The systematic and interdisciplinary study of relations between technology and culture is at the core of one project at the Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT). This text introduces the institutional background of this project as well as some early ac-tivities and first results. After that it focuses on the theoretical foundations for the concepts of technology and culture being used in this project. Based on these thoughts the correlation between technology and culture is being illustrated and some examples of its interdependencies are given. Finally some concluding theses are presented. and Gerhard Banse, Robert Hauser.
Laudanovým príspevkom do filozofie vedy bol jeho pokus odmietnuť hodnotiaci relativizmus zavedený do interpretácií vedeckej revolúcie. Usudzoval, že kľúčovým pre pochopenie vedeckého pokroku nie je približovanie sa k pravde, ale schopnosť teórie riešiť problémy. Preto Laudan navrhol svoj „retikulárny model“, v ktorom je napätie vznikajúce medzi teóriami, metodologickými pravidlami a kognitívnymi cieľmi udržované v dynamickej rovnováhe prostredníctvom pozvoľných a postupných krokov. Problémom tohto modeluje je, že vyžaduje kvalitatívno-kvantitatívne parametre hodnotenia, a pritom jasne neurčuje žiadnu hodnotiacu škálu takéhoto druhu. Retikulárny model teda neprináša efektívne prostriedky na rozlíšenie medzi prijateľným a neprijateľným vývojom vedy. Laudanova metodológia tak nie je normatívnou teóriou schopnou predpísať primerané hodnotiace kritériá v špecifickom kontexte a vymedziť presné podmienky zabezpečujúce vedecký pokrok., Laudan’s contribution to the philosophy of science was an attempt to reject the unacceptable evaluative relativism that had been introduced into the interpretation of the scientific revolution. He concludes that the key to understanding scientific progress is not as an approximation to truth but rather with reference to the problem-solving ability of theories. Therefore Laudan proposed his reticulational model in which the tension that arises among theories, methodological rules and cognitive aims is kept in dynamic equilibrium through a process of gradual, piecemeal adjustment. The problem is that the model is highly qualitative, yet it promises quantitative parameters of evaluation, and it is not clear how a comparative evaluative scale of this sort would be determined. Hence, though the reticulation model is valuable as a description of scientific evaluative practice, it does not provide an effective means for distinguishing between acceptable and unacceptable developments. It is inadequate as a normative theory that prescribes appropriate evaluative decisions in specific contexts., and Miroslav Karaba.
This review article focuses on two aspects of Lévi-Strauss’ ex change theory: temporal dimension and gender. First, we examine its diachronic dimension to argue that Lévi-Strauss’ exchange theory is far from being static. Its primary interest is evolutionary, regardless of how much Lévi-Strauss distances himself from evolutionism of the 19th century as a paradigm. His analyses of kinship that attempt to identify elementary structures are meant to shed light on the origins of human culture. Although Lévi-Strauss uses different methodology than other scholars interested in socio-cultural evolution, his treatment of the term homology, discussions of primatology and origins of culture suggest his deep interest in long-term process. Second, we examine the critiques of Lévi-Strauss’ analytical treatment of women as passive objects of exchange among men. Through the discussion of feminine agency, personhood, sexuality, and other forms of exchange of human beings, we argue that Lévi-Strauss’ exchange of women has to be understood in its historical context. He grants only limited agency to women but his approach is definitely not based on commodification of women. In contrast, the relational nature of persons as signs refutes such logic. We conclude that Lévi-Strauss is still a source of inspiration for anthropology regardless of the decades of post-structuralist criticism. and Daniel Sosna, Jitka Kotalová.
The aim of the present paper is to analyse briefly the complicated references to musical composition in the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss. In his monumental tetralogy entitled Mythologiques, Lévi-Strauss considers the musical composition as a paradigm for structural analysis of myths. In this respect, the author compares Lévi-Strauss’ position with that of Pierre Schaeffer whose project of the “concrete music” is strongly criticised by Lévi-Strauss. In the second part of the text, Lévi-Strauss’ structural analysis of Wagner’s operas are examined, as well as the criticism ad dressed to Lévi-Strauss by Jean-Jacques Nattiez - universalist pretension and vagueness of the method based upon binary oppositions seems to represent weak points of Lévi-Strauss’ impressive effort to set new bases for human sciences. and Josef Fulka.
Tento článek usiluje o systematický popis teorie stylů myšlení a myšlenkových společenství polského mikrobiologa Ludwika Flecka. Článek se zabývá výchozím bodem jeho teorie: případovou studií tzv. Wassermanova testu. Následně je Fleckova teorie prezentována nejprve ve světle Struktury vědeckých revolucí Thomase Kuhna . Jsou zaznamenány některé podobnosti mezi oběma mysliteli (např. užívání konceptu nesouměřitelnosti, odkazy ke gestalt psychologii, předpoklad teoretické zatíženosti pozorování, pohled na vědeckou literaturu). Přesto se Fleckova stanoviska od Kuhnových v některých důležitých ohledech liší (např. názory na stabilizaci, ve Fleckově teorii nepřítomnost konceptu analogického k vědeckým revolucím). Na rozdíl od převládajícího názoru tyto rozdíly zamezují tomu, aby byl Fleck považován za předchůdce Kuhna. Z těchto důvodů tento článek zmiňuje také možnost prezentovat Fleckova stanoviska v jiném kontextu, jenž je pokládán za prospěšnější, a kterým je francouzská epistemologie (např. Canguilhem, Hacking)., The present paper aims at describing systematically the theory of thought-styles and thought-collectives of Polish microbiologist Ludwik Fleck. The paper describes its starting point: case study of the so-called Wasserman test. In what follows, Fleck’s theory is presented at first in the light of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. Some similarities between the two thinkers are pointed out (e. g. the use of incommensurability concept, the reference to gestalt psychology, the theory-ladenness of observation, the view on scientific literature). Yet Fleck’s views diff er from Kuhn’s in some important respects (e. g. the views on stabilisation, the absence of counterpart of scientific revolutions in Fleck’s theory). Contrary to the prevailing view, these differences preclude consideration of Fleck as a forerunner of Kuhn. For this reason, the present paper mentions also possibility of presentation of Fleck’s views in another context which is deemed more helpful: French epistemology (e. g. Canguilhem, Hacking)., and Jindřich Černý.
V diskusiách o hodnote a počiatku ľudského života sa aj v našich slovenských pomeroch objavujú, na rozličných úrovniach, rozmanité postoje, ktoré sú často ovplyvnené rozdielnymi filozofickými prúdmi a zmýšľaním. V posledných rokoch k tomu prispieva aj stupňujúci sa vplyv myslenia, vo Viedni narodeného Austrálčana, Petra Singera, pôsobiaci na viacerých slovenských filozofov. V tomto príspevku podávame niekoľko reakcií a názorov na anglosaskému mysleniu blízku Singerovu teóriu druhizmu (speciesizmu) a iné jeho názory z pohľadu filozofickej a teologickej etiky. Priblížime si hlavne názory autorov z nemecky hovoriaceho prostredia, ktorí sa vo svojich dielach venujú aj posúdeniu jeho teórie druhizmu. Nemecko totiž dodnes bojuje s následkami nacizmu, teda s nočnou morou 20. storočia, ktorá úzko súvisí práve s touto teóriou. Cieľom príspevku však nie je logicky vyvrátiť Singerovu teóriu, ale poukázať na jej nedostatky a zdôrazniť dôvody, prečo ju nie je možné z etického hľadiska akceptovať. V záverečnej časti sa pokúšame otočiť argumentovanie smerom k tým, ktorí preferujú výskum na ľudských embryách a na ľudských embryonálnych kmeňových bunkách. Práve títo odborníci by sa mali, podľa nás, podujať jasne dokázať, že v prípade ľudských embryí nejde o človeka (alebo osobu), a teda že v rámci výskumu môžu byť ľubovoľne použité, a teda i usmrtené., In our discussion about the value of human life various attitudes appear at different levels, influenced by diverse philosophical approaches. A notable role is played by the attitudes and theory of Peter Singer in influencing some Slovak philosophers. In this paper we advance several observations on Singer’s theory of speciesism, especially from the view of philosophical and theological ethics. We are above all concerned with authors from German-speaking areas, who have focused on speciesism in their theories. The aim of this paper is not to logically refute the theory, but rather to show its shortcomings and to offer reasons why it should not be accepted. In the concluding part we attempt to turn around the case in support of research into human embryos and human-embryo stem-cells. It is those who support such research, we argue, who should clearly demonstrate that a human embryo is not a person and that, in the cause of scientific enquiry, they can be used and killed., and Inocent‑Mária V. Szaniszló.
Autor podrobně rozebírá Masarykův válečný traktát Nová Evropa a užívá jejjako klíč k myšlení T. G. M. jako myslitele demokracie. Tímto humanitně-demokratickým prismatem, výrazně masarykovským, pak probírá vývoj českého povědomí od vzniku československého státu po počátek devadesátých let 20. století. Předkládá tak čtenáři velkolepý pohled na smysl českého bytí očima T.G.M., tedy „z hlediska věčnosti, protože [Masaryk] byl realista.“, The author reads in detail Masaryk’s war-time tract, New Europe, using it as a key to the thought of Masaryk as a philosopher of democracy. Through this humanistic-democratic prism, distinctly his own, he then reads the fortunes of Czech consciousness from the birth of the Czechoslovak state (1918) down to the nineties of the 20th century. He thus presents the reader with an imposing overview of the meaning of Czech being through the eyes of T. G. Masaryk, that is, “from the perspective of eternity, because he was a realist”., and Jaroslav Šabata.