Philosophical Papers and Presentations
Political Philosophy
Lecture series: Foundations of Decision Theory I
(Abstract; Text (German):
pdf; Outdated Version:
pdf)
Religious Consciousness and Political Order -
A critique of Eric Voegelin's Philosophy of Consciousness
Original titel of the M.A. thesis: "Eric Voegelin's Philosophy of Consciousness as Foundation of Political Order"
(Abstract;
Table of Contents,
Order;
Old text of the M.A. thesis (German):
online,
pdf)
Eric Voegelin (as a disciple of Hans Kelsen)
(Abstract)
In the early 1920ies Eric Voegelin studied with Hans Kelsen. While he never fully endorsed his teacher's
theory Voegelin wrote quite a few interesting and generally benevolent articles about the "Pure Theory of Law"
in the twenties and early thirties. However, with the growing fascist tendencies in Europe Voegelin
also drifted to the political right which brought him into sharp opposition to the liberal political philosophy
of his former teacher. This article traces Voegelin's changing intellectual relation to Hans Kelsen and examines
Voegelin's criticism of the "Pure Theory of Law".
published in German language in: Robert Walter, Clemens Jabloner, Klaus Zeleny (Eds.):
Der Kreis um Hans Kelsen. Die Anfangsjahre der Reinen Rechtslehre, Manzsche Verlags- und
Universitätsbuchhandlung Vienna 2007, p. 513-552.
Unended Quest: The Political Philosophy of Kant's Perpetual Peace
(Abstract; Presentation (German):
online,
pdf; Text (German):
online,
pdf)
In this lecture Kant's "perpetual peace" is being
interpreted as a realistic utopia. Kant's "perpetual peace"
remains an utopia even today in the sense that the described
perpetual world peace is still a long way to go from today's state of
world politics. But Kant also tried to show that the utopian scenario is
possible under realistic assumptions. Therefore this essay examines
the question, if Kant's basic assumptions - such as for example the
assumption that democracies are generally non aggressive - are
still valid in the light of the political experiences of the two
centuries that have elapsed since the publication of the "perpetual
peace" and how the realisation of Kant's utopia can best be promoted
in today's situation.
published in German in: Nebil Reyhani (Hrsg.): Immanuel Kant. Essays Presented
at the Muğla University International Kant Symposium, Vadi Yayınları
Verlag, Ankara 2006, p. 496-512.
Hans Kelsen: A New Science of Politics?
Hans Kelsen's Reply to Eric Voegelin's "New Science of Politics"
(Abstract;
Table of Contents,
Order)
Hans Kelsen's Reply to Eric Voegelin's "New Science of Politics" -
A Contribution to the Discussion about Political Theology
(Abstract; Text (German):
online,
pdf)
Only shortly after the publication of Eric Voegelin's "New Science
of Politics" Hans Kelsen wrote a comprehensive reply to this book.
Since he had left his reply unpublished, it was printed only fifty
years later. In this lecture I analyse the argument of Voegelin's
"New Science" in the light of Hans Kelsen critique. I try to
answer the question what consequences must be drawn from Hans Kelsen's
severe criticism for the judgement of a Political Theology of the
Voegelinian brand.
lecture: Düsseldorf 2004.
Main Proponents of the Idea
of Federalism in Modern Times
(Abstract; Text (German):
online,
pdf)
In this short essay I discuss a few (arbitrarily selected) proponents
of the idea of federalism. Among those discussed are Althusius,
Immanuel Kant and Constantin Frantz.
student essay: Bonn 1997.
Theoretical Philosophy
Tools or Toys? On Specific Challenges for Modeling and
the Epistemology of Models and Computer Simulations in the Social Sciences
(Abstract;
Presentation:
pdf)
The use of computer simulations in the social sciences as compared to the natural sciences
faces specific challenges such as: lack of well confirmed background theories,
pluralism of paradigms and styles, impossibility of precise measurement. These challenges are discussed and their
epistemological consequences are pointed out. The most important of these are that
greater emphasis must be placed on empirical validation than on
theoretical validation and that the relevance of purely theoretical
simulations remains strongly limited.
talk given at the Models and Simulations 4 Conference in Toronto, May 2010.
Can the Best-Alternative-Justification solve Hume's Problem?
(On the Limits of a Promising Approach)
(Abstract;
Text (preprint):
pdf;
Outdated Version:
pdf)
This is a commentary to an article by Gerhard Schurz published in the
Philosophy of Science (2008, p. 278-305)
where he proposes meta-inductivistic prediction strategies
as a new approach to Hume's Problem. My commentary critically
examines the merits of the approach proposed by Schurz.
It is shown that for various reasons and
despite some interesting and non trivial results of Schurz' article, the
meta-inductivist approach cannot claim to offer a solution for Hume's problem yet.
Moreover, it can be proven that
the meta-inductivist approach does not work any more if the meta-inductivists
have to face an infinite number of alternative predictors. With this
limitation it remains doubtful whether the the meta-inductivist approach can ever be developed to
a point where it actually solves Hume's Problem.
(submitted to the Philosophy of Science journal)
Novelty in Evolutionary Algorithms
(Abstract; Demonstration Software)
This article gives a brief introduction to the working mechanisms of evolutionary
algorithms and discusses, in how far they can be assumed to be able to generate genuine
novelty. Boundaries of evolutionary algorithms as they are drawn by the "No Free Lunch
Theorem" are also touched and a few tentative conclusions regarding philosophical application
areas like the problem of induction are drawn.
published in German in: Birger P. Priddat / Peter Seele (Ed.):
Das Neue in Ökonomie und Management. Grundlagen, Methoden, Beispiele,
Gabler Verlag Wiesbaden 2008.
The Dark Side of the Force. When Computer Simulations lead us astry
and "model think" narrows our imagination
(Abstract; Presentation:
online,
pdf; Text (draft):
online,
pdf)
This paper is intended as a critical examination of the question of
when the use of computer simulations is beneficial to scientific
explanations. This objective is pursued in two steps: First, I try to
establish clear criteria that simulations must meet in order to be
explanatory. Basically, a simulation has explanatory power only if it
includes all (known) causally relevant factors of a given empirical
configuration and if the simulation delivers stable results within the
measurement inaccuracies of the input parameters. In the second step, I
examine a few examples of Axelrod-style simulations as they have been used
to understand the evolution of cooperation (Axelrod, Schüßler) and the
evolution of the social contract (Skyrms). These simulations do not meet
the criteria for explanatory validity and it can be shown, as I believe,
that they lead us astray from the scientific problems they have been
addressed to solve and at the same time bar our imagination against more
conventional but still better approaches.
presented at the "Models and Simulations" conference, Paris 2006.
Can Evolutionary Game Theory Explain Cooperation?
(A Study on the Weaknesses of a Formal Approach)
(Abstract; Presentation (German):
online,
pdf; Text (draft, German):
online,
pdf)
This is a working paper on the use of computer models in evolutionary
game theory. Computer models have in the last 20 or
30 years been widely used to study such phenomena as cooperation and
reciprocal altruism. However, the scientic value of these models
remains often rather doubtful. In the paper I try to demonstrate
(by examining several examples) that these models are in many cases indeed
empirically imprecise and theoretically shallow. Furthermore, I try
to answer the question why these models often fail and, finally, what
requirements a model must meet if it is to be of any explanatory
relevance.
working paper, Düsseldorf 2005.
More than just Analogies? On the relation of cultural and
biological evolution
(Abstract; Text (German):
online,
pdf)
This article is a commentary on another article by Burkhard
Stephan in "Erwägen Wissen Ethik" (16/2005 Issue 3). The question is
examined, whether there exist analogies between (Darwinian) biological
evolution cultural development processes. The topics discussed are:
1. Analogies to biological evolution on the cultural level. 2. Analogies to
cultural processes on the biological level. 3. Features of the biological
evolution of human nature that have direct consequences on the cultural
level. 4. Ethical questions raised by the previous three points.
published in: Erwägen Wissen Ethik, year 2005 (16) issue 3, p. 372-374.
On the Use of Evolutionary Computer Models in the Historical and
Social Sciences
(Abstract; Text (draft, German):
online,
pdf)
This paper presents some musings about the possibility of
using evolutionary models in the social sciences. It mainly
focuses on Robert Axelrod's "Evolution of Cooperation", but also
presents examples of topics in social sciences which could
benefit from an evolutionary approach.
working paper, Erfurt 2002.
Practical Philosophy
Explaining Altruism. A Simulation-Based Approach and its Limits
(Abstract;
Table of Contents,
Order)
Moral Judgments of Foreign Cultures and Bygone Epochs. A Two-Tier Approach
(Abstract; Presentation:
online,
pdf)
In this paper the ethical problem is discussed how moral
judgments of foreign cultures and bygone epochs can be justified.
After ruling out the extremes of moral absolutism (judging without
any reservations by the standards of one's own culture and epoch)
and moral relativism (judging only by the respective standards of
the time and culture in question) the following solution to the
dilemma is sought: A distinction has to be made between judging the
norms and institutions in power at a certain place and time and
judging people acting within the social institutions of their time
and culture. While the former may be judged rigorously, only taking
into account the objective possibilities for having other
institutions at a certain development stage, the latter should be
judged against the background of the common sense morals of the
respective time and culture.
published in: Christian Kanzian / Edmund Runggaldier (Eds.): Cultures. Conflict - Analysis - Dialogue. Proceedings of the 29. International Wittgenstein Symposium, Kirchberg am Wechsel, Austria 2006, ontos Verlag Heusenstamm 2006, p. 343-352.
The Critique of Humanism in Arnold Gehlen's
Late Work: "Morals and Hypermorals"
(Abstract; Text (German):
online,
pdf)
Arnold Gehlen is mostly known as an important exponent of
philosophical anthropology in the 20th century. It is also a well
known fact that Arnold Gehlen was an adherent to National Socialism
during the Third Reich. He kept a decisively authoritarian attitude
even in his later days. This attitude shines through in his
reaction to the social developments in the german federal republic
of the sixties in the latest of his major works "Morals and
Hypermorals". Against a political ethics supposedly mollycoddled
by an overstreched family moral Gehlen puts up the "state virtues" of
honor, patriotism and a kind of recklessness in foreign policy well
beyond that which is commonly called "Realpolitik".
In my essay I try to analyse the philosophical argument of Gehlen's
book and to show its logical inconclusiveness. Against Gehlen's
"pluralistic ethics" I put a "hierarchical ethic" that
distinguishes between primary and secondary virtues and
subordinates the latter to the former.
student essay: Bonn 1998.
Metaphysics
Critique of Enlightment as Metaphysical Denouncement.
On Horkheimer's and Adorno's Concept of Enlightment
(Abstract; Text (German):
online,
pdf)
In their "Dialectics of Enlightment" (1947) Theodor W. Adorno and
Max Horkheimer try to find out, "why mankind instead of entering
into to a truly humane state, drowns in a new type of barbarism."
In their opinion this is a consequence of the process of enlightment,
because "enlightment is totalitarian" (unless it is understood in a
dialectic manner) and "turns back into mythology". In this essay it
will be demonstrated that the modern barbarism, i.e. totalitarianism,
is by no means a consequence of an undialectical process of enlightment
and that Adorno and Horkheimer are not able to advance a single
convincing argument for their case in this book. Therefore it cannot be
taken seriously as a kind of social criticism (as it is often understood).
At best it serves as the mere expression of strong metaphysical pessimism.
student essay: Düsseldorf 2005.
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Eric Voegelin believed that a morally acceptable and in the long run
successful political order (which meant for the emigrant Voegelin
primarily an order that is resistant to totalitarianism) can only be
built on the foundation of a healthy religiosity of the citizens and
the political leaders. The question of what a healthy
religiosity is was
examined by Voegelin by recurring to intellectual history and to
the philosophy of consciousness. In my book I offer a detailed
criticism Voegelin's philosophy of consciousness and of his
concept of political order.
Hans Kelsen's thorough critique of Eric Voegelin's "New Science of Politcs"
is - in my oppinion - the best commentary on Voegelin that has been
written so far. Therefore, I have edited and published it as a book.
Employing computer simulations for the study of the evolution of altruism has been popular
since Axelrod's book "The Evolution of Cooperation". But have the myriads of simulation studies
that followed in Axelrod's footsteps really increased our knowledge about the evolution of
altruism or cooperation? This book examines in detail the working mechanisms of simulation
based evolutionary explanations of altruism. It shows that the "theoretical insights" that can
be derived from simulation studies are often quite arbitrary and of little
use for the empirical research. In the final chapter of the book, therefore, a set of
epistemological requirements for computer simulations is proposed and recommendations for the
proper research design of simulation studies are made.