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Kraft Von Maltzahn

Bio: Kraft Von Maltzahn is an academic researcher. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 12 citations.

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that providing support that enhances the quality of life of the patients with mental illness may indirectly help reduce the sense of burden felt by family members caring for them.

47 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This report considers some variants of the definition of life that have been recently suggested and are based on present-day knowledge of the structures and functions of life, a definition characterizing life as a state, a structure, and a process.
Abstract: . Current life is a complex, multi-level phenomenon that is so diverse in its manifestations that a short and exhaustive definition of life is hardly possible. The high complexity of life, as well as a poor understanding of what life is in essence, are the obstacles to the elaboration of such a definition. Important characteristics of life, such as whole system-, ecosystem-, and information-defined characteristics, have been included in the definition of life only recently. Ecosystem-defined characteristics have been absent in models of the pre-biotic state for a long time. However, without an ecosystem context, the concept of the emergence of life cannot be complete. Interconnections between living and non-living components of a primordial evolving system are decisive for the period of transition from chemical to biological evolution. Information-defined characteristics of life are often reduced to storage and the expression of genetic information, yet the operation of such perfect processes in prebiotic and transitional systems is unlikely. Genetic information, as defined in terms of the Shannon theory of communication, represents only a certain "informational channel" specified with respect to the expression of the structural genes. However, recent findings concerning the molecular mechanisms of the differential regulation of gene activity, and in the genomics, postgenomics and proteomics control mechanisms, suppose a richer diversity of informational flows in the organism. Moreover, considering life in a more general context, other types of related, informational channels, in particular, regarding the differentiation of higher taxa, hiatus, and expansion processes, should be kept in mind. In many publications devoted to the origin of life, the terms "living", "life", and "living organism" are freely interchanged which proves the vagueness of insights about the different levels of the living system. This report considers some variants of the definition of life that have been recently suggested and are based on present-day knowledge of the structures and functions of life. The contradictory demands of a definition, which needs to be complete and short at the same time, are emphasized. A definition characterizing life as a state, a structure, and a process, is proposed.

34 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
19 May 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, a Kantian perspective is used to argue that teleology plays an impor tant heuristic role in the search for causal explanations of nature and that it is for us an inevitable analogical perspective on living beings.
Abstract: One of the most widely debated issues in contemporary philosophy of biology is the prob lem of teleology. How are we to understand apparently teleological concepts, such as that of a “function”, given our conception of science as providing causal explanations for nat ural phenomena? In this paper, I reconsider this debate from a Kantian perspective. The crucial contribution of the Kantian account is to argue both that teleology plays an impor tant heuristic role in the search for causal explanations of nature and that it is for us an inevitable analogical perspective on living beings. The Kantian perspective, I shall argue, is not only compatible with the modern life sciences but can advance the debate about tele ology in biology precisely because it does not interpret teleology naturalistically.

21 citations

DissertationDOI
01 May 2018
TL;DR: In this article, the role of networks in contemporary art is defined as a concept that transforms practice and enables a networked art, which is a continuation of twentieth century developments in art including cybernetic art, systems aesthetics, new media art and relational aesthetics.
Abstract: Since the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1991, it has had a significant impact on contemporary art. As a consequence, however, networks are almost exclusively considered as technologically determined, art produced is digital, refers to the internet and is more often than not specifically web-based. This research redefines the role of networks in contemporary art. It proposes that networks are not a specific technology that provides a means for art practice to occur but are a concept that transforms practice and enables a networked art. Networked art is a continuation of twentieth century developments in art including cybernetic art, systems aesthetics, new media art and relational aesthetics. The research discusses these and considers how practice became systemised through strategies such as the dematerialization of art as object (Lippard, 1997) and the renouncement of objecthood (Fried, 1998). Equally important is the emergence of cybernetics and systems theory that explained concepts such as process and behaviour frequently employed in art practice. By defining a network as a type of system, networked art is foremost concerned with connections or links and considers the resulting behaviours that occur. Networked art is therefore not centred on networks as form. It can adapt as technologies evolve over time and as such is considered post specific technologies and the disciplines connected with them. Emerging out of my ongoing art practice this practice-led research makes an original contribution to knowledge in the field of contemporary art in three ways. Firstly, it demonstrates how networks in contemporary art do not have a basis in a specific technology since they have been employed before current technologies. Secondly, the research explains networked art through the development of a framework and practice as research that informs each other. Thirdly, the research discusses emergent processes, themes and content and clarifies how networked art positions itself within current contemporary art discourse as a post-disciplinary practice.

20 citations