Why do we so often defend the very social systems that are responsible for injustice and exploitation? In A Theory of System Justification, John Jost argues that we are motivated to defend the status quo because doing so serves fundamental psychological needs for certainty, security, and social acceptance. We want to feel good not only about ourselves and the groups to which we belong, but also about the overarching social structure in which we live, even when it hurts others and (...) ourselves. Jost lays out the wide range of evidence for his groundbreaking theory and examines its implications for our communities and our democracy. Drawing on twenty-five years of research, he provides an accessible account of system justification theory and its insights. System justification helps to explain deep contradictions, including the feeling among some women that they don’t deserve the same salaries as men and the tendency of some poor people to vote for policies that increase economic inequality. The theory illuminates the most pressing social and political issues of our time—why has it been so hard to combat anthropogenic climate change?—as well as some of the most intimate—why do some black children prefer white dolls to black ones and why do some people stay in bad relationships? Jost’s theory has far-reaching implications, and he offers numerous insights that political activists and social justice advocates can use to promote change. (shrink)

Für Leibniz ergibt sich kausale Verknüpfung aus dem Satz vom zureichenden Grunde, der willkürliche Abfolgen ausschließt, die für Hume, den bekannten Skeptiker des Kausalitätsbegriffs, durchaus möglich wären. Freiheit besteht für Leibniz dann darin, aus Einsicht das Richtige zu tun.

Es gibt eine entropischer Zeit, die die Zeitrichtung bestimmt, und eine periodischer Zeit, die für die Zeitmessung herangezogen wird. In der Zeit gibt es aber nicht nur Strukturverlust durch Entropiezunahme, sondern auch Strukturaufbau wie in der Biologie. Leibniz stellt sich daher die Zeit spiralenförmig vor. Das Gedächtnis verschränkt Vergangenheit und Gegenwert, und Planen verknüpft die Gegenwart mit der Zukunft. In der Relativitätstheorie verliert zwar das Konzept der Gleichzeitigkeit seinen Sinn, aber trotzdem sind noch Abstimmungen möglich, die auf Erinnerungen an eine (...) gemeinsame Vergangenheit beruhen. (shrink)

Events can be modeled through a geometric approach, representing event structures in terms of spaces and mappings between spaces. At least two spaces are needed to describe an event, an action space and a result space. In this article, we invoke general mathematical structures in order to develop this geometric perspective. We focus on three cognitive processes that are crucially involved in events: causal thinking, control of action and learning by generalization. These cognitive processes are supported by three corresponding mathematical (...) properties: monotonicity (that we relate to qualitative causal thinking and allows extrapolation); continuity (that plays a key role in our activities of action control); and convexity (that facilitates generalization and the categorization of events, and enables interpolation). We define how such properties constrain events representations and relate them to thinking about events. We discuss the relevance of the three constraints for event segmentation and explore the implications of such constraints for semantics. We conclude by a discussion that relates our approach to other accounts of events. (shrink)

In western philosophy today, the three leading approaches to normative ethics are those of Kantian ethics, virtue ethics and utilitarianism. In recent years the debate between Kantian ethicists and virtue ethicists has assumed an especially prominent position. The twelve newly commissioned essays in this volume, by leading scholars in both traditions, explore key aspects of each approach as related to the debate, and identify new common ground but also real and lasting differences between these approaches. The volume provides a rich (...) overview of the continuing debate between two powerful forms of enquiry, and will be valuable for a wide range of students and scholars working in these fields. (shrink)

For two and a half millennia readers of Aristotle have been struggling to understand just what sort of causation is being attributed to the Prime Unmoved Mover or PM, whether final or efficient, assuming that this supreme being could not be a material cause or even a formal cause of the entire cosmos. Fred Miller entered into this still ongoing debate with a fresh proposal, drawing on an almost incidental remark in GC 1.6.323a25-33 that was later picked up by Philoponus (...) in his commentary on Aristotle’s text. The fundamental question is whether the PM’s causal role is to be restricted to a case of final causation or is there evidence for efficient causation as well? Just how ancient this question of interpretation is can be clearly shown by the following remarks made by Simplicius in the first half of the sixth century in his Neo-Platonist commentary on Phys VIII.6.267b17-26:Simplicius goes on to argue in some detail for this dual picture, primarily because of his harmonizing approach to Plato and Aristotle, but also by referencing some very specific passages in other works—notably Cael, GC, DM—but also Met, albeit only from its first book (1361.11-1363.24). He starts out here by claiming that “[n]o one disputes that Aristotle calls god or the primary mover a final cause” but realizes that showing that the PM is an efficient cause as well needs some textual support, which he dutifully attempts to provide. We will be going over some of the same ground cited here in trying to articulate Aristotle’s conception of divine causation and in particular to decide if Fred Miller’s thoughts about the “untouched toucher” will help us in the overall endeavor to explore Λ.6-10. Since he points out (at p. 278) that the PM could hardly be a material cause or even a formal cause, his framing the issue as to whether the mode of causation here is exclusively efficient or exclusively final, or, on the other hand, both at once, seems very close to how Simplicius set up the problem. Indeed, he cites the same section of Simplicius’s commentary quoted above and finds this ancient perplexity a good jumping off point for his own attempt to shed light on a fundamental issue of interpretation, noting that if we balk at the Neo-Platonic suggestion that Aristotle’s PM “is on a par with Plato’s demiurge,” the question becomes: “in what way is the prime mover supposed to be an efficient cause?” (p. 279). Miller’s novel suggestion is that one way of dealing with this question is the thought that the PM is an “untouched toucher.” It is crucial to his picture that this suggestion is strongly tied to the prospect of finding “a way in which the unmoved mover of the cosmos could be a genuine efficient cause” (p. 287) and not I believe, as W.D. Ross may have held, an efficient cause only by being a final cause. This will become important when we explore what untouched touching would be quite generally, given the emphasis on the psychological dynamics of this sort of affective action as suggested by the everyday examples provided by both Aristotle and Philoponus. (shrink)

In seiner Dynamik gelangt Leibniz zum Prinzip der Erhaltung der Energie, einem der Eckpfeiler dr Physik, und dringt auch zu Wirkungsprinzipien vor, die ebenfalls in der modernen Physik eine grundlegende Rolle spielen. Bei der Analyse von Stoßvorgängen vollzieht Leibniz einen Paradigmenwechsel gegenüber Descartes und Huygens. In seiner Analyse des inelastischen Stoßes von Kugeln geht kinetische Energie in innere Energie der Bestandteile (in heutiger Terminologie der Moleküle) dieser Kugeln über. Die leibnizschen Monaden als die eigentlichen Träger der Wirklichkeit entfalten sich nach (...) ihrer inneren Logik in der Zeit, stehen aber ideal und durch die universelle Harmonie vermittelt in räumlichen Beziehungen. Dies bedingt einen grundlegenden Gegensatz zwischen zeitlicher Entwicklung und räumlicher Beziehung, anders als in der einsteinschen Relativitätstheorie. (shrink)

Chemistry is engaged with a subject that is not static but evolving in time, in chemical space, namely, the collection of all substances and reactions reported over time. If we accept that premise, we can identify the path dependencies and self-reinforcing mechanisms that determined its current space and selected it across historical alternatives. In particular, data analysis allows us to identify two crucial turning points. One was the introduction of structural theory in 1860, the other a technological shift around 1980.

The United States, unlike all other industrialized nations, does not have a comprehensive public system for financing health care. Nevertheless, the magnitude of America's public health care financing effort is remarkable. Of the one trillion dollars the United States spent on health care in 1996, almost half, $483.1 billion, was spent by public programs. In 1995, Medicare—our social insurance program for persons over sixty-five and the long-term disabled—overed 37.5 million Americans; Medicaid—our program for indigent elderly and disabled persons and indigent (...) children and their families—covered 36.3 million. In 1996, Medicare and Medicaid spent $203.1 and $147.7 billion, respectively. The payment policies of these massive public health care programs have a profound effect on the provision of health care.Many of the recipients of Medicare and Medicaid suffer pain. In 1994, 376,200 Americans over age sixty-five died of cancer. Virtually all of these would have been Medicare recipients, and as many as 70 percent of them died in unrelieved pain. Nearly four million Americans over sixty-five endured the pain of inpatient surgery in 1995, again nearly all of whom were Medicare recipients. (shrink)

Scholars of ideology in social-scientific disciplines, including psychology, sociology, and political science, stand to benefit from taking seriously the philosophical contributions of Professor Peter Railton. This is because Railton provides much-needed conceptual precision—and a rare sense of epistemological and moral clarity—to a topic that is notoriously slippery and prone to relativistic musing and the drawing of false equivalences. In an essay entitled “Morality, Ideology, and Reflection: Or, the Duck Sits Yet,” Railton (2000/2003) aptly identified the purpose of ideological analysis as (...) the unmasking of “nonepistemic” interests—that is, interests other than truth-seeking, accuracy, or warrant —that contribute to the development, adoption, and dissemination of political and religious belief systems. (shrink)

Since the Supreme Court of New Jersey decided the Quinlan case a quarter of a century ago, three American Supreme Court decisions and a host of state appellate decisions have addressed end-of-life issues. These decisions, as well as legislation addressing the same issues, have prompted a torrent of law journal articles analyzing every aspect of end-of-life law. In recent years, moreover, a number of law review articles, many published in this journal, have also specifically addressed legal issues raised by palliative (...) care. Much less is known in the United States, however, as to how other countries address these issues. Reflection on the experience and analysis of other nations may give Americans a better understanding of their own experience, as well as suggest improvements to their present way of dealing with the difficult problems in this area.This article offers a conceptual and comparative analysis of major legal issues relating to end-of-life treatment and to the treatment of pain in a number of countries. In particular, it focuses on the law of Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Japan. (shrink)

In biological classification, a character is a property of a taxon that can distinguish it from other taxa. Characters are not independent, and the relations between characters can arise from structural constraints, develop- mental pathways or functional constraints. That has lead to famous controversies in the history of biology. In addition, a character as a tool of data analysis has some subjective aspects. In this contribution, I develop algebraic and geo- metric schemes to address these issues in a mathematical framework.

This thought-provoking book initiates a dialogue among scholars in rhetoric and hermeneutics in many areas of the humanities. Twenty leading thinkers explore the ways these two powerful disciplines inform each other and influence a wide variety of intellectual fields. Walter Jost and Michael J. Hyde organize pivotal topics in rhetoric and hermeneutics with originality and coherence, dividing their book into four sections: Locating the Disciplines; Inventions and Applications; Arguments and Narratives; and Civic Discourse and Critical Theory. Contributors to this volume (...) include Hans-Georg Gadamer (one of whose pieces is here translated into English for the first time), Paul Ricoeur, Gerald L. Bruns, Charles Altieri, Richard E. Palmer, Calvin O. Schrag,.Victoria Kahn, Eugene Garver, Michael Leff, Nancy S. Streuver, Wendy Olmsted, David Tracy, Donald G. Marshall, Allen Scult, Rita Copeland, William Rehg, and Steven Mailloux. For readers across the humanities, the book demonstrates the usefulness of rhetorical and hermeneutic approaches in literary, philosophical, legal, religious, and political thinking. With its stimulating new perspectives on the revival and interrelation of both rhetoric and hermeneutics, this collection is sure to serve as a benchmark for years to come. (shrink)

Traditional historical scholarship struggles to keep up with the rapid pace of modern scientific publication trends. Even focusing on a particular scientific field, the rate of new publications far outpaces even the most studious historian’s research capacity. This essay summarizes an approach to this problem that uses computational techniques of network analysis. As a complement to close analysis of particular documents, network analysis can give a large-scale perspective on the history of science, identifying relational patterns across a vast number of (...) documents that might otherwise require an entire career to digest. To demonstrate the power of the approach, the essay applies network theory to a corpus of publications in evolutionary medicine. Four distinct networks, including those focused on authors, keywords, and citations, quickly unearth a range of relevant historical information. The essay illustrates how interpretable historical conclusions are drawn from a variety of quantitative metrics. The aim is to provide an overview of network techniques for historians looking to add robust network analysis to their research repertoire. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Ever since Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was published in 1962, philosophical “pluralism,” a concept barely a hundred years old, has emerged across all the academic disciplines in many different forms as a possible response to variants of skepticism, relativism, and dogmatism. What makes Richard McKeon’s meta-philosophical pluralism distinct from all others is both his focus on philosophical first principles and his rhetorical method of coordinating their possibilities for theoretical development and practical application. Yet McKeon’s lifelong intellectual (...) project remains largely unknown even among philosophers and rhetoricians, a situation the present essay modestly hopes to ameliorate. (shrink)

Biomedical moral enhancement seeks to adapt human morality to contemporary global challenges. This is to be achieved, among other means, through pharmacological, technological, or genetic interventions that modify so-called core moral dispositions. Although the specific list remains contested, most proposals assume that these dispositions are conceptually and, within cognitive neuroscience, ontologically well defined, empirically measurable, and thus in principle amenable to potential biomedical interventions. This paper aims to demonstrate the untenability of these assumptions. Using empathy as a case study, it (...) demonstrates that these dispositions arise not from a shared formal cognitive ontology but from folk psychology. This leads to inconsistent definitions and operationalisations across disciplines, impeding consensus formation and precluding systematic one-to-one mapping onto neural structures. Consequently, even agreement on the relevant dispositions would not ensure feasibility, which constitutes a serious, though not fundamental, obstacle. The paper concludes by proposing a substantial reduction in the original ambitions and a shift toward education and currently available, testable tools with the potential to support moral reflection. (shrink)

Statistical learning (SL) involving sensitivity to distributional regularities in the environment has been suggested to be an important factor in many aspects of cognition, including language. However, the degree to which statistically-learned information is retained over time is not well understood. To establish whether or not learners are able to preserve such regularities over time, we examined performance on an artificial second language learning task both immediately after training and also at a follow-up session 2 weeks later. Participants were exposed (...) to an artificial language (Brocanto2), half of them receiving simplified training items in which only 20% of sequences contained complex structures, whereas the other half were exposed to a training set in which 80% of the items were composed of complex sequences. Overall, participants showed signs of learning at the first session and retention at the second, but the degree of learning was affected by the nature of the training they received. Participants exposed to the simplified input outperformed those in the more complex training condition. A GLMM was used to model the relationship between stimulus properties and participants’ endorsement strategies across both sessions. The results indicate that participants in the complex training condition relied more on an item’s chunk strength than those in the simple training condition. Taken together, this set of findings shows that statistically learned regularities are retained over the course of 2 weeks. The results also demonstrate that training on input featuring simple items leads to improved learning and retention of grammatical regularities. (shrink)

Este estudio recupera la idea de inconsciente del análisis fenomenológico de Edmund Husserl a fin de contribuir y apoyar la ciencia psicológica. Se realizó un estudio de investigación teórico-bibliográfica, llevando en consideración la propia trayectoria analítico investigativa del filósofo, buscando resaltar la importancia de este análisis para comprender el concepto de subjetividad y sus implicaciones para la reflexión sobre el tiempo, sobre la memoria y la afectividad, elementos que componen la historia individual y colectiva. Husserl valora la noción de inconsciente (...) vinculada a actos de afecto y de horizonte, cuyo contenido se evidencia en la síntesis asociativa pasiva, realizada en el fluir de la conciencia intencional. Concluye enfatizando la necesidad de considerar lo implícito en la experiencia humana en todos sus niveles, lo que incluye la cuestión del “enigma del inconsciente”, contribución esencial a la fundación de la Psicología y de las ciencias humanas. (shrink)

The brachistochrone problem of Johann Bernoulli is considered as the origin of the calculus of variations. The solutions presented by Johann and Jacob Bernoulli and by Newton and Leibniz were all different and highly original. Leibniz’ solution has received less attention than those of the Bernoullis, but I show here that his abstract idea was also general and powerful enough for a general theory, although the history of mathematics took a different path. In fact, his approach quite naturally emerges from (...) his earlier treatment of the refraction of light by his then new calculus, i.e., his derivation of Fermat’s principle. I then analyze the development of his conceptions about the speed of light from that treatment through his work on the brachistochrone problem to his Nouveaux essais from 1706. From the work of the Bernoullis and Leibniz on variational problems, also an analogy between mechanical and optical problems emerged, and this naturally leads to Leibniz’ considerations on the physical concept of action and extremal principles. In contrast to later formulations of such a principle by Maupertuis and Euler, Leibniz devoted much effort to deriving more abstract principles based on considerations of symmetry and determination, as analyzed in De Risi (Geometry and monadology: Leibniz’s analysis situs and philosophy of space. Birkhäuser, Basel/Boston, 2007). Some of his corresponding ideas look surprisingly modern, for instance in the light of Feynman’s path integral approach to quantum mechanics. Leibniz’ ideas are put into the perspective of modern science in Jost (Leibniz und die moderne Naturwissenschaft. Springer, 2019). (shrink)

Leibniz war der produktivste und originellste Schöpfer mathematischer Symbole in der Geschichte der Mathematik. Seine Leistungen umfassen das Binärsystem, ein sehr effizientes Indexsystem in der Determinantentheorie und vor allem die großartige Notation seiner Infinitesimalrechnung, die aus einem zentralen Resultat, der Kettenregel, eine einfache Rechenregel macht. All dies zeigt sein klares Verständnis struktureller Beziehungen.

Leibniz erkennt schon, wohl tiefer als Kant, das fortgesetzte Teilbarkeit noch nicht das Kontinuum kennzeichnet, sondern dass man wie in der modernen Mathematik auch die Unzerlegbarkeit fordern muss. Das Verhältnis zwischen dem Kontinuierlichen und dem Diskreten ist auch in der Quantenphysik ein fundamentales Problem. Und wie Leibniz mit diesem Problem gerungen hat, lässt sich vielleicht erst aus dem Blickwinkel der modernen Physik verstehen.

Dieses Schlusskapitel bewertet noch einmal das leibnizsche System im Lichte der Erkenntnisse der modernen Naturwissenschaften. Er hat die moderne Analysis begründet und in seiner Logik und Geometrie wesentliche Elemente der modernen Strukturmathematik vorweggenommen. Die von ihm postulierten Erhaltungs- und Optimalitätsprinzipien sind Grundpfeiler der Physik, und mit seiner Suche nach den nicht mehr selbst materiellen letzendlichen Trägern der materiellen Welt berührt er sich mit den Konzepten der modernen Elementarteilchenphysik. Leben hat er fundamental als Prozess und nicht als Zustand verstanden. Auch die (...) Selbstreexion des Bewusstseins findet bei ihm tiefe philosophische Argumente. Mit seinem Monadenbegriff wollte Leibniz aber zuviel erreichen, die Permanenz der letztendlichen Träger physikalischer Kräfte, die Kontinuität der Träger des Lebens und die Einheit des Bewusstseins in einem einzigen Begriff erfassen und damit dann deren Unsterblichkeit erweisen. Wir sind heute in unseren Erklärungsversuchen bescheidener. (shrink)

Die grundlegenden Prinzipien des leibnizschen Systems sind der Satz von der Identität (Satz vom Widerspruch), der Satz vom zureichenden Grunde und das Kontinuitätsprinzip. Nach dem Satz von der Identität ist ein Subjekt durch seine Prädikate festgelegt, zu erschließen durch eine neue Logik und eine universelle Charakteristik. Nach dem Satz vom zureichenden Grunde ist das nicht Unterscheidbare identisch. Nach dem Kontinuitätsprinzip macht die Natur keine Sprünge, und der Naturablauf lässt sich durch Integration aus dem Infinitesimalen gewinnen, mittels der leibnizschen Infinitesimalrechnung. Die (...) grundlegenden physikalischen Objekte, die Monaden, sind selbst nicht mehr räumlich, und insbesondere im Unterschied zu Descartes nicht durch ihre Ausdehnung bestimmt, sondern durch ihre innere Wirkkraft, die vis viva (Energie). Die Monaden befinden sich in prästabilierter Harmonie zueinander. Ihre relationalen Beziehungen konstituieren den Raum, der daher nicht absolut wie bei Newton, sondern relativ ist. Leibniz führt auch das Binärsystem ein und entwickelt eine Rechenmaschine. (shrink)

Dieses Kapitel entlarvt zunächst einige Fehlschlüsse in der heutigen Philosophie des Bewusstseins, die oft mit neurowissenschaftlich abstrusen Beispielen arbeitet. Für Leibniz können Monaden Träger von Bewusstsein sein. Monaden sind fensterlos. Modern gesprochen ist ein Bewusstsein in sich eingeschlossen und kann nicht in direkten Austausch mit anderen Bewusstseinen treten, sondern nur indirekt, mittels der Sprache. Leibniz hat den cartesischen Dualismus überwunden, auch wenn dieser in zeitgenössischen philosophischen Debatten noch herumgeistern kann. Allerdings ist seine Lösung, aus einer Auffassung von Materie als Potentialität (...) in seinem Monadenbegriff eine prinzipielle Gleichartigkeit von elementaren physikalischen, belebten und bewussten Entitäten zu postulieren, heute nicht mehr adäquat. Er verknüpft dies aber mit einer Auffassung von der durchgängigen Logizität der Welt, aus der er grandiose Schemen struktureller Entsprechungen ableiten kann. Leibniz postuliert als erster ein Unbewusstes und weist gegen Locke auf die aktive, konstruktive Rolle des Geistes hin. (shrink)

Even Americans who have only a vague knowledge of health policy know that the U.S. is different. We do not have “socialized medicine,” like our European or Canadian neighbors. We believe that health care is not rationed here, and that, unlike citizens of other nations, we do not have to wait in long queues when we need medical care. We believe that U.S. health care is the best in the world.At the same time, the U.S. spends more on health care (...) - both per capita and as percentage of gross domestic product - than other nations do. One in six non-elderly Americans has no health insurance, and voluminous studies show that lack of health insurance has a dramatic effect on both access to care and on health status. Furthermore, on many of the most important indicators of population health, such as infant mortality and life expectancy, the U.S. scores worse than do other nations. (shrink)

According to Silvan Tomkins polarity theory, ideological thought is universally structured by a clash between two opposing worldviews. On the left, a humanistic worldview seeks to uphold the intrinsic value of the person; on the right, a normative worldview holds that human worth is contingent upon conformity to rules. In this article, we situate humanism and normativism within the context of contemporary models of political ideology as a function of motivated social cognition, beliefs about the social world, and personality traits. (...) In four studies conducted in the U.S. and Sweden, normativism was robustly associated with rightist self-placement; conservative issue preferences; resistance to change and acceptance of inequality; right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation; system justification and its underlying epistemic and existential motives to reduce uncertainty and threat; and a lack of openness, emotionality, and honesty-humility. Humanism exhibited the opposite relations to most of these constructs, but it was largely unrelated to epistemic and existential needs. Humanism was strongly associated with preferences for equality, openness to change, and low levels of authoritarianism, social dominance, and general and economic system justification. We conclude that polarity theory possesses considerable potential to explain how conflicts between worldviews shape contemporary politics. (shrink)

The current chapter discusses on the place of values in a world of politics: personality, motivation, and ideology. There are similarly daunting questions of a political or philosophical nature. If it is the case that value pluralism—if not outright conflict—is inevitable, what are the implications for democratic and related forms of governance? How might political institutions be designed so that citizens and policy makers alike will be able to absorb and tolerate ideological and other sources of conflicts without perpetually devolving (...) into stalemate situations? Presumably, a healthy, well-functioning, democratic society needs institutional mechanisms to determine which value priorities should frump others when critical decisions must be made. (shrink)

Leibniz sieht als Träger des Lebens Monaden an. Diese können in hierarchischen Beziehungen zueinander stehen, wie Zellen in einem Gewebe und diese wiederum in einem Organismus. Zwar war zu Leibniz’ Zeiten die Biologie noch nicht weit entwickelt, aber leibnizsches Denken kann trotzdem für die moderne Biologie sehr fruchtbar sein. Die auch heute noch dominante Theorie, die sog. neodarwinistische Synthese, erklärt die biologische Evolution durch differentielle Selektion von Varianten, die durch einzelne Mutationen diskreter Erbeinheiten, der mendelschen Gene, geringfügig von ihren Vorfahren (...) abweichen. Über viele Generationen können sich dann kleine Unterschiede zu großen Veränderungen aufschaukeln. Dies verkennt aber die Rolle der Individualentwicklung höherer Lebewesen und die systematische Organisation des Genoms. In diesem Kapitel wird daher ein alternativer konzeptioneller Ansatz zum Verständnis des Lebens entwickelt, als Kontrolle externer oder interner Prozesse zum Strukturaufbau und -erhalt. (shrink)

In a recent article titled “The Sanctuary of Despoina at Lykosoura: A Megalopolitan Creation?”, Alaya Palamidis challenges Pausanias’ assertions about the ancient origin of Lykosoura and its cults; she formulates the hypothesis that Lykosoura’s pantheon was created by the synoecised Megalopolis, using borrowed elements from other Arcadian cults. It is worthwhile to return to this question in order to re-examine certain issues (the status of Lykosoura at the time of the synoecism and the absence of Despoina from any written sources (...) before the Hellenistic period) and to highlight the problematic nature of the article’s hypothesis, as suggested by the question mark at the end of the title. (shrink)

Die leibnizsche Raumlehre ist abstrakt und in vieler Hinsicht modern. Sie beschäftigt sich nur mit Relationen und sieht vom materialen Gehalt der Elemente ab. Das euklidische Parallelenaxiom leitet Leibniz aus der Skaleninvarianz oder Selbstähnlichkeit des Raumes ab, denn, so Leibniz, nach dem Satz vom zureichenden Grunde lässt sich kein Skalenfaktor auszeichnen. Wie in der modernen Mathematik kann Leibniz den Begriff der geraden Linie nicht nur metrisch, als kürzeste Verbindung zweier Punkte, sondern auch abstrakter, durch ihre innere Bestimmtheit, gewinnen.

Leibniz’ Schriften zur Logik wurden erst im 20.Jahrhundert bekannt, und es stellte sich heraus, dass er schon wesentliche Einsichten der modernen Logik vorweggenommen hatte. Leibniz formalisiert die Logik, die Syllogistik durch Diagramme, die Begriffslogik als Algebra, und insbesonder wie in späteren Systemen auch die Prädikatenlogik durch Quantoren. Seine Satzlogik regt die moderne Semantik möglicher Welten an. Existenz fasst Leibniz durch den Begriff der Kompossibilität, indem die reale als bestmögliche Welt dadurch ausgezeichnet ist, dass in ihr das maximal miteinander Verträgliche vorkommt.

We agree that promoting intergroup harmony system-justifying and identify several ways in which and stereotypes, superordinate identification, intergroup contact, and prejudice reduction techniques can undermine social change motivation by reinforcing system-justifying beliefs. This may but it also prevents individuals and groups from tackling serious social problems, including inequality and oppression.