O. Lorenzen nahm 1992/93 am Schülerwettbewerb Deutsche Geschichte des Bundespräsidenten R. v. Weizsäcker teil und bekam für die hier gedruckte Arbeit den 3. Preis. 1944 wurde ein Barackenlager in der Nähe von Husum zu einer Außenstelle des KZ Neuengamme gemacht und bis zu 2500 Gefangene hineingepfercht. Dänen, Franzosen, Niederländer und Polen mußten von hier aus den als Verteidigungslinie geplanten "Friesenwall" ausheben; mehr als 300 überlebten die Fron nicht. Hiervon, von den Lagerbedingungen und von der beschämenden Haltung der Husumer Bevölkerung den Häftlingen gegnüber berichtet Lorenzen im 1. Teil. Der 2. Teil behandelt die spät in Gang gekommenen Bemühungen um ein Mahnmal und die Querelen darum bis zur Einweihung 1987. Mit einem Vorwort des Bürgervorstehers der Stadt Husum. (Hanewald)
Introduction. The concept of "moral agent" and its boundaries are not currently clearly defined. Given the connection between moral agency and moral responsibility, it seems necessary to introduce a clear definition of "moral agent", as well as to differentiate the types of moral agency. The hypothesis of this article is that although the notion of a moral agent in itself is rather limited, there are a number of "borderline" groups, the definition of the status of which needs to be clarified.Methodology and sources. The article provides an ethical and philosophical analysis of approaches to the definition of a moral agency, a comparative analysis of the concepts of a moral agent and a moral subject, as well as approaches to determining the moral statuses of various "borderline" groups in the context of the works of J. MacMurray, A. Taylor, I. Kant, M Rowlands, J. Searle and others.Results and discussion. The article presents an analysis of the definitions of a "moral agent", highlights the key features that make it possible to speak of a moral agency as an independent moral concept, as well as determine the conditions for the onset of moral agency. To differentiate the types of moral agents, the article introduces the concept of "limited moral agent" to denote the special status of children and the mentally ill. Evidence is provided that people belonging to these categories may have the status of a moral agent, although not to the extent that this status initially implies. As part of the definition of artificial intelligence as a "quasi-moral agent", the key features of AI in the framework of moral communication between AI and a person are identified.Conclusion. Based on the analysis, the article proposes a number of requirements for a moral agency. Based on these requirements, it is proposed to distinguish such types of moral agency as a limited moral agent, including children and the mentally ill, as well as a quasi-moral agent, which is an artificially created agent, including artificial intelligence.
"This book argues there can be no theory of ethics and that any attempt at such a theory ends up distorting the moral phenomena that it is supposed to explain. It presents clear examples of moral thought outside moral theorising through literature and Wittgenstein's later philosophy. The book's precise target is moral theory understood as a theory of right action. The author begins by arguing against the assumption central to moral theory that moral judgments are universalizable; that what it is right for one agent to do in a given situation is what is right for any agent in that same situation. Rather, moral judgments are essentially first personal. The author's specific contention here is that our understanding of moral thought in literature provides grounds for rejecting the assumption that moral judgments are universalizable. The author then goes on to argue that there is some determinate and objective content to ethics connected to recognising another human being as a limit to our will. He presents several literary examples that have influenced his thinking about the nature of moral value. He combines these readings with insights from Wittgenstein's later writings to demonstrate the ways in which moral theorising fails to capture important aspects of moral thought. Moral Thought Outside Moral Theory will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in ethics and moral theory, literature and philosophy, and Wittgenstein"--
Im vorliegenden Beitrag unterscheidet Luhmann zunächst Risiko und Gefahr. Von Risiko ist immer dann zu sprechen, wenn Nachteile einer eigenen Entscheidung zugerechnet werden müssen. Als Gefahr kann man jede nicht allzu unwahrscheinliche negative Einwirkung auf den eigenen Lebenskreis bezeichnen, etwa die Gefahr, daß ein Blitz einschlägt und daß das Haus abbrennt. Das Risiko ist also, anders als Gefahr, ein Aspekt von Entscheidungen. Diese Unterscheidung macht deutlich, daß die technologische Entwicklung, auch wenn sie in sich relativ ungefährlich wäre, zu einem Anschwellen der Risiken führt. Auf dieses moderne Risikoerleben mit einer "Neuen Ethik der Verantwortung" zu reagieren, hält der Autor für obsolet. Das Problem liegt nicht in der Verantwortung für Risiken, "sondern in der Wahrscheinlichkeit von vermeidbaren Irrtümern bei der Entscheidung über Risiken". (pmb)
The crisis of neoliberal capitalism and liberal democracy has a genesis stretching back a decade or longer. Why is it that, until now, socialists and those on the left have struggled to articulate a coherent counter-hegemonic discourse? We argue that at least part of this failing comes from an ambivalence about making the moral argument for socialist transformation. Both a moral critique of the existing order and the articulation of socialist future grounded in a distinct moral order are necessary components of transformative change: they are able to fix substantive policy initiatives - whether a green new deal, universal basic income or the nationalisation of essential services - within a broader vision of how society and the state should function, and on whose behalf. Morals are important in the functioning of any socio-economic order - communicating meaning, providing rationale and generating expectations regarding the practices of ourselves and others. They construct and stabilise contingent social orders and hierarchies. The current social contract is characterised by increased individualisation, responsibilisation and the moral imperative towards competition and consumption. Morals are what allow people to tolerate current conditions. But as contemporary capitalism becomes increasingly uninhabitable, a moral critique - that is the ability to both unpick what stabilises the current conjuncture and offer an alternative - becomes all the more urgent. We look at a number of initiatives and movements, most but not all lodged in the anti-austerity protests of the past decade, for examples of such political strategies. In such movements we see how material criticisms of capitalism are grounded in concrete struggles for justice and emancipation but framed in a counter-hegemonic moral framework that explicitly challenges the status quo.
