The aim of this volume is to explore new approaches to the problem of the constitution of the various aspects of sociality and to confront these with received ideas. Many of the contributions are devoted to a rather holistic and antireductionist conception of social objects, groups, joint actions, and collective knowledge. The topics that are dealt with are: (a) the question of the ontological status of social objects and their relation to physical objects; (b) collective agency; and (c) the question whether there can be shared knowledge and shared beliefs, a rather new topic in the discussion of the social aspects of personal life.
Nikos Psarros has studied chemistry and philosophy in Wrzburg and Marburg. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry and his Habilitation in Philosophy at the University of Marburg. He has worked since 1998 at the Institute of Philosophy of the University of Leipzig, where he was appointed in 2004 as extraordinary professor of philosophy. Recent publications: Die Chemie und ihre Methoden--Eine philosophische Betrachtung (Chemistry and its Methods--a Philosophical Approach), Weinheim 1999; Die Entwicklung sozialer Wirklichkeit (The Evolution of Social Reality--coedited with Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer und Georg Vobruba), Weilerswist 2003; Wilhelm Ostwald at the Crossroads of Chemistry, Philosophy, and Media Culture (coedited with Britta Grs and Paul Ziche), Leipzig 2004; Facetten des Menschlichen (Facets of the Human Nature--forthcoming).
Katinka Schulte-Ostermann has studied philosophy, east and southeast european history and German literature in Kiel and Leipzig. She obtained her M.A. philosophy degree at the University of Leipzig in 2003. She has worked since 2005 as research assistant at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Recent publications: Basishandlungen und Intentionalitt: Komplexe Handlungen oder ber die Unmglichkeit ein Men zu kochen (Basic Actions and Intentionality: Aggregate Actions, or about the Impossibility to Cook a Menu) Leipzig 2002; Vier schlechte Verkaufsargumente fr Enhancement-Techniken (Four Bad Selling Arguments for Enhancement Technologies), Dialektik 2006.