Dieter Schönecker

Der moralische Status menschlicher Embryonen : pro und contra Spezies-, Kontinuums-, Identitäts- und Potentialitätsargument

In the debate about the moral status of human embryos, it is not always clear which arguments are actually being disputed. This text offers students, researchers and interested laypersons an efficient way to find information about the current state of the discussion and to familiarize themselves quickly with the most important arguments.

Sixteen Days? A Reply to B. Smith and B. Brogaard on the Beginning of Human Individuals

When does a human being begin to exist? Barry Smith and Berit Brogaard have argued that it is possible, through a combination of biological fact and philosophical analysis, to provide a definitive answer to this question. In their view, a human individual begins to exist at gastrulation, i. e. at about sixteen days after fertilization. In this paper we argue that even granting Smith and Brogaards ontological commitments and biological assumptions, the existence of a human being can be shown to begin much earlier, viz., with fertilization. Their interpretative claim that a zygote divides immediately into two substances and therefore ceases to exist is highly implausible by their own standards, and their factual claim that there is no communication between the blastomeres has to be abandoned in light of recent embryological research.

Kant über Menschenliebe als moralische Gemütsanlage

Abstract In the Introduction of the Tugendlehre, Kant identifies love of human beings as one of the four moral predispositions that make us receptive to the moral law. We claim that this love is neither benevolence nor the aptitude of the inclination to beneficence in general (both are also called love of human beings); rather it is amor complacentiae, which Kant understands as the delight in moral striving for perfection. We also provide a detailed analysis of Kants almost completely neglected theory of moral predispositions. They are necessary conditions to be aware of the moral law and to be motivated by it.

Groundwork for the metaphysics of morals

Kants Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals from 1785 is one of the most important and influential texts in the whole history of philosophy.Its central purpose is to develop the categorical imperative. The present collected volume contains papers on central theoretical aspects. Key Features: Contributions from leading international authorities in Kant research A reflection of the current state of research together with new aspects

Das gefühlte Faktum der Vernunft : Skizze einer Interpretation und Verteidigung

Abstract Kant is by no means the pure rationalist that Husserl and others represented him as being. To the contrary I claim that Kant is an ethical intuitionist when it comes to our recognition of the validity of the moral law. Interpreting Kant’s famous thesis about the “fact of reason”, I will first argue for three interpretative theses: 1. The factum theory explains our insight into the binding character of the moral law; it is a theory of justification. 2. In our consciousness of the categorical imperative, the moral law is immediately given in its unconditional and binding validity. 3. The unconditional validity of the CI is given in the feeling of respect. Drawing on basic thoughts of Reformed Epistemology, I will then sketch a way to defend Kant’s theory.

No being, no singularity : Hegel’s critique of sense-certainty in the ,Phenomenology of Spirit‘

It has always been a matter of great dispute what Hegel’s philosophy is about. There is not even an agreement on what he is driving at; we simply don’t know what he was talking about. To some he is a strict metaphysician with claims to ultimate justification and truth, to others he is more or less a cultural relativist. But almost all relevant books and papers discuss Hegel’s philosophy in general terms; very few have tried a detailed tme-to-the-text exegesis.