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18Power, Soft or Deep? An Attempt at Constructive CriticismLas Torres de Lucca. International Journal of Political Philosophy 6 (10): 177-214. 2017.This paper discusses and criticizes Joseph Nye’s account of soft power. First, we set the stage and make some general remarks about the notion of social power. In the main part of this paper we offer a detailed critical discussion of Nye’s conception of soft power. We conclude that it is too unclear and confused to be of much analytical use. However, despite this failure, Nye is aiming at explaining an important but also neglected form of social power: the power to influence the will and not jus…Read more
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16Epistemologische Aspekte in Kants MoralphilosophieIn Ralph Schumacher, Rolf-Peter Horstmann & Volker Gerhardt (eds.), Kant Und Die Berliner Aufklärung: Akten des Ix. Internationalen Kant-Kongresses. Bd. I: Hauptvorträge. Bd. Ii: Sektionen I-V. Bd. Iii: Sektionen Vi-X: Bd. Iv: Sektionen Xi-Xiv. Bd. V: Sektionen Xv-Xviii, De Gruyter. pp. 3-12. 2001.This paper discusses the close and complicated relation between 3 dimensions of Kant's theory of the pure will: the epistemological aspect (morality is a priori), the motivational aspect (moral motivation is free of sensual inclinations), the content-aspect (the categorical imperative as the supreme moral principle). Kant runs these 3 aspects together at times and it is necessary to consider them as independent parts of a complex theory.
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16To thine own self be untrue : against the cable guy paradoxLogique Et Analyse 204 355-363. 2007.In a recent paper, Hájek presents the following alleged paradox. You are certain that a cable guy will visit you tomorrow between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. but you have no further information about when. And you agree to a bet on whether he will come in the morning interval. At first you have no reason to prefer one possibility rather than the other. But you then realise that if you bet on the morning interval, there will certainly be a future time at which you will assign higher probability to an after…Read more
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15There is Still a Problem of Consistent Incompatibility: a Response to CorenActa Analytica 36 (3): 475-477. 2021.This article responds to Daniel Coren’s very insightful critical discussion of Baumann. It clarifies and defends the view that there is a problem of mutually consistent but necessarily incompatible desires. Distinguishing explicitly between semantic and syntactic consistency, one can show that the problem remains under each interpretation of “consistent.”
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14Safety and UnknowabilityPhilosophia 50 (4): 1601-1605. 2022.In a recent paper Jacob Ross presents two ingenious objections against the safety theory of knowledge: one against the claim that safe true belief is necessary for knowledge, the other one against the claim that safe true belief is sufficient for knowledge. While the first objection seems to go through there are problems with the second one: Its core issue is due not to problems of the safety theory but to peculiarities of the proposition used in the objection. Instead of showing that safety is …Read more
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12Die Autonomie der Personmentis. 2000.This book offers a discussion of practical as well as theoretical autonomy.
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11Davidson on Sharing a Language and Correct Language-UseGrazer Philosophische Studien 52 (1): 137-160. 1996.Donald Davidson has argued against a thesis that is widely shared in the philosophy of language, e.g., by Wittgenstein, Dummett and Kripke: the thesis that successful communication requires that speaker and hearer share a common language. Davidson's arguments, however, are not convincing. Moreover, Davidson's own positive account of communication poses a serious problem: it cannot offer criteria for the correct use of a language, especially in the case of a language that only one speaker speaks.…Read more
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10Trolleys, Transplants and Inequality: An Egalitarian ProposalErkenntnis 87 (4): 1737-1751. 2020.This paper deals with the core version of the Trolley Problem. In one case many people favor an act which will bring about the death of one person but save five other persons. In another case most people would refuse to “sacrifice” one person in order to save five other lives. Since the two cases seem similar in all relevant respects, we have to explain and justify the diverging verdicts. Since I don’t find current proposals of a solution convincing, I propose an alternative one according to whi…Read more
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4ErkenntnistheorieMetzler. 2002.An introduction to epistemology with a focus on different accounts of knowledge, scepticism, belief, truth, rationality and justification, the sources of knowledge.
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4Influencing the Will of Another PersonSocial Philosophy Today 12 25-40. 1996.This article discusses a neglected from of social power: the non-coercive power to influence the will of another person. This form of power allows to avoid the costs of open conflict and works in less obvious and visible ways. It is, however, an important resource in social relations and can help explain a lot of the structural stability of societies.
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3Kant's Two Perspectives on PropertyIn Justyna Miklaszewska & Przemyslaw Sprysak (eds.), Kant and the Problem of the Contemporary World / Kant Wobec Problemów Wspólczesnego Swiata, . pp. 121-128. 2006.Kant's political philosophy in general is characterized by two aspects which sometimes compete with each other and sometimes supplement each other: an individualist element on the one hand and a social or "communitarian" element on the other hand. This paper deals with Kant's theory of private property. It attempts to show something that is usually overlooked in the secondary literature: that Kant has two, not just one argument for property. One is based on his theory of freedom and expresses th…Read more
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2Über ZwangDeutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 71-84. 2000.What is coercion? Not only is an answer to this question interesting in itself but it can also help us to better understand the nature of freedom of action. I start with a critical discussion of Harry Frankfurt’s conception of coercion and voluntary action. Despite several objections, it turns out that some of Frankfurt’s ideas and arguments can also be used in a different way and prove to be crucial for a more plausible conception of coercion and free action.
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2Müller, Synonymie und Analytizität: Zwei sinnvolle Begriffe (review)Allgemeine Zeitschrift für Philosophie 24 (1): 94-99. 1999.
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1Epistemic contractsIn Georg Meggle (ed.), Social Facts and Collective Intentionality. Philosophische Forschung / Philosophical research, Dr. Hänsel-hohenhausen. pp. 1--19. 2002.The idea of a social contract has played a major role in modern political philosophy but not in modern epistemology, -- not even in more recent "social theories of knowledge". The idea of an epistemic contract, however, is very interesting and deserves more attention. In this paper, I discuss arguments to the effect that we cannot do without epistemic contracts. I come to the conclusion that these arguments are not convincing. If one wants to make use of contractarian arguments in epistemology, …Read more
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1Knowing about Other ContextsIn Christoph Jäger & Winfried Löffler (eds.), Epistemology: Contexts, Values, Disagreement. Papers of the 34th International Ludwig Wittgenstein-Symposium in Kirchberg, 2011, The Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society. pp. 63-80. 2007.
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1Schmutzige Hände? Zum Verhältnis von Moral und PolitikLogos. Anales Del Seminario de Metafísica [Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España] 7 187-215. 2001.According to the idea of "dirty hands in politics" politicians sometimes have to do what is morally wrong. I discuss the two main versions of this thesis: the "difference-thesis" and the "dilemma-thesis". I argue that there are no convincing arguments for neither of them. Politics, too, lies inside the scope of morality.
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12 sides of the Kantian justification of property and stateKant Studien 85 (2): 147-159. 1994.Kant's political philosophy in general is characterized by two aspects which sometimes compete with each other and sometimes supplement each other: an individualist element on the one hand and a social or "communitarian" element on the other hand. This paper deals with Kant's theory of private property. It attempts to show something that is usually overlooked in the secondary literature: that Kant has two, not just one argument for property. One is based on his theory of freedom and expresses th…Read more
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Gettier, Wissen, ZufallIn Gerhard Ernst & Lisa Marani (eds.), Das Gettierproblem. Eine Bilanz nach 50 Jahren, Mentis. pp. 9-27. 2013.This is a discussion of the Gettier problem and its relation to epistemic luck.
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Molyneux's QuestionsIn Ralph Schumacher (ed.), Perception and Reality, Mentis. pp. 168-187. 2004.More than 300 years ago, William Molyneux raised an important and puzzling question which still creates a lot of controversy. What is known as “Molyneux’s question“ was made famous by John Locke’s quote of Molyneux in the second edition of the Essay Concerning Human Understanding: “Suppose a Man born blind, and now adult, and taught by his touch to distinguish between a Cube, and a Sphere of the same metal, and nighly of the same bigness, so as to tell, when he felt one and t’other, which is the…Read more
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Der Denker als Seiltänzer. Ludwig Wittgenstein über Religion, Mystik und Ethik (review)Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 57 (1). 2003.
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Response to Schaffer's ReplyIn Stefan Toiksdorf (ed.), Conceptions of Knowledge, De Gruyter. pp. 425-431. 2012.This is a response to Jonathan Schaffer's reply to my criticism of contrastivism.
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Kant y el yoIn Felipe Castañeda, Vincente Durán & Luis Eduardo Hoyos (eds.), Immanuel Kant: vigencia de la filosofía crítica, Siglo Del Hombre Editores. pp. 79-89. 2007.An interpretation and discussion of Kant's theory of the self.
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Handlung, Absicht und InstrumentalitätIn Christoph Hubig, Andreas Luckner & Nadia Mazouz (eds.), Handeln und Technik - mit und ohne Heidegger, Lit-verlag. pp. 77-82. 2007.This paper argues that two types of action - routine action and affective action - have been neglected in current action theory. Inquiry into these kinds of action can lead to interesting insights.
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DisculpasIn Flor Emilce Cely & William Duica (eds.), Intersubjetividad. Ensayos filosóficos sobre autoconciencia, sujeto y acción, Universidad Nacional De Colombia. pp. 271-281. 2009.A discussion of different aspects (including the logical form) of apologies.
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The Social Construction of Social RealityDissertatio 19 313-322. 2004.This is a critical discussion of John Searle's views on the metaphysics of the social.
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Leading a Human Life. Wittgenstein, Intentionality, and Romanticism (review)Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 54 (4). 2000.
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Knowing about other ContextsIn Christoph Jäger & Winfried Löffler (eds.), Epistemology: Contexts, Values, Disagreement, Ontos. pp. 63-79. 2012.This discusses and proposes a solution to the factivity problem for contextualism
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Epistemology |
Philosophy of Mind |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |