Two important essays on the Warsaw Uprising, both written in distant New York, the first completed after the Uprising’s October, 1944 fall, the second shortly before the second anniversary of its outbreak and days before the author’s death. They came from under the pen of Colonel Ignacy Matuszewski, before the war a member of Poland’s ruling elites and during the war years a leading journalistic voice for Poland’s independence .Both texts belong to the most important Warsaw Uprising accounts and contain (...) a personal note—the title’s “Mewa” was the codename carried by Colonel Matuszewski’s 25-year-old daughter Ewa Matuszewska, a Home Army medic who died in the fighting. (shrink)

The aim of this study is to discuss in what sense one can speak about universal character of logic. The authors argue that the role of logic stands mainly in the generality of its language and its unrestricted applications to any field of knowledge and normal human life. The authors try to precise that universality of logic tends in: (a) general character of inference rules and the possibility of using those rules as a tool of justification of theorems of every (...) science, (b) principles of correct formulating of thoughts and using language, and (c) general deductive method of reasoning, i.e in the study of language syntax and semantics. The authors present two theories of language syntax and semantics as exemplifications based on the Tarski’s famous results in metalogic: (1) a formalization of universal syntax system by Andrzej Grzegorczyk based on a new primitive notion of quotation-marks operator, and (2) an enlarged system of axiomatic theory of syntax of any categorial language of Urszula Wybraniec-Skardowska’s in which the main role plays the relation of concatenation understood as a set-theoretical function. The study concludes in arguing that the importance of the result (2) lies not only in solving some philosophical problems but also in different fields of knowledge and spheres of human life as ex. in discussion and education as well. (shrink)

The authors of mediaeval treatises on the modi significandi (often entitled De modis signi­ficandi, or Summa grammatica, or Summa modorum significandi, or Grammatica speculativa) have come to be known as the Modistae who taught in the late Sixties of the 13th till the Thirties of the 14th centuries. The present study is an account of the grammatical theories of this group of mediaeval scholars (mostly the work of Thomas of Erfurt), set in the appropriate context of situation and seen in (...) terms of the part they played in mediaeval semiotic theory, since their theory rests on the study of words and the properties of these words as signs of things. At the end of the present study the influence of the speculative grammar on present linguistic theories is announ­ced. Some influence of the speculative grammar one could discover in many contemporary lin­gui­stic theories like those of Noam Chomsky, Ronald Langacker, Robin Lakoff and even Ray Jackendoff. (shrink)

Choć teorie C.G. Junga i J. Hillmana były już dogłębnie analizowane w licznych tekstach, prezentowany artykuł ma na celu wprowadzenie nowego spojrzenia na genealogię ich koncepcji. Śledząc historię pojęć obrazu psychicznego oraz archetypu, tekst rekonstruuje ewolucję ich myśli na kanwie dwóch jakościowych podejść psychologii: freudowskiej Metapsychologii (pierwotnie rozumianej jako psychoanalityczną naukę skoncentrowaną na zastąpieniu metafizyki) oraz diltheyowskiej Psychologii Realnej (deskryptywnej psychologii badającej aktywność duszy). Prezentowane studium skupia się na okresie 1912-1979 rozciągającym się od ustanowienia integralnej szkoły jungowskiej do ustanowienia przez (...) J. Hillmana Psychologii Archetypowej. Tak też niniejszy test ma na celu przedstawienie krytycznego i historycznego podejścia do psychologii głębi oraz psychologii obrazu. (shrink)

Table of ContentsAndrzej KLAWITER, Krzystof #ASTOWSKI: Introduction: Originality, Courage and Responsibility List of Books by Leszek NowakSelected Bibliography of Leszek Nowak's WritingsScience and Idealization Theo A.F. KUIPERS: On Two ...

This paper sketches or signals some ideas, results, and proposals connected with the theoretical issues related to the categorial approach to language which originated from the first author and which form the basis for further research by the second author. The main aims are the following: 1) to bring into common use some Polish ideas concerned with classical categorial grammar; 2) to take into consideration a universal and simultaneously formal-logical perspective; 3) to consider Peirce's well-known differentiation of linguistic objects, i.e. (...) their twofold ontological status as tokens and types and, according to this, to consider the biaspectual formalization of language dealing with the two main orientations in the controversy between nominalism and Platonism; 4) to characterize language according to Frege's ontological canons, according to which each expression of language corresponds to its denotation. All of these factors make possible not only the syntactic characterization of language but also the introduction of syntactic and semantic definitions of a true expression and its denotation. These notions correspond here to the old classical, but not necessarily standard, understanding of semantic concepts. The paper is divided into four sections: the first contains a brief characterization of the categorial approach to syntax; the second presents two strains of this approach; the third touches on certain general semantic issues connected with the notion of truth; and the last gives some final remarks. (shrink)

We have proposed to use some features of swarm behaviours in modelling business processes. Due to these features we deal with a propagation of business processes in all accessible directions. This propagation is involved into our formalization instead of communicating sequential processes. As a result, we have constructed a business process diagram language based on the swarm behavior and an extension of that language in the form of reflexive management language.

Building on our diverse research traditions in the study of reasoning, language and communication, the Polish School of Argumentation integrates various disciplines and institutions across Poland in which scholars are dedicated to understanding the phenomenon of the force of argument. Our primary goal is to craft a methodological programme and establish organisational infrastructure: this is the first key step in facilitating and fostering our research movement, which joins people with a common research focus, complementary skills and an enthusiasm to work (...) together. This statement—the Manifesto—lays the foundations for the research programme of the Polish School of Argumentation. (shrink)

Author: Rogucki Krzysztof Title: ANDRZEJ CHMIELECKI’S INTEGRAL ONTOLOGY (Ontologia integralna Andrzeja Chmieleckiego) Source: Filo-Sofija year: 2006, vol:.6, number: 2006/1, pages:171-206 Keywords: ANDRZEJ CHMIELECKI, INTEGRAL ONTOLOGY, MATERIALISM, TRANSFORMATIONISM Discipline: PHILOSOPHY Language: POLISH Document type: ARTICLE Publication order reference (Primary author’s office address): E-mail:The article analyses of the Andrzej Chmielecki’s system of integral ontology as a solution to the psychological problem – transformationism. From the standpoint of integral ontology Chmielecki confronts the fundamental problems of the theory of cognition, (...) axiology, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and anthropology. Chmielecki’s philosophical reflection is inspired by the concepts of Ch. Peirce, M. Scheler, and N. Hartmann. Chmielecki keeps a distance from some philosophical solutions popular in analytic philosophy; however, he takes full advantage of the accomplishments of modern mathematics. The presentation of Chmielecki’s most important ideas is the objective of the article. (shrink)

Andrzej Kisielewicz’s praise of common senseI present here the evaluation and comments on the position of Andrzej Kisi­elewicz presented in his latest book, Logic and Arguments: A Practical Course in Critical Thinking. I recognize that this book can be of great benefit to a very diverse group of potential recipients. It is original in design, inspiring and even provoking the reader to discuss some of its main theses. I am debating some of the author’s views, in particular I (...) draw attention to the relationship between logic and formal logic presented by Kisielewicz. I point to the similarity of some of the radical assessments presented in Logic and Arguments to one of the criticisms by Kazimierz Twardowski published a hundred years earlier. (shrink)

The authors of this book reconstruct the philosophical, methodological and theoretical assumptions of non-Marxian historical materialism, a theory of historical process authored by Leszek Nowak (1943-2009), a co-founder of the Poznań School of Methodology. In the first part of the book, philosophical assumptions of this theory are compared with the concepts of Robert Nozick, Immanuel Wallerstein, André Gunder Frank and analytical Marxism. In the second part, non-Marxian historical materialism is compared with the concepts of Eva Etzioni-Halevy, Andrzej Falkiewicz, Robert (...) Michels, Vilfredo Pareto, Theda Skocpol and Karl August Wittfogel. (shrink)

This article defends the thesis that, in light of the postulates of liberal ethics, it is not possible to put forward universal arguments in support of any form of marriage. The existing forms of marriage should be either deemed unjust or founded on specific arguments recognized within a particular political community and determining the understanding of justice in a particular society. It defends the thesis that the requirement of universality, and consequently of impartiality, is not met, since behind every form (...) of marriage there is a certain “minimum” anthropological approach. Marriage is discussed as a privilege granted to particular groups by the political community. The comments are made with reference to the discussion between Krzysztof Saja and Tomasz Sieczkowski concerning the problem of discrimination against same-sex couples in Polish legislation. (shrink)

One thing we cannot do is failing to address the issue of ‘what next’? Where are we heading? What are our objectives on the horizon of dreams and not short-term solutions? Where is mankind heading as a whole? It is you economists and managers I am aiming my questions at. I am incapable of finding a clear answer but I sincerely hope to discover it in your dissertations (going beyond your master, doctorate and habilitation theses). Thanks to the brilliant paradigm, (...) our civilisation has made achievements which it tends to forget. Mankind today is living more comfortably than ever before. I want to raise a question if we are conscious of the fact that our privileges should be shared by all inhabitants of our planet. I wish to reflect on the good of a man – what does a human need to be fulfilled in all dimensions, not in the mere material one. How do we conceive of the future organization and identity of mankind? I asked school principals: Is it good to allow the sexes to become alike, to see women become masculine and men effeminate? Is the contrast of the sexes vital to the preservation of the human race? Does the tension resulting from the diversification matter? I do not intend to present my own intuitions; my wish would be finding some answers in humanities. Sadly, doctorate and habilitation theses tend to focus on marginal issues. Why does contemporary theology differ so considerably from what the contemporary world, contemporary physics or mathematics deal with on a regular basis? (shrink)

It used to be that if some message came from an oral source, its weight depended on reliability of the one who had transmitted it and on the one who had heard it. If, on the other hand, something was printed it intrinsically became credible. Democratization of access to print and similar democratization of media, apart from its undoubtedly positive side, brings also a negative novum – it encourages everyone to speak freely. It is impossible to talk about truth in (...) media, or truth in any other sense, and not relate to the fashionable nowadays in the humanities the vanquisher of Marxism – called postmodernism. This very movement in its popular form sows the seeds of fear of all who proclaim the existence of objective truth or, what is worse, absolute truth. They caution that the supporters of this truth will introduce it by force, so we are in danger of facing totalitarianism, fundamentalism and dark dictatorship. It is uncertainty that drives people to violence. Those who have something to hold on to are more unaffected by despair. The fanatics are often recruited from those who are adrift. Less often from those with a questing mind. But in order to seek one needs to believe that truth exists. Even if it were always incomplete and imperfect in the form in which we are able to assimilate it. To the charges that every certainty leads to violence, I reply that most frequently it is the opposite. It is fear and feeling adrift that drive people to the false certainty. Whoever believes that truth exists will easier accept that he will never grasp it. In the very important debate that was conducted some years ago, the fear of fundamentalism was juxtaposed with the fear of nihilism. I see the latter as a greater threat. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to argue against the claim that the term “belief”, as it functions in philosophical psychology, has natural-kind term semantics; this thesis is central to the famous Lycan–Stich argument against eliminative materialism. I will argue that the current debate concerning the discrepancy between the professed opinions and actions, especially the debate concerning the idea of aliefs, shows that the concept of belief is plastic and amenable to conceptual engineering. The plasticity and amenability to conceptual engineering (...) of the concept of belief give us, in turn, a reason to doubt that “belief” functions in a way that is presupposed in the Lycan–Stich argument. Finally, I point to an alternative to both eliminativism and the natural kind view, namely the idea that we should treat belief as a human kind. (shrink)

This book introduces the English-speaking reader to the thought of Stanislaw Brzozowski (1878-1911), the outstanding Polish philosopher and literary critic. Although practically unknown in the West, Brzozowski is an important but neglected forerunner of the intellectual tradition of `Western Marxism', most commonly associated with Georg Lukács and Antonio Gramsci. -/- Concentrating first on the early phase of Brzozowski's thought, Professor Walicki goes on to analyse his ideas on the working class and its relation to the intelligentsia and contemporary working-class ideologies. (...) Finally he deals with aspects of his thought which go beyond the Marxian problematic and round off the intellectual portrait of the man. -/- Brzozowski's anti-naturalistic approach resulted in a radical reinterpretation of Marxism which dealt with many of the problems of the revolt against positivism in European philosophy. Professor Walicki argues that the retrieval of the philosophical and humanist aspect of Marxism, and its separation from the Engels-inspired `scientific Marxism', was the achievement of Brzozowski and not, as frequently assumed, of Lukács, who came to similar conclusions only some ten years later. -/- By placing Brzozowski within the cross-currents of the various philosophical, sociological, literary, and political streams of Western and Eastern European thought in which Marxism was situated, Professor Walicki produces a fascinating study of an early East European challenge to orthodox Marxism. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to propose a new conceptualization of the distinction between realism and anti-realism about beliefs that is based on the division between natural and non-natural properties, as defined by Lewis. It will be argued that although the traditional form of anti-realism about beliefs, namely eliminative materialism, has failed (as it led to unacceptable consequences), there is a possibility to reformulate the division in question. The background assumption of the proposal is the framework of deflationism about (...) truth and existence: it will be assumed that beliefs can be said to exist and their attributions can said to be true. The aim is to show that even when we buy into such assumptions we can meaningfully distinguish between the realist and anti-realist approach to belief. According to the proposal, the paradigmatic anti-realist view on beliefs should be seen as a conjunction of three claims: that belief attributions do not track objective similarities, that beliefs are not causally active, and that there is no viable way of naturalizing content. It will be shown that seeing the debate in the proposed way has important advantages as it allows the issue of belief realism to be made non-trivial and tractable, and it introduces theoretical unity into contemporary metaphysics of beliefs. (shrink)

In the paper I introduce and discuss the interpretative procedure; a stage of investigation in thought experiments in which it is determined which states of affairs are genuine realizations of the described story. I show how incorporating the interpretative procedure to the reconstruction of a certain kind of thought experiments, i.e., the method of cases, provides a solution to the so-called problem of deviant realizations. According to this problem it is hard to formulate the logical structure of the method of (...) cases that excludes far-fetched interpretations of a particular thought experiment's description that are inconsistent with the expected conclusion of the experiment. As I show, if we agree that the interpretative procedure precedes the act of establishing whether the thing which is at issue (e.g., knowledge) appears within a certain state of affairs, deviant realizations could be ruled out, since within interpretative procedure we establish the set of states of affairs that are compatible with the intentions of the author of the thought experiment. In the paper I provide a general explanation of how this task could be fulfilled by semantic intuitions and discuss their contextual dependence. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to show that the interpretivist account of propositional attitudes fails even at the most plausible reading that treats this theory as a version of the deflationary approach to existence coupled with a metaphysical claim about the judgement-dependence of propositional attitudes. It will be argued that adopting a deflationary reading of interpretivism allows this theory to avoid the common charge of fictionalism, according to which interpretivists cannot maintain realism about attitudes as their theory becomes a (...) covert form of mental fictionalism. However, as will be shown, the deflationary version of interpretivism faces a fatal dilemma: either it becomes indistinguishable from generic deflationism about the mental, or it must embrace the metaphysical thesis of judgement-dependence of propositional attitudes. The latter option leads to unacceptable epistemological consequences, as it cannot accommodate intuitions about possibility of error in attribution of attitudes. Thus, it turns out that even a subtle version of interpretivism is not a viable theory of intentional states. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to extend Leszek Nowak's theory of power in non-Marxian historical materialism by such categories as civil collapes, elite absorption and balanced revolution.

The aim of this paper is analyse the notion of Central Europe used in historiography. The author reconstructs different meanings of this term used in the works of George Schopflin, Peter Burke, Oskar Halecki, Piotr Wandycz. This notion has not only geographic but also social and historical meaning.

This article examines the development of Leszek Kolakowski's thought, in the context of changing Polish political landscape; from the early Marxist text, critical of the Catholic Church and its doctrine -- to the late books on Augustine and Pascal and sympathetic analysis of the role of religion in contemporary society. The author attempts to discover a continuity in this development; it may by found, the author argues, in Kolakowski's rationalism, understood first in opposition to religion, but later as fed on (...) religious sources, reason's necessary presupposition. (shrink)

The article explores the concept of infodemics during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the propagation of false or inaccurate information proliferating worldwide throughout the SARS-CoV-2 health crisis. We provide an overview of disinformation, misinformation and malinformation and discuss the notion of “fake news”, and highlight the threats these phenomena bear for health policies and national and international security. We discuss the mis-/disinformation as a significant challenge to the public health, intelligence, and policymaking communities and highlight the necessity to design measures (...) enabling the prevention, interdiction, and mitigation of such threats. We then present an overview of selected opportunities for applying technology to study and combat disinformation, outlining several approaches currently being used to understand, describe, and model the phenomena of misinformation and disinformation. We focus specifically on complex networks, machine learning, data- and text-mining methods in misinformation detection, sentiment analysis, and agent-based models of misinformation spreading and the detection of misinformation sources in the network. We conclude with the set of recommendations supporting the World Health Organization’s initiative on infodemiology. We support the implementation of integrated preventive procedures and internationalization of infodemic management. We also endorse the application of the cross-disciplinary methodology of Crime Science discipline, supplemented by Big Data analysis and related information technologies to prevent, disrupt, and detect mis- and disinformation efficiently. (shrink)

The aim of this book is to explain economic dualism in the history of modern Europe. The emergence of the manorial-serf economy in the Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary in the 16th and the 17th centuries was the result of a cumulative impact of various circumstantial factors. The weakness of cities in Central Europe disturbed the social balance – so characteristic for Western-European societies – between burghers and the nobility. The political dominance of the nobility hampered the development of cities and (...) limited the influence of burghers, paving the way to the rise of serfdom and manorial farms. These processes were accompanied by increased demand for agricultural products in Western Europe. (shrink)

Krzysztof Ziarek's essay, The Return to Philosophy? or: Heidegger and the Task of Thinking, constitutes a response to Russell. While Ziarek admits that there is some philological sense in the attempt to read Heidegger through a transcendental optics, he argues that philosophically this strategy risks covering-up the most significant developments of Heidegger's thinking. Whilst it might be said that the attempt to locate a transcendental reduction in Heidegger only ever applies to his early work, and in particular Being and (...) Time, to distinguish between an 'early transcendental Heidegger' in opposition to a 'late history-of-being Heidegger' makes the living development of his work invisible in that it reduces philosophical thought to systems of positive, affirmative judgements. Against such a reduction not only in, but also of Heidegger's work, Ziarek mobilizes the insights that develop explicitly during the 1930s, which constitute a radical break not only with transcendental ' phenomenology, but also with philosophical, metaphysical thought as such. (shrink)

We give a model-theoretic treatment of the fundamental results of Kechris-Pestov-Todorčević theory in the more general context of automorphism groups of not necessarily countable structures. One of the main points is a description of the universal ambit as a certain space of types in an expanded language. Using this, we recover results of Kechris et al. (Funct Anal 15:106–189, 2005), Moore (Fund Math 220:263–280, 2013), Ngyuen Van Thé (Fund Math 222: 19–47, 2013), in the context of automorphism groups of not (...) necessarily countable structures, as well as Zucker (Trans Am Math Soc 368, 6715–6740, 2016). (shrink)

This paper reflects on how civic culture is shaped in consumer society. Contemporary society is now often described as a ‘consumer society’. In this society, identity and status are acquired and social inclusion or integration is considered to be achieved through participation in consumer activity.

The aim of this paper is to show that expressivism about attitudes is not a tenable position. Although this claim has been often made in the literature, traditional arguments against attitudinal expressivism assumed a dated form of expressivism. In order to show that ascriptions of attitudes cannot be seen as expressive in either of them, the paper discusses two more recent versions of expressivism: quasi-realism and inferentialist expressivism. Quasi-realism escapes traditional arguments against attitudinal expressivism because it allows expressive statements to (...) be true in a deflationary sense. Nonetheless, it is implausible to adopt quasi-realist expressivism with regard to attitudes because this position cannot avoid substantial psychological commitments, despite Toppinen's recent arguments to the contrary. This conclusion also pertains to quasi-realist hybrid expressivist conceptions. The recently developed conception of inferentialist expressivism arguably creates the most accommodating theory for attitudinal expressivism as it does not make any substantial psychological commitments. Still, the criteria of bifurcation assumed in this framework does not support the claim that attitudes play an expressive role. (shrink)

Uno de los problemas centrales de la semántica es el problema del significado. Desde Platón, los filósofos se preguntan ¿qué hace a una expresión, significativa? En la tradición filosófica, podemos encontrar diferentes soluciones a esta pregunta; por ejemplo, para Quine todo lo que se elaboró sobre el significado ling ü ístico, tiene algo que podemos llamar una “mancha idealista”, la que tiene que ser borrada desde su teoría de la indeterminación de la traducción. Muchos filósofos contemporáneos, comparten con Quine sus (...) objeciones sobre el significado ling ü ístico; sin embargo, no todos están de acuerdo con el radicalismo propuesto por Quine. En el presente artículo, queremos mostrar la propuesta alternativa que ofrece Alston y su versión de la teoría pictórica del significado. Mediante su teoría, Alston quiere, de alguna manera, salvar la discusión tradicional sobre el significado frente al ataque frontal de Quine. En su intento, también son contemplados los aportes quinianos sin la aceptación total de su teoría. A consideración del lector, se deja elegir si la teoría del significado en el enfoque tradicional tiene que ser abandonada, como quiere Quine, o podemos buscar los caminos intermedios, como propone Alston. (shrink)