No resources, but a lot of skill: a German political myth and its history

While during the 19th century Germany was characterized by the formula “land of poets and thinkers.” after WWI another phrase and self-characterization became popular: Germany was framed as a country that compensated with science its lack of resources. This self-description passed more or less unaltered through the Weimar Republic, the NS-State and still is very prominent in present political discourse. Its sources, parallels and political implications are analysed in this essay. The technical achievements of, for example, Haber and Bosch to make a strategically important raw material available in any quantity from “mere air” was seen as a way out of the predicament that foreign powers could block access to important substances at any time. This finds its philosophical counterpart in Arnold Gehlen's thesis of the deficiency of human beings that can be compensated by technology and by way of institutions. The notion of the resource-poor nation that relies on the inventiveness of its engineers finally results in a focus on applied science and technology

From the "Terra Preta de Indio" to the "Terra Preta do Gringo": a history of knowledge of the Amazonian dark earths

The anthropogenic origin of the Amazonian dark earths (Terra Preta de Índio) was first verified more than 70 year ago. However, the last 30 years have seen a massive wave of scientific investigation, public interest and an ever-expanding intensification of commercial activity toward all things connected to “Terra Preta.” Today, the dominant concept, which drives current research, is that of binding atmospheric carbon with artificially concocted dark earths. The large-scale production of Terra Preta is said to be an effective tool in efforts to mitigate global warming. This text attempts to provide a history of the knowledge on Amazonian dark earths. It not only focuses on scientific aspects but also considers traditional indigenous knowledge. The position is taken that without indigenous knowledge, modern Terra Preta research would not exist; a view, which has profound implications for the ethical evaluation of all further, applied Terra Preta Nova research and commercial endeavors

Ökologische Gastfreundschaft

Am Beispiel wildlebender Vögel wird in diesem Beitrag eine oft praktizierte, aber bislang wenig reflektierte Tugend, die ökologische Gastfreundschaft, dargestellt. Gastfreundschaft (hospitalitas) ist aus der Menschenwelt wohlbekannt und besonders in der jüdisch-christlichen Tradition, wenn auch keineswegs nur dort, eine lebendige Institution. Man kann sie, wie hier gezeigt werden soll, auch nichtmenschlichen Wesen gegenüber üben. Der Text versucht, die Konturen der ökologischen Gastfreundschaft herauszuarbeiten und vergleicht sie abschließend mit anderen umweltethischen Tugenden

Probleme und Perspektiven der Schmitz’schen Gefühlsphilosophie

Teorija osjećanja Hermanna Schmitza pretendira iznova promišljati osjećanja kao atmosfere koje se bezrubno razlijevaju. Ovaj prilog pokušava, s jedne strane, razraditi jake strane takvog pristupa, ali također, s druge strane, ukazati na prilične poteškoće i antinomije koje su mu imanentne.Hermann Schmitz’s theory of emotions tends to think about feelings anew, as atmospheres that boundlessly pour over. This contribution attempts, on the one hand, to point out strong aspects of this approach, and on the other hand, to point out its considerable immanent difficulties and antinomies.La théorie de l’affectivité de Hermann Schmitz se propose de repenser les sentiments en tant qu’atmosphères enveloppantes qui se déversent. Le présent article tente, d’un côté, de dégager la puissance de cette approche, et d’un autre côté, de relever les problèmes considérables et les antinomies rencontrées.Die Gefühlstheorie des Hermann Schmitz beansprucht, Gefühle neu zu denken als randlos ergossene Atmosphären. Der folgende Beitrag versucht einerseits die Stärke dieses Ansatzes herauszuarbeiten, andererseits aber auch die erheblichen Probleme und Antinomien nachzuweisen