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Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) dedicated much of his life to some of the most central debates of his time. For him, our chance of progress towards the happiness of mankind lies in the capacity to recognize the value of the different perspectives through which humans approach the world. Controversies supply the opportunity to exercise this capacity by approaching the opponent not as an adversary but as someone from whose point of view we can enrich our own viewpoint and improve our knowledge. This approach inspired the creation of this series. The book - the first in the series devoted to Leibniz - presents his views through actual controversies in which he participated, in several domains. Leibniz's original 'theory of controversies' thus appears not only as what the thinker thinks about how one should use reason in a controversy, but also how he puts in practice the kind of rationality he preaches.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was an outstanding contributor to many fields of human knowledge. The historiography of philosophy has tagged him as a rationalistʺ. But what does this exactly mean? Is he a rationalistʺ in the same sense in Mathematics and Politics, in Physics and Jurisprudence, in Metaphysics and Theology, in Logic and Linguistics, in Technology and Medicine, in Epistemology and Ethics? What are the most significant features of his rationalismʺ, whatever it is? (Quelle: Umschlag / Verlagseinband).

Our species has been hunting for meaning ever since we departed from our cousins in the evolutionary tree. We developed sophisticated forms of communication. Yet, as much as they can convey meaning and foster understanding, they can also hide meaning and prevent comprehension. Indeed, we can never be sure that a "yes" conveys assent or that a smile reveals pleasure. In order to ascertain what communicative behavior "means", we have to go through an elaborate cognitive process of interpretation.This book deals with how we achieve the daily miracle of understanding each other. Based on the author 's contributions to pragmatics, the book articulates his perspective using the insights of linguistics, the philosophy of language and rhetoric, and confronting alternatives to it. Theory formation is shaped by application to fields of human activity – such as legal practice, artificial intelligence, psychoanalysis, the media, literature, aesthetics, ethics and politics – where interpretation and understanding are paramount. Using an accessible language, this is a book addressed to specialists as well as to anyone interested in interpreting understanding and understanding the potentialities and limits of interpretation.

"Why did Fernando Henrique Cardoso [Brazil's current president] after his election in 1994 announce that his presidential administration would represent 'the end of the Vargas era' in Brazilian history?" -- asks Levine (p. 132). Whatever the reason(s), Cardoso's reference to Vargas on such a solemn occasion, forty years after Vargas's suicide, is emblematic of what Levine himself calls "Vargas as enigma" --the unmatched influence that this elusive man has had on Brazil for most of this century.

AbstractPhilosophy has recently witnessed a radical critique of the epistemological tradition centered on the notion of representation. It is here argued that such a critique is relevant to the current endeavors of Artificial Intelligence, both in its broad (i.e. as an attempt to elucidate human cognitive capacities) and narrow (i.e. as a practical concern to develop 'intelligent' systems, e.g. expert systems) definitions. It is shown that many of the recurrent problems faced by AI researchers stem from their espousal of the old paradigm conceptions of 'knowledge', 'understanding', 'justification', and the like. Some suggestions concerning a possible alternative for such conceptions are made.

We describe and analyze an important cognitive obstacle in inter- and intra-community ar-gumentation processes, which we propose to call 'Cognitive Systemic Dichotomization' (CSD). This social phenomenon consists in the collective use of shared cognitive patterns based upon dichotomous schemati-zation of knowledge, values, and affection. We discuss the formative role of CSD on a community's collec-tive cognition, identity, and public discourse, as well as the challenges it raises to reasoned argumentation, and how different approaches to argumentation undertake to face this obstacle to the reasonable debate of issues of public concern.

Dascal, Marcelo: Opening remarks. - S. 9-10. Veit, Winfried: Opening remarks. - S. 11-12. (...) Erler, Gernot: Experience with mechanisms of crisis management and conflict resolution: The Eastern European case. - S. 41-45. (...)