-------- Ursprüngliche Nachricht -------- Von: Gertrud Wachter Datum:29.04.2016 12:47 (GMT+01:00) An: hermes(a)philo.at Betreff: [Hermes] EINLADUNG Vortrag Prof. Maria Kronfeldner, 4.5.2016, 17:15 Uhr im NIG Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen, im Namen der Faculty des Doktoratskollegs "Naturwissenschaften im historischen, philosophischen und kulturellen Kontext" übermitttle ich anbei die Einladung zu einem Vortrag von Frau Prof. Dr. Maria Kronfeldner (CEU, Budapest) "Should we eliminate human nature talk? Essentialism, dehumanization and the elimination question." Zeit: 4. Mai 2016, 17:15 Ort: Hörsaal 2i, Institut für Philosophie, Universitätsstraße 7, 2.Stock, 1010 Wien Abstract: The concept of human nature is currently under attack: scientifically it has been criticized for relying on outdated essentialist thinking and politically it has been criticized because it facilitates dehumanization. Given post-essentialism and dehumanization, should we stop using the term human nature, i.e., should we eliminate human nature talk in science as well as society? Revisionists claim that the concept of human nature can be freed from outdated essentialist baggage. If so, a successor notion could then be reclaimed for proper scientific usage. Eliminativists, by contrast, claim that what is left after revision is scientifically useless. Both sides so far mostly ignore the politics of human nature. They ignore that the concept of human nature transgresses the boundary between science and society, with dehumanization as a dark side of the concept’s usage in society. This paper will show that, first, there is no way to get rid of dehumanization and that, second, the elimination question is relying on value-laden epistemic attitudes, in particular clarity and conceptual continuity, which are hard to trade-off. The talk concludes with applying a precautionary principle: given that the risk of misuse is high and the prize of elimination is low, we should eliminate human nature talk. Informationen zur Vortragenden finden Sie auf ihrer Webseite unter https://people.ceu.edu/maria_kronfeldner Mit herzlichen Grüßen Elisabeth Nemeth -- ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Elisabeth Nemeth Dekanin der Fakultät für Philosophie und Bildungswissenschaft Institut für Philosophie der Universität Wien 1010 Wien, Universitätsstraße 7 T: +43-1-4277-46480 M: +43-664-60277-46480 elisabeth.nemeth(a)univie.ac.at http://homepage.univie.ac.at/elisabeth.nemeth/