Why do speakers of all languages use different grammatical structures under different communicative circumstances to express the same idea? In this comprehensive study, Professor Lambrecht explores the relationship between the structure of sentences and the linguistic and extra-linguistic contexts in which they are used. His analysis is based on the observation that the structure of a sentence reflects a speaker's assumptions about the hearer's state of knowledge and consciousness at the time of the utterance. This relationship between speaker assumptions (...) and formal sentence structure is governed by rules and conventions of grammar, in a component called 'information structure'. Four independent but interrelated categories are analysed: presupposition and assertion, identifiability and activation, topic, and focus. (shrink)

This paper discusses the pluralist theory of reparations for historical injustice offered by Daniel Butt (Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 24(5):1161–75, 2021). Butt attempts to vindicate purely past-regarding corrective duties in response to Alasia Nuti’s historical-structural model of reparations. I agree with Butt that reparative justice requires both past-regarding and future-looking structural duties. And I agree with him that Nuti’s model leaves out purely past-regarding duties. I argue, however, that Butt does not offer a genuinely pluralist account. I present minimal (...) necessary conditions for past-regarding (corrective) justice and demonstrate that the past-regarding duties Butt advocates do not meet these conditions. The past-regarding duties Butt offers collapse into the kinds of distributive (structural) duties from which he attempts to separate them. Yet, I suggest these shortcomings are instructive and sketch a path forward for a genuinely pluralist account of reparations. A genuinely pluralist account must follow this path in order to vindicate the intuitions that motivate both past-regarding duties and the structural injustice model. (shrink)

Розкрито сутність поняття «рейтинг». Доведено значущість рейтингової оцінки для суб’єктів фінансового ринку, зокрема для страхових компаній, потенційних страхувальників, інвесторів та кредиторів.

Philosophers have offered many arguments to explain why historical injustices require reparations. This paper raises an unnoticed challenge for almost all of them. Most theories of reparations attempt to meet two intuitions: (1) Reparations are owed for a past wrong and (2) the content of reparations must reflect the historical injustice. I argue that necessarily no monistic theory can meet both intuitions. I do this by showing that any theory that can meet intuition (1) necessarily cannot also meet intuition (2). (...) This result suggests that a theory of reparations must either sacrifice one of the two intuitions or be pluralist. I argue that we ought to prefer the pluralist over the monistic theory. I sketch the pluralist theory and I defend it by considering an objection about the way it can resolve conflicts. (shrink)

"Williams's masterful translation satisfies (at last!) a long-standing need. There are lots of good translations of Augustine's great work, but until now we have been forced to choose between those that strive to replicate in English something of the majesty and beauty of Augustine's Latin style and those that opt instead to convey the careful precision of his philosophical terminology and argumentation. Finally, Williams has succeeded in capturing both sides of Augustine's mind in a richly evocative, impeccably reliable, elegantly readable (...) presentation of one of the most impressive achievements in Western thought--Augustine's Confessions." --Scott MacDonald, Professor of Philosophy and Norma K. Regan Professor in Christian Studies, Cornell University. (shrink)

This book offers a critical introduction to the work of American philosopher D. G. Leahy (1937-2014). Leahy's fundamental thinking can be characterized as an absolute creativity in which all creating is 'live' -- a happening occurring now that manifests a supersaturated polyontological actuality that is essentially created by the logic that characterizes it. Leahy leaves behind the categorial presuppositions of modern thought, eclipsing both Cartesian and Hegelian subjectivities and introducing instead an essentially new form of thinking founded in a nondual (...) logic of creation. The new thinking delineates the absolute unicity of existence as a creative interactivity beyond all traditional dichotomies (such as one vs. many, unity vs. plurality, identity vs. change): a fully "digitized" actuality that is nothing but newness, which inherently implies nothing but change. Through this new form of thinking, change itself is revealed to be the very essence of reality and mind. Any reader looking for a quantum leap beyond the thrall of modern and postmodern fixations is invited to hear and apprehend this new thinking that refuses to be conditioned by paradigms, categories, species, genera, walls, bridges, boundaries, or abstractions: an essentially free thinking that embodies creative novelty itself. (shrink)

Both blood vessels and nerves are guided to their target. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)A is a key signal in the induction of vessel growth (a process termed angiogenesis). Though initial studies, now a decade ago, indicated that VEGF is an endothelial cell‐specific factor, more recent findings revealed that VEGF also has direct effects on neural cells. Genetic studies showed that mice with reduced VEGF levels develop adult‐onset motor neuron degeneration, reminiscent of the human neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). (...) Additional genetic studies confirmed that VEGF is a modifier of motor neuron degeneration in humans and in SOD1G93A mice—a model of ALS. Reduced VEGF levels may promote motor neuron degeneration by limiting neural tissue perfusion and VEGF‐dependent neuroprotection. VEGF also affects neuron death after acute spinal cord or cerebral ischemia, and has also been implicated in other neurological disorders such as diabetic and ischemic neuropathy, nerve regeneration, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis. These findings have raised growing interest in assessing the therapeutic potential of VEGF for neurodegenerative disorders. BioEssays 26:943–954, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

In einer Zeit, in der die Menschheit in einem bisher ungekannten Ausmaß nutzend wie zerstörend in die sie umgebende und tragende Natur eingreift, erhält die Frage nach der Stellung des Menschen zu ihr und damit auch nach der menschlichen Natur neue Aktualität. Anlässlich des achtzigsten Geburtstags von Friedrich Tomberg haben sich Vertreter und Vertreterinnen verschiedener Fachdisziplinen im Rahmen eines Kolloquiums zusammengefunden, um sowohl über die gegenwärtigen Gefährdungen zu diskutieren als auch sich der kreativen Potenzen zu besinnen, die den Menschen von (...) Natur aus gegeben sind und die sie zu konstruktiven Antworten auf die epochalen Herausforderungen befähigen könnten. Die in diesem Band versammelten Beiträge bieten aus unterschiedlichen, ja gegensätzlichen Sichtweisen heraus Anregungen, die Problematik gegenwärtiger conditio humana deutlicher und differenzierter ins Bewusstsein zu heben. (shrink)

This collection of contemporary essays by a group of well-known philosophers and legal theorists covers various topics in the philosophy of law, focusing on issues concerning liability in contract, tort and criminal law. The book is divided into four sections. The first provides a conceptual overview of the issues at stake in a philosophical discussion of liability and responsibility. The second, third and fourth sections present, in turn, more detailed explorations of the roles of notions of liability and responsibility in (...) contracts, torts and punishment. The collection not only presents some of the most challenging work in legal philosophy, but it also demonstrates the interdisciplinary character of the field of philosophy of law, with contributors taking into account recent developments in economics, political science and rational choice theory. This thought-provoking volume will help to shed light on the underexplored ground that lies between law and morals. (shrink)

Seit den 70er-Jahren lasst sich ein zunehmendes Interesse an Hegels Enzyklopadie feststellen, das - verstarkt durch die gerade in letzter Zeit wiederentdeckten Hegel'schen Manuskripte und Nachschriften - eine standig steigende Zahl von Einzeluntersuchungen zur Logik, Natur- und Geistesphilosophie zur Folge hatte. Die Bibliographie erfasst vollstandig alle Einzel- und Gesamtausgaben, Ubersetzungen und Sekundarliteratur von 1817 bis heute. Chronologisch geordnet, ermoglicht sie dem Forscher einen leichten Uberblick uber die Literatur und stellt ein Hilfsmittel dar, das Entwicklungen und Trends der Hegel-Interpretation erkennen lasst.

Zu den politischen revolutionären Bewegungen in Europa vor 1848 gehörte auch die Gärung von «umstürzenden» Ideen gegen überkommene Gedankensysteme. Im Band werden die politische, insbesondere demokratische Opposition und die sozialen Bewegungen der vormarxschen und marxschen Arbeiter, der Frauen und der (intellektuellen) Jugendlichen untersucht.

This book is not a study of Plato's philosophy, but a contribution to the literary interpretation of the dialogues, through analysis of their formal structure, ...