On "On what there is"

All sides in the recent debates over the Quine-Putnam Indispensability thesis presuppose Quine's criterion for determining what a discourse is ontologically committed to. I subject the criterion to scrutiny, especially in regard to the available competitor-criteria, asking what means of evaluation there are for comparing alternative criteria against each other. Finding none, the paper concludes that ontological questions, in a certain sense , are philosophically indeterminate.     

On objectivity

The following definition of objective is proposed: A statement S is objective if and only if in S all parameters that are relevant to its truth value are made explicit. The objectivity of predicates and relations can be defined in a similar manner. This simple conception of objectivity-which could be called explicitness conception of objectivity-can be found in Hermann Weyl and plays a central part in the natural sciences. There are grades of objectivity depending on the quality and the number of parameters our predicates are relativized to A relativistic Ockham principle has to be recognized: Relativization parameters are not to be multiplied beyond necessity. The explicitness conception of objectivity is accessible to mathematical specifications, is the core of the idea of invariance, has a lot of philosophical applications and leads to precise notions of subjectivity and a precise formulation of the problem of the limits of objectivity.I am grateful to Andreas Bartels, Ulrich Gähde, Mark Helme, Andreas Kamlah, Andreas Kemmerling, Winfred Klink, Toni Koch, Hilary Putnam and Matthias Varga von Kibéd who have, in one way or another, contributed to the present content and form of this paper.     

On S

The sentential logic S extends classical logic by an implication-like connective. The logic was first presented by Chellas as the smallest system modelled by contraining the Stalnaker-Lewis semantics for counterfactual conditionals such that the conditional is effectively evaluated as in the ternary relations semantics for relevant logics. The resulting logic occupies a key position among modal and substructural logics. We prove completeness results and study conditions for proceeding from one family of logics to another.We are grateful to Peter Apostoli, Kosta Doen, and anonymous referees for their comments on an earlier version of this paper. A.F.'s work has been supported by a grant from the Volkswagen-Stiftung.Presented byJan Zygmunt     

On wisdom

This article explores some of the features involved in making wise decisions in couples and family therapy. Delineating what qualities are involved in making wise decisions in life--so as to live the "good life" in the polis, and the necessary contributions of life experiences in this task--was first discussed by Aristotle. A major problem that therapists face today is that our society offers many different ways of living well--or for that matter, badly--and our theories do the same. Family therapy theories are not value free. I clarify that different family theories embody different values: clear boundaries, good attachments, the ability to communicate, and so on. If our theories foster certain values, then, as Isaiah Berlin has made clear, seeking to achieve a particular value leads to placing less value on another. The article concludes with some thoughts about values that therapists could appropriately follow in their work.     

新泛伊斯兰主义

当代的伊斯兰复兴包含着三股社会潮流,即伊斯兰教的民间复兴、新泛伊斯兰主义和伊斯兰主义（或伊斯兰原教旨主义）。新泛伊斯兰主义是战前泛伊斯兰思想的延续和发展。它在伊斯兰世界广为流传的同时,对非伊斯兰世界也深有影响。本文除对它在战后的发展予以概述外,着重讨论它的基本政治─宗教主张、组织形式、性质、特点和社会功能。作者认为,伊斯兰国家对它（在不同程度上）的鼓吹和支持,对当代伊斯兰复兴其它两股潮流起着极其重要作用。     

On Reasonableness

This essay argues that the concept of 'reasonableness'plays an important role in Scanlon's, Rawls's, and Barry's theories of justice (or morality). The relationship between moral motivation and reasonableness is critically analysed. Specifically, the paper questions whether it is plausible to impute to the agents of construction the desire 'to justify our actions to others on impartial terms'. It also argues that most of the work is done by the assumption that people are reasonable rather than by the contractarian formulation. Indeed, the paper argues, the argument could proceed entirely by making explicit and arguing for the moral assumptions embedded in the concept of reasonableness [1].     

On motherhood

This article deals with motherhood as a function of the innerspace, as a representation of the integrated feminine inner-genitality, and with disturbances in motherhood as a suffocation of that genitality. The development of feminine ego ideals, from the girl's illusory loving triadic relationships shared with the mother and father, and the primary significance of these ideals in regulating the maternal functions is explored. The young girl tends to react to traumas in the maternal relationship by stifling her own early genitality. This is followed by a blocking off and a sealing up of the innerspace by pregenital drive impulses. Such disturbances to motherhood as oral, anal and urethral decathexes and the phallic idealization of motherhood can be explained in terms of the developmental disturbances described above.     

On Rules

This paper contains a brief overview of the area of admissible rules with an emphasis on results about intermediate and modal propositional logics. No proofs are given but many references to the literature are provided.