Modal dispositionalists hold that dispositions provide the foundation of metaphysical necessity and possibility. According to the kind of modal dispositionalism that can be found in the present literature, a proposition p is possible just in case some things are disposed to be such that p. In the first part of this paper I show that combining this classic form of dispositionalism with the assumptions that the laws of nature are necessary and deterministic and that all dispositions are forward-looking in time (...) leads to the unattractive conclusion that every truth is necessary. I argue that the classic dispositionalist should be troubled by this result and in the second part of the paper I suggest a novel variant of dispositionalism that avoids it. This extended form of dispositionalism allows that some propositions are only indirectly underwritten by dispositions. (shrink)

Philodemus' History of the Academy represents a valuable treatise on Greek philosophical schools containing much unique information on Plato and on the development of the Academy under his successors. The so called Index Academicorum is a draft version preserved in a Herculaneum papyrus, which has been reread and reedited on the basis of innovative papyrological criteria and pioneering imaging techniques. The text is now very different from former editions and reveals countless new facts on various Academic philosophers. The edition and (...) the commentary provide new insights of interdisciplinary relevance into ancient philosophy, biography, literature and the ancient process of writing a book. (shrink)

Plato's dialogues frequently criticize traditional Greek myth, yet Plato also integrates myth with his writing. Daniel S. Werner confronts this paradox through an in-depth analysis of the Phaedrus, Plato's most mythical dialogue. Werner argues that the myths of the Phaedrus serve several complex functions: they bring nonphilosophers into the philosophical life; they offer a starting point for philosophical inquiry; they unify the dialogue as a literary and dramatic whole; they draw attention to the limits of language and the (...) limits of knowledge; and they allow Plato to co-opt cultural authority as a way of defining and legitimating the practice of philosophy. Platonic myth, as a species of traditional tale, is thus both distinct from philosophical dialectic and similar to it. Ultimately, the most powerful effect of Platonic myth is the way in which it leads readers to participate in Plato's dialogues and to engage in a process of self-examination. (shrink)

La discussion sur la doctrine trinitaire d'Origène entraîne nécessairement des questions sur sa pneumatologie. Comme en ce qui concerne le Fils, Origène considère l'Esprit à partir de l'invisible Déité. Il s'appuie sur une logique du Logos : la théologie du Fils est normative pour celle de l'Esprit. Comme l'Eglise pré-nicéenne en général, Origène a un vocabulaire hérétique qui subordonne les trois personnes de la Trinité mais les textes en question sont davantage économiques qu'ontologiques. Selon lui, l'Esprit a-t-il un rôle inférieur (...) au Logos ? Sa pneumatologie est-elle trinitaire ? L'article tente une réponse à ces questions. (shrink)

Deux assomptions ont été faites au sujet du refus du Pape Pie XII à aller au-delà de condamnations génériques de l'Holocauste Nazi. 1. La politique était dictée par peur de représailles contre les Catholiques et les Juifs. 2. La peur de représailles contre les Juifs était essentiellement une excuse pour ne rien faire ou rester au niveau de condamnations génériques. Mais les organisations juives elles-mêmes ont souvent cité la peur de représailles contre les Juifs comme la raison d'une restrainte dans (...) les déclarations publiques. Bien que la peur des représailles fut un élément formatif de la politique diplomatique du Vatican, la politique n'est pas venue de la peur, comme on peut le voir de l'histoire de condamnations génériques en d'autres contextes de guerre où les atrocités furent en jeu, entre autres en Arménie sous Benoît XV, en Espagne et Abyssinie sous Pie XI, de même qu'en Pologne et en Russie sous Pie XII. Deux fois Benoît XV fit un appel direct au Sultan de Turquie, mentionnant les Arménians spécifiquement trois fois, parlant de «souffrances indicibles», mais sans mentionner des noms personnels, des noms de lieu, des dates, des batailles. Bien que la condamnation resta générique, Benoît XV est considéré un héro national Arménien. Pendant la guerre civile en Espagne les républicains «incontrôlables» ont assassiné plus de cinq mille prêtres, moines et séminaristes pendant les trois premiers mois de la guerre et à la fin de. (shrink)

Affective congruency effects in the evaluation task can be explained by either spreading of activation or response competition. Eliminating effects of response compatibility by using other tasks (semantic categorisation, naming task) typically also eliminates affective congruency effects. However, there is no need for processing the affective information of the stimuli in these tasks either, which could be necessary for an affectively mediated spreading of activation (Spruyt et al., 2007, 2009, 2012). We introduced a new task to further test this hypothesis. (...) The valent/neutral-categorisation task does not confound affective congruency with response compatibility, but still requires a processing of the stimuli's valence. No affective congruency effect was obtained with this task in two experiments, disfavouring a conditional spreading activation account. On the other hand, a significant priming effect was found for associated word pairs in Experiment 1, providing evidence for the sensitivity of the task to detect spreading activation processes. (shrink)

This paper argues that institutions are higher-level autonomous systems enacted by patterns of participatory sense-making. Therefore, unlike in the standard equilibrium theory, institutions are not themselves thought of as behavioural patterns. Instead, they are problem domains that these patterns have brought forth. Moreover, these are not merely any patterns, but only those devoted to maintaining a specific strategy of problem solving, called the strategy of ‘letting be’. The latter refers to, following Hanne de Jaegher, a balance between underdetermination and overdetermination (...) of individual behaviour by a collective. Such an understanding of institutions becomes an option once a hybrid ‘equilibrium + rules’ theory of institutions, such as the one proposed by Frank Hindriks, is supplemented with insights from enactivism. In this light, drawing a connection between these two areas is the additional, meta-theoretical goal of this paper. This connection is beneficial, I argue, in particular since it allows for a satisfactory, in-depth account of the normative character of institutions as well as their local character. (shrink)

As it is well known, Lakatos divided Popper's philosophy into three stages; he also identified successive stages of falsificationism. A lesser-known fact is that the Hungarian philosopher systematized Feyerabend's philosophy, too. This tripartite division might have been a joke; Lakatos was perhaps trying to lighten Feyerabend's mood when his colleague was struggling wit h publishers in Minnesota and in New Left. Not quite successfully the publishers had tried to adjust Feyerabend's style to the standards of scientific literature. No matter what (...) motivated Lakatos when he analysed Feyerabend's philosophy, he appropriately captured differences between the 1970 and the 1975 edition of Against Method. Discussions of both philosophers concerning the division also reflect convolutions of their intellectual encounters. The presented paper takes up these issues. (shrink)

Presents German physicist Werner Heisenberg's 1958 text in which he discusses the philosophical implications and social consequences of quantum mechanics and other physical theories.

Schon seit ihrer Gr ndung in den 1970er-Jahren ist die Reihe Germanistische Linguistik (RGL) exponiertes Forum des Faches, dessen Namen sie im Titel f hrt. Hinsichtlich der thematischen Breite (Sprachebenen, Variet ten, Kommunikationsformen, Epochen), der Forschungsperspektiven (Theorie und Empirie, Grundlagenforschung und Anwendung, Inter- und Transdisziplinarit t) und des methodologischen Spektrums ist die Reihe offen angelegt. Das Aufgreifen neuer Trends hat in ihr ebenso Platz wie das Fortf hren von Bew hrtem. Die Publikationsformen reichen von Monographien und Sammelb nden bis zu (...) W rterb chern. Wissenschaftlicher Beirat (ab November 2011): Prof. Dr. Karin Donhauser (Berlin) Prof. Dr. Stephan Elspa (Augsburg) Prof. Dr. Helmuth Feilke (Gie en) Prof. Dr. J rg Fleischer (Marburg) Prof. Dr. Stephan Habscheid (Siegen) Prof. Dr. R diger Harnisch (Passau). (shrink)

Die Studien und Texte zur Sozialgeschichte der Literatur (STSL)veröffentlichen seit 1975 herausragende literatur-, geschichts- und kulturwissenschaftliche Arbeiten zur vornehmlich deutschen Literatur vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. Schwerpunkt der literaturgeschichtlichen und theoretischen Abhandlungen sowie der Quellen- und Materialienbände ist das Verhältnis von literarischem Text und gesellschaftlich-historischem Kontext. Als maßgebliche Publikationsreihe einer seit den 1960er Jahren einflussreichen Sozialgeschichte der Literatur prägt STSL zugleich die literaturwissenschaftliche Diskussion über mögliche Austauschbeziehungen zwischen Literatur-, Geschichts- und Sozialwissenschaften.

This paper discusses a puzzle raised by Sharon Berry, published in Analysis. The question in the background of this puzzle is how we should deal with seemingly plausible possibility judgements that commit us to counterfactual truths that find no basis in reality. Three answers to this question and their corresponding solutions to the puzzle will be discussed. The last answer provides a way to make sense of the claim that it is in some cases indeterminate whether a proposition is possible (...) and offers an account of indeterminate modal status. (shrink)

The article examines philosophical conceptions of responsibility found in the contributions of Martin Buber, Hans Jonas and Emmanuel Levinas. It argues that, despite the significant differences of these contributions, they all share important goals, significant structural features, and corresponding challenges. All three thinkers try to overcome the solipsistic limitations of Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology as well as the egocentrism of Heidegger’s concept of "solicitude" or "self-care." All three try to overcome the Kantian subject-object dichotomy. All three understand responsibility as a bipolar (...) relation only. In consequence, all of them face similar challenges resulting from new forms of dichotomies and the exclusion of “thirdness” that are the result of their conceptual decisions. (shrink)

Fast and effective detection of the causative agent of malaria in humans, protozoan Plasmodium parasites, is of crucial importance for increasing the effectiveness of treatment and to control a devastating disease that affects millions of people living in endemic areas. The microscopic examination of Giemsa‐stained blood films still remains the gold‐standard in Plasmodium detection today. However, there is a high demand for alternative diagnostic methods that are simple, fast, highly sensitive, ideally do not rely on blood‐drawing and can potentially be (...) conducted by the patients themselves. Here, the history of Plasmodium detection is discussed, and advantages and disadvantages of diagnostic methods that are currently being applied are assessed. (shrink)

The only known epigram by Speusippus is preserved in Philodemus’ Index Academicorum (PHerc. 1021, col. 6,34-38) and was written on the occasion of his dedication of statues of the Charites to the Muses. A rereading of a crucial word in the papyrus reveals the true reason for Speusippus’ gift: The gifts of the Muses. Furthermore, the new reading leads to a second polyptoton in the epigram so that it now sounds much more polished and sophisticated.

Journal Name: Philologus Issue: Ahead of print.

The article argues that the genuine first name of Philo of Larissa was in fact ‘Philio’. This claim is based on two new readings ‘Philio’ in our earliest (certain) source for the name, Philodemus’ Index Academicorum, which put other early evidence into perspective. Three other essentially independent and reliable witnesses have the reading ‘Philio’ too. Furthermore, several Cicero manuscripts preserve various examples of the alternative reading ‘Philio’. The reading ‘Philo’ in some other sources might be a mistake or a kind (...) of nickname. (shrink)

From a new reading in Philodemus’ Index Academicorum (PHerc. 1021, col. XXXVI) emerges that Phanostratos, pupil of Charmadas, stems from the Carian city of Tralleis and enjoyed good reputation for psychagogy of masses, both hitherto unknown facts.

Considering the fair amount of ancient authors who compiled works on the subject of the ‘History of Philosophy’, it is remarkable—and regrettable—that there is no solid basis for a comparative analysis of their structures. Most ancient histories of philosophy are only preserved in a few fragments or excerpts and hardly allow any meaningful non-trivial comparison of the structure and order of the philosophers and schools discussed. The only more or less entirely preserved ‘History of Philosophy’ is Diogenes Laertius’ famous treatise. (...) Although his work seems to offer an idiosyncratic rendering in some respects, and is hardly representative of the genre, some structural similarities with Sotion's Διαδοχαί (Successions) can be identified. Generally, a crucial question concerning the structure is how the philosophers and their schools were arranged in these works. Did the works basically follow a chronological order? How were the Διαδοχαί arranged? Were certain schools or philosophers dealt with together in a single book or in more than one book, or were they presented in a certain order? (shrink)