The article reviews the book Granice pojęciowe metafizyki [The Conceptual Boundaries of Metaphysics], by Sebastian Tomasz Kołodziejczyk.

Matteo Ricci is one of the most important Christian missionaries in China whose groundbreaking method of accommodation in the context of the Chinese culture was paradigmatic and influenced the history of relationship between China and the West. Ricci’s work had a profound impact on Chinese culture. He introduced new ideas in astronomy, mathematics, cartography, and other fields. He also helped to spread Christianity in China through the means of science and dialogue built on authentic friendship. In this article we offer (...) a discussion about his missionary work that left mark on the history of evangelization of China by considering his scientific contribution, his missionary spirituality and accommodation method resulting in his personal experience of intercultural encounter leading to his profound self-transformation. As the Catholic church already officially recognized his “heroic virtues” putting Matteo Ricci on the path to sainthood, it is important to reflect about contribution of this great Jesuit to the dialogue between China and the West. Abstrak Matteo Ricci adalah salah seorang misionaris Kristen terpenting di Tiongkok, karena membuat terobosan berupa metode akomodasi yang akan menjadi paradigma kultural yang memengaruhi sejarah relasi antara Tiongkok dan Barat. Pengaruh Ricci terhadap kebudayaan Tiongkok sangat dalam karena ia memperkenalkan astronomi, matematika, kartografi, dan bidang ilmu lainnya. Ia membantu penyebaran Kristianitas di Tiongkok lewat jalan ilmu pengetahuan serta lewat dialog berdasarkan persahabatan tulus. Artikel ini mendiskusikan karya Ricci yang menandai sejarah evangelisasi di Tiongkok dengan secara khusus menyoroti kontribusinya dalam bidang sains dan dengan menelisik metode akomodasi beserta spiritualitas penginjilannya yang berakar pada perjumpaan interkultural yang membuahkan transformasi mendalam dalam kehidupan pribadinya. Mengingat Gereja Katolik telah secara resmi mengakui keutamaan-keutamaan heroik Matteo Ricci serta telah memulai proses kanonisasinya, penting kiranya merefleksikan kontribusi misionaris Yesuit ini dalam hal dialog antara Tiongkok dan Barat. Kata-kata kunci: Matteo Ricci, Tiongkok, spiritualitas, akomodasi, misi, dialog. (shrink)

'Zugang' ist der bislang übersehene Grundbegriff von Martin Heideggers Denken bis zum Hauptwerk 'Sein und Zeit' (1927). Menschsein bedeutet demnach: Zugänge erschliessen zu dem, was ist. Ermöglicht wird diese Form der Existenz durch unser gebrochenes Selbstverhältnis: die Fraktur der Subjektivität"--Page 4 of cover.

On the 11th of January, 2001 the Philosophical Circle of the University School of Philosophy and of Education Ignatianum in Cracow organised a philosophical symposium on: The subject of metaphysics and the way of its determination. This problem seems important nowadays, although it has been discussed throughout the whole philosophical tradition. Solutions concerning basic philosophical problems have their impact on the understanding of reality, first of all the human being and the culture created by him which is expressed in knowledge, (...) morality, arts and religion. Reflection on the foundations of philosophy is especially important in the contemporary intellectual climate which is dominated by relativism and nihilism. This is demonstrated by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Fides et Ratio, which also proposes the way of overcoming the crisis through the return to the philosophy of being, that is metaphysics. The guests invited to the symposium belong to the above-mentioned philosophical trend. (shrink)

Author: Boruszewski Jarosław Title: MACHINES AND SYMBOLS (I) – SEMANTIC ASPECTS OF CYBERNETICS AND AUTOMATION (Maszyny i symbole (I) – semantyczne aspekty cybernetyki i automatyzacji) Source: Filo-Sofija year: 2011, vol:.12, number: 2011/1, pages: 397-425 Keywords: MACHINES, SYMBOLS, SEMANTIC, CYBERNETICS, AUTOMATION Discipline: PHILOSOPHY Language: POLISH Document type: ARTICLE Publication order reference (Primary author’s office address): E-mail: www:This article is the first part of the cycle titled “Machines and symbols”. The main issue of this cycle may be formulated as a question: can (...) machines and technical devices operate with symbols? A very important problem raised in this essay is the difference between symbols and signals. The concept of signal is also broadly discussed in the paper, because there are many different definitions of this concept. The present text contains semantic and philosophical considerations concerning cybernetics, mathematical theory of communication, industrial semiotics and semio-technics. In these theories, terms “symbol” and “signal” are often used interchangeably which leads to misconceptions. One of the most frequent misconceptions is confusing discrete signals with symbols. The author focused on communication systems where machines are senders and humans are receivers, because descriptions of these systems tend towards anthropomorphization of a machine-sender. This tendency makes signals sent out by machines treated as symbols comprehensible by a human-receiver. Another interesting aspect of machine-human communication systems is the treatment of a human-receiver as some kind of machine. Such an idea is called “mechanomorphism”. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThe purpose of my paper is to determine the consequences of including an education for forgiveness in the context of developing prudence. I aim to answer two questions: what is prudent forgiveness; what constitutes education for prudent forgiveness? I present my analyses in six parts. After introduction, I point to the advantages and doubts concerning forgiveness. Then, I present prudence as a basic virtue guiding human actions. I draw mainly on the approach proposed by Thomas Aquinas, who argued that prudence (...) refers to the perfection of the command. The fourth part addresses the question of the mechanisms of prudent forgiveness. I note that a decision to forgive cannot be made in haste; that it is a decision concerning some good that the victim wants to attain in the future; finally, that forgiveness is prudent in its achievement. In the last part, I transfer prior analyses to the pedagogical level. (shrink)

Journal of Philosophy of Education, EarlyView.

This paper focuses on one of Tischner’s last and little-known essays on the issues concerning work in the era of free market and the hegemony of the laws of economic calculation. In a discussion with Dominique Méda and André Gorz, Tischner diagnoses various threats to contemporary forms of work. Tischner criticizes above all the one-sided—that is, only objective—conception of today’s work. Referring to his own and original anthropologico-ethical project of work, the Polish scholar draws the reader’s attention to the need (...) to promote the subjective model of work to be construed as interhuman dialogue. In work, thus construed, Tischner discerns a guarantee of the moral order of contemporary societies. His anthropological-ethical concept of work successfully inscribes itself in some of the models of work of the future, which are very much promoted today. (shrink)

This paper tries to present the Kantian view on ethical issues in negotiations. The central problems concerns certain manipulation techniques in negotiations, where the broadest definition of manipulation is used. The difference between informational and emotional manipulation is presented and ethical norms concerning them are shown. Despite the unequivocal Kantian view on using manipulation techniques, situations where even Kantian ethics allows for exceptions are presented.

In the paper there are presented two proposals of the interpretations of the applications of mathematics in the natural sciences - realistic and instrumentalistic. The realistic conception, in accordance with the successes of science, maintains that there exists some kind of correspondence between the mathematical structures and the internal structure of the world. It is expressed in the thesis of the mathematicality of nature. The instrumentalistic approach separates the cognitive content of the scientific theory from the mathematical means of expression (...) of the content. In this approach the mathematical categories do not represent any aspect of the modelled reality. In the final part of the paper the author undertakes such an attempt of approaching the applications of mathematics which, while combining the advantages of the above discussed conceptions, would be devoid of their disadvantages. (shrink)

The subject of this abstract is the description of professional ethics of a damage adjuster in an insurance company. The work of a damage adjuster in a financial institution is more than looking after the profit of the company which goes to the company shareholders. The job is very often regarded as a position of public trust. When the aggrieved parties report a damage to an insurance company they not only entrust their personal data, which are protected by law, but (...) they also reveal confidential information like medical records, their income and important personal documentation. Reporting a damage, the aggrieved party has to be sure that the entrusted information will be only used for the purpose of the liquidation of damages. On the other hand, the damage adjuster is supposed to know that when contacting the aggrieved party, who is not an expert in insurance, should never use the professional knowledge to make decisions which are not in favour of the party. In this case the damage adjuster has two roles; not only is he a professional who is responsible for the liquidation of the damage but he is also a representative of a financial institution to the aggrieved party. Therefore there are also some marketing aspects involved in the process because quick and accurate handling of the liquidation process can convince the aggrieved party to choose the insurance company’s offer. In my paper I am going to focus on ethical issues of the profession of a damage adjuster both when interacting with clients and decision taking. I will try to show what ethical and moral standards a person working as a damage adjuster should follow. These being especially important for the profession of a personal damage adjuster. The role of a damage adjuster is not only the liquidation of the damage following procedures but also help and support for the aggrieved party by explaining the procedures, existing rights and claims. (shrink)

This project envisages a study of Eric Voegelin (1901-1985) and of the role played by metaxy in his vision of political philosophy. Metaxy already defined by Plato as the "in-between" matrix of the human condition is for Voegelin a powerful notion that symbolizes the intermediate state in which man experiences diverse and opposing tensions such as the ones between immanence and transcendence or mortality and immortality. The metaxy constitutes the realm of the divine-human mutual participation (methexis), and its locus resides (...) in human consciousness (nous), there where the divine reality manifests itself as the origin of being. Being the field of intermediation between opposing forces, man has to keep the balance of consciousness in order to differentiate the noetic and pneumatic dimensions and so attune his life to the divine ground of being. This project claims that for Voegelin metaxy shapes the possibility of the philosophical, historical, political and religious orientation in life. Indeed, Voegelin's approach deserves recognition as an option adequate for addressing the intellectual challenges engendered by modern and postmodern philosophies. (shrink)

Epistemological esthetization of knowledge can have a lot of forms. In this article I focus my reflection on the person that is an electronic simulation model. The background for the reflections will be the simulation anatomical model Visible Human Project (VHP). The problem is what cognitive function the model fulfils and what it simulates. Conclusions: 1. VHP is not associated with real body, but with other anatomical models; it is not a simulation of real body, but only a simulation of (...) its perception by us; 2. The function of anatomical simulation model has educational character. It also involves projecting medical intervention, which minimalizes invasiveness of actions. It is a part of training preparing to undertake computer-aided surgical procedures. (shrink)