Předkládaná esej se snaží představit koncept identity v kritické perspektivě a v širším kontextu problému demarkace v sociálních vědách. V souladu se známou statí Beyond "Identity" (Brubaker, Cooper) si pokládám otázku, zda je koncept identity nadále užitečný a vhodný coby analytický nástroj ve společenských vědách. Pozornost věnuji jak samotnému zanesení konceptu na pole sociálních věd, tak i srovnání a zhodnocení esencialistického, konstruktivistického a dekonstruktivistického pojetí, přičemž tyto tři způsoby uchopení daného pojmu vnímám zároveň jako reprezentace různých postojů k sociální realitě, (...) k možnosti skutečného poznání (episteme/doxa) a ke vztahu vědeckého a nevědeckého pole. Kriticky reflektuji všechna tři pojetí a argumentuji ve prospěch nahrazení konceptu identity, avšak také ve prospěch posílení (auto)kritického vnímání ve spojitosti k užívaným vědeckým konceptům a nástrojům, jakožto i k vědcům samotným. (shrink)

We examine how social diversity and inclusiveness on corporate boards affect corporate performance and monitoring in Sri Lanka, a country subject to decades of polarization, civil war, and even genocide. Barely more than a decade after the civil war, we find that board social diversity on the basis of ethnicity, religion, language, gender, and nationality of the board members is positively related to corporate performance, both in terms of stock market performance and accounting returns, and to corporate financial stability. The (...) main positive effects of social diversity derive from ethno-linguistic inclusiveness. The results are confirmed by an instrumental variable approach that addresses endogeneity issues. We find no evidence that inter-personal and moral conflicts or communication problems among board members negatively affect firm performance. (shrink)

At Protagoras 353de, Socrates gives three possible reasons for calling some pleasures `wrong'. Scholarly attention has focused on the second of these, according to which pleasures are `wrong' when they have negative consequences. This paper argues that the first reason (the pleasures are fleeting) corresponds to beliefs held by Democritus, among others; and that the third reason (the pleasant things “give pleasure in whatever way and for whatever reason“) is the view adopted by Socrates in the dialogue.

Streets of Crocodiles is a walk on the wild side, an expedition down a melancholy boulevard of dreams.---J. Hoberman, film critic, Village Voice, author of The Red Atlantis: Communist Culture in the Absence of Communism --Book Jacket.

The notion of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may have its origins in 1763, when Scottish physician Sir Arthur Crichton observed people who could be easily distracted to a degree approaching the nature of delirium. Since then, the notion of ADHD matured and aroused controversy concerning whether it is a real illness and the motives behind particular methods of its treatments. Despite the controversy, ADHD is well established as a research subject and a frequently diagnosed disorder. Thus, the aim of (...) this paper is not to deal with controversies but rather to show the evolution of methods used for the detection of this disorder. Literature analysis revealed that those methods varied from classical psychological tests/questionnaires to analyses of: eye-motion, micro-motion, brain activity, and behavioral patterns in virtual reality. The main conclusion is that the above methods tend to be heavily computer-aided and that the future belongs to mobile solutions incorporated into complex e-health systems. (shrink)

Whether or not we call a love-like relationship with robots true love, some people may feel and claim that, for them, it is a sufficient substitute for love relationship. The love relationship between humans has a special place in our social life. On the grounds of both morality and law, our significant other can expect special treatment. It is understandable that, precisely because of this kind of relationship, we save our significant other instead of others or will not testify against (...) her/him. How as a society should we treat love-like relationships humans with robots? Based on the assumption that robots do not have an inner life and are not moral patients, I defend the thesis that this kind of relationship should be protected by criminal law. (shrink)

The paper examines Walter Chatton’s rejection of final causality. At the core of Chatton’s theory lies the claim that there are four kinds of cause, but only three kinds of causality, because final causality should in a sense be reduced to efficient causality. The author begins by situating Chatton’s theory in the context of the fourteenth-century discussions concerning the problematic status of ends as causes. After that, the paper reconstructs Chatton’s rejection of the opinio communis of his time, according to (...) which both final causes and final causality must be posited. The author claims that Chatton’s objections employ three main arguments, based on ontological parsimony, possible non-existence of ends, and the efficient character of love and desire. Then, Chatton’s own theory is presented. The author’s exposition is focused on Chatton’s thesis that final causes are said to be causes only in a metaphorical sense. The final part of the article examines William of Ockham’s reaction to Chatton’s theory. Arguing against Chatton’s teleology, Ockham wants to prove that we have good reasons to retain both final causes and final causality. (shrink)

In recent years a lot of metaphilosophical attention has been paid to the role of thought experiments in philosophical inquiry. According to the popular picture, thought experiments are among the most prominent methods for conceptual analysis. However, it is also often claimed that thought experiments in ethics differ from those that are used in other fields of philosophy as being of a different nature—they are not about the concepts, but rather about the things in the world (what those things exactly (...) are depends on the particular metaethical theory one subscribes to). In the paper I argue that this claim is wrong. Conceptual analysis is of a huge value to ethics for it substantially helps to clarify the concepts one uses while making a moral judgment. It is very often the case that the apparent moral disagreement between two subjects turns out to be superficial since it is rooted in the misunderstanding on the conceptual level, for example when one uses some concept equivocally. Moreover, through thought experiments conceptual analysis can help to bring out the tacit assumptions that relate to the concepts involved. (shrink)

The diffusion of digital information and communication technologies is strongly supported by many countries of the world. Today, as well as in the past, new technologies are charged with high expectations, but at a closer look one can see that these expectations then are very different from now. Today they depend on the various interests of different groups of people. Globally acting enterprises see DICT as essential stra-tegic instruments in gaining competitive power; some governments hope to reach military hegemony, others (...) to control terrorism and crime, while grass root movements expect to become more influential on some aspects of society. The paper identifies and analyses basic tendencies which promote the various hopes: the effects of DICT on reducing production and transaction costs, and the possibility to transform information goods into marketable services or commodities. The final part of the paper is devoted to a few examples of how the potential of DICT can be used for social improvements. (shrink)

This paper has three parts. In this first part, we formulate and prove from V = L a new combinatorial principle, ⋄ ++ . In the second part, we discuss the topological problem which led to the formulation of ⋄ ++ . Finally, we use ⋄ ++ to construct a space solving the topological problem.

Artykuł ten stanowi omówienie koncepcji szczęścia, którą można wywieść z pism św. Augustyna z Hippony. Autor podejmuje się systematycznej rekonstrukcji poglądów tego myśliciela, argumentując na rzecz tego, iż dokonanie jej jest możliwe, i twierdząc, iż pewne podstawowe wątki w jego myśli pozostały takie same w ciągu całej jego działalności intelektualnej. Są nimi przede wszystkim: twierdzenie, iż dążenie człowieka do osiągnięcia szczęścia jest dla niego naturalne; twierdzenie, że istotą szczęścia jest osiągnięcie Boga; oraz twierdzenie, że droga do owego szczęścia wiedzie przez (...) zyskiwanie przez człowieka mądrości. Autor przedstawia również główną zmianę w Augustyńskiej wizji szczęścia, którą stanowi „przeniesienie” możliwości jego osiągnięcia z życia obecnego na przyszłe. (shrink)

Tekst stanowi tłumaczenie traktatu Tomasza z Akwinu pt. De principiis naturae (O zasadach natury), stanowiącego opis podstawowych zagadnień filozofii przyrody i metafizyki w ujęciu Akwinaty. Są to przede wszystkim zagadnienia związane z powstawaniem, które stanowi dla Tomasza podstawowy przedmiot badań filozofa natury. Zajmuje się on odróżnieniem substancji od przypadłości, złożeniem materii i formy, czterema rodzajami przyczyn i ich wzajemnymi relacjami, a także rodzajami konieczności i identyczności.

W artykule podjęto próbę analizy sposobu uprawiania filozofii przyrody przez Tadeusza Stanisława Wojciechowskiego (1917-2000), profesora filozofii na Papieskiej Akademii Teologicznej w Krakowie. Artykuł składa się ze wstępu, części biograficznej, rozdziału poświęconego analizie sposobu uprawiania filozofii przyrody przez T. Wojciechowskiego, a także próby podsumowania i oceny stanowiska krakowskiego uczonego.Wstępne analizy wskazują, że sposób uprawiania filozofii przyrody przez T. Wojciechowskiego był oryginalny, szczególnie gdy weźmie się pod uwagę kontekst historyczny. Koncepcja krakowskiego filozofa sytuuje się między tradycyjnymi rozwiązaniami neoscholastycznymi a próbą wyjścia poza (...) klasyczne rozwiązania w kwestiach metodologicznych na gruncie filozofii przyrody. (shrink)

The present study is the first to measure event-related potentials associated with the processing of the emotional Stroop task (EST) with the use of an orthogonal factorial manipulation for emotional valence, arousal, and subjective significance (the importance of the current experience for goals and plans for the future). The current study aimed to investigate concurrently the role of the three dimensions describing the emotion-laden words for interference control measured in the classical version of the EST paradigm. The results showed that (...) reaction times were affected by the emotional valence of presented words and the interactive effect of valence and arousal. The expected emotional arousal effect was only found in behavioral results for neutrally valenced words. Electrophysiological results showed valence and subjective significance correlated with the amplitude differences in the P2 component. Moreover, the amplitude of the N450 component varied with the level of subjective significance. This study also demonstrated that exploratory event-related potential analysis provides additional information beyond the classical component-based analysis. The obtained results show that cognitive control effects in the EST may be altered by manipulation in the subjective significance dimension. (shrink)

Parkinson’s Disease can be treated with the use of microelectrode recording and stimulation. This paper presents a data stream classifier that analyses raw data from micro-electrodes and decides whether the measurements were taken from the subthalamic nucleus (STN) or not. The novelty of the proposed approach is based on the fact that distances based on raw data are used. Two distances are investigated in this paper, i.e. Normalized Compression Distance (NCD) and Lempel-Ziv Jaccard Distance (LZJD). No new features needed to (...) be extracted due to the fact that in the case of high-dimensional data the process is extremely time-consuming. The k-nearest neighbour (k-NN) was chosen as the classifier due to its simplicity, which is essential in data stream classification. Results obtained from classifiers based on k-NN: k-NN, k-NN were compared with Probabilistic Approximate Window (k-NN with PAW); k-NN with Probabilistic Approximate Window and Adaptive Windowing (k-NN with PAW and ADWIN); and Self Adjusting Memory k-NN (SAM k-NN), which use the proposed distances, with the performance of the same classifiers but using standard Euclidean distance. Prequential accuracy was chosen as the performance measure. The results of the experiments performed with the described approach are in most cases better, i.e. the performance measures for kNN classifiers that use NCD and LZJD distances are better by up to 8.5 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively. Moreover, the proposed approach performs better when compared with other stream classification algorithms, i.e. Hoeffding Tree, Naive Bayes, and Leveraging Bagging. In the discussed case, an improvement of classification rate of up to 17.9 per cent when using Lempel-Ziv Jaccard Distance instead of the Euclidean was noted. (shrink)

The recent developments in applications of artificial intelligence bring back discussion about risks posed by AI. Among immediate risks that need to be tackled here and now, there is also a possible problem of existential threats related to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). There is a discussion on how to mitigate those risks by appropriate regulations. It seems that one commonly accepted assumption is that the problem is global, and thus, it needs to be tackled first of all on an international (...) level. In this paper, I argue that national criminal laws should also be considered one of the possible regulatory tools for mitigating threats posed by AGI. I propose to enact AGI crimes that complement the varieties of legal responses to existential risks that might motivate and speed up further regulatory changes. (shrink)

(1997). Actio non est reactio: An extension of the concept of causality towards phenomena of information. World Futures: Vol. 49, The Quest for a Unified Theory of Information, pp. 409-427.

Robots are becoming more visible parts of our life, a situation which prompts questions about their place in our society. One group of issues that is widely discussed is connected with robots’ moral and legal status as well as their potential rights. The question of granting robots rights is polarizing. Some positions accept the possibility of granting them human rights whereas others reject the notion that robots can be considered potential rights holders. In this paper, I claim that robots will (...) never have all human rights, even if we accept that they are morally equal to humans. I focus on the role of embodiment in the content of the law. I claim that even relatively small differences in the ontologies of entities could lead to the need to create new sets of rights. I use the example of Neanderthals to illustrate that entities similar to us might have required different legal statuses. Then, I discuss the potential legal status of human-like robots. (shrink)

The paper examines the theoretical merit of “semantic molecules” in Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM). Although semantic molecules are said to trace semantic dependence and necessity, compress complexity, and to account for what I call its productivity, that doesn't appear to be the case. This can be illustrated on the basis of a comparison of two explications for the same complex meaning—one containing a molecule and the other its decomposed elements. Counterfactual considerations suggest that the latter is not semantically dependent on (...) the lexicalized molecule and that it is, in turn, not necessary. The other side of the comparison cements the point. This leaves the issue of compression, complexity, and productivity—none of which are helped by semantic molecules, as they appear to do little more than conceal complexity. Meanwhile, they are not required to account for productivity. It seems that molecules may need to be rethought. (shrink)

One of the distinguishing features of Alasdair MacIntyre’s political theorising is his trenchant critique of the modern state. The article aims to explore the underlying reasons behind MacIntyre’s antistatism. Beginning with MacIntyre’s critique of the traditional arguments justifying political obligation, it then proceeds to the crucial issue of politics of common good. The author argues that MacIntyre rejects the modern state as an instrument of politics of common good mainly for two main reasons: 1) the close partnership between the modern (...) state and capitalism; 2) the bureaucratic and often unjustly coercive character of the modern state. The article concludes with several polemical remarks concerning MacIntyre’s position. (shrink)

Praca zawiera pogłębioną analizę dwóch ważnych, powiązanych ze sobą doktryn – utylitaryzmu i liberalizmu. Ich powstanie i rozwój zbiega się z historią uprzemysłowionego świata Zachodu. XIX wiek to bez wątpienia okres pełnego rozkwitu liberalizmu w jego klasycznej postaci. John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) jest kluczową postacią w historii obydwu doktryn. Jego dialog z utylitaryzmem ma w tle współczesne dylematy i takież interpretacje.

Sharing on social media has become a daily routine for millions of users worldwide. Sharing transforms the experience of international migration as it enables migrants to maintain social relations and adapt to a new socioeconomic environment. But what does the term “sharing” mean for migrants active on Facebook? What are the contemporary meanings of sharing encouraged by Facebook’s affordances? This paper explores individual sharing strategies on Facebook among Polish migrants in Germany and the UK. On the basis of the material (...) collected through in-depth interviews (N=17) with Poles who have settled in Germany and the UK, it is proposed that the contemporary meaning of sharing has five dimensions: commercial, altruistic, social, connective and addictive. Different compositions of these dimensions can be found in most sharing practices on social media. Following a critique of commercial sharing on social media, it is further established that selling and other profit-driven activities are rather well recognized by the interviewees. However, some of them engage in commercial sharing with no direct selling intention. The article emphasizes that sharing practices help Polish migrants adapt to their bicultural reality in Germany and the UK. (shrink)

This paper gives an overview on the processes of commodification and de-commodification of goods and services as a background for analysing developments in the emerging information society. It contributes to the current discussion on intellectual property rights in terms of political economics by connecting it to technology and law. Finally, as an illustration of the proposed view, selected trendsetting Internet-based companies are studied with respect to their strategies in making profit.

In the nineteenth century, the French utopian socialists, Saint-Simonians and Fourierists, developed different concepts of the colonisation of Africa. These concepts collided in Algeria. The Saint-Simonians were impressed by the Arab system of the tribal ownership of land. They wanted to preserve it and ultimately bring the two peoples, the Arabs and the French, together in the spirit of a commune. On the other hand, the Fourierists wanted to expropriate Arabs from their land and hand it over to the French (...) colonists so that they could build new economic communities of a phalanstery type. This article presents the theoretical disputes between the two schools and also describes the actual practical consequences of these disputes for the French colonial politics. (shrink)