The purpose of this study was a diagnosis of the attitudes of students of Warsaw universities towards people with disabilities and the variables which impacted on these attitudes. Additionally, we examined the relationship between the need for social approval and explicit attitudes towards people with disabilities. The study focused on two components of attitudes: behavioural and cognitive. 318 students completed a survey including a demographic sheet, a social desirability scale, the SDSB and SDSO. The results indicate that students expressed positive (...) attitudes towards people with disabilities. The impact of such variables as gender, the type of disability and the need for social approval was registered and were differentiated in regard to components of attitudes. The results are discussed with reference to earlier research and cues for further studies are suggested. (shrink)

In the last few years, we have witnessed a surge in scholarly interest and scientific evidence of how algorithms can produce discriminatory outcomes, especially with regard to gender and race. However, the analysis of fairness and bias in AI, important for the debate of AI for social good, has paid insufficient attention to the category of age and older people. Ageing populations have been largely neglected during the turn to digitality and AI. In this article, the concept of AI ageism (...) is presented to make a theoretical contribution to how the understanding of inclusion and exclusion within the field of AI can be expanded to include the category of age. AI ageism can be defined as practices and ideologies operating within the field of AI, which exclude, discriminate, or neglect the interests, experiences, and needs of older population and can be manifested in five interconnected forms: (1) age biases in algorithms and datasets (technical level), (2) age stereotypes, prejudices and ideologies of actors in AI (individual level), (3) invisibility of old age in discourses on AI (discourse level), (4) discriminatory effects of use of AI technology on different age groups (group level), (5) exclusion as users of AI technology, services and products (user level). Additionally, the paper provides empirical illustrations of the way ageism operates in these five forms. (shrink)

In _Genealogy of Obedience_ Justyna Włodarczyk provides both a historical account of the changing methods of dog training in America since the 1850s and theoretical reflections on how the understanding of training has been entangled in conceptualizations of race, class and gender.

The article surveys Lauren Berlant’s ideas concerning the emotional functioning of the human being in the context of neoliberal capitalism and argues for their limitation resulting from Berlant’s focus on the society-ideology axis while overlooking the significance of the early bonds in the development of one’s emotional regulation. Contrary to the multiple Marxist interpretations of culture, Berlant emphasizes that politics is effective by shaping human fantasies of desire rather than merely producing ideology. In the case of the United States this (...) mechanism mainly refers to creating a collective hope for a “good life”, which is carried on within the paradigm of the Weberian protestant ethics: through hard work, perseverance and self-reliance, that is according to the myth of the American dream. Simultaneously, authors working within the field of developmental psychology demonstrate the key significance of human early attachments for the shaping of one’s self-trust and emotional balance, which enables a more critical attitude towards the cultural norms of happiness and makes it possible to find satisfaction not through responding to the fantasies generated by culture, but through relationships with other empirically existing human beings. The article thus maintains that works by psychologists such as Donald Woods Winnicott, John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth fill in a significant void in Berlant’s writings and give hope for an overcoming of the “cruel optimism” impasse. (shrink)

The nineteenth century was the time of the emergence of the concept of solidarity, which "to an extent replaced [the older term fraternity],"1 as well as of a dramatic increase in utopian thinking and writing.2 A notable place among the impressive body of utopian literature of the era belongs to feminist and antifeminist visions of alternative futures, especially from 1860s onward, which Lewes links with "middle class women's overwhelming frustration... with the apparent failure of the suffrage movement."3 The concept of (...) womanhood was also undergoing transformations at that time, variously defined with reference to contending and sometimes complementary tendencies: the cult of domesticity and the women's rights... (shrink)

The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Dispositional Flow Scale-2 and Flow State Scale-2, for use with Polish adults and young adults. Currently, there are no tools that would allow us to study flow among Polish speakers. At the same time, due to the great interest in flow and its potential importance for effectiveness, cooperation, and learning, it is worth ensuring that reliable validated measurement questionnaires are available for people studying (...) the Polish population. Study participants completed 856 questionnaires, of which 496 individuals participated in the DFS-2 study and 360 individuals participated in the FSS-2 study. The maximum likelihood estimator was selected for the CFA analysis. Model fit was assessed using: χ2, comparative fit index, Tucker-Lewis index, and standardized root mean square of residuals, and root mean square of approximation error. For both questionnaires, formative first-level models with nine factors and second-level models with nine factors loaded on a higher-order flow factor were compared using the Satorra-Bentler Scaled difference χ2 test. The ω coefficient was used to estimate the reliability of the FFS-2 and DFS-2 models tested in the CFA method. Confirmatory factor analysis of both DFS-2 structural models showed satisfactory model fit. Most of the fit indices for the hierarchical 2nd order FSS-2 model presented satisfactory values, except for SRMR. Both DFS-2 and FSS-2 factors tested in the analysis showed good reliability. Our findings confirmed the reliability and validity of the Polish versions of DFS-2 and FSS-2 scales. The scales are reliable when applied to Polish adults and young adults. (shrink)

Transcranial magnetic stimulation is used to make inferences about relationships between brain areas and their functions because, in contrast to neuroimaging tools, it modulates neuronal activity. The central aim of this article is to critically evaluate to what extent it is possible to draw causal inferences from repetitive TMS data. To that end, we describe the logical limitations of inferences based on rTMS experiments. The presented analysis suggests that rTMS alone does not provide the sort of premises that are sufficient (...) to warrant strong inferences about the direct causal properties of targeted brain structures. Overcoming these limitations demands a close look at the designs of rTMS studies, especially the methodological and theoretical conditions which are necessary for the functional decomposition of the relations between brain areas and cognitive functions. The main points of this article are that TMS-based inferences are limited in that stimulation-related causal effects are not equivalent to structure-related causal effects due to TMS side effects, the electric field distribution, and the sensitivity of neuroimaging and behavioral methods in detecting structure-related effects and disentangling them from confounds. Moreover, the postulated causal effects can be based on indirect effects. A few suggestions on how to manage some of these limitations are presented. We discuss the benefits of combining rTMS with neuroimaging in experimental reasoning and we address the restrictions and requirements of rTMS control conditions. The use of neuroimaging and control conditions allows stronger inferences to be gained, but the strength of the inferences that can be drawn depends on the individual experiment’s designs. Moreover, in some cases, TMS might not be an appropriate method of answering causality-related questions or the hypotheses have to account for the limitations of this technique. We hope this summary and formalization of the reasoning behind rTMS research can be of use not only for scientists and clinicians who intend to interpret rTMS results causally but also for philosophers interested in causal inferences based on brain stimulation research. (shrink)

This paper aims to model multilevel interdependencies in complex organisational systems and proposes application for resilience analysis. Most of the existing research studied interdependencies only at the single-level and overlooked their multilevel character. In response to this gap, we propose a multilevel approach to better comprehend the complexity of interdependencies in organisational systems. More specifically, the study focuses on how interdependencies are shaped across multiple organisational levels. To understand the research problem, we use multilevel and social network theories to elaborate (...) the concept at five organisational levels, namely, individual, intraunit, interunit, intraorganisational, and interorganisational. Further, we show the application of multilevel interdependencies into analysis of organisational resilience. To this end, we construct a multiplex model of a real world organisational system that comprises formal and informal relations of different social exchange strength. Using the agent-based simulations of the organisational system, we investigate the relations between organisational interdependencies and organisational performance in normal and disrupted conditions. With the results, we argue that managing multilevel interdependencies is crucial to reduce vulnerability of organisational systems. By introducing the multilevel conceptualisation of interdependencies and presenting their influence on organisational resilience, we hope to pave a path to managing the complexity of interdependencies and strategic resilience enhancement in organisational systems. (shrink)

The paper analyzes early colonial representations of the New World, connected with immigration of the first- and second-generation religious dissenters in what was to become America. Taking into account the well-documented influence of Puritans on American identity, the paper elaborates on the Puritans’ and Pilgrims’ mindsets as they arrived in the New World, connected not only with their religious beliefs but most of all with a practical need to organize themselves effectively. Be it in John Winthrop’s “A Modell of Christian (...) Charity,” William Bradford’s “Of Plymouth Plantation” or Samuel Danforth’s “New England’s Errand into the Wilderness,” the authors of these works clearly show how the Pilgrims and Puritans had to confront the experience of emigration/immigration and construct not only new ways of social organization but also new identity. The paper focuses on the immigrants’ perception of the New World, their own role and challenges they were faced with, and their thinking about the society they came from and were about to construct. It deals with their process of adjusting to the surroundings and discussing values they decided to promote for the sake of communal survival in the adverse conditions of the New World. (shrink)

A partir du XIXe siècle, les découvreurs des Slaves se sont déclarés pour l'autodétermination des sociétés appartenant à cette région de l'Europe qui était pratiquement condamnée à l'oubli, pour la stimulation de leurs contracts culturels et pour le soutien de leurs efforts de libération nationale. Les Polonais se sont trouvés ainsi en difficulté : ils devaient décider comment concilier la foi en bonté et fraternité slaves avec la haine pour les envahisseurs du même sang, étant donné que cette haine était (...) déjà reconnue comme la condition nécessaire de lutte pour la délivrance du pays. C'est pourqoui ils défendaient la thèse disant que la nation russe est devenue oppresive, parce qu'elle agissait elle-même sous la contrainte des forces ennemies, et qu’elle devrait être libérée a son tour afin de pouvoir faire partie de la communauté slave. Tout en ayant conscience que l'unité slave était menacé (il est à noter que les slavophiles russes formulaient la même crainte, bien qu'ils l'aient justifiée différemment), les Polonais développaient l'idee que la réconciliation historique des peuples polonais et russe était impossible et que c'est l'absolutisme tsariste qui a divisé ces peuples d'un gouffre béant. Et leur vision de la communauté slave devenait moins cohérente au fut et à mesure qu'ils confrontaient la forme d'administration communautaire avec l'autocrate du tsarisme. Dès lors, les slavophiles romantique se déclaraient plutôt pour l'idee de s'allier avec les Français (l'alliance franco-polonaise), telle qu'elle a été proclamée par Mickiewicz et ils prêtaient moins d'attention à des mots sporadiquement lancés par Staszic et Hoene-Wroński en faveur de l'alliance slavo-russe. Ces préférences se sont affermies surtout en présence d'une menace de "déluge panslaviste". Comme la chute de la Révolution de 1848 a rayé les espérances de ceux qui attendaient un soutien matériel de la part de l'Occident, on a reconsidéré une possibilité de concilier les Polonais avec le peuple russe, cette fois-ci par la voie de conquête spirituelle de ce dernier. Mais en définitive, on a reconnu l'irréel de cette solution, tout en ayant égard à un partage culturelle existant a l'intérieur de la communauté slave et à différence des traditions polotique et religieuse. Ce qui a résisté cependant aux oustrages du temps, c'est la volonté d'instraurer le peuple polonais en tant que "avant-poste européen de la communauté slave" au nom de la lutte contre la scission propre a l'idéologie de slavophiles. (shrink)

August Cieszkowski nie był typowym narodowym mesjanistą czy polskim słowianofilem. Niemniej w zapowiadanej w "Ojcze nasz" trzeciej epoce dziejów wyznaczył Słowianom szczególną, przywódczą rolę, z racji ich licznych zalet, historycznego niespełnienia, atrakcyjnej siły słowiańskiego charakteru i "pochopności do czynu", a także dlatego, że Królestwo Boże na ziemi, w którym nastąpiłoby zwycięstwo dobra nad złem, uetycznienie polityki i "uspołecznienie społeczeństw", wymagało – jego zdaniem – predyspozycji moralno-polityczno-religijnych, posiadanych np. przez Polaków. Przywołał utopijną wizję prahistorycznej Słowiańszczyzny, stworzoną przez miłośników i badaczy Słowian, (...) a z dziejów późniejszych wyeksponował wątek wolnościowo-pokojowo-demokratyczny ze względu na wartości, które uznał za godne urzeczywistnienia w przybliżanej wspólnym trudem wszystkich narodów przyszłości. (shrink)

Understanding emotions — an apparent contradiction. Comments on Andrzej Dąbrowski’s Origins, nature and functions of emotions: This paper offers some polemical comments on Andrzej Dąbrowski’s recently published book Origins, nature and functions of emotions. The background for reflection is Leon Petrażycki’s theory of emotions. The author aims to evaluate Dąbrowski’s presentation of an influential Polish philosopher Leon Petrażycki, considered an important forerunner of the psychosocial theory of law or legal psychologism, who initiated a long‐lasting debate on the role and meaning (...) of emotions. (shrink)

Self-concept and self-esteem: How the content of the self-concept reveals sources and functions of self-esteem The relations of content of self-concept to self-esteem may reflect the role of different factors in developing self-esteem. On the basis of theories describing sources of self-esteem, we distinguished four domains of self-beliefs: agency, morality, strength and energy to act, and acceptance by others, which we hypothesized to be related to self-esteem. In two studies, involving 411 university students, the relationship between self-esteem and self-concept was (...) examined. The results confirmed relative independence of these four domains. Self-evaluation of agency was the strongest predictor of self-esteem, followed by self-evaluation of strength and energy to act, and self-evaluation of acceptance by others. Self-evaluation regarding morality turned out to have either no or negative relationship with self-esteem. The results supported the theories assuming that either perception of one's own agency or acceptance by others are sources of self-esteem. (shrink)

The paper gives insight into the revaluation of popular Gothic aesthetics in Jim Jarmusch’s 2014 production Only Lovers Left Alive. Drawing on critical theory and the postmodern theoretical framework, the article suggests that the film transgresses contemporary culture immersed in a “culture of death” that has produced a vast amount of cultural texts under the rubric of “Gothicism.” By considering Jean Baudrillard’s concept of transaesthetics and Judith Halberstam’s writings on contemporary monstrosity, the paper shows that a commodified Gothic mode has (...) lost its older deconstructive functions that operated on the margins of the mainstream. Now entirely focused on the duplication of the same aesthetic codes and signs, Gothic productions conform to the rules of postindustrial culture, enriching entertainment imagery with the neutralized concept of “otherness.” Hence, the article engages primarily with Jarmusch’s indie aesthetics that goes beyond easily recognizable patterns and generic conventions and allows the director to emphasize that the arts are rejuvenating forces, the antidote to a commoditized environment. Then, the focus is on the construction of main characters—Adam and Eve, ageless vampires and spouses—who thanks to nostalgic theatricality and performance reconfigure the mainstream monstrosity. Ultimately, the article emphasizes that Jarmusch’s film, to a large extent, becomes a warning against the inevitable results of advanced capitalism practiced on a global scale. (shrink)

Streszczenie Klauzula sumienia została wprowadzona do obszaru prawnych regulacji międzynarodowych w związku z uchwałą Rady Europy o nr 1763 z dnia 7 października 2010 r. Zgodnie z treścią dokumentu istnieje przyzwolenie odstąpienia od wykonania określonego świadczenia medycznego ze względu na zastrzeżenia moralne (religijne lub światopoglądowe) zgłaszane przez przedstawicieli opieki zdrowotnej. W przepisach polskiego prawa medycznego powołanie się na zasadę klauzuli sumienia jest dozwolone, ale wyłącznie dla lekarzy, pielęgniarek i położnych. Farmaceuci są pozbawieni tej możliwości. Jednak wykonywanie niektórych czynności zawodowych budzi (...) zastrzeżenia etyczne wśród farmaceutów. Autorzy artykułu postanowili zbadać opinię farmaceutów zarówno na temat klauzuli sumienia oraz określonych regulacji prawnych, które zdaniem respondentów powinny podlegać zmianom legislacyjnym. Celem pracy jest zaprezentowanie wyników z przeprowadzonych badań, które zostały zrealizowane w 2020 r. na terenie Wielkopolskiej Okręgowej Izby Farmaceutycznej w Poznaniu. Słowa kluczowe: wolność sumienia i wyznania, klauzula sumienia, farmacja, antykoncepcja, Polska. (shrink)

In the philosophy of liberalism, freedom of speech is one of the fundamental rights of the individual, one that is guaranteed by the constitution of a liberal democratic state. Contemporary Western democracies are based on the political culture in which human rights, including the right to free speech, play an important role. This right, however, can be violated by demagogic propaganda both in totalitarian regimes and in democracies. The propaganda mechanism, reaching into the sphere of community values and concepts, presently (...) operates also through the Internet, in which expressions of anger and hatred are disseminated and can lead to the destruction of democracy. I will argue that, in today’s world, restrictions on the freedom of speech through legal norms are necessary, because the threat comes not only in the form of censorship, but also the manipulation techniques used by politicians in democratic regimes. Advances in modern technology can be of service to dictatorship when the media and the Internet are used for propaganda or surveillance purposes, but they also provide a support to freedom and democracy when they serve as the means of the transmission of reliable information, initiating public discussions. As such, they establish a framework for rational debates and peaceful activities that contribute to the maintenance of the democratic political culture. The basic elements of this culture, i.e. legal rules, pluralist media, and education systems are all necessary for the defence of its core value, namely the freedom of speech. (shrink)

Artykuł stanowi próbę odpowiedzi na pytania: Jak możemy rozumieć pojęcie „kryminał gejowski”? Czy w Polsce wyodrębniła się taka odmiana gatunkowa? Czy jest to odmiana kryminału, czy raczej powieści gejowskiej? Przedmiot zainteresowania stanowią między innymi utwory Edwarda Pasewicza (Śmierć w darkroomie), Michała Witkowskiego (Drwal, Zbrodniarz i dziewczyna) i Andrzeja Selerowicza (Kryptonim „Hiacynt”, Zbrodnia, której nie było). Analiza tych utworów skupia się na sposobie wykorzystania schematu kryminalnego oraz wybranych taktyk pisarskich w kontekście najpopularniejszych strategii charakterystycznych dla konwencji kryminalnej (np. zwrot w stronę (...) powieści społecznie zaangażowanej, eksplorowanie przestrzeni miejskiej, psychologizacja bohaterów), a także najważniejszych cech powieści środowiskowej (różne koncepcje przedstawiania grup społecznych). W konsekwencji definicja kryminału gejowskiego odnosi się zarówno do cech powieści środowiskowej, jak i kryminalnej, sytuując analizowany fenomen literacki w domenie odmian gatunkowych literatury popularnej, wraz z właściwymi jej historycznymi przekształceniami poetyki oraz semantyki tekstów. (shrink)

According to the new Eurostat’s and Gus’s research, in Poland and in the other European countries the population’s aging process is proceeding. In the researchers’ opinion, the growth of the number of the old causes the constant rise in the demand of health services. Because of that, from among different goods, the health is the most precious to humans. As Kazimierz Szewczyk has correctly established, the health value is high, because it belongs to limited resources. Not all of the medical (...) services are guaranteed by healthcare system, therefore the need of implementing economical rules in the process of allocation of limited health values important. In the opinion of numerous doctors, psychologists and ethics, e.g. Jarosław Derejczyk, Barbara Bień, Janina Kokoszka-Paszkot and Joanna Szczygieł patients who are old belong to disadvantaged group. The patients are not given the priority in access to health benefits, and they are also discrimanated. In this article I am going to enumerate and describe the medical methods, that are used in economical distribution of health care benefits. Later I’ll explain, why during distribution of benefits, the quality of life of old people, and not only their register age, should be taken into consideration. (shrink)

Fashion is defined by an infinite variation of a single tautology … stripped of content, but not of meaning. A kind of machine for maintaining meaning without ever fixing it, it is forever a disappointed meaning. … [I]t … becomes the spectacle human beings grant themselves of their power to make the insignificant signify; Fashion then appears as an exemplary form of the general act of signification, thus rejoining the very being of literature which is to offer to read not (...) the meaning of things but their signification.Meaning is distributed according to a kind of revolutionary grace; its power becomes so autonomous that it can act at a distance and in the end dissolve substance itself. … [M]eaning denies substance... (shrink)

This paper proposes a unified dependent type analysis of three puzzling phenomena: inversely linked interpretations, weak definite readings in possessives and Haddock-type readings. We argue that the three problematic readings have the same underlying surface structure, and that the surface structure postulated can be interpreted properly and compositionally using dependent types. The dependent type account proposed is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to formally connect the three phenomena. A further advantage of our proposal over previous analyses is (...) that it offers a principled solution to the puzzle of why both inversely linked interpretations and weak definite readings are blocked with certain prepositions. (shrink)

The development of technologies for the biopreservation of infectious organisms requires careful analysis of benefits and risks. This article reviews the regulatory landscape and oversight responsibilities in the United States in respect to pathogen biopreservation. Focused on two globally significant pathogens, Cryptosporidium and Plasmodium, the article explores advantages and potential risks of biopreservation concerning biosafety, biosecurity and biocontainment.

W artykule przedstawiam osobowość twórczą współczesnego rosyjskiego myśliciela nurtu neopatrystycznego Sergiusza Chorużego ze szczególnym naciskiem na jego oryginalną koncepcję teorii ascezy (teorii energoform). Bazuje ona na źródłach patrystycznych, ale zdradza także inspiracje ustaleniami współczesnej filozofii zachodnioeuropejskiej, zwłaszcza myślą Martina Heideggera i Michela Foucaulta. W artykule analizuję główne założenia teorii ascezy Chorużego i komentuję heideggerowsko-foucaultiańskie elementy w niej zawarte. Rozważania na temat ascezy dotykają problemów zarówno typowo filozoficznych — ontologicznych, gdzie przejawiają się inspiracje Heideggerem, jak i historyczno-hermeneutyczne, gdzie widzimy polemikę z (...) Foucaultem. W rezultacie przeprowadzam analizę komparatystyczną Heideggerowskiej i energijnej wizji człowieka, wskazując, że fenomeny życia duchowego, takie jak asceza, mogą z powodzeniem być przedmiotem rozważań teoretycznych oraz pokazać uniwersalność niektórych teologiczno-filozoficznych (ontologicznych) interpretacji kondycji człowieka. (shrink)

In modern liberal democratic societies, freedom of speech is one of the fundamental rights of an individual guaranteed by the constitution. It is also the foundation of a democratic state. This right is sometimes abused for political purposes and demagogic propaganda, in both totalitarian systems and democracies, which adversely affects the stability of a state. Propaganda mechanisms negatively influence the sphere of community values and concepts which change their meanings through manipulation. The author examines the language of demagogic propaganda and (...) concludes that it disrupts the communication process in society. These destructive tendencies are opposed under the political culture of a democratic society, thanks to legal regulations protecting freedom from manipulation. (shrink)