Reply to Dews,and a plea for Schelling

The discussion is a response to Dews on the question of how Schelling's Freiheitsschrift should be interpreted. It falls into two halves, the first defending my interpretation, and the second expanding on the case that Dews makes for the unavoidability of metaphysics in the theory of human freedom, with which I am in full agreement. The main criticism that Dews makes of my reading is that the argument I attribute to Schelling concerning the metaphysical significance of evil rests on Kantian assumptions regarding the existence of pure practical reason, which Schelling rejects. I argue that, though certainly matters are more complicated than my earlier discussion made them seem, Schelling remains sufficiently close to Kant for the argument I attribute to avoid inconsistency. In the second half I raise what I claim to be a neglected but important question: Why is the legacy of classical German philosophy not regarded as significant for contemporary discussion of human freedom? My answer in brief is that the concept of freedom has undergone a profound contraction. In this context I also try to define more precisely what is distinctive of Schelling's view of human freedom.     

"Frequent frames" in German child-directed speech: a limited cue to grammatical categories

Mintz (2003) found that in English child-directed speech, frequently occurring frames formed by linking the preceding (A) and succeeding (B) word (A_x_B) could accurately predict the syntactic category of the intervening word (x). This has been successfully extended to French (Chemla, Mintz, Bernal, & Christophe, 2009). In this paper, we show that, as for Dutch (Erkelens, 2009), frequent frames in German do not enable such accurate lexical categorization. This can be explained by the characteristics of German including a less restricted word order compared to English or French and the frequent use of some forms as both determiner and pronoun in colloquial German. Finally, we explore the relationship between the accuracy of frames and their potential utility and find that even some of those frames showing high token-based accuracy are of limited value because they are in fact set phrases with little or no variability in the slot position.     

Staying or returning: Pre‐migration influences on the migration process of German migrants to New Zealand

Changes in migrants' backgrounds and societies sending and receiving migrants might increase adaptation issues and reduce retention. To enhance migrants' well‐being/health and their likelihood of staying it is necessary to gain an understanding of psychological and social factors that contribute to resilience and adaptation. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study that investigated the experiences, interpretations and actions of German migrant couples to New Zealand throughout the whole migration process to identify these factors. In depth, episodic interviews were conducted with four couples who decided to stay in New Zealand and four couples who decided to return to Germany. Interview data were complemented with participant observation. This paper provides insights into how the pre‐migration experiences, interpretations and actions of German migrants to New Zealand influenced their establishment, their interpretations and actions and consequently adaptation, well‐being/health and the decision whether to stay in New Zealand or to return to Germany. The findings illuminate the influence of psychological and social factors on migration experiences, interpretations and actions throughout the migration process. The paper offers some solutions for addressing the identified barriers to successful migration and integration into host societies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Translation and Standardization of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale (SRES-B) on a German Sample

This study presents a German-language version of the sex-role egalitarianism scale (SRES-B) L. A. King, & D. W. King, 1993]. The SRES measures a person’s attitude toward egalitarianism between women and men. It has been normed on different populations, but there was no German version of the scale. The purpose of the present study was to translate and assess the psychometric properties of the SRES-B on a German population (n=379). As expected, sex, age, and educational level affected the scores of individuals on the scale. The results of factor analyses of the domain scores and correlations of subscales demonstrate a unidimensionality of the construct. The quality of the psychometric properties of items and scale was satisfactory. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.The research was conducted as part of the author’s master thesis, while at the University of Osnabrueck, Germany.     

德国卫生保健体系改革及相关伦理问题简析

从德国现有卫生保健及医疗保险体系在保障其社会稳定的重要作用角度出发,介绍了德国的原有整体医疗卫生保障体系的背景,指出政府的指导、政策稳定、完善的津贴体系保障了整体国民健康和卫生保健的公平分配,高素质,医术高超的医生队伍起到了核心作用。同时指出由于意识形态和经济原因,德国卫生保健体系改革所引发的问题。     

Unemployment, Social Capital, and Subjective Well-Being

It has been shown in past research that unemployment has a large negative impact on subjective well-being of individuals. In this paper, I explore whether and to what extent people with more social capital are sheltered from the harmful effects of unemployment. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel 1984–2004, I find that social capital is an important predictor of well-being levels, but there is no evidence that it moderates the effect of unemployment on well-being. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed, and suggestions for future research given. This paper was written while I was visiting scholar at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, MI. I am grateful to the Institute for its hospitality, to Andrew Clark, Andrew Oswald and three anonymous referees for valuable comments, and to the German Socio Economic Panel Study (GSOEP) at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Berlin, for providing the data.     

Moral Evil,Freedom and the Goodness of God: Why Kant Abandoned Theodicy

Kant proclaimed that all theodicies must fail in ‘On the Miscarriage of All Philosophical Trials in Theodicy’, but it is mysterious why he did so since he had developed a theodicy of his own during the critical period. In this paper, I offer an explanation of why Kant thought theodicies necessarily fail. In his theodicy, as well as in some of his works in ethics, Kant explained moral evil as resulting from unavoidable limitations in human beings. God could not create finite beings without such limitations and so could not have created humans that were not prone to committing immoral acts. However, the work of Carl Christian Eberhard Schmid showed Kant that given his own beliefs about freedom and the nature of responsibility one could not account for moral evil in this way without tacitly denying that human beings were responsible for their actions. This result is significant not only because it explains an otherwise puzzling shift in Kant's philosophy of religion, but also because it shows that the theodicy essay provides powerful evidence that Kant's thinking about moral evil and freedom underwent fundamental shifts between early works such as the Groundwork and later works like the Religion within the Limits of Mere Reason.     

达尔文医学的哲学启示

达尔文医学从本源上阐明队类疾病产生的偶然性与必然性的对立统一。其对进化论的重新反思和认识,具有重要的人文价值和现实意义。     

In-home treatment for families in crisis and its supervision: A systemic multi-level approach

The author discusses his experience with a five-phase model which built on congruency at all systemic levels of in-home family treatment and its supervision. Five phases are presented, as well as the group process during supervision. In-home family treatment confronts the family helper with different tasks in each phase of the treatment process and with different expectations within the professional network and the institutional context.The author's work as a supervisor and trainer of in-home family treatment was made possible by Diakonisches Werk Hannover. Grateful acknowledgment is made to Heike Müller, Claudia Eckert, and all their colleagues for their trust and support, to Winiger Beuse for his professional friendship, and most importantly to Dr. Carole Gammer and Prof. Dr. Martin Kirschenbaum for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. Thank you Sandy and Susan. In this article the German expression Sozialpädagogischer/r Familienhelfer/in is translated into family helper. In Hannover, as in many other German cities, family helpers are graduate social workers. Family therapy training is not obligatory but appreciated.     

The Wall: On the psychology of the reunification of Germany

The fall of the Berlin Wall, which separated West Germans and East Germans for decades, led to emotional catastrophe among the reunited peoples. The authors conducted a psychological research program in Berlin to analyze individual and interpersonal processes in the reunification. They describe four categories used to pinpoint different (largely unconscious) levels of coping and defense strategies used to deal with the changes: control, splitting, symbiosis, and integration.Thomas Krauss, Dr. phil., is a family therapist and teaching supervisor. From 1985–1990 he worked as scientific employee at the Free University Berlin. Angelika Fass, Dr. phil., is a family therapist and teaching supervisor. From 1986–1991 she worked as scientific employee (research and lecturer) at the Technical University in Berlin. Reprint requests should be sent to the authors at Markt 2, D-29493 Schnackenburg, Germany.Translation by Ann Brandt.