Precautionary Principles The basic idea underlying a precautionary principle (PP) is often summarized as “better safe than sorry.” Even if it is uncertain whether an activity will lead to harm, Zum Beispiel, to the environment or to human health, measures should be taken to prevent harm. This demand is partly motivated by the consequences of regulatory practices of the past. Oft, chances of harm were

Die moralische Zulässigkeit der Bestrafung Die rechtliche Institution der Bestrafung stellt eine besondere moralische Herausforderung dar, da sie die Verhängung von vorsätzlich harter Strafe durch einen Staat beinhaltet, oder belastend, Behandlung einiger seiner Mitglieder – eine Behandlung, die normalerweise als moralisch unzulässig angesehen wird. Die meisten von uns würden dem zustimmen, Zum Beispiel, dass es grundsätzlich unzulässig sei, Menschen einzusperren, um sie zu zwingen, Geldstrafen zu zahlen oder sich in der Gemeinschaft zu engagieren

Huineng (Hui-neng) (638—713) Huineng (Hui-neng) a seminal figure in Buddhist history. He is the famous “Sixth Patriarch” of the Chan or meditation tradition, which is better known in Japanese as “Zen”). The focus of an immense body of lore that grew over the centuries, Huineng’s life mirrors the fortunes of Chan itself – a provincial Chinese version of Buddhism that rose to become a major

Sayyid Qutb (1906—1966) Sayyid Qutb was one of the leading Islamist ideological thinkers of the twentieth century. Living and working in Egypt, he turned to Islamism in his early forties after about two decades as a secular educator and literary writer. As an Islamist, he held that all aspects of society should be conducted according to the Shari’a, das ist, laws of God as derived

Karl Popper: Critical Rationalism “Critical Rationalism” is the name Karl Popper (1902-1994) gave to a modest and self-critical rationalism. He contrasted this view with “uncritical or comprehensive rationalism,” the received justificationist view that only what can be proved by reason and/or experience should be accepted. Popper argued that comprehensive rationalism cannot explain how proof is possible and that it leads to inconsistencies. Critical rationalism today

Doxastic Voluntarism Doxastic voluntarism is the philosophical doctrine according to which people have voluntary control over their beliefs. Philosophers in the debate about doxastic voluntarism distinguish between two kinds of voluntary control. The first is known as direct voluntary control and refers to acts which are such that if a person chooses to perform them, they happen immediately. Zum Beispiel, a person has direct voluntary