bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Eine individualistische Theorie sozialen Handelns. Zu Raimo Tuomelas ‘A Theory of Social Action’
Authors: Leist Anton
Published: May 2016

This critical review concentrates on four important parts of Raimo Tuomela’s analytical theory of social action. It examines the book’s reconstructions of social action, of practical reasoning in this context, of social norms and it investigates its claim to a conceptual individualism. The result is critical in several aspects. Tuomela’s most original idea in the analysis of joint action, that of we-intentions, is not broad enough to cover more than a part of social action in the commonly understood sense. His ‘social’ practical reasoning incorporates an implausible premiss. The game-theoretical reconstruction of social norms strikes one as unlikely to be fulfilled in social reality. Hardly any of these analyses back up the individualist claims of Tuomela’s project.
Intentional Social Action and We-Intentions
Authors: Belzer Marvin
Published: May 2016

In his recent book Professor Tuomela presents a philosophical account of social action that relies upon the presuppositions of his purposive-causal theory of individual action. In particular, the concept of “we-intention” plays as central a role in the new theory as does that of intention in the earlier one. This article examines Tuomela’s concept of “we-intention”. Tuomela’s introduction of the concept into social action theory is motivated by the assumption that theories of individual actions and social actions are analogous relative to the role of a concept of intention in those theories. This assumption is criticized; and a number of difficulties with the new concept are discussed.
Individual Choice and Institutional Constraints
Authors: Vanberg Viktor
Published: May 2016

Normative individualism appears to be an obvious normative premise underlying a liberal conception of the desirable social order. The shortcomings of some common Interpretations of this premise are discussed and a more consistent as well as a more workable standard for assessing the ‘goodness’ of alternative socio-institutional arrangements is specified. With such an Interpretation of normative individualism, a contractrarian conception as advocated by J.M. Buchanan can be viewed as a systematic extension of classical liberalism.
Normen und Interessen als soziologische Grundbegriffe
Authors: Hopf Christel
Published: May 2016

This article attempts to clarify and critically to discuss some variants of the sociological Interpretation of regularities in social action. The widely held view that the concept of norm yields the decisive approach to a specifically sociological understanding of behavioural regularities is placed in opposition to Weber’s reflections on the basic concepts of sociology. Weber from the start reserves room for an utility - and interestoriented component of explanation, apart from the concept of norm and in principle not less important. In this connection the article also works out and criticises Parsons' attempt to ‘integrate’ Weber's sociology into a normativistic conception of the discipline. As o consequence of this criticism the author stresses the value of using the concept of norm - and also tho of rule - in o more differentiated fashion. In particular we should distinguish clearly between on the one hand norms, or rules with obligatory components, and on the other utility- or means -ends-oriented rules, followed in the process of furthering one’s own interests. If we neglect this distinction and, like Parsons, subsume o conflation of these concepts under the notion of norm, we run the risk of perceiving any moderately polished and strategically prudent pursuit of an agent’s own interests as a case of norm-governed action.
Nuclear Deterrence: The Rational and the Political
Authors: Quester George H.
Published: May 2016

While it is often argued that U.S. military strategy has gone through substantial changes over the post three decodes, it is not so clear if this is so, or why this should be so. Some changes in the real strategic problem of the west must be considered, including the growth of the Soviet nuclear arsenal. Changes in our perception of the problem may be at least as important, however, amid some possibilities of ‘Finlandisation’. Changes in the West’s opportunities must also be considered, including ‘limited nuclear war’, and a totally conventional defense. Finally to be considered are the bureaucratic motivations of those advocating any such changes in western military postures, all of which suggest that current policies may still be better than the alternatives.
Die Mängel der Abschreckung: Lassen sie sich beheben?
Authors: Frei Daniel
Published: May 2016

The strategy of deterrence suffers from at least 8 deficiencies: 1. The deterrence threat may be underestimated or overestimated. 2. The efficacy of deterrence is conditioned by o variety of factors. 3. Deterrence is highly questionable inasmuch as it represents the principle of revenge. 4. Deterrence may lead to self-deterrence. 5. Extended deterrence may have a low degree of credibility. 6. The stability of the deterrence system is constantly jeopardized. 7. Deterrence may lead to accidental nuclear war. 8. Moral acceptability of deterrence is decreasing. Attempts to overcome these deficiencies by upgraded deterrence postures, arms control, unilateral disarmament and defensive systems have been futile. Therefore mankind will have to live with deterrence; efforts ought to be undertaken, however, to prevent a ‘nuclear Sarajevo’ by appropriate measures stabilizing the strategic system.
Recent Strategic Developments: A Critical Overview From A Just War Perspective
Authors: Johnson James Turner
Published: May 2016

Beginning with a sketch of the major moral ideas contained in just war tradition, this essay applies them to three controverted issues in contemporary military debate: nuclear deterrence strategy, the strategic defense initiative, and the possibility of building and deploying fractional megatonnage nuclear weapons on delivery vehicles of extremely high accuracy. It is argued that, in terms of the criteria of just war tradition, deterrence in its present form poses grave moral problems. The two new weapons systems are then examined in terms of whether, by just war criteria, they represent more moral means of defense than contemporary nuclear deterrence.
Nuclear Deterrence and Just War Theory
Authors: Phillips Robert L.
Published: May 2016

The just war tradition stands as the moral and prudential alternative to both pacifism and realism. It forms the only reasonable ethical basis for the understanding of state initiated force. As applied to questions of nuclear deterrence, just war theory is incompatible with Mutual Assured Destruction and with the threat of MAD. Just war theory entails a move toward counterforce with discriminate targeting of military capabilities and away from city targeting . This is now becoming possible technically and is morally indicated. The counterforce option is realistic in that nuclear disarmament is an extremely remote possibility and alternate strategies such as bluff ore not workable. A counterforce strategy would be both discriminate and proportional as well as being in accord with political realism.
Elements of Constraint
Authors: Häyry Matti , Airaksinen Timo
Published: May 2016

This paper analyses the various effects of threats and offers on freedom. Both threats and offers are related to social power. Threats are part of coercion and they are constraints. We try to say why this is so. Offers are more problematic. We identify soft and hard offers, or offers that can be refused and those that cannot. Hard offers have several interesting features, especially in relation to individual preference orders and sets of action alternatives. This paper studies problems which are implicit in Thomas Wartenberg’s study of the various forms of social power in this issue of Analyse & Kritik.
Die neue Welt der Ökonomie
Authors: Kirchgässner Gebhard
Published: May 2016

The article starts out with a sketch of the model of Individual behaviour, basic for modern economic theory, including the consideration of typical criticisms. The model then is examined in its application first to micro- and macroeconomic theorizing, then to the economic analysis of politics and of law. It concludes by pointing out some drawbacks inherent in the economic approach to the social sciences: economic imperialism, conservativism and the illusion of manageability.
Der Homo Oeconomicus: Ausnahmeerscheinung in jeder Situation oder Jedermann in Ausnahmesituationen?
Authors: Zintl Reinhard
Published: May 2016

Even if formally precise, the economic concept of rationality has different empirical implications depending on how it is used in theory building. If it is used as a tool of microfoundation in multi-level analysis it can be applied universally, but does not imply a specific model of human behavior. As a means of constructing microtheories proper it is, on the other hand, translated into a definite model of man but can be applied only to specific situations. This model, known as homo oeconomicus or economic man, should not be taken as an assertion about human nature but rather as a shorthand description of the behavior enforced and stabilized by social situations of a certain type.
Methodologische Überlegungen zum ökonomischen Imperialismus
Authors: Homann Karl , Suchanek Andreas
Published: May 2016

Starting point is the thesis that economics - as well as other social sciences - is imperialistic with regard to the area of its subject, but not with regard to its approach. Underlying economics is the following schema: Try to explain under the presumption that actors maximize their expected utility under constraints. Conditions and possibilities of interdisciplinary research within all sciences being considered imperialistic are discussed according to this schema. Theoretical guide-lines are provided by the systematic connection of ‘problem’ and ‘schema’, as well as the concept of ‘fruitfulness’ as primary criterion of judgement.
Wissen, Präferenzen und Kommunikation – eine ökonomische Theorie
Authors: Witt Ulrich
Published: May 2016

Given that individual information processing and memory capacity are severely limited, many institutional and procedural properties of the social communication process can be explained within an individualistic approach as the outcome of a co-evolution of action-inherent knowledge and preferences. This argument is outlined by referring to phenomena such as the competitive release of information (advertising), the role of celebrities and the rent they collect, and some characteristic ‘critical mass’ features.
Norminterpretation und ökonomische Analyse des Rechts
Authors: Kirchner Christian , Koch Stefan
Published: May 2016

Normative economics and a hermeneutic approach to interpretation of legal norms are only compatible if - and this is the exception - such legal norms have the goal of accomplishing economic efficiency. But economic analysis of law as a positive approach may be used in the legal interpretation process in order to evaluate different options of norm interpretations. In fields of law where economic issues are at stake such a methodological evaluation of interpretative variants are superior to common sense analysis and should be applied. But even in fields where non-economic issues play a major role an economic analysis is a helpful tool in order to get aware of the opportunity costs of economically sub-optimal solutions. Economic analysis of law thus becomes an integral part of the norm interpretation process without colliding with the autonomy of the legal decision enhancing the rationality of the endeavour.
Ist „zwanghaftes Handel” ein paradoxer Begriff?
Authors: Löw-Beer Martin
Published: May 2016

What does it mean that a person is psychologically forced to do certain things? It is argued that there are, strictly speaking, no compulsive actions. Talking of compulsive actions people refer to intentional actions that are means of avoiding irrational panic attacks. People know that certain situations will cause them irrational fears and that is the reason why they avoid these situations. These irrational fears are either mediated by wrong perceptions or by emotional delusions. In the former case the people believe wrongly that they are in danger, while in the latter case they know that they “feel wrong”, but cannot help it. The compulsive elements cannot be found in the actions but in the irrational fears and the obsessions that are part of them.
Wahn, Sinn, Sprache und Analyse
Authors: Kettner Matthias
Published: May 2016

I discuss Wolfgang Tress’ attempt to apply analytic philosophy to the field of psychiatry and psychological medicine. According to Tress the concept of a person as a rational intentional system is fundamental for psychological medicine and irreducible to concepts of the natural sciences. But the rationality assumptions that are crucial for the concept of a person need much more clarification than Tress provides. Furthermore, Tress’ concept of schizophrenia as a disorder of ‘semantic coherence of the person’ is seriously flawed empirically. Pragmatics rather than semantics should provide the methodological framework for the reconstruction of psychopathological concepts, such as “schizophrenia” and “delusion”.
Utilitaristische Ethik und Tötungsverbot
Authors: Birnbacher Dieter
Published: May 2016

One of the standard criticisms of classical utilitarian is that it is unable to provide an adequate ethical foundation for the wrongness of killing. It is reasoned that the five arguments against killing available to the classical utilitarian are indeed sufficient to provide such a foundation and that recourse to preference utilitarianism is neither called for nor helpful since it generates a number of problems of its own. On this basis, Singer’s discussion of selective abortion and the selective euthanasia of newborns is criticized from within utilitarianism for not giving sufficient weight to direct and indirect social side-effects, especially if ‘external’ criteria are introduced into the valuation of human life.
Kindstötung und das Lebensrecht von Personen
Authors: Hoerster Norbert
Published: May 2016

According to the view of Peter Singer, only persons deserve a right to life. As a consequence, a human being can claim such a right only at a certain point of its postnatal development and there is no essential moral difference between infanticide and abortion. Against this view, it is argued that - even on the basis of personhood as the fundamental criterion - there are convincing pragmatical reasons for attributing a right to life in social practice at the point of birth. It is also shown how this position can be combined with a morally satisfactory position on the important problem of the treatment of infants who are severely handicapped.
Max Weber and the Legitimacy of the Modern State
Authors: Beetham David
Published: May 2016

Max Weber’s typology of legitimate ‘Herrschaft’ has provided the basis for the treatment of legitimacy in twentieth century sociology and political science. The thesis of the article is that this typology is a misleading tool for the analysis of the modern state, and especially for the comparative analysis of political systems. This is because of basic flaws in Weber’s conceptualisation of legitimacy itself, and in his account of the normative basis of authority. The article offers an alternative, multi-dimensional, account of political legitimacy, and suggests how it might be used to develop a typology of forms of ‘Herrschaft’ more appropriate to the analysis of the modern state.
Two Theorists of Action: Ihering and Weber
Authors: Turner Stephen P.
Published: May 2016

Rudolf von Ihering was the leading German philosopher of law of the nineteenth century. He was also a major source of Weber’s more famous sociological definitions of action. Characteristically, Weber transformed material he found: in this case Ihering attempt to reconcile the causaland teleological aspects of action. In Ihering’s hands these become, respectively, the external and internal moments of action, or intentional thought and the factual consequences of action. For Weber they are made into epistemic aspects of action, the causal and the meaningful, each of which is essential to an account of action, but which are logically and epistemically distinct. Ihering thought purposes were the products of underlying interests, but included ‘ideal’ interests in this category. Weber radicalized this by expanding the category and making it historically central. This radicalization bears on rational choice theory: if ideal interests have a large historical role independent of material interests, and are not fully explicable on such grounds as ‘sour grapes’, the methods appropriate to the study of the transformation of ideas, meaning genealogies in the Nietzschean sense, are central to the explanation of action.
Rawls and the Socratic Ideal
Authors: Nielsen Kai
Published: May 2016

John Rawls’s recommendation that political philosophy should be kept free of metaphysics has recently come under attack by Jean Hampton. According to her philosophy as a Socratic quest has to orient itself by radical probing and that unavoidingly involves us in metaphysical commitment. Non-Socratic philosophy in the later Rawls, she claims, reduces itself to a mere ‘modus vivendi’. In defending Rawls the article makes clear how Hampton underrates the method of reflective equilibrium. Rawls makes a rationally reconstructed use of the Socratic ideal, that can be turned not only against Hampton’s critique of Rawls, but also against its relativist appropriation by Richard Rorty.
Individuelles Handeln und Macht: Foucaults Herausforderung
Authors: Leist Anton
Published: May 2016

Foucault’s twofold attack on the modem concept of power gives us something to think about. Backed by ingenious historical analyses he devises an idea of systemic and productive power, abstracted from the conceptual connections between power and individual power-sources, viz. power and restrictions of freedom. The article probes Foucault’s historical sketches on. these two tasks. It defends the less radical view of power as constraining interests and freedom.
Altruismus, Moralität und Vertrauen
Authors: Braun Norman
Published: May 2016

Successful trust-relations exist if the trustee reciprocates in accordance with his/her promises to the trustor’s unilateral cooperation. Using a parametric rational choice approach, Coleman shows that an egoist without a moral conscience may place trust in another unmoral egoist. Consequently, successful trust-relations between those actors are possible if strategic considerations play no role for individual decision-making. This paper focusses on such considerations for the emergence of those relations, given complete information (in the sense of common knowledge) of the players. Generally, trust-relations are hard to establish if unmoral egoists take into account their strategic interdependence. It is shown that two different motivations of the trustee, viz., altruism and morality, may suffice to overcome the characteristic conflict between individual rationality and social efficiency in situations with strategically deciding actors.
On the Foundations of Social Science Research
Authors: Mueller Dennis C.
Published: May 2016

Is it possible that all of the social sciences could employ a common methodology? If so, what would it be? This article adresses these questions. It takes off from James Coleman’s recent book, The Foundations of Social Theory. Coleman’s social theory is built on the postulate that individuals are rational actors, the same postulate that most of modern economics is built upon. This article critiques the use of this postulate in economics, and thus questions whether it is a useful building block for the methodological foundations of social science research. It proposes an adaptive view of human behavior as an alternative in which preferences are conditioned by past experience. The work of Joseph Schumpeter is discussed as an exemplar of the methodology advocated here.
Die Auflösung des Sozialen
Authors: Kappelhoff Peter
Published: May 2016

Coleman's Foundations of Social Theory is based on a theory of rational action in the specific version of utility maximization embedded in a macro-micro-macro-framework. This approach is logically and empirically deficient in the following aspects: The social constitution of the situation and the actor himself is excluded from the theoretical consideration (macro to micro transition). Limitations to rationality remain implicit and are not integrated into an empirically founded theory of bounded rationality (microtheory). The dynamics of non-equilibrium systems are outside the realm of the theory (micro to macro transition). Central concepts of social theory, as for instance rights and norms, are reduced to a power based balance of interests. This results in a dissolution of social structure and in an infinite regress of contingent conditions.
Sozialkapital und das Kooperationsproblem in sozialen Dilemmata
Authors: Diekmann Andreas
Published: May 2016

Coleman’s Foundations devotes much attention to the role of ‘social capital’ in solving problems of cooperation in dilemma situations. In contrast to the human capital approach, however, there is no stringent theory of social capital allowing for the deduction of empirically testable hypotheses from a set of general principles. This article demonstrates by means of various examples that social capital is an important exogenous factor inducing the evolution of cooperation and the stabilization of cooperation in N-person dilemmas. Some preliminary suggestions are made concerning the measurement of social capital and its ‘rate of return’ as a productive factor contributing to the cooperative solution in dilemma situations.
Kritische Anmerkungen zu Ernst Tugendhals Konzept der Legitimität
Authors: Hoerster Norbert
Published: May 2016

According to Tugendhat's moral theory of legitimation the equal consideration of the interests of all is required. Tugendhat claims that this concept is the only one remaining as traditional forms of justification are no longer available. The author argues that Tugendhat's theory must fail because he tries to realize two contradictory aims: on the one band that bis principle of legitimation should not to be reduced to individual interests; on the other band that it should be reached without any aprioristic presuppositions.
Formen der ‘Zerlegbarkeit’ sozialer Phänomene
Authors: Balog Andreas
Published: May 2016

One aspect of the Micro-Macro-Problem is the analysis of the principles of composition and decomposition. Since these principles play a considerable role in everyday life whenever people identify parts of large social units, they can be derived by way of reconstruction from everyday knowledge. On this basis a definition of micro-macro-relations is developed. According to this definition there are empirical and conceptual relations between the macro-phenomenon and its constituent parts, although the micro-phenomena are also independent entities in their own right. Two different forms of ascription of macro-attributes are distinguished and the limits of 'upward'-composition and 'downward'- decomposition are discussed. Finally, consequences of this perspective are presented concerning the explanation of social facts.
Is There Psychological Adaptation to Rape?
Authors: Thornhill Randy
Published: May 2016

Psychological adaptation underlies all human behavior. Thus, rape could either arise from a rape-specific psychological adaptation or it could be a side-effect of a more general psychological adaptation not directly related to rape. The rape-specific hypothesis and the incidental effect hypothesis are explained. Determining the specific environmental cues that men’s sexual psyche has been designed by selection to process will allow us to decide which of these two hypotheses is true. I focus on rape, and briefly look at other types of sexual coercion, such as sexual harassment and incest.
Beyond Costs and Benefits: Weighing Environmental Goods
Authors: Foster John
Published: May 2016

A teleological approach to deciding how we should act underlies the attempted extension of neo-classical economics to environmental issues, with its emphasis on comparative valuation in monetary terms. Such an extension fails because, in the environmental sphere, there are powerful reasons for denying commensurability of the relevant values. But this denial then tends to undercut any weighing of environmental goods. In response to this difficulty, the paper seeks to develop an account of the weighing of goods which would enable us to recognise value as a human creation, while also grounding it in an ecological unity with the wider life of nature.
Comment on John Foster
Authors: Kusser Anna
Published: May 2016

Modern environmental thought is characterized by a paradox. The value of environmental goods seems to transcend all purely human values. At the same time environmental goods have to be placed within an overall ranking if there is to be rational environmental policy. It is argued that J. Foster's concept of value-judgement cannot solve this paradox.
Comment on Clive L. Spash
Authors: Erdmann Georg
Published: May 2016

The basic message put forward by Spash is sound, namely that cost-benefit analysis (CBA) can hardly be used to address the question of how much money society should optimally spend in order to avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the points in Spash’s paper against the use of CBA for the GHG assessment vary in their significance.
Steiner’s Justice
Authors: Steinvorth Ulrich
Published: May 2016

Hillel Steiner is a libertarian who takes the equal right to natural resources seriously. Though there are objections to some of the conclusions he draws from this right, his approach might avoid the vices of liberalism and socialism and combine their virtues.
Eine globale Rohstoffdividende
Authors: Pogge Thomas W.
Published: May 2016

We live in a world of radical inequality: Hundreds of millions suffer severe, lifelong poverty. Many others are quite well off and affluent enough significantly to improve the lives of the global poor. Does this radical inequality constitute an injustice in which we are involved? An affirmative answer finds broad support in different strands of the Western moral tradition, which also support the same program of institutional reform. This reform centers around a Global Resources Dividend, or GRD. A GRD in the amount of one percent of the global social product would raise some $300 Billion a year. This amount is too small to lead to economic dislocation. But it is large enough to eradicate global poverty within one or two decades.
Das Paradox des Liberalismus - eine Einführung
Authors: Kliemt Hartmut
Published: May 2016

This is a somewhat simplistic introduction to some of the topics related to the so called ‘paradox of liberalism’. It tries to serve the twin purpose of facilitating access to the papers printed in this issue of Analyse & Kritik and putting them into a broader perspective.
The Liberal Paradox
Authors: Pattanaik Prasanta K.
Published: May 2016

The paper seeks to interpret the liberal paradox in a framework where individual rights are represented as game forms. Several close counterparts, in this framework, of Sen’s theorem are considered, and their intuitive significance is discussed.
The Paretian Liberal, His Liberties and His Contracts
Authors: Jasay Anthony de , Kliemt Hartmut
Published: May 2016

The paper tries to relate classical liberal intuitions about rights and liberties to some of the more formal discussions of the putative impossibility of a Paretian liberal. Its focus is on the interpretation of formal modelling rather than on formal analysis. The theoretical concepts of the formalized approaches more often than not distort the meaning of the non-formalized concepts of classical liberal theory. Using proper explications of the concepts of liberties and rights respectively the alleged paradoxes of liberalism lose their paradoxical character.
Der kooperative Diskurs: Grundkonzeption und Fallbeispiel
Authors: Renn Ortwin , Webler Thomas
Published: May 2016

Complex modern societies require new ways of political conflict solution, especially concerning environmental conflicts. We distinguish six forms of conflict solution, including those of mediated bargaining and cooperative discourse. If one opts for cooperative discourse, further orientation according to criteria such as fairness, competence, legitimation and efficiency seems to be important. Three procedural steps within cooperative discourse-i.e. establishing relevant value attitudes, expert-hearings, evaluation of options by citizen panels-are sketched and critically discussed, making use of experience from recent discoursive siting panels in Switzerland and Southern Germany. With the exception of a legitimatory deficiency (which may be improved) cooperative discourse and citizen participation in environmental decision-making turn out to be most promising.
Licht und Schatten des Diskurses
Authors: Schüßler Rudolf
Published: May 2016

As a consequence of the world’s present ecological crisis, the potential for political protest has increased and a demand for technologies of conflict resolution has arisen. One method, favored by Ortwin Renn, applies the ethics of open discourse to negotiations between politicians, experts, and citizens. The ethical appeal of this method can easily lead to an undervaluation of its shortcomings and risks-a problem which I will try to help amend in this article. Above all, it has to be noticed that the participation in open discourse can tranquilize grass-root protests even in areas where the willingness to engage in a compromise might hurt the true public interest. And who should choose which technology of conflict resolution is applied? The citizens themselves and not just the experts of discourse should probably decide.
Rationalisierungseffekte durch Diskurse
Authors: Döbert Rainer
Published: May 2016

With steadily accumulating knowledge and increasing differentiation of access to knowledge democracies face the troublesome problem of technocracy. A solution was sought in widened participation without giving up the claim that ‚rationality’ would have a better chance of being realized. New ‚constructivist’ theories renounce this claim on the basis of equally valid ‚rationalities’. This paper tries to refute this view by specifying the concept of rationality and by analysing discourse mechanisms furthering rationality. This is clone by reconstructing some lines of argumentation of a technology assessment of transgenic herbicide-resistant crops. Conclusions arise which are difficult to reject because there is a binding form of rationality at work. But rational argumentation does not guarantee consensus in politicized debates.
Kommunikatives Handeln und kooperative Ziele
Authors: Tuomela Raimo
Published: May 2016

In this paper an account of communicative action is given from the point of view of communication as a cooperative enterprise. It is argued that there is communication both on the basis of shared collective goals and without them. It is also claimed that people can communicate without specifically formed illocutionary communicative intentions. Finally, the paper compares the account given in the article with Habermas’ theory of communicative action.
Kommunikatives Handeln bei Tuomela
Authors: Meggle Georg
Published: May 2016

According to Tuomela, comunicative actions are a Special case of social actions. As to the relevant differentia., he gives us different proposals. How are these proposals to be judged from the perspective of a communication theory formulated in strictly intentionalistic terms?
Does Moral Theory Need the Concept of Society?
Authors: Copp David
Published: May 2016

We have the intuition that the function of morality is to make society possible. That is, the function of morality is to make possible the kind of cooperation and coordination among people that is necessary for societies to exist and to cope with their problems. This intuition is reflected in the 'society centered' moral theory I defended in my book, Morality, Normativity, and Society. The theory is a relativistic version of moral naturalism and moral realism. This paper briefly explains some of the basic ideas of my theory and attempts to answer some of the most common objections. I argue that, despite its relativism, my views allow that certain things are simply wrong to do, without any qualifications, and it allows that members of other societies, non-human animals, and even features of the environment, might have non-derivative moral status.
For Society – Against Morality?
Authors: Leist Anton
Published: May 2016

Morality and society in moral philosophy are rarely brought into direct contact, at least not at a fundamental level of justification. David Copp develops an account of practical and moral rationality that could constitute a radical change. According to Copp moral theory has tobe ‘society-centered’ rather than focussing on the individual. This article is devoted to the moral content and structural features of a socially centered moral theory, and along those lines to its critical assessment. Concluding, it will seek to present an argument why moral philosophy ought not place society at the centre of its view.
Internationaler Handel, Tauschgerechtigkeit und die globale Rohstoffdividende
Authors: Reichel Richard
Published: May 2016

Pogge's proposal of a ,global resource dividend' (GRD) is intendend to compensate the poor, commodity-exporting countries of the developing world for terms of trade losses and unequal exchange in trade with the industrialized North. It can be shown that it is unlikely that Pogge’s GRD will be successful. On the one side, increased financial flows from the GRD funds may seriously inhibit the structural transformaton of an underdeveloped economy, whereas on the other side the internal distribution problem associated with GRD payments is not resolved.
„Dämonologie“ oder psychologisches Denken
Authors: Kochinka Alexander , Straub Jürgen
Published: May 2016

This article gives a survey of factors that could be relevant for the explanation of behaviour under the nazi-regime with reference to the study by Ch. Browning. Instead of causal explanations we suggest ‘how-possible explanations’. These explanations should make plausible how behaviour could come about taking into consideration intentional, normative and narrative aspects. Brutalization of the prepetrators, the psychological mechanism of distancing oneself, antisemitism, bureaucratization, carrierism, interest in power and conventionalist tendencies are discussed as relevant explanatory factors. Milgram’s analyses of obedience and group-conformity are brought into perspective within a wider-ranging culturalist approach.
Diskussion/Discussion. Morality and Society - The True and the Nasty
Authors: Copp David
Published: May 2016

This paper is a reply to Anton Leist’s criticisms of the view I develop in my book, Morality, Normativity, and Society. Leist claims that my “standard-based” account of the truth conditions of moral propositions is incoherent. I argue that he is mistaken about this. Leist claims that my “society-centered” account of the justification of moral standards has “nasty” implications. In the course of answering this worry, I develop the idea of a “moral necessity”. My theory implies that although moral propositions are metaphysically contingent, they are most likely morally necessary. I also explain that, despite its relativism, the society-centered view is quite compatible with the idea that there are certain “moral universals”. Finally, Leist claims that the arguments I have given in favor of my view are unsuccessful. But it is a mistake to think that decisive arguments can be expected in this area. The most we can expect is a clear statement of the costs and benefits of a theory. I claim that my account of the nature and grounding of morality has important advantages over familiar alternatives.
Social Ontology and the Philosophy of Society
Authors: Searle John R.
Published: May 2016

This lecture was originally given at the Einstein Forum in Berlin. It contains a summary of some of the themes in my book The Construction of Social Reality and continues the line of argument I presented there.
Armut, Gerechtigkeit und Demokratie
Authors: Kreide Regina
Published: May 2016

In his article “A Global Resources Dividend” Thomas Pogge argues that all inhabitants of the world have an equal claim to use the world’s natural resources. Pogge suggests a Global Resource Dividend (GRD) which is tobe used for raising the minimum living standard of the world’s poorest people. Pogge’s proposal has been criticized on three different levels. First, it has been objected that from a normative point of view the moral justification of the GRD is not convincing. Second, he has been criticized for the empirical assumptions that underlie his analysis of worldwide poverty. And third, the proposal has been rejected, because of problems involved in the realization of the GRD. In this article all three objections are answered and it is argued for a democratic legitimation of the GRD.
Praktische Rationalität – monistisch, nicht dualistisch
Authors: Iorio Marco
Published: May 2016

After a short survey of some discussions in modern action theory and in the theory of explanation an alternative account of reasons for action is presented and explained. According to this alternative, not mental states of the agent but non-mental facts constitute reasons for action. Some ramifications of this view are discussed with special regard to the question of how to overcome the established dichotomy of subjective and objective rationality.
Zugänglichkeit praktischer Gründe
Authors: Petzold Kirsten
Published: May 2016

The traditional debate about having reasons for actions has focussed on the motivational and justificatory dimensions. I argue that discussion of these issues has neglected a further and important condition of reasons for action. A person can have a reason only if the considerations that provide the reason are accessible to her. Access means that the agent must be able to see that her reason speaks in favor of her φ-ing. I argue for my thesis by pointing out, first, that theoretical reasons must be accessible in order to justify a person's beliefs and second, that the accessibility of theoretical reasons excludes the inaccessibility of practical reasons.
Autonomie, Charakter und praktische Vernunft: Überlegungen am Beispiel des Utilitarismus
Authors: Wallace R. Jay
Published: May 2016

This paper explores the question whether utilitarianism is compatible with the autonomy of the moral agent. The paper begins by considering Bernard Williams' famous complaint that utilitarianism cannot do justice to the personal projects and commitments constitutive of character. Recent work (by Peter Railton among others) has established that a utilitarian agent need not be free of such personal projects and commitments, and could even affirm them morally at the level of second"order reflection. But a different and more subtle problem confronts this approach: the use of utilitarian principles to justify the cultivation of personal projects and attachments undermines the autonomy to support this objection, according to which autonomy is a matter of acting in a way one can reflectively endorse.
Rational and Adaptive Playing
Authors: Hegselmann Rainer , Flache Andreas
Published: May 2016

In this paper we compare two micro foundations for modelling human behaviour and decision making. We focus on perfect strategic rationality on the one hand and a simple reinforcement mechanism on the other hand. Iterated prisoner’s dilemmas serve as the play ground for the comparison. The main lesson of our analysis is that in the space of all possible 2 × 2 PDs different micro foundations do matter. This suggests that researchers can not safely rely on the assumption that implementing simple models of decision making will yield the same results that may be obtained when more sophisticated decision rules are built into the agents.
Basic Income in Complex Worlds
Authors: Sturn Richard , Dujmovits Rudi
Published: May 2016

This paper is about difficulties in the normative justification of an unconditional basic income-difficulties which are related to the scope of egalitarian justice as well as the dimension(s) of the equalisandum. More specifically, it is contended that Philippe Van Parijs’s justification derived from the principle of Maximin real freedom runs into problems in environments in which scarcity does not offer a conceptual basis for a satisfactory account of social interdependencies. We discuss the following cases: (i) Scarcity is seen as a general equilibrium phenomenon in a dynamic environment. (ii) Social forces of production (particularly non-rival and only partially excludable inputs) play a role in creating wealth. (iii) Informal exclusion mechanisms and patterns of ‘local justice’ matter. (iv) Certain forms of heterogeneity play a role.
Spontanität oder Reflexion?
Authors: Schräpler Jörg-Peter
Published: May 2016

Every action decision made by an actor is preceded by a special definition of the situation that first structures the preferences and expectations from which the selection of an action proceeds in a second step. In a conception based on the ‚subjective expected utility‘ (SEU) Esser 1996 modelled the definition of a situation as a dual structure comprising two stages of selection: the selection of the model and the selection of the mode of information processing. In this paper it is shown how a link to a threedimensional picture of the situation emerges from the formal assumptions of these two selection steps. Depending on the selected utility ratios this picture then represents the choice of the mode of information processing as a function of subjective probabilities.
Will a Basic Income Do Justice to Women?
Authors: Robeyns Ingrid
Published: May 2016

This article addresses the question whether a basic income will be a just social policy for women. The implementation of a basic income will have different effects for different groups of women, some of them clearly positive, some of them negative. The real issues that concern feminist critics of a basic income are the gender-related constraints on choices and the current gender division of labour, which are arguably both playing at the disadvantage of women. It is argued that those issues are not adequately addressed by a basic income proposal alone, and therefore basic income has to be part of a larger packet of social policy measures if it wants to maximise real freedom for all.
Organtransplantation im Eurotransplantverbund
Authors: Kliemt Hartmut
Published: May 2016

To facilitate access for the wider international audience interested in issues of organ allocation the texts in this volume are all in English. But in view of the fact that Analyse & Kritik, though an international journal, is published in Germany it seemed appropriate to provide a German introduction and overview. This overview outlines the background of organ donation and transplantation as seems useful for the ‚uninitiated‘ reader and positions the papers of the volume on the intellectual map. In the end the articles of the volume speak for themselves while the comments that conclude it may be helpful as springboards for further critique.
A Lexicographic Decision Rule With Tolerances
Authors: Ahlert Marlies , Kliemt Hartmut
Published: May 2016

The implementation of the Wujciak algorithm as a new rule for organ allocation by Eurotransplant is of considerable interest for the theorist of choice making. In the process reformers accepted the status quo in principle but expected that their potential opponents would be willing to make minimal or 'tolerable' concessions. Thereby the consensual introduction of new dimensions of value and reforms of allocation practices based thereupon became viable. The paper characterizes a decision procedure based on ‘almost lexicographically pre-ordering established values and practices’ in a stylized manner, presents a formal reconstruction of it and points out some of its potential implications for rule choices in general.
Common Sense in Organ Allocation
Authors: Ahlert Marlies , Gubernatis Gundolf , Klein Ronny
Published: May 2016

In a questionnaire study on organ allocation 348 students of medicine (102) and economics (246) at the universities of Halle (114 students) and Hannover (234 students) responded to questions concerning their basic attitudes toward alternative criteria of organ allocation. Medical criteria were widely accepted by the respondents. Considerations concerning the patient's value to society were seen as being of minor importance. With respect to reciprocity, we could detect a high share of respondents who would favor former living donors and discriminate against murderers. Among considerations of fairness, the criterion of waiting time gained the highest support. Furthermore, majorities favored the view that health-compromising behavior and differences in age should play a role. Economic considerations were strongly rejected as criteria of organ allocation.
Patterns of Decision Making in Kidney Allocation Problems
Authors: Ahlert Marlies
Published: May 2016

Experts in the field of organ transplantation had to rank order a set of 32 patients according to their priority in receiving a donated kidney. The patients were described by the five characteristics that are incorporated in the kidney allocation algorithm applied by Eurotransplant. The priority rankings as defined by the experts were analyzed and patterns of dedsion making identified in the rankings investigated in this study. All patterns could be explained by some type of lexicographical ranking. The larger group of experts preordered tissue compatibility or, more technically speaking, the criterion of HLA match, while the complementary group applied the criterion of the length of waiting time first. Analyzing the finer decision structures of expert rankings and com paring the method of pattern exploration with a conjoint measurement analysis led to two follow-up questions: First, how can the value judgments of the experts be described adequately? Second, which type of aggregated ordering derived from the individual rankings represents them ‘best’?
Distributive Justice in Kidney Allocation
Authors: Schmidt Thomas
Published: May 2016

For patients suffering from renal failure, cadaveric donor kidneys are a scarce and valuable good. In 1996, the Eurotransplant International Foundation implemented a new kidney allocation. system. The aim of this paper is to identify and discuss issues of distributive justice in kidney allocation, with an emphasis on the basic features of the new Eurotransplant system. Particular consideration is given to waiting time and medical success.
Der Niedergang des Strukturfunktionalismus und der Aufstieg paradigmatischer. Alternativen in der Ethnologie
Authors: Helbling Jürg
Published: May 2016

The paper explores the main paradigmatic failures of structural functionalism in anthropology. Structural functionalism explains institutions and social behavior by their contribution to the reproduction of social structure. Starting from Radcliffe-Brown and Malinowski, who represent two main variants of functionalism in anthropology, its main paradigmatic problems are discussed: its inability to analyze social conflict and change, its reducing of society to norms and values as well as its mode of explaining social facts. These failures are illustrated by two functional theories of tribal wars, by Evans-Pritchard and by Rappaport. Various theoretical alternatives emerge from the decline of functionalism in anthropology. Conflict theory as well as game theory, new institutionalism, theories of collective action and evolutionary economics represent true alternatives. This again is illustrated by a theory of tribal war, explaining cooperation both within local groups and between allies against the background of the warlike social environment in which local groups are interacting.