Böcker i Berner Reihe Philosophischer Studien-serien

This book is an attempt to provide a systematic interpretation of Hans-Georg Gadamer's hermeneutics in light of one of the most important, interesting and debated questions of the present age: the question concerning the role played by science and technology in shaping our civilization. The author argues that this question lies at the heart of Gadamer's thought, and that such an approach to his philosophy might help to overcome some inveterate interpretive prejudices, like, for example, the idea of Gadamer as an anti-scientific and politically authoritarian thinker. In order to clarify these points, the author closely examines not only Gadamer's 1960 masterpiece, Wahrheit und Methode, or his main writings (later gathered in ten volumes of collected papers), but most of the works he published in his more than centenarian life, including many short essays, lectures and interviews. Gadamer's hermeneutics is seen as offering both an intriguing description of the main pathologies of the Western modern civilization, and a challenging proposal for healing the uneasiness and malaise of modernity by revaluating all forms of unmethodical, i.e. non-scientific, experience and knowledge.

This book addresses the theme of what nature is and humans' obligations toward the natural world. It demonstrates that an approach based in metaphysics can help us to understand better what nature is and our obligations to the natural world. Beginning with ideas traced from Aristotle through some of the signifcant figures in European philosophy, the author shows that each living thing is a unique source of value. He then argues that this value puts humans under an obligation and that adopting an attitude of responsibility to living things is an essential part of what it means to be human.

Many philosophers adopt methods that emulate those of the natural sciences. They call such an overall approach naturalism, and consider it indispensable for fruitful philosophical debate in various areas. In spite of this consensus however, little is ever said about how naturalism depends on the underlying idea of nature, which we often endorse unconsciously. If we can determine how naturalism reflects an underlying account of nature, we would be in a better position to distinguish between different kinds of naturalism and to assess the merits of each. This book undertakes a sustained study of the concept of nature to answer this need. It examines in detail how conceptual, historical, and scientific constraints affect the concept of nature in various domains of philosophy, and how, in the opposite sense, these constraints are themselves affected by the concept of nature. In so doing, this book relates the conceptual framework of scientific inquiry back to the lived experience that is proper to everyday self-understanding.

Wie ist es möglich zu verstehen, dass ein anderer Schmerzen hat? Eine begriffliche Analyse im Anschluss an Wittgenstein zeigt: dazu ist so etwas wie eine Simulation der fremden Schmerzen durch eigene Schmerzen erforderlich. Der Autor setzt sich mit den Fragen auseinander, die ein solcher Ansatz aufwirft, und präsentiert für das Problem des Fremdseelischen eine neuartige Lösung.Das Problem führt in zentrale Bereiche der Philosophie des Geistes hinein. Die fremden Schmerzen sind in verschiedener Weise mit den eigenen Schmerzen begrifflich verknüpft; im Beispiel des Schmerzes entfaltet sich die «Logik» eines mentalen Zustands. Mit der Simulation verbindet sich zudem eine Identifikation mit dem andern. Ein wichtiger Teil der Überlegungen befasst sich daher mit einem Begriff der synchronen Identität, welche wiederum in einer engen Beziehung zu bestimmten Formen der Intentionalität steht.