Stiftungen in Christentum, Judentum und Islam vor der Moderne

Stiftungen sind ein Phänomen der Universalgeschichte. In der jüngeren deutschen Mediävistik wird anstelle des früher gebräuchlichen, oft anachronistischen und historisch zu wenig flexiblen juristischen mit einem sozial- und kulturwissenschaftlichen Deutungsansatz gearbeitet. Auf der Berliner Tagung vom Juni 2003 wurde der Versuch gemacht zu überprüfen, ob und inwiefern diese Charakteristik der Stiftung, die auf Studien vornehmlich zum "abendländischen" (lateinischen) Stiftungswesen beruht, auch auf andere Kulturen anwendbar ist

Not the End of the World? Post-Classical Decline and Recovery in Rural Anatolia

Between the foundation of Constantinople as capital of the eastern half of the Roman Empire in 330 CE and its sack by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 CE, the Byzantine Empire underwent a full cycle from political-economic stability, through rural insecurity and agrarian decline, and back to renewed prosperity. These stages plausibly correspond to the phases of over-extension (K), subsequent release (Ω) and recovery (α) of the Adaptive Cycle in Socio-Ecological Systems. Here we track and partly quantify the consequences of those changes in different regions of Anatolia, firstly for rural settlement (via regional archaeological surveys) and secondly for land cover (via pollen analysis). We also examine the impact of climate changes on the agrarian system. While individual histories vary, the archaeological record shows a major demographic decline between ca .650 and ca. 900 CE in central and southwestern Anatolia, which was then a frontier zone between Byzantine and Arab armies. In these regions, and also in northwest Anatolia, century-scale trends in pollen indicate a substantial decline in the production of cereal and tree crops, and a smaller decline in pastoral activity. During the subsequent recovery (α) phase after 900 CE there was strong regional differentiation, with central Anatolia moving to a new economic system based on agro-pastoralism, while lowland areas of northern and western Anatolia returned to the cultivation of commercial crops such as olive trees. The extent of recovery in the agrarian economy was broadly predictable by the magnitude of its preceding decline, but the trajectories of recovery varied between different regions

Composites

[eng] The four main chapters in this dissertation, while each largely self-standing, can be seen as together providing an extended defence of the view that classical mereology is analytically true. In chapter 1, I criticise Eli Hirsch’s influential deflationary account of the ontological debate on composition, according to which universalists and nihilists talk past each other, and neither speak truly in ordinary language. In chapter 2, I respond to a recent argument from Louis deRosset against the standard assumption that analytic truths are somehow metaphysically insubstantial. In chapter 3, I criticise various attempts to reconcile mereological nihilism with the truth of everyday discourse. Finally, in chapter 4, I argue for the analyticity of classical mereology, and answer the main objections to this view of composition.[spa] Si bien los cuatro capítulos principales de esta tesis pueden leerse de forma independiente, se pueden considerar conjuntamente como una defensa extensa y detallada de la posición según la cual los axiomes de la mereología clásica son verdades analíticas. En el primer capítulo, critico la teoría deflacionista de Eli Hirsch, que afirma que los universalistas y los nihilistas no se entienden, y que ambas teorías son falsas en el lenguaje ordinario. En el segundo capítulo, rebato un argumento reciente de Louis deRosset en contra de la asunción estándar según la cual las verdades analíticas son, de alguna forma, metafísicamente insustanciales. En el tercer capítulo, critico varios intentos de reconciliar el nihilismo mereológico con la verdad del discurso cotidiano. Finalmente, en el cuarto capítulo, argumento en favor de la analiticidad de la mereología clásica, y respondo a las objecciones principales contra esta teoría de la composición

Devious Stipulations

Recent attempts to answer ontological questions through conceptual analysis have been controversial. Still, it seems reasonable to assume that if the existence of certain things analytically follows from sentences we already accept, then there is no further ontological commitment involved in affirming the existence of those things. More generally, it is plausible that whenever a sentence analytically entails another, the conjunction of those sentences requires nothing more of the world for its truth than the former sentence alone. In his ‘Analyticity and Ontology’, Louis deRosset tries to produce counterexamples to these principles by means of linguistic stipulations. I aim to show where his arguments go wrong

Composites

The four main chapters in this dissertation, while each largely self-standing, can be seen as together providing an extended defence of the view that classical mereology is analytically true. In chapter 1, I criticise Eli Hirsch’s influential deflationary account of the ontological debate on composition, according to which universalists and nihilists talk past each other, and neither speak truly in ordinary language. In chapter 2, I respond to a recent argument from Louis deRosset against the standard assumption that analytic truths are somehow metaphysically insubstantial. In chapter 3, I criticise various attempts to reconcile mereological nihilism with the truth of everyday discourse. Finally, in chapter 4, I argue for the analyticity of classical mereology, and answer the main objections to this view of composition.Si bien los cuatro capítulos principales de esta tesis pueden leerse de forma independiente, se pueden considerar conjuntamente como una defensa extensa y detallada de la posición según la cual los axiomes de la mereología clásica son verdades analíticas. En el primer capítulo, critico la teoría deflacionista de Eli Hirsch, que afirma que los universalistas y los nihilistas no se entienden, y que ambas teorías son falsas en el lenguaje ordinario. En el segundo capítulo, rebato un argumento reciente de Louis deRosset en contra de la asunción estándar según la cual las verdades analíticas son, de alguna forma, metafísicamente insustanciales. En el tercer capítulo, critico varios intentos de reconciliar el nihilismo mereológico con la verdad del discurso cotidiano. Finalmente, en el cuarto capítulo, argumento en favor de la analiticidad de la mereología clásica, y respondo a las objecciones principales contra esta teoría de la composición

Gender Essentialisms

Charlotte Witt has argued that gender is essential to women and men, in a way that unifies them as social individuals but precludes each of them from being identified with the corresponding person or human organism. We respond to Witt’s modal and normative arguments for this view, and we argue that they fail to support anything stronger than a moderate version of kind essentialism, which generally allows women and men to be identified with people. We finish by pointing out that several of Witt’s central claims about gender roles and gender norms could be endorsed while rejecting her ontology of coincident individuals