Soziale Gerechtigkeit und die drei Welten des Wohlfahrtskapitalismus

Der Aufsatz verbindet die normative Diskussion über Soziale Gerechtigkeit in der politischen Philosophie mit empirischen Ergebnissen aus der Sozialstaatsforschung. Damit verknüpft er zwei Diskussionsstränge, die bisher meist isoliert voneinander verlaufen sind. Die Argumentation wird über die Beantwortung von vier Fragen entfaltet. Der normativen Frage: welche regulativen Leitideen liefert die Gerechtigkeitsdebatte in der politischen Philosophie? Der handlungstheoretischen Frage: welche Urteilskriterien und Handlungspräferenzen lassen sich für eine gerechtigkeitsorientierte Politik gewinnen? Der empirischen Frage: Wie lassen sich die drei Welten des Wohlfahrtskapitalismus auf dem Hintergrund der hierarchisch geordneten Gerechtigkeitskriterien beurteilen? Sowie schließlich der institutionellen Frage: welche institutionelle Logik eine (notwendig gewordene) Reform des Sozialstaats tragen soll, wenn diese gleichzeitig sozial gerecht sein und eine realistische Aussicht auf ihre Verwirklichung haben soll.     

Heller,Schmitt and the Euro

Heller understood that Schmitt's ‘authoritarian state’ was in fact the liberal state in its pure form, weak in relation to the capitalist economy but strong in fending off democratic interventions in its operation. Had he lived, Heller would not have been surprised by the close affinities between Schmittian economic authoritarianism and postwar German ordoliberalism, as mediated by a figure like Alexander Rüstow. Neoliberalism as today we know it drew heavily on ordoliberal doctrine, in particular through Friedrich von Hayek who managed to merge it with Austrian economics into a powerful ideological force to replace Keynesianism after the 1970s. Today the European Union, especially in its incorporation as monetary union, closely follows the liberal‐authoritarian template as devised by Schmitt and others in the final years of the Weimar Republic. The paper shows this with reference to the five European‐level institutions that today govern the European free market while protecting it from democratic interference: the Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank.     

CT‐Guided,Minimally Invasive,Postmortem Needle Biopsy Using the B‐Rob II Needle‐Positioning Robot

CT‐guided, minimally invasive needle biopsy techniques can be used to retrieve tissue or body fluid samples for histologic tissue diagnoses in forensic investigations. The purpose of this study was an evaluation of CT‐guided needle‐positioning robot B‐Rob II. To operate under CT guidance, we adopted the B‐Rob II robotic needle placement system and its workflow. The accuracy and speed of the procedure were tested on a gelatin phantom in a series of 21 biopsies. We achieved an average needle placement accuracy of 1.8 mm (±1.1 mm) using robotic assistance. The procedure required an average of 2 min 21 s. The needle placement accuracy for minimally invasive needle biopsies using the B‐Rob II biopsy robot is sufficiently accurate and fast for forensic postmortem examinations of focal organ changes. Further tests will be performed to test the feasibility of the robot for performing biopsies of focal organ changes in human bodies.