In dem vorliegenden Band werden Arbeiten zusammengefafh, die sich kritisch mit Fragen von aus dem Marxschen Ideologiebegriff abgeleiteten Gesellschaftstheorien ebenso befassen wie mit der Komplexitat des Marxschen Ideologiebegriffs selbst, den orthodox-marxistischen und den marxistisch-revisionistischen Ideologietheorien, ihrem Wandel, ihren politisch-ideologischen Funktionen in unterschiedlichen histo­ risch-gesellschaftlichen Beziigen und, nicht zuletzt, ihrer theoretisch-methodologi­ schen Verwendbarkeit fiir das Verstandnis von Geist und Geschichte einerseits, Poli­ tik und Gesellschaft andererseits. Die hier versammelten Studien sind in den Jahren von 1960 bis 1975 entstanden. Sie beruhen zum (...) Teil auf Vorarbeiten, die bis in die Jahre 1954/55 zuriickreichen. Zwei Arbeiten sind bisher unveroffentlicht: der Einleitungsaufsatz »Ideologie und Ideologiebegriff. Dberlegungen zu ihrer metatheoretischen und immanent-kriti­ schen Aufarbeitung« (S. XIII-XVIII u. 1-21) und die Abhandlung »Entwurf einer Typologie des Ideologiebegriffs« (S. 82-102); aIle anderen Arbeiten sind, an ver­ streuten Stellen, bereits erschienen. 1m Laufe des letzten Jahrzehnts hat sich die theoretische Position des Verfassers insofern geklart, als er heute bestimmte Perspektiven der Wissenssoziologie und der Ideologiekritik mit einem historisch-soziologisch orientierten Funktionalismus in seinen metatheoretischen, d. h. theoretischen und forschungspraktischen, Beziigen systematisch aufzuweisen sucht. Damit wird einmal versucht, die These von der hi­ storisch-sozialen Bedingtheit von Theoriebildungen praziser als in der alteren Wis­ senssoziologie zu begriinden und historisches BewuBtsein durch positive Forschung neu zu fundieren. Mit einem solchen Ansatz versucht der Verfasser zweitens, die Kluft zwischen normativ-praskriptiven und empirisch-deskriptiven Forschungsan­ satzen, die in den Sozialwissenschaften weiterhin besteht, zu iiberbriicken. (shrink)

Currently, many authors in public and academic discourse speak of an increasing „social divide“ that threatens social cohesion. There has been a broad discussion on social cohesion in social sciences ever since: Different conceptions could be ideally classified in a scheme with a more rational and a more emotional pole. I explore this tension by following an affective turn in conceptions of social cohesion. Therefore, I focus on the concept of solidarity as representing the rational model of cohesion and the (...) concept of affinity standing for the affective one. The affective turn brings about a twofold shift in the understanding of the central processes of social cohesion: from collectivity to connectivity and from rationality to affectivity. Still, this shift runs the danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Cohesion must neither be understood as exclusively reyling upon on either rational or affective processes. I propose to overcome this dichotomy by employing Hemming´s concept of „affective solidarity“. Rationaliy and affectivity must be understood as being mutually effective, the former modulating the latter, the latter energizing the former. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung Die Sportgeographie als ein noch sehr junges Teilgebiet der Sportwissenschaft und der Geographie begann sich erst vor circa vier Jahrzehnten zu entfalten. Abgesehen von einigen Vorläufern nahm die Sportgeographie ihren eigentlichen Anfang in den 1970er und insbesondere in den 1980er Jahren. Für den internationalen Aufschwung sorgten seitdem vor allem Wissenschafder des englischsprachigen Kulturraumes, wo sich die Sportgeographie im Laufe der 1990er Jahre in der Vielzahl der so genannten Bindestrich-Wissenschaften etablierte. In der deutschsprachigen Geographie und Sportwissenschaft hingegen ist dieser Etablierungsprozess (...) soweit noch nicht vorangeschritten, wenngleich auch hier erste Schritte einer Institutionalisierung unternommen wurden. (shrink)

Die Teilhabe an der lateinischen res publica litterarum der frühneuzeitlichen Fakultäten und Universitäten wurde mittels gemeinsamer literarischer Ausdrucksformen reguliert - zuweilen in Gestalt feingeistiger philologischer Kontroverse, zuweilen als wüste Polemik oder tosender Jubel. In Fallstudien zu Humanisten aus drei Jahrhunderten geht der Band der Frage nach, wie kollegiale Beziehungen literarisch inszeniert und innerhalb der Gelehrtengemeinschaft instrumentalisiert wurden. Diskursregeln und Kommunikationsbedingungen kommen dabei ebenso zur Sprache wie die Anwendung literarischer Modelle aus antiker und nachantiker Invektive, Satire und Panegyrik.

The use of genetic engineering inagriculture has been the source of much debate. Todate, arguments have focused most strongly on thepotential human health risks, the flow of geneticmaterial to related species, and ecologicalconsequences. Little attention appears to have beengiven to a more fundamental concern, namely, who willbe the beneficiaries of this technology?Given the prevalence of chronic hunger and thestark economics of farming, it is arguable thatfarmers and the hungry should be the mainbeneficiaries of agricultural research. However, theapplication of genetic engineering (...) appears unlikely tobenefit either of these two groups. This technology islargely controlled by the private sector, and itscontinued development hinges on its profitability.Thus, the only likely beneficiaries of the applicationof genetic engineering in agriculture are companieswith the capacity to use it. (shrink)

To celebrate the 270th anniversary of the De Gruyter publishing house, the company is providing permanent open access to 270 selected treasures from the De Gruyter Book Archive. Titles will be made available to anyone, anywhere at any time that might be interested. The DGBA project seeks to digitize the entire backlist of titles published since 1749 to ensure that future generations have digital access to the high-quality primary sources that De Gruyter has published over the centuries.

Von der Antike bis in die Gegenwart. Verständlich und anschaulich geschrieben, führt der Klassiker durch die wichtigsten Stationen des philosophischen Denkens. Die 4. Auflage wurde um die philosophischen Entwicklungen seit den 1990er Jahren ergänzt. Dazu gehören u. a. Analytische Philosophie, Ethik, Virtuelle Realität, Philosophie der Gefühle und Philosophie als Lebensform. Eine Besonderheit ist das umfangreiche Kapitel über die Philosophie des Ostens: Indien, China, Japan.

CASUS is an authoring system, which should enable physicians to produce problem-based computer learning programs with minimal technical effort and give them sound instructional support. The theoretical background of CASUS are constructivist approaches to learning and instruction, which deal mainly with the question, how to design problem-based learning environments. The paper presents the constructivist concept of CASUS and results of a forma-tive evaluation. Four authors were observed and interviewed while developing a learning case with CASUS. The evaluation pursued mainly the (...) question of which difficulties arise while producing a case with CASUS and which measures are necessary in order to improve the authoring system. Results show that with regard to technical aspects physicians can produce learning cases even without any special prior knowledge. There were far more problems with instructional aspects of the production of cases. Most of these difficulties were very specific to the content of the cases. Therefore, it seems that an appropriate way to design learning cases with high quality, is a cooperation between some authors with different expertise. (shrink)

Die vorliegenden Essays erstrecken sich von Homer bis zur Spätantike. Sie verfolgen mehrere Ziele: Zum einen wollen sie zeigen, wie die Griechen und Römer Strategien der Lebensbewältigung entwickelten und wie sie auch die Literatur so instrumentalisieren konnten, dass diese als Ideenlieferant für die Praxis dienen konnte. Literatur wird in diesem Essays nicht als ein Bereich neben der Praxis begriffen, sondern als ein Teilbereich von Wirklichkeit. Die griechische und römische Kultur soll in diesen Essays als etwas in Erscheinung treten, zu dem (...) die beiden antiken Literaturen von Anfang an dazugehörten. Zum anderen geht es in diesen Essays auch darum, das Klischee von den theorieverliebten Griechen und den praktischen Römern zu revidieren. Und schließlich versuchen diese Essays, an eine von Montaigne begründete Tradition anzuknüpfen. Essays sollten auch ein Menschenbild entwerfen. Die vorliegenden Essays wollen auch zeigen, wie die Griechen und Römer dachten und wie sie mit Alltagsproblemen umgingen. (shrink)

Spaces in the brain can refer either to psychological spaces, which are derived from similarity judgments, or to neurocognitive spaces, which are based on the activities of neural structures. We want to show how psychological spaces naturally emerge from the underlying neural spaces by dimension reductions that preserve similarity structures and the relevant categorizations. Some neuronal representational formats that may generate the psychological spaces are presented, compared and discussed in relation to the mathematical principles of monotonicity, continuity and convexity. In (...) particular, we discuss the spatial structures involved in the connections between perception and action, for example eye-hand coordination, and argue that spatial organization of information makes such mappings more efficient. (shrink)

Band 1. Bücher 1, 3, 7 und 8 -- Band 2. Bücher 2, 4, 5 und 6.

BackgroundStory recall tests have shown variable sensitivity to rate of cognitive decline in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers. Although SR tasks are typically scored by obtaining a sum of items recalled, item-level analyses may provide additional sensitivity to change and AD processes. Here, we examined the difficulty and discrimination indices of each item from the Logical Memory SR task, and determined if these metrics differed by recall conditions, story version, lexical categories, serial position, and amyloid status.Methodsn = 1,141 participants from (...) the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention longitudinal study who had item-level data were included in these analyses, as well as a subset of n = 338 who also had amyloid positron emission tomography imaging. LM data were categorized into four lexical categories, and by serial position. We calculated difficulty and discriminability/memorability by item, category, and serial position and ran separate repeated measures ANOVAs for each recall condition, lexical category, and serial position. For the subset with amyloid imaging, we used a two-sample t-test to examine whether amyloid positive and amyloid negative groups differed in difficulty or discrimination for the same summary metrics.ResultsIn the larger sample, items were more difficult in the delayed recall condition across both story A and story B. Item discrimination was higher at delayed than immediate recall, and proper names had better discrimination than any of the other lexical categories or serial position groups. In the subsample with amyloid PET imaging, proper names were more difficult for Aβ+ than Aβ−; items in the verb and “other” lexical categories and all serial positions from delayed recall were more discriminate for the Aβ+ group compared to the Aβ− group.ConclusionThis study provides empirical evidence that both LM stories are effective at discriminating ability levels and amyloid status, and that individual items vary in difficulty and discrimination by amyloid status, while total scores do not. These results can be informative for the future development of sensitive tasks or composite scores for early detection of cognitive decline. (shrink)

It is often argued that higher-level special-science properties cannot be causally efficacious since the lower-level physical properties on which they supervene are doing all the causal work. This claim is usually derived from an exclusion principle stating that if a higher-level property F supervenes on a physical property F* that is causally sufficient for a property G, then F cannot cause G. We employ an account of causation as difference-making to show that the truth or falsity of this principle is (...) a contingent matter and derive necessary and sufficient conditions under which a version of it holds. We argue that one important instance of the principle, far from undermining non-reductive physicalism, actually supports the causal autonomy of certain higher-level properties. (shrink)

This article introduces the Verbal Irony Procedure (VIP), a first systematic method for identifying irony in natural discourse. The first section discusses previous operationalizations of irony and demonstrates that these are not explicit about which criteria were used to separate irony from non-irony. The second section argues why irony can be defined as an “utterance with a literal evaluation that is implicitly contrary to its intended evaluation.” This section also explains why ironic utterances can be placed on an evaluation scale. (...) In the third section, clauses are proposed as a good unit of analysis when looking at irony in natural discourse. The different steps of the VIP are then introduced in the fourth section and subsequently applied in a sample analysis of a natural text in the fifth section. The sixth section discusses a reliability analysis of the VIP protocol. The article ends with an outlook on how future research on verbal irony might benefit from applying the VIP. (shrink)

The systems studied in the special sciences are often said to be causally autonomous, in the sense that their higher-level properties have causal powers that are independent of the causal powers of their more basic physical properties. This view was espoused by the British emergentists, who claimed that systems achieving a certain level of organizational complexity have distinctive causal powers that emerge from their constituent elements but do not derive from them. More recently, non-reductive physicalists have espoused a similar view (...) about the causal autonomy of special-science properties. They argue that since these properties can typically have multiple physical realizations, they are not identical to physical properties, and further they possess causal powers that differ from those of their physical realisers. Despite the orthodoxy of this view, it is hard to find a clear exposition of its meaning or a defence of it in terms of a well-motivated account of causation. In this paper, we aim to address this gap in the literature by clarifying what is implied by the doctrine of the causal autonomy of special-science properties and by defending the doctrine using a prominent theory of causation from the philosophy of science. (shrink)

We offer a critical assessment of the “exclusion argument” against free will, which may be summarized by the slogan: “My brain made me do it, therefore I couldn't have been free”. While the exclusion argument has received much attention in debates about mental causation (“could my mental states ever cause my actions?”), it is seldom discussed in relation to free will. However, the argument informally underlies many neuroscientific discussions of free will, especially the claim that advances in neuroscience seriously challenge (...) our belief in free will. We introduce two distinct versions of the argument, discuss several unsuccessful responses to it, and then present our preferred response. This involves showing that a key premise – the “exclusion principle” – is false under what we take to be the most natural account of causation in the context of agency: the difference-making account. We finally revisit the debate about neuroscience and free will. (shrink)

Reinforcement learning systems usually assume that a value function is defined over all states that can immediately give the value of a particular state or action. These values are used by a selection mechanism to decide which action to take. In contrast, when humans and animals make decisions, they collect evidence for different alternatives over time and take action only when sufficient evidence has been accumulated. We have previously developed a model of memory processing that includes semantic, episodic and working (...) memory in a comprehensive architecture. Here, we describe how this memory mechanism can support decision making when the alternatives cannot be evaluated based on immediate sensory information alone. Instead we first imagine, and then evaluate a possible future that will result from choosing one of the alternatives. Here we present an extended model that can be used as a model for decision making that depends on accumulating evidence over time, whether that information comes from the sequential attention to different sensory properties or from internal simulation of the consequences of making a particular choice. We show how the new model explains both simple immediate choices, choices that depend on multiple sensory factors and complicated selections between alternatives that require forward looking simulations based on episodic and semantic memory structures. In this framework, vicarious trial and error is explained as an internal simulation that accumulates evidence for a particular choice. We argue that a system like this forms the “missing link” between more traditional ideas of semantic and episodic memory, and the associative nature of reinforcement learning. (shrink)

This book explores what science fiction can tell us about the human condition in a technological world, with the ethical dilemmas and consequences that this entails. This book is the result of the joint efforts of scholars and scientists from various disciplines. This interdisciplinary approach sets an example for those who, like us, have been busy assessing the ways in which fictional attempts to fathom the possibilities of science and technology speak to central concerns about what it means to be (...) human in a contemporary world of technology and which ethical dilemmas it brings along. One of the aims of this book is to demonstrate what can be achieved in approaching science fiction as a kind of imaginary laboratory for experimentation, where visions of human (or even post-human) life under various scientific, technological or natural conditions that differ from our own situation can be thought through and commented upon. Although a scholarly work, this book is also designed to be accessible to a general audience that has an interest in science fiction, as well as to a broader academic audience interested in ethical questions. (shrink)

This paper revisits the strained yet ubiquitous notion of sustainability to see where and how it can make a contribution to improved agricultural and natural resource management and policy making. The case of a three-year EU network on farm animal breeding and reproduction is used as a practical illustration. In this network, commercial breeders and breeding scientists were required, with professional assistance from philosophers and social scientists, to develop a definition of sustainable farm animal breeding. The word ‘sustainability’ does not (...) define a unique ethical perspective. At best it indicates a willingness to open an ethical agenda. However if the agenda is not specified in some detail, there is a real danger that necessary ethical discussion will be swept under the carpet. Even worse, the word may be used as a fig leaf in an attempt to legitimise projects which are ethically dubious. Used conscientiously, the framework of sustainability has two benefits: First, it invites parties involved in the planning of future activities in a company or sector to take a comprehensive look at potentially conflicting concerns and to face any difficult trade-offs. Second, it encourages concerns to be presented within a framework that is endorsed by society as a whole, and this enables the stakeholders to make room for communication to, and dialogue with, a broader audience than the rather narrow group of people directly involved. Adapting the definition of sustainability to specific conditions and circumstances is more than a technical or scientific task. It requires us to address carefully underlying questions about values. The fundamental dilemmas that emerge when the notion of sustainability is considered have no easy solutions, but they can be addressed by taking into account four key characteristics of sustainability discussed in this paper. (shrink)

In this chapter we will use the case of beaver reintroduction in southern Scandinavia to illuminate the philosophical issues underlying the value of biodiversity. First, we rehearse some of the main types of argument relating to the practice of ecological restoration. This is followed by a description of the case study, and by a summary of what we take to be the main positions in the ongoing debate over reintroduction of beavers. We then interpret these different positions, asking in each (...) case how ‘biodiversity’ is being understood. In this way, we try to establish the causes of the disagreement. It is important to distinguish between disagreements caused by conflicting interests and disagreements caused by conflicting values. We shall focus on a special type of disagreement where there seems to be a genuine conflict of values pertaining to biodiversity. Finally, we show how the claim that biodiversity should be protected is made by several participants in the debate and taken to have remarkably different implications: the need to protect biodiversity has been invoked both in attacks on, and defenses of, reintroduction and other forms of ecological restoration. (shrink)

There have long been controversies about how it is that minds can fit into a physical universe. Emergence in Mind presents new essays by a distinguished group of philosophers investigating whether mental properties can be said to 'emerge' from the physical processes in the universe. Such emergence requires mental properties to be different from physical properties, and much of the discussion relates to what the consequences of such a difference might be in areas such as freedom of the will, and (...) the possibility of scientific explanations of non-physical phenomena. The volume also extends the debate about emergence by considering the independence of chemical properties from physical properties, and investigating what would need to be the case for there to be groups that could be said to exercise rationality. (shrink)

De-domestication is the deliberate establishment of a population of domesticated animals or plants in the wild. In time, the population should be able to reproduce, becoming self-sustainable and incorporating 'wild' animals. Often de-domestication is part of a larger nature restoration scheme, aimed at creating landscapes anew, or re-creating former habitats. De-domestication is taken up in this paper because it both engages and raises questions about the major norms governing animals and nature. The debate here concerns whether animals undergoing de-domestication should (...) be looked upon as wild or non-wild and the effect this has on questions about how they should be treated. It also concerns the value of nature, and the kind and degree of nature management considered appropriate. The paper first describes actual de-domestication practices and considers the character of human duties to animals in process of de-domestication. Secondly, the paper explores the implications of de-domestication for nature management, focusing on notions of naturalness and wildness. Finally, because the current division of ethical topics, with its dependence upon whether animals and nature are domesticated, hampers rather than helps, a new perspective is offered on the issues raised by de-domestication. More 'thinking outside the box' with regard to animals and nature is recommended. (shrink)