It is increasingly common to hear solar geoengineering compared to opioids. I argue that probing this analogy can help us appreciate the following surprising point: Common arguments for solar geoengineering, if taken to their logical conclusion, imply that the technology should be used to slow the pace of emissions reductions. Indeed, Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs)—a widely used and influential climate policy tool—produce the same result. This conclusion is striking because, if there is one area of consensus across debates about solar (...) geoengineering, it is that the technology should not be used as a ‘substitute for’ or to ‘delay’ the energy transition. I argue that we can make sense of this apparent tension by recognizing that different parties to the solar geoengineering debate have different conceptions of the kind of ‘substitution’ or ‘delay’ to be avoided. The surface-level consensus that solar geoengineering should not substitute for emissions reductions thus masks an important dispute: How does the prospect of solar geoengineering influence the speed of emissions cuts we should aim for? In the final pages of the paper, I’ll return to the opioids analogy to briefly draw out the implications of answering this question in the way recommended by IAMs. In short, we risk adopting an approach to solar geoengineering policy that advances our own interests at the expense of locking those that follow us into a form of addiction. (shrink)

Should high‐income countries engage in solar geoengineering research and possible deployment? On the assumption that the speed of the energy transition will be insufficient to abate catastrophic climate impacts, research into solar geoengineering begins to look like a technically and socially feasible route to mitigate such impacts. But on the assumption that a rapid and relatively just energy transition is still within the realm of political possibility, research into solar geoengineering looks more like an ideological tool designed to divert time (...) and resources from less risky climate solutions. At the heart of debates over solar geoengineering, then, is disagreement over what political actors can be expected to do in the future. In this article, I argue that both objectors to and proponents of solar geoengineering research often make background assumptions regarding expected future actions that are either (a) inaccurate or (b) inconsistent. I propose an account of expected future actions that avoids these problems and sketch what the debate over solar geoengineering looks like with these assumptions in place. (shrink)

Multilingualism as a (sub)-discipline of linguistics with special interest in language acquisition and didactics was established in the 1990s. As time moved on, the discipline of multilingualism evolved into an interdisciplinary field of research, but not yet including a philosophy of multilingualism. In this record of a conversation between linguist Britta Hufeisen and philosopher Alfred Nordmann, the concept of multilingualism is explored as well as its differences to monolingualism. This implies differences also between the philosophy of language and a (...) philosophy of multilingualism. Upon closer scrutiny it becomes clear that multilingualism is not only about language acquisition anymore but about the ways in which individuals can make themselves understood and orient themselves in a multilingual environment which includes artificial languages. In this way, the notion of affordances comes to the fore as individuals are afforded by their environment the use different language skills in different situations. The same applies to technology: Technology always affords us to do something in a specific way, but at the same time, while using it, we discover other possible uses and thus assign new meanings to it. This is where the linguist and the philosophic view diverge: The former puts an emphasis on the use of language and the actual semantic meaning of words, whereas the latter analyzes language and technology primarily in terms of its use, therefore meaning becomes a product of use. Both stress, however, the importance of culture and context for meaning and use. (shrink)

Metaphors abound in descriptions of the COVID-19 pandemic: it is described, among other things, as a war, a flood, and a marathon. However, not all metaphors may resonate equally well with members...

In the Australian context, all teachers are obliged, in accordance with the national curriculum, to engage students in critical and creative thinking in the classroom. Yet teachers often wonder ‘How do we facilitate the development of (critical and creative) thinking skills in our students?’ In our specific local context, a large-scale community consultation highlighted a need for a thorough, concerted strategic approach in relation to this obligation. In this paper we spell out our response to this need: the establishment of (...) a Centre for Critical Thinking and Ethics to implement a two-pronged strategic approach. It is our contention that the best way to cater for students’ growth in critical and creative thinking is to combine deliberative use of explicit critical thinking materials with the norms/tools/activities and strategies of the Philosophy in Schools pedagogy. Our innovation consists primarily in our 'detached' and 'embedded' approaches to critical thinking at Newington College. We aim to contribute to the ongoing discussion of best practice in critical and creative thinking, to improve capacity both in and beyond our own school. (shrink)

Die philosophische Rede von der Schuld umgreift ein breites Bedeutungsspektrum, von der Existenz- und Religionsphilosophie bis zur Ästhetik. Hegel bestimmt den Begriff der Schuld jedoch vornehmlich im Zusammenhang seiner Lehre von der Handlung als einem konstitutiven Bestandteil seiner Moralitätskonzeption. Zentraler Gegenstand dieser Untersuchung sind deshalb Hegels Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts; sie bezieht jedoch auch handlungstheoretische Aspekte der Phänomenologie des Geistes, der Vorlesungen über die Philosophie der Weltgeschichte sowie der Wissenschaft der Logik ein. Die Auseinandersetzung mit dem von Hegel begründeten (...) und mit seiner Schuld- und Strafkonzeption untrennbar verwobenen Begriff der Handlung erfolgt jedoch nicht im rein philosophiehistorischen Interesse, sondern sie erweist Hegels Handlungskonzeption mit Blick auf aktuelle Diskussionen innerhalb der Rechtswissenschaft als bedeutenden historisch-systematischen Bezugspunkt sowie als mitunter notwendiges Korrektiv."--Publisher's website. (shrink)

This paper contributes to the debates on the effectiveness and legitimacy of global labour standards. Theoretically, the paper integrates literature on labour standards in global production networks with cognitive framing and sensemaking literature to capture decent work understandings of suppliers and to theoretically underpin their relevance for the debates on the legitimacy and effectiveness of global labour standards. Empirically, the study explores cognitive decent work frames of garment suppliers and discusses them in reference to global decent work frames. A thematic (...) analysis of semi-structured interviews with thirty owners and managers in Egypt and Jordan served to identify suppliers’ decent work frames. Owners and managers dominantly framed decent work as a (paternalistic) family responsibility and as a business responsibility. Further notions that recurred across interviews were the framing of decent work as a human responsibility, religious (Islamic) responsibility, philanthropic responsibility, and regulatory responsibility. The findings show that supplier frames partly go beyond, partly undermine, and partly accord with global conceptualisations of decent work. They imply the need to strengthen and better communicate the human rights orientation of global labour standards and to give local social partners the autonomy to supplement and specify standards according to their context-specific needs. Global regulations otherwise risk crowding out informal, locally specific decent work practices that benefit workers in GPNs. (shrink)

Understanding how AI and constructions of race intersect and which new ethical dilemmas arise in this context has become pressing. In this article, we introduce a university pedagogical project centred on collective explorations of raciolinguistic biases in Large Language Models. The project aimed at the development of Critical AI Language Literacy. It approached raciolinguistic biases from linguistic anthropological perspectives, where ‘race’ is understood as a linguistic and discursive construction (Alim et al. 2020). To inspect whether and how raciolinguistic biases are (...) to be found in Large Language Models, a group of graduate students collected output of ChatGPT in different languages and subsequently engaged in discussions around the output’s potentially racially biased language or content. Prompts were entered by ten different individuals, in different ChatGPT accounts and in different languages. The results of these prompting experiments contributed to discussions on the factors that may influence the presence and degree of biased output in ChatGPT. These include the data set, the use history of the account, choice of language or language variety, and explicit sensitivity of the topic. The possible impact of debiasing techniques was also discussed. The project helped students to understand that LLMs are not neutral technologies but cultural artefacts in which biased data and cultural histories are embedded. We argue that the approach has the potential to support a critical awareness in LLM use and to therefore foster Critical AI Language Literacy. (shrink)

Este breve artículo presenta la opinión de que la teoría Lipman/Sharp del pensamiento crítico, creativo y solidario está prosperando, habiendo sido adaptada y desarrollada aún más en el contexto australiano debido a las innovaciones de Splitter, Cam y otros. Las aplicaciones e innovaciones continúan. La evidencia de la historia de P4C en Australia se detalla en Burgh & Thornton (2016) y Burgh & Thornton (2018). Este artículo proporciona un complemento a estos trabajos, destacando un estudio de caso de una iniciativa (...) conjunta más reciente que sitúa esta teoría en el centro de la enseñanza, el aprendizaje y el bienestar de los estudiantes que imparten el plan de estudios australiano en Nueva Gales del Sur (NSW). A través de una asociación entre la Association for Philosophy in Schools NSW y el Center for Critical Thinking and Ethics de Newington College, aspiramos a establecer una escuela faro de mejores prácticas comunitarias que muestre un conjunto de prácticas que surgen y están directamente informadas por la tradición encabezada por por Lipman y Sharp. (shrink)

Suppose the present generation leaves future ones with a world depleted of all the natural resources required for many valuable human pursuits. Has the present generation acted unjustly? According to contemporary theories of liberal egalitarian intragenerational and intergenerational justice, the answer, it appears, is no. The explanation for this verdict lies in the liberal commitment to remaining neutral between different ways of life: many value-laden environ- mental sites and species are not an all-purpose means to any reasonable human end and (...) so their existence is not directly relevant in an assessment of whether justice obtains. Against this view, I argue that a commitment to neutrality and its underlying justification – the idea that individuals should be equipped to live lives of their own design – in fact supports the opposite conclusion. If justice requires that citizens can pursue whatever way of life they do or might value, then it will also demand the continued existence of the natural resources necessary for those pursuits. (shrink)

What role should emerging technologies such as carbon removal and solar geoengineering play in our response to the climate crisis? To critics, these technologies fail to address the root cause of climate change and allow wealthy nations to evade their climate responsibilities. To supporters, these technologies could make it easier to meet climate targets and even contribute to making the energy transition fairer. Indeed, carbon removal is widely considered to be a necessary component of the energy transition. This dissertation aims (...) to advance this debate by unearthing and critiquing a web of normative and conceptual errors that confuse and constrain it. In doing so, this work contributes to broader questions concerning the relationship between technology, fairness, efficiency, and growth. (shrink)

What do we see when we imagine the year 2200? Where do we see humanity? How has the environment changed and how can we imagine a creative climate solution for a community-centered future? Questions such as those are addressed in the short-story collection Afterglow, published in 2023 in collaboration with Grist, a nonprofit online media organization dedicated to publishing environmental news and commentary. The twelve published short stories, finalists of the climate fiction contest from Fix, Grist's solution lab, are diverse (...) narratives inspired by progressive literary movements, such as Indigenous and Afrofuturism as well as solarpunk and hopepunk, and envision a future full of hope and compassion, a future of... Read More. (shrink)

Drawing on a letter written in December 1909 by Lou Andreas-Salomé to her friend Rainer Maria Rilke, in which she expresses her enthusiasm for writing stories for children, this article examines the author connection to the world of children literature. It seeks to situate Salomé’s body of work within its cultural context and highlight its specificities.

Der Text stellt die verschiedenen Fassungen, Formen und poetologischen Implikationen von Friederike Mayröckers Hörspiel Arie auf tönernen Füßen dar, Mayröckers erster eigenständigen radiophonen Arbeit nach den Gemeinschaftswerken mit Ernst Jandl. Für das weitgehend unerforschte Hörspiel werden außerdem Deutungsansätze und Desiderate aufgezeigt, die u. a. neue narratologische Forschungsansätze befördern könnten.

Het einde van de juridische persoon? Het juridisch persoonsbegrip heeft in de loop der tijd verschillende gedaantes aangenomen. Recentelijk bepleiten verschillende auteurs wegens zorgen over onder meer klimaat, kolonialisme en dierenwelzijn echter niet zozeer een nieuwe gedaanteverwisseling, maar een algehele opheffing van het persoonsbegrip. De beoogde oplossing om de juridische persoon af te schaffen brengt evenwel ernstige problemen met zich. Niet alleen kan men zich afvragen hoe rechtsbescherming en verantwoordelijkheid tot stand kunnen komen in een rechtsorde zonder juridische persoonlijkheid, maar (...) ook is het goed mogelijk dat de verdwijning van de juridische persoon de weg vrijmaakt voor onderwerping van burgers aan de steeds verfijndere systemen van datasturing via big data en Big Tech. Om recht te doen aan de uitdagingen waarvoor het Antropoceen én technologische ontwikkelingen de rechtsorde stellen, wordt in deze beschouwing gepleit voor een verdere ontwikkeling van de juridische persoon in plaats van de afschaffing van dat begrip. (shrink)

Die Kategorie des Menschseins wird aufgrund wechselnder Wissensbestände und Orientierungskrisen immer wieder neu bestimmt. Das Ästhetische ist damit eng verbunden. 'Aisthesis' ist erstens eine Form der sinnlichen und empfindenden Wahrnehmung, ein vorrationaler 'way of worldmaking' (Nelson Goodman), der den Bezug des Menschen zu sich und seiner Welt moduliert. Ästhetische Vorstellungen grundieren zweitens aber auch die Idee des Humanen und die Normen menschlicher Handlungs-weisen. Und drittens sind ästhetische Erkenntnis- und Ausdrucksformen Teil eines 'selbstgesponnenen Bedeutungsgewebes' (Clifford Geertz) der Kultur, das die Grenzen (...) und das 'Andere' des Menschen bestimmt. Der interdisziplinäre Sammelband vereint aus verschiedenen Fächern und Forschungsperspektiven heraus Einblicke in die Wechselwirkungen zwischen anthropologischen Fragestellungen und ästhetischen Formationen. Mit Beiträgen von Horst Bredekamp, Steffen Martus, Martin Seel, Christoph Wulf, Elisabeth Timm u.a. (shrink)

How do we switch between “playing along” and treating robots as technical agents? We propose interaction breakdowns to help solve this “social artifact puzzle”: Breaks cause changes from fluid interaction to explicit reasoning and interaction with the raw artifact. These changes are closely linked to understanding the technical architecture and could be used to design better human–robot interaction (HRI).

Die radikale Metaphysikkritik der Moderne vollzieht sich als eine Transformation der Metaphysik in sich selbst – und stellt keineswegs eine Verwerfung der Metaphysik dar. Denn der Grundgedanke der sinnvollen Einheitlichkeit der Wirklichkeit ist jedem, selbst dem empirischen Objektivitätsideal verpflichteten Denken notwendig. Ernst Cassirers metaphysikkritisches Anliegen besteht in der Beurteilung der Möglichkeit der Metaphysik als Grund des modernen, wissenschaftstauglichen Denkens, das er als unabgeschlossene und unabschließbare Emanzipationsbewegung des menschlichen Geistes und Lebens auffasst. Anhand der Idee der Freiheit lassen sich die Konstitutionsbedingungen (...) eines funktionalen Strukturgefüges darstellen, die den Anspruch der Philosophie erfüllen, in sowohl theoretischer als auch praktischer Hinsicht zu einem einheitlichen und orientierungsfördernden Weltverständnis beizutragen. (shrink)

Attempts to determine the value and intergenerational importance of environmental goods have a difficult time accounting for the non-basic services that ecosystems provide. Discussions of ‘Critical Natural Capital’ deem some ecological goods ‘non-substitutable’: acting justly towards the future requires their preservation. These characterizations, however, often miss a crucial distinction between the type of non-substitutability exhibited by basic CNC and sociocultural CNC: the former is only technologically and practically non-substitutable while the latter is constructed as such by specific groups regarding token (...) natural spaces. In this thesis, I address whether sociocultural natural capital is a required component in the basket of goods we leave for future generations. While the constructed nature of the value of these goods makes their implication in a theory of intergenerational justice subject to a number of objections, I argue—employing the Rawlsian tools of the veil of ignorance and the original position—that they are indeed a required component of a just bequest. (shrink)

This book deals with the values of medicinal plants and associated knowledge(s) in the field of bioprospecting in post-apartheid South Africa. Bioprospecting, the use of genetic or biological resources for commercial purposes, is a profit-oriented enterprise facing new challenges with the rise of human rights and biodiversity politics. This new situation has led to claims for political leverage made by indigenous communities, as well as to claims for national and local cultural identity and heritage. The picture presented here contributes to (...) the widely discussed yet so far unresolved question of how to appropriately share benefits, and how to protect indigenous knowledge in this field. (shrink)

Considering two recent trends in the Humanities – the cultural turn and the increase of critical sociohistorical reflections on a global level – in this paper it should be looked at their influences especially on philosophy. One of these influences can be located in the emergence of “intercultural philosophy” since the 1990s which calls for a reorientation of philosophy in general. Regarding mainly one of the favored methods, the polylogue, it is important to take into account the postcolonial perspective, too. (...) For such an interculturally and postcolonially motivated approach there are two tasks which are highly relevant: 1) the deconstruction of history in direction towards a new critical historiography and 2) the due reflection of crucial philosophical concepts and categories in direction towards a conceptual decolonization. Mainly the latter, in my opinion, marks a necessary and already overdue project for rethinking the philosophical vocabulary and for overcoming its colonial impact. Perhaps this may finally become a really intercultural philosophical project in which philosophers engage wherever they may be from. (shrink)

Here moral problems created by the use of constructive imaging technologies within the life sciences are discussed. It specifically deals with the creation of dichotomies, such as gender, race and other differences, created and manifested through the contingent use of scientific and computational models and methods, channelling the production process of scientific results and images. Gender in technology studies has been concerned with destabilizing essentialist and dichotomous co-constructions of gender and technology. In the technological construction process gendered social constructions of (...) stereotypes and inequalities both of the technological models and of the presumptions in life sciences become structural properties of the artefacts, again flowing back into the seemingly objective results and knowledge of the life sciences. Here we will deal with the construction of gender differences via biomedical imaging and the creation of norms in atlases. Additionally, the de-contextualized images, showing idiosyncratic selections and reducing complexity are used to popularize gendered assumptions about biological facts. (shrink)

Medical imaging has provided insight into the living body that were not possible beforehand. With these methods a revolution in medical diagnosis and biomedical research has begun. Problematic aspects on the other hand are arising from the highly constructive properties of image production, which use complicated physical and physiological effects. Images are established via highly complicated combinations of technology and contingently chosen mathematical and algorithmic solutions. In addition, image construction follows properties of the human visual and cognitive system to allow (...) for the discrimination of the desired categories. It is no wonder that the visualizations referring to the body also show effects which have no physiological correlation within the body. Still such images are often used as if they were one-to-one correlates of the body. This has impacts, e.g. for their use as standardizing instances, resulting in new definitions of the normed healthy body, sickness or pathologies, maleness and femaleness and in determinisms as opposed to the brain's plasticity and variability, both in time and space, inter- as well as intra-individually. (shrink)

Although AI language technologies are typically presented as future-oriented technological innovation, none of the elements of machine learning technologies are unaffected by the cultural and historical contexts of their emergence. This is particularly true in the case of language constructions and the materialization of language in AI. Examination of computational language culture reveals striking continuities to concepts of language and their materialization in technology settings in the history of European colonialism. Based on an in-depth analysis of how languages were materially (...) produced in colonialism and are treated in AI technologies, we show the strong colonial continuities in language materialization processes to this day. This also indicates the crucial role that language materializations play in the construction and maintenance of power and social order in a global realm. (shrink)