The notion that the idea of nature isnot quite the unbiased rule to designsustainable futures is obvious. But,nevertheless, questions about nature, how itfunctions and what it might aim at, is leadingthe controversial debates about bothsustainability and biotechnology. These tworesearch areas hardly have the same theorybackground. Whereas in the first concept, theidea of eternal cyclical processes is basic,the latter focuses on optimization. However,both concepts can work together, but only undera narrow range of public acceptance in Europe.The plausibility of arguments for usingbiotechnology (...) within sustainable technologiesvaries according to the assumed part natureitself plays for reaching optimized states. Theculture related vision of nature's functionshas impact on agricultural biotechnology,dealing not only with food crops but also withnon-food plants like renewable resources thatare used for energy or fiber production. Theseplants are grown to reach sustainabledevelopment. However, there is a fundamentaldifference between regarding biofuels as``renewable'' and ``regenerative,'' due to thetension between the concepts of ``the natural''and ``the sustainable.'' Arguments ofoptimization, efficiency, and efficacy arecritically discussed in order to take thepresent need for sustainable technologies forserious. (shrink)

Kann man das Leben führen? Die in diesem Band versammelten Beiträge stellen sich in kritischer Absicht dem modernen Konzept der »Lebensführung«, das die Technikphilosophie mit der Lebensphilosophie im frühen 20. Jahrhundert eng verbunden hat und teilweise bis heute verbindet. Auch relevante soziologische Positionen wurden in diesem Kontext entwickelt. Anhand zentraler Autoren wie Simmel, Bergson, Husserl, Heidegger, Blumenberg, Berdjajew, Reuleaux, von Uexküll, Plessner, Freyer, Jonas und Günter Ropohl (dem dieser Band aus Anlass seines 75. Geburtstags gewidmet ist) werden die Bezugnahmen zwischen (...) Technik- und Lebensphilosophie analysiert, aber auch die Abgrenzungsversuche voneinander. Die Verhältnisbestimmung der Konzepte »Leben« und »Technik« kann systemischen Charakter annehmen und deshalb die Idee einer lebensbejahenden oder -verneinenden Technik nach sich ziehen, z.B. artikuliert als Technikoptimismus/-pessimismus oder als emanzipatorische Frage nach dem eigenen Leben und dessen Selbstverwirklichung. Wenn es um Lebensführung geht, werden also gleichzeitig die Ausgangsbedingungen der Identitätskonstruktion moderner Subjekte und die Frage thematisiert, inwieweit Systementwürfe jene ermöglichen oder begrenzen. (shrink)

Was ist Natur oder was könnte sie sein? Diese und weitere Fragen sind grundlegend für Naturdenken und -handeln. Das Lehr- und Studienbuch bietet eine historisch-systematische und zugleich praxisbezogene Einführung in die Naturphilosophie mit ihren wichtigsten Begriffen. Es nimmt den pluralen Charakter der Wahrnehmung von Natur in den philosophischen Blick und ist auch zum Selbststudium bestens geeignet.

Philosophy needs History of Science needs History of Philosophy. The purpose of this essay is to identify why history of science and philosophy of science have lost their former alliance. Reasons include, among others, structural elements in funding, e.g. a run‐down version of interdisciplinarity that encourages philosophy and history to work with the sciences rather than with each other. Moreover, the disciplinary assemblage in terms of cultural studies (German: Kulturwissenschaften) has eroded the continental concept of ‘Geisteswissenschaft’ to which history and (...) philosophy traditionally belong. In consequence, both disciplines face a loss of knowledge in historical terminologies and related inquiries. Above all, these matter for shaping and understanding concepts and ideas; not last for the conceptualization of history and philosophy of science themselves. (shrink)

Based on Hans Blumenberg’s philosophical concept of »reoccupation«, the study analyzes why the microbe has never really been situated in the world, demarcating ontological shifts in modeling microbes. The shifts are related to techniques such as sequencing and digitizing, to microbe banks acting as world models, and to metaphysical vacancies co-created. These can be operated on a historiographic level, as highlighted by the world formula of bacterial photosynthesis. It allowed for imaginations of the Early Earth and an Iron-Sulfur-World. In sum, (...) collecting and cultivating are shown to be crucial pre-operations for operative bio-ontologies, exemplified by a case study on the German Collection of Microorganisms (DSMZ). (shrink)

Die moderne Samenbank lässt sich mit Medienbegriffen beschreiben, von Bestand bis Infrastruktur. Stets bleibt als blinder Fleck die Medialität des Samens, dessen Vitalität im Dunkel der Kühlkammer künstlich verlängert wird. Der Beitrag diskutiert Varianten, das Problem der Teleologie der Natur in Medienbegriffen abzuhandeln und bietet eine neue Geschichte von ›den Bienen und den Blumen‹. Er hebt den Samen als Inbegriff einer nicht reduzierbaren Substanz hervor, dessen Latenz als mediales Apriori des Lebenden begreifbar wird. A modern sperm bank can actually be (...) described by using media terms such as ›stock‹ or ›infrastructure‹. However, the mediality of sperm seems to be persistently lingering in a blind spot, its vitality artificially prolonged in the dark of the cooling chamber. This article discusses different variants to treat the problem of describing the teleology of nature with the help of media terms and offers a new take on the story of ›the birds and the bees‹. The argumentation stresses the importance of sperm as the very quintessence of a non-reducible substance whose latency as a medial a priori of life thus becomes palpable. (shrink)

Based on Hans Blumenberg’s philosophical concept of »reoccupation«, the study analyzes why the microbe has never really been situated in the world, demarcating ontological shifts in modeling microbes. The shifts are related to techniques such as sequencing and digitizing, to microbe banks acting as world models, and to metaphysical vacancies co-created. These can be operated on a historiographic level, as highlighted by the world formula of bacterial photosynthesis. It allowed for imaginations of the Early Earth and an Iron-Sulfur-World. In sum, (...) collecting and cultivating are shown to be crucial pre-operations for operative bio-ontologies, exemplified by a case study on the German Collection of Microorganisms (DSMZ). (shrink)