Granting Nature Legal Rights: A Shift Towards an Ecocentric Conception of Nature in Germany?

This interdisciplinary research paper is centred around the concept of environmental personhood as a means of tackling the impending climate crisis. More specifically, it focuses on how the implementation of legal personhood as a juridical tool could lead to a shift towards a more ecocentric conception of nature. A philosophical approach will highlight the underlying discussion of the worth we grant nature and its correlated socio-cultural tradition. A legal approach will set this into the context of the German constitution and examine this issue by proposing constitutional amendments. Keywords: Environmental Personhood, Legal Personhood, Ecocentrism, German Constitution, Socio-Cultural Traditio

Museum and education. What knowledge do museums umpart [impart]

Museen zählen wie Bibliotheken oder Volkshochschulen zu den klassischen Lokalitäten des Lernens. Welche Bildungsbegriffe prägten die Anfänge dieser Einrichtung? Unter welchen spezifischen Rahmenbedingungen vollzog sich das Lernen? Und wo schließlich stehen Museumsschaffende vor diesem Hintergrund der Institution heute? Diesen und weiteren Fragen spürt die Autorin skizzenhaft nach und porträtiert Museen nicht nur als (weiterhin) wichtige Orte der Wissenschaftspopularisierung, sondern auch als Orte kritischer Öffentlichkeit – als Meinungsbildner, die nicht nur gefordert sind, sensibel mit unserem kulturellen Gedächtnis umzugehen, sondern auch mit der Konstruktion „des Eigenen“ und „des Fremden“. (DIPF/Orig.)Along with libraries and adult education centres, museums are classic locations for learning. What educational concepts shaped the beginnings of this institution? Under what specific conditions did learning take place? And where do museum staff ultimately stand against the backdrop of the institution today? The author of this article explores these and other questions, painting a portrait of museums not only as places (still) important in the popularisation of knowledge but also as places for a critical general public – as shapers of public opinion that must handle our cultural memory with sensitivity as well as construct “the self” and “the other”. (DIPF/Orig.

The devotional life : Catholic and Protestant translations of Thomas à Kempis' 'Imitatio Christi', c.1420-c.1620

The incorporation of the Imitatio by Protestant and Catholic reform movements suggests important points of continuity between late medieval and early modem religion, especially within the realm of spirituality. The study of the Imitatio is testimony to the versatility of spirituality; it was accessible both to the laity and monks and also to Protestants and Catholics. The ethical emphasis of the Imitatio, its interiority, its simplicity and intended renewal in Christ, were vital to its endurance. The text's accessibility was reinforced by the expansive nature of late medieval and early modem translations. English and French translations of the Imitatio at the turn of the sixteenth century reflected the concern for simplification, thereby simplifying the text rather than providing an alternative interpretation. In the sixteenth century, Protestant translators, grounded in the essential tenets of Lutheran theology, inevitably revised or removed any explicitly Catholic elements of the Imitatio's spirituality. Despite its apparent widespread appeal, the promotion of the Imitatio tended to be undertaken by late medieval and early modem movements which had links with the devotio moderna. The Imitatio was circulated in late medieval England and France by individuals whose connections with the devotio moderna were marked. Indeed, a similar trend was evident with the Protestant tradition of the text; Leo Jud, Caspar Schwenckfeld and Sebastian Castellio were all directly or indirectly influenced by the Brethren. Most striking of all was the timing with which translations of the Imitatio appeared. The translations by Caspar Schwenckfeld, Leo Jud, Edward Hake and Thomas Rogers were undertaken at a critical stage of their respective Reformations. Similarly, the Jesuits, traditionally viewed as the vanguards of the Counter- Reformation, were deeply committed to the Imitatio. Devotional works were vital to the maturing progress of Reformations, regardless of the confession. Spirituality was not a peripheral, insignificant dimension of religion; it remained at the very centre of Protestant and Catholic self-perception and identity