The Discovery of a Normative Theory of Justice in Medieval Philosophy: On the Reception and Further Development of Aristotle's Theory of Justice by St. Thomas Aquinas

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La idea de los derechos humanos de cara a las realidades de la política mundial: una reflexión sobre la relación entre ética y política

Me interesa, primero, probar que la relación entre ética y política -en las contribuciones hasta ahora dominantes a la filosofía política de las relaciones internacionales- es insatisfactoria por diferentes razones y exige una nueva concepción (1). En segundo lugar, quisiera hacer la propuesta de una nueva fundamentación de la relación entre ética y política con el transfondo de las nuevas realidades de la política mundial (11). Me interesa, por último, determinar más detalladamente ese transfondo en relación con sus implicaciones para la cuestión acerca de la situación de los derechos humanos

“WORLD GOVERNMENT” AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOLLOWING THE DEMISE OF THE INHERITED “NATIONAL STATE”

Autor analizira tumačenja Jean-Marie Guéhenna i Helmuta Willkea o kraju nacionalne države u kontekstu suvremenih rasprava o globalizaciji. Autor smatra da su oba autora u svojim analizama došli do podudarnih uvida, posebice u procjenjivanju funkcionalne uloge koja se može analitički pripisati nacionalnoj državi u sadašnjosti i budućnosti. Iako njihovi uvidi koincidiraju s raspravama o globalizaciji koje se vode u političkoj ekonomiji i u političkim znanostima, njihovi zaključci nisu u skladu s posebnim ustrojstvom političkoga djelovanja. Nasuprot njihovom državnoteorijskom “hegelijanizmu” (Guéhenno) i sustavnoteorijskom funkcionalnom određenju državnog djelovanja (Willke), autor suvremeno djelovanje države promatra s pravnofilozofskog aspekta.The author analyzes the interpretations by Jean-Marie Guéhenno and Helmut Willke of the end of the national state within the context of contemporary debates on globalisation. The author thinks that in their analyses both authors have come up with similar insights, particularly those regarding the assessment of the functional role which may be analytically attributed to the national state in the present and the future. Although their observations coincide with the debates on globalisation going on in political economy and political science, their conclusions are not in line with the special structure of political activity. Unlike their state/theoretical “hegelianism” (Guéhenno) and system theory functional definition of government activity (Willke), the author looks into the contemporary operation of the state from the legal/philosophical perspective

Effects of BPA in snails : Oehlmann et al. respond

We welcome critical appraisals that help to provide balance; however, Dietrich et al. gave an unjustified reproach. We feel that Dietrich’s position is severely compromised because he serves as an expert for the bisphenol A (BPA) Industry Group (Brussels, Belgium). We would like to respond to the issues raised by Dietrich et al., as well as to their oversights and inappropriate interpretations of our findings..

Bisphenol A induces superfeminization in the Ramshorn snail Marisa cornuarietis (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia) at environmentally relevant concentrations

Previous investigations have shown that bisphenol A (BPA) induces a superfeminization syndrome in the freshwater snail Marisa cornuarietis at concentrations as low as 1 μg/L. Superfemales are characterized by the formation of additional female organs, enlarged accessory sex glands, gross malformations of the pallial oviduct, and a stimulation of egg and clutch production, resulting in increased female mortality. However, these studies were challenged on the basis of incomplete experimentation. Therefore, the objective of the current approach was to bridge several gaps in knowledge by conducting additional experiments. In an initial series of experiments, study results from the reproductive phase of the snails were evaluated in the sub-micrograms per liter range. Before and after the spawning season, superfemale responses were observed [NOEC (no observed effect concentration) 7.9 ng/L, EC10 (effective concentration at 10%) 13.9 ng/L], which were absent during the spawning season. A further experiment investigated the temperature dependence of BPA responses by exposing snails at two temperatures in parallel. The adverse effect of BPA was at least partially masked at 27°C (EC10 998 ng/L) when compared with 20°C (EC10 14.8 ng/L). In M. cornuarietis, BPA acts as an estrogen receptor (ER) agonist, because effects were completely antagonized by a co-exposure to tamoxifen and Faslodex. Antiandrogenic effects of BPA, such as a significant decrease in penis length at 20°C, were also observed. Competitive receptor displacement experiments indicate the presence of androgen- and estrogen-specific binding sites. The affinity for BPA of the estrogen binding sites in M. cornuarietis is higher than that of the ER in aquatic vertebrates. The results emphasize that prosobranchs are affected by BPA at lower concentrations than are other wildlife groups, and the findings also highlight the importance of exposure conditions

Die Schule von Salamanca: eine digitale Quellensammlung und ein Wörterbuch ihrer juristischpolitischen Sprache : zu Grundanliegen und Struktur eines Forschungsvorhabens

Das im Jahr 2013 begonnene und für einen Zeitraum von 18 Jahren konzipierte Forschungsvorhaben zielt auf die Erstellung eines historisch-semantischen Wörterbuchs zum Denken der Schule von Salamanca und ihrer Bedeutung für politische Theorie und Recht in der Moderne. Als Grundlage dieses Wörterbuchs wird ein digitales Corpus von zentralen Texten der Schule von Salamanca aufgebaut, das mit der elektronischen Version des Wörterbuchs verknüpft ist und der internationalen und interdisziplinären Forschergemeinschaft direkten Zugriff auf die einschlägigen Quellentexte ermöglicht. Durch die Volltexterschließung der digitalen Quellen wird zugleich ein in seiner Funktionalität neuartiges elektronisches Arbeitsinstrument geschaffen, das einen wichtigen Fortschritt gegenüber allen bisherigen Digitalisierungsprojekten in diesem Bereich darstellt. Dieses Arbeitsinstrument wird auch über seine Funktionalität für das zu erstellende Wörterbuch hinaus qualitativ neue Forschungsmöglichkeiten eröffnen. Beides – Wörterbuch und Quellencorpus – werden in einem repository erfasst und über eine Webseite als Forschungsinstrument der internationalen scientific community zur Verfügung gestellt. Das Wörterbuch wird zum Schluss der letzten Arbeitsphase zusätzlich in Buchform publiziert. Die weltweite Forschung zur Schule von Salamanca und zu ihrer Wirkungsgeschichte wird damit zum ersten Mal Zugriff auf ein gemeinsames Textcorpus haben und über einen intellektuellen Referenzrahmen für dessen historische Unter-suchung und interdisziplinäre Diskussion verfügen. Dieser Beitrag soll Ausgangslage und Zielsetzung des Vorhabens zusammenfassen (1.), das geplante Quellencorpus (2.), das Wörterbuch (3.) und den Arbeitsplan (4.) vorstellen.The article introduces a research project financed by the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz which has taken up work in 2013 and is conceived for a term of 18 years. It aims at producing a historical-semantic dictionary elucidating central terms of the School of Salamanca’s discourses and their significance for modern political theory and jurisprudence. The project’s fundament will be a digital corpus of important texts from the School of Salamanca which will be linked up with the dictionary’s online version. By making the source corpus accessible in searchable full text (as well as in high quality digital images), the project is creating a new research tool with exciting possibilities for further investigations. The dictionary will be a valuable source of information for the interdisciplinary research carried out in this field

Bisphenol A Induces Superfeminization in the Ramshorn Snail (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia) at Environmentally Relevant Concentrations

Previous investigations have shown that bisphenol A (BPA) induces a superfeminization syndrome in the freshwater snail Marisa cornuarietis at concentrations as low as 1 μg/L. Superfemales are characterized by the formation of additional female organs, enlarged accessory sex glands, gross malformations of the pallial oviduct, and a stimulation of egg and clutch production, resulting in increased female mortality. However, these studies were challenged on the basis of incomplete experimentation. Therefore, the objective of the current approach was to bridge several gaps in knowledge by conducting additional experiments. In an initial series of experiments, study results from the reproductive phase of the snails were evaluated in the sub-micrograms per liter range. Before and after the spawning season, superfemale responses were observed [NOEC (no observed effect concentration) 7.9 ng/L, EC10 (effective concentration at 10%) 13.9 ng/L], which were absent during the spawning season. A further experiment investigated the temperature dependence of BPA responses by exposing snails at two temperatures in parallel. The adverse effect of BPA was at least partially masked at 27°C (EC10 998 ng/L) when compared with 20°C (EC10 14.8 ng/L). In M. cornuarietis, BPA acts as an estrogen receptor (ER) agonist, because effects were completely antagonized by a co-exposure to tamoxifen and Faslodex. Antiandrogenic effects of BPA, such as a significant decrease in penis length at 20°C, were also observed. Competitive receptor displacement experiments indicate the presence of androgen- and estrogen-specific binding sites. The affinity for BPA of the estrogen binding sites in M. cornuarietis is higher than that of the ER in aquatic vertebrates. The results emphasize that prosobranchs are affected by BPA at lower concentrations than are other wildlife groups, and the findings also highlight the importance of exposure conditions