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)

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)

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)

Zapoczątkowany w XX w. spór o człowieka wyraża się pytaniem o to, czy ma on własna rzeczywistość, czy raczej jest wytworem sił historycznych. W ostatnich dziesięcioleciach zdecydowana przewagę zdobyła ta druga opcja, wspierana zwłaszcza argumentami kulturowych i społecznych konstruktywistów. Niektórzy filozofowie XX stulecia, określając te sytuacje ubóstwieniem historii, wykazywali, iż nie cała rzeczywistość jest kulturowo konstruowanym, historycznie zmiennym sensem, i ze do tej nie podlegającej historycznej konstrukcji sfery należy także rzeczywistość ludzkiego bytu. Do tej grupy dołączył ostatnio m.in. J. Habermas, (...) jeden z wcześniejszych radykalnych zwolenników opcji konstruktywistyczno-historycystycznej, wykazując potrzebę odwołania się w dyskursie o człowieku do jeżyka metafizyczno-religijnego, wyrażając tym samym potrzebę odwołania się do czegoś, co w świecie i w człowieku nie-historyczne i co warunkuje ludzkie istnienie w świecie historycznym. Autor niniejszego artykułu proponuje zwrócenie się do wielkiej tradycji mistycznej, z której, w jego mniemaniu, płynie nauka o potrzebie szacunku dla rzeczywistości, w tym także dla rzeczywistości ludzkiej, której uznanie jest, według niego, podstawowym warunkiem ludzkiej autonomii i trwania w dziejach oraz panowania nad nimi. (shrink)

In the present epoch of tensions between civilizations, challenges being brought by globalization processes and the necessity of the coexistence of various cultures and traditions, the subject of inter-religious dialogue seems to be particularly significant. Can religions remain isolated islands? Are their claims of being the only source of theological truth justified? Or should it rather be understood as an effect of interaction between different points of view and common effort of looking for the answers to the questions about God (...) and his relations to the world? What is the role of dialogue? Is it only a politically correct element or maybe something more essential - the basis of reasonable existence and development of religion? Should the direction traced by 20th century's partisans of ecumenical movements be widened in order to embrace also non Christian religions? What is the orthodoxy and where are its boundaries? The process philosophy creates a convenient and favorable atmosphere for this kind of considerations. The articles of this selection represent different points of view of the discussed topic. The book is addressed to all who deal with the inter-religious dialogue: both clergy and laymen as well as scholars and students interested in the subject. (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 .

Starting with the words that finish, or interrupt Master Wincenty’s Polish Chronicle, I interpret its historiographic content as characteristic of 12th century humanism, expression of love, of wisdom. The infallible condition of ethicalarete may be found to be formulated in the last words of the Chronicle concerning humanity which consists in tolerant indulgence of others’ vices and modesty about one’s virtues.

W pracy zaproponowano rozumienie wzrokowego układu poznawczego w oparciu o model spektrometru, który pozwala zrozumieć: obiektywizowanie percepcji, wybór informacji ze środowiska oraz rolę zjawiska powidoku w spostrzeganiu. Przedstawiony model ma charakter dwuaspektowy i wyróżnia spostrzeżenia oraz wewnętrzne wrażenia doświadczane jako efekty następcze. Pierwowzorem opisu układu wzrokowego jako spektrometru jest teoria wypływu Helmholtza, która wyjaśnia problem stabilizacji obrazu świata mimo poruszania oczami oraz opisuje związek percepcji z motoryką, współcześnie określany jako tzw. poznanie ucieleśnione. Cały układ wzrokowy to system sprzężenia zwrotnego, w (...) którym zgodnie z koncepcją Helmholtza powidok jest sygnałem sterującym percepcją i przejawem intencjonalności poznawczej. W artykule przedstawiono szereg argumentów, które przemawiają za rozumieniem układu wzrokowego jako spektrometru, a najważniejszym jest percypowanie figury jako jaśniejszejniż tło, na co zwrócili uwagę już psychologowie postaci. W opisie układu wzrokowego jako spektrometru uwzględniono dwa układy wzrokowe opisane przez Milnera i Goodale’a. W zakończeniu pracy przedstawiono propozycje wykorzystania modelu spektrometru do badania procesów poznawczych, podkreślając znaczenie zjawiska powidoku jako przejawu przetwarzania informacji wzrokowych. (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)

W swym fundamentalnym dziele Krytyka władzy sądzenia Immanuel Kant podejmuje problem relacji opisu przyczynowego i teologicznego. Z tą kwestią wiąże trwający od wieków spór między mechanicyzmem a witalizmem. Kant, choć nie był witalistą we właściwym znaczeniu tego słowa, podkreślał konieczność zastosowania metody teleologicznej w opisie pochodzenia, rozwoju i funkcji organizmów żywych. Liczni polscy filozofowie, wraz z ostatnio zmarłym jezuitą Piotrem Lenartowiczem, odwoływali się do Kantowskiej dedukcji związku przyczynowo-skutkowego. W niniejszym artykule podejmiemy próbę przedstawienia Kantowskiej inspiracji w neowitalistycznej koncepcji życia autorstwa (...) Lenartowicza. (shrink)

Recenzja książki: The Philosophy of Biology. A Companion for Educators, Kostas Kampourakis, Springer, Dordrecht 2013, ss. 762.

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.