The detailed story of the passionate and secret love affair between two of the most prominent philosophers of the 20th century--Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger. Drawing on their previously unknown correspondence, Elzbieta Ettinger describes a relationship that lasted for more than half a century, a relationship that sheds startling light on both individuals.

Elżbieta Walerich The Nature of an Idea according to A. Arnauld’s On True and False IdeasIn the work On True and False Ideas Arnauld attacks, above all, the part of Malebranche’s theory which concerns the ontological status of ideas. The French Jansenist claims that in this doctrine the perceiving mind is completely cut off from the real world created by God. The most important aim of the book is to prove, using geometrical method, the falsity of ideas if one (...) understands them as representative beings where the term representative being signifies a representative archetype different from the act of perception. Arnauld also criticizes the doctrine of seeing ideas in God. Nevertheless, he does not attack the representative standpoint in general but rather its radical version. He does not negate the division into an idea understood as mental perception and a physical thing being perceived. Like René Descartes, the French Jansenist thinks that all objects are known by means of perceptions which are modifications of our mind and, moreover, that we have the idea of God and the idea of the soul. Ideas are then our soul’s modifications and are the same thing as our perceptions. These are psychological beings having representative character, they make objects present to our intellect. So there are not two different entities but only one entity in two relations. When Arnauld claims that representative ideas are the same thing as the acts of perception, he means that modifications of our mind stay in relation to our mind which they modify and, at the same time, in relation to objects which they represent. The term perception underlines the ontological status: it is the modification of the mind. And the term idea indicates that it relates to external objects. The acts of perception represent external things but they do not imitate these objects like pictures do; their objective existence in the mind is different from the real existence of physical objects. When a thing is present to the mind in an objective manner, it does not mean that it is present as an object immanent to our mind but that it is known by our intellect, so that it is the object of the act of perception. The thing is present in our mind objectively when it is represented by the act of perception and then it becomes the intentional object of this act. Keywords: idea, perception, representation, representative being, modification of the mind, representationalism, objective existence. (shrink)

Translated here into Polish is Tim Maudlin’s “Distilling Metaphysics from Quantum Physics,” which is a chapter of The Oxford Handbook of Metaphysics. The author discusses six important metaphysical issues on which quantum physics sheds new light. He shows how differently each of the three main intepretations of quantum theory (von Neumann’s and GRW collapse theory, Bohm’s hidden variable theory, and Everett’s many-worlds theory) views each of them. The issues discussed are determinism, determinateness, the role of the observer, uncertainty and complementarity, (...) quantum logic, and entanglement and non-locality. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to present the changes referred to as the “fourth industrial revolution” and the role of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in accelerating the technological revolution in relation to Polish companies. The ongoing economic downturn has different causes and much broader effects than previous crises. Hence the need to analyze trends (megatrends) in the emergence of innovations initiated or significantly accelerated by the pandemic crisis, and consequently, among other things, the intensification of the (...) digital transformation process. The study has a theoretical and empirical character. For the research, the authors used the descriptive method with elements of statistical data analysis. The analysis was based on reports of such institutions as the World Intellectual Property Organization, the European Commission and the Central Statistical Office. (shrink)

The aim of the paper is to consider the notions of economy, redundancy and optimality, with regard to language structure and its functioning in time and with regard to certain principles of the Universal Grammar. I argue that the notion of optimality needs not to be congruent with economy, and at odds with redundancy. On the contrary, if we hold realistic premises regarding the ontology of language (as Chomsky does) and think of language as a natural system existing in time, (...) then we should expect similar principles of organization in language as in other natural systems (cf. system theories: von Bertalanffy, Laszlo, Kauffman). In that approach, connecting optimality with economy is untenable. That stance is contrary to Chomsky's Minimalist Program, in which economy has become the actual principle of the Universal Grammar. I discusses a major inconsistency in Chomsky's assumptions about the nature of the language faculty and trace its possible origin. Key words: language system; language faculty; systems theory; economy principle; redundancy; optimality; edge-of-chaos theory; Minimalist Program. (shrink)

In the paper, I show that John Stuart Mill in his work noticed the significance of the social problem posed by violence against women. To achieve that goal, I (1) sketch the theoretical background of his philosophy as a reference point for the issue of violence against women; (2) propose reading The Subjection of Women in a way that is to facilitate noticing the most important issues of violence and showing their topicality in today’s world; and (3) provide several most (...) significant examples of problems of violence against women that should be given some further reckoning. Thus, I prove that Mill’s views on violence against women are up to date, and remain an important point of reference, making him still worth reading, even 150 years after his death. (shrink)

La pédagogie est constitutive d’une relation de formation portée par une intention de développement de la personne mobilisant une configuration de savoirs afin d’inscrire cette personne dans un parcours de développement. La mise en oeuvre de cette relation dans une situation organisée et instrumentée produit la matière du développement, en réalité ce qui fait la valeur de la formation. L’alternance est une manière particulière d’organiser ce processus de valorisation. Dans cette contribution est analysé un dispositif faisant cohabiter deux populations en (...) alternance : des jeunes apprentis et des adultes en activité professionnelle. Une double enquête auprès de trois promotions de cette formation permet de comprendre la négociation des savoirs qui s’opère dans le cours de cette action et la résonnance que produit la pédagogie mise en oeuvre. On perçoit alors la construction de leur parcours par les alternants et les évolutions de leur rapport à l’activité. (shrink)

Dieser Papst Benedikt XVI. gewidmete Band erschliesst das Thema -Logos und Musik- in systematischer und historischer Hinsicht. Fachkundige Vertreter der Geistes- und Naturwissenschaften aus europaischen und aussereuropaischen Landern bieten ein fassettenreiches Mosaik von Entdeckungen, Einsichten und Uberlegungen, die zur Weiterfuhrung und Vertiefung des Themas anregen konnen. In den Blick kommt sowohl der Logos im geschaffenen Seienden, d.h. in den Naturdingen, sowie im Kunstler und seinem musikalischen Werk, als auch der gottliche Logos, der sich in Jesus Christus inkarniert hat und der (...) die in der Zeit erklingende Musik zum Widerhall einer ewigen Erfullung des Menschen beim himmlischen Vater macht. Er ist zu einem wichtigen Thema der wissenschaftlichen und seelsorgerlichen Tatigkeit des Theologen Joseph Ratzinger in seinem fruheren Kardinals- und heutigen Petrusamt geworden.". (shrink)

In the article the possibility of an access to reality, and thus the possibility of an attainment of truth is discussed. In the contrary of Adam Grobler's claims it is argued that the problem with the relation language-reality is not an interpretation of a language in a way fitting the reality, but a search for an appropriate language, a conceptual frame to grasp recognized phenomena. So a recognition of reality is primary, not a language.

In this essay the author defends the traditional view of science: science as an activity of approaching the truthful knowledge about real world. Accepting this, she then analyses the main topics of contemporary philosophy of science, such as language of science, scientific laws, differences between empirical theories and models, and the question of truthfulness in science.

The incidence of obesity, defined as the fraction of persons with BMIs exceeding 30·0, was examined in two birth cohorts of 401996 decade obesity increased dramatically among males with trade school education only; concomitant shifts were much smaller or absent in the college-educated groups. The contrast in obesity between the opposite ends of the educational scale has widened markedly in both genders; and the between-gender gap has declined somewhat.

COVID-19 pandemic occurred as an unexpected experience affecting all countries around the globe. In addition to the obvious health, economic and political effects, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered immense changes in the social spheres. People and institutions were forced to adjust to the new circumstances, change habits and move most or all of their activity online. In the completely virtual world, pandemic became a fertile ground for the bloom of the conspiracy theories already existing, but struggling for the global attention. The (...) aim of the paper is to present three main conspiracy theories rapidly gaining popularity during the pandemic (the QAnon, anti-vaccination movements and anti-5G movements) and to analyse how they developed since the pandemic had been announced. In particular, the rising activity of the representatives of the movements will be analysed, as well as its acceleration in connection with pandemic and the resulting influence on social and political life. Finally, the paper will try examine whether the rapid development of conspiracy theories within societies has had any relations to the level of trust towards government-made decisions. The thesis being verified hereto is that pandemic accelerated the development of conspiracy theories due to the diminishing level of trust towards governments operating in the most difficult period in recent history. There are variety of reasons for the belief in conspiracy theories and they depend on the specificity of the theory and specificity of group of people it originates from. In general, it can be noted that all kind of conspiracies are developed by either (1) people who actually believe in them and are sharing them with good intentions (to warn other about the dangers hidden behind certain actions or institutions) or (2) malignant individuals whose aim is to discord or discredit an opponent or critic or, alternatively, distract attention from misconduct or lack of competence. (shrink)

The Covid-19 pandemic triggered a crisis affecting many spheres of socio-economic life. Both the authorities and entrepreneurs found themselves in a new and unusual situation. The lockdown introduced in the Polish economy in March 2020 has changed drastically environment and conditions for entrepreneurs and companies in Poland. The article touches on the problem of changes in the system of formal and informal institutions during that period. An attempt was made to answer the question: to what extent was the institutional state (...) order compatible with the spontaneous order during that period, did the paths of entrepreneurs and the government meet and an agreement was reached in the name of setting a common policy direction to support the economy in the difficult period of the pandemic, or did the paths of these parties diverge? The research hypothesis requiring verification was that the institutional crisis in Poland deepened during the Covid-19 pandemic, as reflected in the slow erosion of the principles of institutional governance. The analysis shows that the progressing institutional weakness of the state during the period under review deepened the crisis of institutions. Its symptom was the gradual disappearance of social dialogue and arbitrary decisions taken by the government. The rules of law did not take into account the needs of entrepreneurs. Over time, the trust in the government and the law has declined. In a response to the prolonged lockdown in many sectors of the Polish economy, some desperate entrepreneurs took steps to circumvent the law, and there were active protests of entrepreneurs against the government’s decisions. The government might defend its authority only with ineffective repressions applied to entrepreneurs. (shrink)

This article takes up, but in a different key, an argument of postmodernists that the over-rationalized conception of society tends to ignore important phenomena such as those belonging to the symbolic domain. It is suggested that the emerging programme of symbolic sociology may contribute toward a new synthetic and interdisciplinary thinking in social sciences. The concept of symbolism as a social phenomenon rather than as an autonomous linguistic or semiotic system is presented; and the argument is made that if social (...) knowledge is constitutive of society, similarly collective sentiments, temporality and collective memory are also symbolically produced. They are created from and create discursive symbolism, symbolic objects and symbolic behaviours. Finally, the article focuses on collective actions where the sociology of symbolic processes is most promising. (shrink)

Cloninger's Psychobiological Model of Personality and Strelau's Regulative Theory of Temperament - analysis of their associations in a Polish sample The present study explores the relationship between Cloninger scales and Strelau's Regulative Theory of Temperament traits. Cloninger's psychobiological model identifies four dimensions of temperament and three dimensions of character. RTT proposes the traits of Briskness, Perseveration, Sensory Sensitivity, Emotional Reactivity, Endurance and Activity as the basic dimensions underlying individual differences. The relationships between the dimensions of Cloninger's Temperament and Character and (...) Strelau's Regulative Theory of Temperament are investigated in a sample of 282 participants. Data analysis demonstrated some significant correlations between the two models. The strongest associations were found between the dimension of Harm Avoidance from Cloninger's concept and Strelau's RTT traits. However, there is not enough evidence to suggest that the two models offer an alternative way of explaining individual differences. According to RTT, temperamental traits are expressed in formal characteristics of behavior and every kind of behavior can be described in the same formal categories. In the Psychobiological Model of Personality the traits are characterized rather by the content or goals of behavior. In this model, in addition to underlining the biological variation of heritable traits, the social, cultural and phenotypical levels of behavior are reflected. (shrink)

The article is devoted to reception of Austrian literature before the Second World War in Wiadomości Literackie. It was the most popular letter, whose aim was to educate society, and popularize foreign literature and culture. The literature that was most often promoted was French literature, but also German-speaking authors were discussed. Austrian literature was not treated as distinct from German literature during that time but nontheless, the articles presents artists, of Austrian origin: Joseph Roth, Stefan Zweig, Rainer Maria Rilke, Hugo (...) von Hofmannsthal, Arthur Schnitzler, Odon von Horváth, Franz Werfel and others. The article examines interviews with these writers as well as reviews their books and other texts which appeared in Wiadomości Literackie. (shrink)

The fast changing business environment and the ever-growing de- mand facing professional communicators in the 21st century pose new challenges to language learners and teachers alike. Competitive business organizations at- tempt to recruit employees who have excellent linguistic competence coupled with nonlinguistic competences and skills. It is not easy to acquire these addi- tional competences and skills. However, most of them are transferable and can be greatly improved if students are provided with adequate teaching materials and appropriate input from the (...) teacher. The aim of the paper is to address the complexity of ESP teaching today. Firstly, it presents an overview of the changes that have occurred in the practice of teaching ESP in the last few decades. It also sheds some light on the increasing importance of needs analysis. Then it presents new developments in teaching English for professional communication at the ter- tiary level of education. These developments include content-and-language integrated learning, use of didactic case studies, corpus studies con- ducted for teaching purposes and aimed at identifying high-frequency language elements: terms, specialized lexis items, collocations, formulae, acronyms, etc., that need to be prioritized in language courses, more effective course-books with higher terminology indexes, extended use of online materials, teach- ing writing for specialized purposes, and teaching cross-cultural and social skills. The new approach is more challenging for ESP teachers and requires much higher qualifications, such as content knowledge and transferable skills. In order to increase students’ employability and promotion opportunities, we need teaching materials and approaches that help streamline students’ efforts, economize on time, and increase the effectiveness of language courses. (shrink)

Après avoir présenté la conception spécifique de l'idéologie et de l'utopie qui apparaît chez Ricœur en tant que catégories anthropologiques, je passe aux difficultés liées à la compréhension du concept ricœurien d'utopie. En différenciant les utopies “pratiques” de celles “littéraires,“ Ricœur introduit entre elles également une hiérarchie, puisque les utopies présentées comme irréalisables constituent pour lui une distorsion de la fonction de l'utopie. Or, afin qu'une utopie puisse être conçue comme réalisable déjà au moment de sa rédaction, une nouvelle conception (...) de l'histoire est nécessaire, qui n'apparaît que dans la seconde moitié du 18 ième siècle. Une dimension historique doit donc être incluse dans la conception anthropologique de l'utopie. Finalement, en évoquant les catégories méta-historiques de Reinhart Koselleck, horizon d'attente et champ d'expérience, j'amorce une interprétation de la domination du genre littéraire de l'anti-utopie sur l'utopie au 20 ième siècle. (shrink)

The aim of the paper is to consider from the perspective of contemporary anthropological linguistics the plausibility of universal, self-evident truths based on innate principles of cognition as they were propounded by Th omas Reid in his philosophy of common sense. The key problem is whether it is possible to trace any innate principles that would underlie common sense, practical knowledge and comprise truths which are selfevident, clear and directly accessible to all members of homo sapiens. Reid’s assumptions are considered (...) in the light of contemporary research on the conceptualization of colour, basic emotions, ethnobotany and spatial cognition. (shrink)