Hegel and the Spiritual Evolution of Absolute Subject

The article interprets the methodological potential of Hegel’s speculative dialectics as a possible course of spiritual evolution of the Absolute subject. The intention is towards the method, first through the very construction of the “idea of freedom” from the point of view of Logic; second, through the constitutive function of freedom and the transition of the subjective spirit into the objective spirit; third, through the unfolding of mediation in the realms of the objective spirit. This essentially substantial methodologization dissolves the theoretical space of the idea of the mediating function of freedom as an ontological principle of ethical life. In line with the paradigm of such a course, the text considers a project of speculative ethics, a project within the framework of which the methodological and ontological sublation of spiritual evolution takes place.

Nonlinear Models of Thermo-Viscoelastic Materials

The paper develops a general scheme for viscoelastic materials, where the constitutive properties are described by means of measures of strain, stress, heat flux, and their time derivatives. The constitutive functions are required to be consistent with the second law of thermodynamics. Indeed, a new view is associated with the second law: the non-negative expression of the entropy production is set equal to a further constitutive function. The introduction of the entropy production as a constitutive function allows for a much wider range of models. Within this range, a scheme to obtain nonlinear models of thermo-viscoelastic materials subject to large deformations is established. Notably, the Kelvin–Voigt, Maxwell, Burgers, and Oldroyd-B viscoelastic models, along with the Maxwell–Cattaneo heat conduction, are obtained as special cases. The scheme allows also for modelling the visco-plastic materials, such as the Prandtl–Reuss work-hardening function and the Bingham–Norton fluid.

The epistemic foundations of injustice: lessons from the Young Marx

This article intends to show to what extent the early Marxian categories of alienation, ideology and proletariat can serve to better understand current forms of epistemic injustice, as well as, conversely, how the latter can illuminate some unclear aspects of such concepts. In the first part, it will be explained the extent to which Marx’s concept of alienation accounts for the experience of an individual in a world to whose norms she is subject, but which she cannot recognise as her own. It will be shown that Marx finds the answer in a form of emancipatory praxis linked to a transformative appropriation of social reality. In order to deepen the understanding of this idea of emancipation, the second part will analyse the Marxian concept of the proletariat. It will be argued that taking up some considerations about the Hegelian figure of the rabble, Marx distinguishes a “liberal” from a “human” form of emancipation. In the third part, a contemporary example will be used to show the usefulness of the young Marx’s analyses concerning this dimension of emancipation struggles. In the fourth part, these ideas will be developed further through the concept of epistemic injustice, which has gained great importance in the recent studies that Critical Theory carries out of the different socio-epistemic blocks of an ideological nature that prevent articulating, communicating and overcoming negative experiences that hinder individual self-realisation. In this sense, it will be shown the importance of the Marxian categories of alienation and ideology to theoretically address current forms of epistemic injustice, and, in relation to this, it will be explained the transformative and constitutive function of the excluded in the creation of new sectors of reality through which their demands can be met.

The Frege–Geach Problem

To be complete, practical expressivism needs to provide explanations of the meaning of complex sentences that meet the Fregean, Semantic, Generality, and Comprehensive Conditions. Compositional Commitment Metasemantics (CCM) claims that whenever an intelligibly embeddable sentence is used, it propounds a commitment. A commitment can be propounded by being expressed, by being the functional part of a complex commitment that is expressed or by being otherwise propounded (e.g. by having its appropriateness interrogated). Commitments can be beliefs, attitudes, or their combinations. This view explains sentential inconsistency in terms of the inconsistency of the commitments that sentences express and explains the latter in terms of a concatenation of the commitments frustrating the constitutive function of one or more of their number.

Moral Disagreement and Reason-Giving

According to practical expressivism, moral disagreement is a species of disagreement in attitude whereby agents have moral commitments that advocate incompatible policies of action and reaction. This follows from a unified general account of disagreement as involving mental states that cannot collectively fulfil their constitutive functions, and the practical expressivist hypothesis that the constitutive function of moral attitudes is to advocate and reinforce collective patterns of action and reaction. To reason in favour of a moral claim is to cite a feature of the world to which the related moral attitude is a response, typically in order to alter the attitudes of others. Further, the constraint of ascriptive supervenience and a standing preference for ‘guiding’ over ‘goading’ in moral discussion make sense in light of the practical function that practical expressivism attributes to moral practice. A general pattern for some aspects of moral discourse can be discerned, and this pattern can be applied to the phenomenon of moral avoidability.

Formen und Funktionen des ciceronianischen Prosarhythmus

The book deals primarily with the prose rhythm in Cicero’s orations by performing a colometric analysis and draws on prose rhythm for continuous text interpretation. The core thesis is that Latin word accent already has a constitutive function in respect to prose rhythm of classical Latin. Even in the case of Cicero, a set of five so-called “clausulas” is proven to be essentially sufficient for a rhythmic analysis (in the context of the Trias of compositio, concinnitas and numerus). This is illustrated primarily by an interpretation of the first 300 cola of Pro Quinctio, de lege agraria (second speech) and the 14th Philippic.

A Genealogy of Faith and Freedom

The review highlights how Habermas reconstructs the historically constitutive function of religious thought regarding essential categories through which to appropriate our practical freedom. It articulates the three essential bifurcations taken along the way: to opt for Judeo-Christian dialogism versus other axial age world religions; for a Lutheran Kantianism of an unconditional normativity versus an empiricist naturalism; and for the hermeneutic discovery of a validity-oriented communicative agency versus a Hegelian metaphysics. Recognizing our normative indebtedness to religious roots in modernity is to enable the renewal of an unabashed commitment to 'rational freedom,' thus serving as a bulwark against currently fashionable scientistic worldviews. Such a hermeneutic genealogy may also provide one promising resource to reconstruct shared normative ideals in a cross-cultural dialogue.

Altering identities. Possibilities of understanding identity in phenomenological pedagogy

In one way or another, the other plays an important role in educational settings. Over the last few decades, the recourse to philosophical phenomenology has proved to be helpful for the discussion of this topic. Coming from this thematic direction, this article focuses on the other in its constitutive function for the construction of identity. Both within the phenomenologist Bernhard Waldenfels’ theory of responsivity as well as in the pedagogue Wilfried Lippitz’ theory of alterity, the other is a structural part of the self. It will be shown that within these theories the possible dangers of an encounter with the other cannot be addressed in an adequate way. However, this is especially important in educational contexts. Therefore, with regard to the philosophies of Jean‐Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, I would like to present two additional phenomenological approaches from which the pedagogical discussion can benefit. Both Sartre and Beauvoir put great focus on possible obstacles regarding the en‐ counter with the other. Whereas Sartre identifies negativity as an essential part of human existence, Beauvoir enriches these thoughts with an ethical component. Against the background of these philosophies, the other comes into view as a possible source of both objectification and empowerment. Lastly, the article shows that an implementation of these considerations in teacher training can lead to a deeper understanding of the constitution of identity and the inherent possibilities of any interaction with the other.

Phosphorylation of the GARP Subunit Vps53 by Snf1 Leads to the Formation of a Golgi – Mitochondria Contact Site (GoMiCS) in Yeast

The canonical function of the Golgi-associated retrograde protein (GARP) complex is the tethering of transport carriers. GARP belongs to the complexes associated with tethering containing helical rods (CATCHR) family and is a hetero-tetrameric complex consisting of the subunits Vps51, Vps52, Vps53 and Vps54. How the activity of GARP is regulated and if it possesses other functions besides tethering remains largely unknown. Here we identify the GARP subunit Vps53 as a novel regulatory target of the S. cerevisiae AMP kinase (AMPK) homolog Snf1. We find that Vps53 is both an in vivo and in vitro target of Snf1 and show that phosphorylation depends on the nature and quantity of the available carbon source. Phosphorylation of Vps53 does not affect the canonical trafficking pathway, but results in altered mitochondrial dynamics and the formation of a previously unknown contact site between the Golgi apparatus and mitochondria, termed GoMiCS. Our results provide an example of a subunit of a CATCHR complex with a constitutive function in membrane trafficking and an inducible role in organelle contact site formation. We anticipate our results to be the starting point for the characterization of this novel contact site.

An ‘existential threat’ or a ‘past pariah’: Securitisation of Iran and disagreements among American press

The goal I pursue in this study is to explain the constitutive function of the newspapers’ opinion discourses from the perspective of securitisation theory. I discuss how the opinion articles and editorial collected from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and New York Post constructed the social reality (the Iran nuclear programme and deal) differently, as a result of their differing political ideologies, and sought to influence American foreign policy in line with their interests. Integrating securitisation theory with CDS, I investigated three types of discursive strategies ( representational, dialogical and argumentative strategies) employed by these articles and discussed their contribution to the construction of elements of securitisation. The findings showed that American newspapers’ commentary articles systematically securitised Iran (but sometimes desecuritised its nuclear programme).1