Review of How Genetic Research on Segmental Progeroid Syndromes Has Documented Genomic Instability as a Hallmark of Aging But Let Us Now Pursue Antigeroid Syndromes!

The purpose of this early contribution to the new Fellows Forum of this pioneering journal for what is now called Geroscience is to provide an example of how the author’s interest in using the emerging tools of human genetics has led to strong support for one of the hallmarks of aging—Genomic Instability. We shall also briefly review our emerging interests in the genetic analysis of what we have called Antigeroid Syndromes. While there has been significant progress in that direction via genetic studies of centenarians, the search for genetic pathways that make individuals unusually resistant or resilient to the ravages of specific geriatric disorders has been comparatively neglected. We refer to these disorders as Unimodal Antigeroid Syndromes. It is our hope that our young colleagues will consider research efforts in that direction.

Das „in seine besonderen Kreise gegliederte Ganze“

2020 was the year of the 250th anniversary of G. W. F. Hegel, his friend Friedrich Hölderlin and Ludwig van Beethoven. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there were not many options to commemorate publicly their outstanding legacy. We should rectify this as soon as possible! The French Revolution was the significant historical event of this generation, and Hegel, Hölderlin and Beethoven kept true to the idea of liberty lifelong. In an early contribution Joachim Ritter underlined the importance of the French Revolution for the elaboration of Hegel’s philosophy. As „a philosopher of liberty“ Hegel is described by Klaus Vieweg in his new biography. Is this also true for Hegel’s „Elements of the Philosophy of Right” and his understanding of state and society? What does his notion of liberty mean in this context? Can we learn from Hegel’s argumentation regarding problems we face today in our society? It will be the aim of this article to give some answers to these questions.

New Perspectives on an Old Controversy: The Theoretical and the Practical Life in Aristotle

The article purports to show that the preference of theôria in Nicomachean Ethics X 7–8 does not represent Aristotle's definitive conception of the best form of life, because it is compatible neither with his overall conception of happiness in the EN nor with its political framework. The critical chapters rather recall an early contribution of Aristotle's to a controversy on the best form of life in the Academy, attested to in Politics VII 2–3; its central point is resolved in Politics VII 13–15 in a sketch of the life of leisure that combines both politics and philosophy.

Urban criteria based on the example of the smallest towns in Poland

The article attempts to develop a preliminary practical framework for urban criteria in terms of the population, economy and spatial location of the smallest towns in Poland. Despite being of little significance, the fact that they lie near the border between being rural settlements and towns makes them an interesting subject for research and more detailed analysis. The current phenomenon of urban status being obtained by ever-smaller settlements is causing conceptual disorder. Therefore, the article may serve as an early contribution to a discussion about the need to define and unify urban criteria on a national scale. The qualitative and descriptive guidelines contained in official acts are insufficient and too general, which is why quantitative methods were used in the present research. Despite the limited data available, research on the topic of urbanity has proven the imperfection of the Polish administrative system and confirmed the premise that town status may be conferred inappropriately in numerous cases.

On a Concept of Freedom

A considerable segment of the recent analytical literature on freedom visualizes an individual’s freedom as his/her ability to choose any one of several alternative (mutually exclusive) outcomes available to him/her. A major application of this formulation of freedom is to be found in the functioning and capability approach where an individual’s capability or opportunity set is taken to be a set of functioning bundles any one of which the individual is able to choose at will. Following the lead provided by an early contribution from K. Basu, this chapter explores the limitations of this conception of freedom, both in the framework of perfectly competitive markets and in cases where an individual’s life is determined through strategic interaction among several individuals.

The International Legal Argument in Spinoza

In this chapter, it is argued that Spinoza is far from being a ‘denier’ of international law. Instead, it is shown that Spinoza offers a nuanced argument for why states are compelled to cooperate with one another in the form of international law. There are at least three lasting contributions to the theory of International Relations and international law: the exposition of a ‘non-ideal theory’ of International Relations, International Relations as part of a theory on the institutionalization of individual freedom, and the idea of precedence of rational international governance over independent governance. Spinoza gives an early contribution for a sociological study of international legal thought.