Philosophy

Talk of the knowledge society is now almost universally accepted as a representation of social reality. Socially relevant actors have to adjust to it and (learn) to deal with it on a daily basis. However, academic reflections on this situation should not only state how strongly contemporary society depends on knowledge. They must also ask what is known about this knowledge itself and about society’s dependence on it. The question of knowledge in the knowledge society thus leads to the question of the opportunities and limits of the knowable, the intertwining of knowledge and non-knowledge with various forms of social logic, and an increase in knowledge conflicts. In this regard, the editors of this series want to offer an interdisciplinary discussion forum on this subject.

The series of publications entitled “Freiburger Schriften zur Finanzwissenschaft und Wirtschaftspolitik” (“Freiburg Publications on Finance and Economic Policy”) publishes papers from the pre-eminent fields of economics research, which are also rich in tradition, at the University of Freiburg. The array of subjects which these analyses address ranges from the pension system and employment policy, education policy, demography, European and international governance, fiscal sustainability, federalism, healthcare policy, real estate economics, migration, tax and performance-based competition, the causes and effects of transnational conflicts, violence, crime, terror and corruption to behavioural economics and satisfaction research. These studies approach problems from both a theoretical perspective as well as using a selection of econometric, experimental or qualitative research methods. What links them is that they all address both political and social as well as topical academic issues. Their authors’ common, overarching goal is to provide well-founded recommendations on using their findings in politico-economic consulting and to help implement them.

The International Socrates Studies series publishes book-length monographs and collective volumes dealing with the figure and thought of Socrates, his historical context, and the sources of evidence concerning him. Specifically, the series welcomes manuscripts related to reactions to Socrates, positive and negative, the first generation of the Socratic movement, and the history of the reception of Socrates from Antiquity to the present Age.

Health communication is a field of research which deals with the social conditions, consequences and significance of communication that is related and relevant to health, both intentional and unintentional, interpersonal, media-related and public. The field of health communication, which emerged in Britain and the US several decades ago, has established itself in German-speaking countries in recent years and yielded a vast number of studies on the interplay between health, illness and communication. The series contains up-to-date studies in German or English which are devoted to this subject area and which consider communication and health from a communication studies perspective.

Our healthcare system is being confronted with fundamental moral and political challenges which affect its basic focus and character, such as persistent and controversial discussions on approaches to health and illness, matters of principle related to fairness and solidarity, medical utopias and dystopias, corruption and ethical questions, the debate about professional identity and commercialization, and the relationship between economics and medicine, to name but a few. This interdisciplinary series of publications encourages the reader to consider fundamental issues related to healthcare. It transcends not only basic medical ethics but also legal, political and economic issues.

The series West-östliche Denkwege is not only a forum for the philosophical exchange of ideas, but also constitutes a shared effort towards the truth reached in dialogue not only with East-Asian and Western cultures, but also within the space of Europe itself, to the past and present of which a West–East structure of difference belongs. The primary aim of the series is not simply to compare thinking cultures, but to connect them together in order to make them fruitful for the purposes of a common effort. In dealing with the fundamental topics of theoretical and practical philosophy, political thinking and bioethics, the series aims to encourage a lively discourse between East and West by disclosing a wealth of different traditions.

The Austrian Center of Philosophy with Children (ACPC) has been actively supporting the scientific research and practical implementation of Philosophy with Children and Youth ever since 1985. This series publishes the contents of annually held international congresses in Graz, Austria. Numerous renowned researchers present their findings and projects, combining research with practice,