In this article we try to estimate the activity of the banking institution in the General Government which used the pre-war apparatus of The National Bank of Agriculture. The bank was one ofthe largest banks realising the aim delineated by the government of the Second Polish Republic, such as the support of agricultural reform in the mid-war period. German authorities in the General Government used assets of the bank for other tasks. They were eager to use The National Bank of (...) Agriculture and the Polish staff employed in the bank in order to liquidate fast and effectively the mid-war assets of the bank. Leaving The National Bank of Agriculture was also good for Polish staff in the bank. Raising pre-war debts was the only way to guarantee salary and pensions forthe employees of the National Bank of Agriculture and taking care of them in the hard life of occupation. The activity of the National Bank of Agriculture in the General Government was also profitable for a part of debtors as they could pay the pre-war credits earlier. One reason for agriculture farms becoming poorer and even ruined was war actions and the occupation. However, the farmers could save money and gather capital more easily. When they often sold food in secret, they got a large amount of money. In many cases, paying back the pre-war debt was the only reasonable way of getting rid of almost valueless money, although it did not mean that it was done without doubts. In the beginning, many people claimed that they would give it back to whom they had borrowed from. However, after a while the patriotism of farmers who were debtors was overcome by the willingness to have no debts and leave children in a new condition. The period of German occupation and increasing inflation was used for paying back the debt in valueless money, not only by farmers but also by owners of the large mansions such as Earl Adam Branicki. (shrink)

Between 1945 and 2010 the Palace Museum in Wilanów and its legal predecessor incurred particular financial costs which could be expressed in money (in circula-tion), in nominal values. The aim of this article is to express the costs according to unchanged price measures: the American dollar, gold and rye. The conducted research shows that the overall costs borne by The Palace Museum in Wilanów between 1945 and 2010 were 297 mln zł (Polish currency), after counting which included money exchange and (...) denomination, or $124 mln (in USD). According to the average exchange rate in 2010, it gives the sum of 375 mln zł ($1 equals 3,02 zł). The costs measured in rye equalled 10.5 mln q (average price of rye in 2010 was 1 q = 42,12 zł). In the end, it gives the sum of 442 mln zł. As to world gold prices, the costs were 542,000 ounces of pure gold (in 2010 1 ounce of gold costs $1421,6). It gives $771 mln according to the average exchange rate in 2010 and 2329 mln zł ($1 = 3,02 zł). It can be a matter of discussion which one of these three measures shows the real value of the costs incurred since 1945. Fortunately, there is no question that a counting method which takes into consideration exchanged money and denomination ought not to be used in measuring nominal values. (shrink)

Notwithstanding the opportunities it provides, the implementation of some measures of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (EU CAP), including agri-environment-climate measures (AECMs), also generates threats. The study identifies an extremely disturbing process that can be referred to as “internal neo-colonialism”, which has been driven by the technocratic agrarian policy of the EU and transformations in Poland at the turn of the twenty-first century. The associated disadvantageous practices mainly affect areas under threat of marginalisation and peripheralisation, including Poland with its post-Socialist (...) heritage, which has shaped the attitudes and behaviour of society and has consolidated linkages between politics and business. In order to retrace such activities, the study analyses EU funds granted in support of farmers implementing AECMs, with a focus on analysing the place of residence of the “farmer” and the location of the farm. As the research shows, the attractiveness of CAP support causes Polish agriculture and Poland’s countryside, including its natural and financial resources, to be drained by so-called “suitcase farmers”, i.e. people/entities not tied to the place where the agricultural activity is pursued, many of whom live in cities. One common practice is to take over land located in legally protected areas noted for their high quality of natural environment. Not only does the practice of land grabbing strengthen the social exclusion of rural communities and the peripheralisation and pauperisation of these areas, but it also hinders discussion about environmental justice and the ecological integrity of rural areas. (shrink)

This paper examines how the Polish communist intelligence service attempted to recruit professor Stefan Węgrzyn, who was a prominent specialist on automatic control and computer science in post-war Poland. Eventually, Węgrzyn’s refusal to cooperate with the Polish spy agency, together with his profound relationship with French scientist and servomechanism expert Jean Charles Gille, made them both targets of surveillance orchestrated by the communist security apparatus. In the broader context of human-intelligence studies, this case study involves the problem of moral ambiguity. (...) We experience informative examples of scientists, who often – not only during the Cold War – have had to choose between commitment to the rules of the academic world, along with its openness and transparency on the one hand, and patriotism including an ethos of secrecy for the sake of the homeland’s prosperity, on the other hand. (shrink)

Obóz Kultury 2.0 Mirosław Filiciak, Alek Tarkowski, Agata Jałosińska, Andrzej Klimczuk, Maciej Rynarzewski, Jacek Seweryn, Stunża M., D. Grzegorz, Marcin Wilkowski & Anna Orlik .

This article regards the field of neuroscience and indicates on the proper or erroneous functioning of the human brain. Intellectual virtues, especially practical wisdom play a significant role in capturing the truth and implementing it in life. The agile formation of the cognitive function of man encompasses both his reason as well as the sensual judgment of utility with all the bodily backup. The brain possesses great plasticity in the production of neuronal connections. Habit as a permanent wont utilizes the (...) reactions being developed to the construction of often inappropriate mechanisms, that in turn are not easy or completely impossible to eliminate. When practical reason is introduced into a false ethos, the brain responds by forming “ruts” of neuronal connections which seem difficult to consider as something appropriate. The reparation of the existing situation and the removal of the wrong habit require relevant virtues so as to unblock the psychological resistance that is deeply rooted within the physiological neuronal substrate. The learning about the virtues of St. Thomas Aquinas is the best warranty not only for theoretical explanations, but also for the practical application of virtues in dealing with the arised situation. Only well-formed virtues give the opportunity to correct the false instinctive cognition and liberate from erroneous actions. (shrink)

In the course of his lectures given in Como in 1927 Niels Bohr introduces a very important concept of complementarity. Two years later he publishes his first view of biological questions, which he includes in one series of lectures devoted to quantum mechanics and complementarity. In one of his later articles in the same series, explaining why he started publishing his opinions on biology, he states that this may help understand his interpretation of physics, and especially the category of complementarity. (...) He can see a possibility of using the category of complementarity also outside physics. He hopes that epistemological implications of his category of complementarity can broaden the spectrum of recipients when they will refer to well-known problems, especially in the sphere of biology. Bohr directs his attention to biology hoping to shed new light on the old problem concerning the understanding of the concept of life. He has no doubts that the \'epistemological lesson\' of quantum mechanics, by drawing attention to the observation conditions in biology, may be helpful in overcoming the controversy between \"vitalism\" and \"mechanicism\". He rejects the vitalistic doctrine with its \"vital force\" or \"entelechy\", as devoid of scientific valor. He also formulates arguments against \"mechanicism\". Bohr developed his biological interests directed to philosophy to the end of his life. His last work was devoted to exactly biological questions. Unfortunately, sudden death stopped him from completing it. Because of the fact that in some places Bohr presented his views on biology in an obscure way, some biologists included him in the circle of supporters of vitalism. A more profound analysis of his views proves that this opinion is groundless. (shrink)

Anderson-like ontological proofs, studied in this paper, employ contingent identity, free principles of quantification of the 1st order variables and classical principles of quantification of the 2nd order variables. All these theories are strongly complete wrt. classes of modal structures containing families of world-varying objectual domains of the 1st order and constant conceptual domains of the 2nd order. In such structures, terms of the 1st order receive only rigid extensions, which are elements of the union of all 1st order domains. (...) Terms of the 2nd order receive extensions and intensions. Given a family of preselected world-varying objectual domains of the 2nd order, non-rigid extensions of the 2nd order terms belong always to a preselected domain connected with a given world. Rigid intensions of the 2nd order terms are chosen from among members of a conceptual domain of the 2nd order, which is the set of all functions from the set of worlds to the union of all 2nd order preselected domains such that values of these functions at a given world belong to a preselected domain connected with this world. (shrink)

The book presents a collection of articles authored by several members of the Warsaw School of Political Theory, affiliated with the University of Warsaw. The team of scholars, first founded in the 1970s by professor Artur Bodnar, has been conducting research under the leadership of professor Miroslaw Karwat.

Pacyfizm, na swój sposób dzisiaj zapomniany, to głębokie pytanie o człowieka, to próba uświadomienia, że być może człowiek nie powinien się nigdy na tym właśnie świecie pojawić, chyba że tylko po to, by o miłości marzyć, w nadziei, że wydarzy się ona gdzieś indziej. Jeżeli jednak żyjąc w „dowodliwym” świecie, obserwując fakty, wiemy z niewzruszoną pewnością, że tak nie jest, że krystaliczna miłość jest tylko fantazmatem, po czasie zmienia się bowiem nieustannie w układ przyzwyczajeń, a pokój to tylko niespełniona nadzieja (...) (czego nie trzeba udowadniać), to skąd myśl, że wydarzy się on kiedykolwiek? I tutaj właśnie napotykamy na bodaj najgłębszy problem antropologiczny, twierdzę, że niemożliwy do rozstrzygnięcia, co pokazuje nam filozofia. Niniejsza kwestia będzie analizowana w przedstawionym artykule. (shrink)