evolution of knowledge of nature and of society, but (...) also for an awareness of the types of truth and perception produced in the process. (shrink)

The Enlightenment has often been written about as a sequence of disembodied 'great ideas'. The aim of this book is to put the beliefs of the Enlightenment firmly into their social context, by revealing the national soils in which they were rooted and the specific purposes for which they were used. It brings out the regional divergences of the Enlightenment experience, shaped by different local intellectual and economic priorities. At the same time it also shows how central concerns were shared (...) everywhere, and how the writings of certain key areas came to be influential elsewhere. The thirteen essays, each written by a historian specialising in the particular country, examine national contexts from Sweden to Italy, from Russia to North America. As well as focusing attention on the interplay of thought and action, ideology and society, the book offers important insights into the place of the intelligentsia in the modern world. (shrink)

SummaryAmong the several remarkable properties of mercury is that it dissolves many of the metals (but not iron), forming amalgams. It was the recognition of the ready formation of gold and silver amalgams that led to the extraction of precious metals by the amalgamation method. In this article I trace some of the historical aspects associated with the development of the European amalgamation process, first devised by Ignaz von Born in the 1780s. In particular, I describe an international gathering of (...) experts in mining and metallurgy which was held at Skleno in Slovakia in 1786, and the founding there of a society for mining sciences called ‘Die Societät der Bergbaukunde’. (shrink)

Although e-learning has become an important feature to promote learning experience, still little is known about the readiness of adult learners for e-learning in continuing vocational education. By exploring perceived challenges and benefits, it was our aim to identify dimensions that define e-learning readiness. Therefore, we conducted a study design with qualitative and quantitative components. It consisted of both, semi-structured interviews, as well as an online survey regarding biography, personality, learning behavior, and general attitudes toward e-learning. The continuing vocational education (...) course that we were investigating comes from the field of project management. The learner group was heterogeneous regarding their biographical and occupational background. Our results suggest several dimensions of e-learning readiness which are namely: motivation, learning strategies/regulation, attitudes toward learning, and personality-associated aspects as well as digital literacy. These findings are in line with previous research to only some extent, but reveal the necessity to redefine single dimensions of e-learning readiness to develop an inventory that is generalizable for different adult learner groups. Based on these assumptions a new measure for e-learning readiness needs to be proposed in future research as a next step. (shrink)

This paper presents a passage from Peter Singer on the pond analogy and comments on its content and use in the classroom, especially with respect to the development of the learners' argumentative skills.

Analogien lassen sich aus unserem vernünftigen Nachdenken und Argumentieren kaum wegdenken. Ganz zurecht stellen sie eines der klassischen Themen der Argumentationstheorie dar. Doch wie genau sollte die argumentative Rolle von Analogien in Argumentrekonstruktionen dargestellt werden? Das ist die Leitfrage dieses Beitrags. Zunächst wird mit Michael Dummetts Schach-Analogie ein prominentes Beispiel dargestellt und eine genauere Charakterisierung des Analogiebegriffs vorgeschlagen. Danach wird die gängigste Rekonstruktionsform von Analogien diskutiert, das Analogieargument, und in einigen Punkten verfeinert. Vor diesem Hintergrund schlägt der Beitrag eine zweite, (...) alternative Rekonstruktionsform vor, in der zwei analoge Argumente an die Stelle eines einzelnen Analogiearguments treten. Nachdem diese beiden Rekonstruktionsformen an einem weiteren berühmten Beispiel vorgeführt wurden, an Peter Singers Teich-Analogie, wird diskutiert, wie sich diese beiden Varianten gegenseitig ergänzen und welche Stärken und Schwächen sie haben. Es zeigt sich, dass Analogien nicht nur in Form von Analogieargumenten einen zentralen Topos eines Einzelarguments darstellen. Darüber hinaus kann die Untersuchung analoger Argumente bereits selbst als argumentationstheoretische Topik verstanden werden. (shrink)