The general aim of this book is to provide an elementary exposition of some basic concepts in terms of which both classical and non-dassicallogirs may be studied and appraised. Although quantificational logic is dealt with briefly in the last chapter, the discussion is chiefly concemed with propo gjtional cakuli. Still, the subject, as it stands today, cannot br covered in one book of reasonable length. Rather than to try to include in the volume as much as possible, I have put (...) emphasis on some selected topics. Even these could not be roverrd completely, but for each topic I have attempted to present a detailed and precise t’Xposition of several basic results including some which are non-trivial. The roots of some of the central ideas in the volume go back to J. Luka siewicz’s seminar on mathematicallogi. (shrink)

Author: Palacz Ryszard Title: WŁADYSŁAW TATARKIEWICZ AS A HISTORIAN OF PHILOSOPHY – A FEW REMARKS (Władysław Tatarkiewicz jako historyk filozofii. Kilka uwag) Source: Filo-Sofija year: 2011, vol:.13/14, number: 2011/2-3, pages: 487-495 Keywords: WŁADYSŁAW TATARKIEWICZ, HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY, TEACHING OF PHILOSOPHY Discipline: PHILOSOPHY Language: POLISH Document type: ARTICLE Publication order reference (Primary author’s office address): E-mail: www:Władysław Tatarkiewicz (1886–1980) was a versatile scholar, active and fertile in a number of fields: Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Ethics, Aesthetics, and also History of (...) Architecture. Before World War One, Tatarkiewicz studied Philosophy in Berlin and in Marbourg with H. Cohen and P. Natorp. After the Great War, he was nominated Professor of Philosophy at the newly reorganized Warsaw University. In the area of History of Philosophy, his key accomplishments included his studies of Polish philosophical thought, and also a history of European philosophy before 1830, which he published in two volumes entitled ‘History of Philosophy’. After World War Two, Tatarkiewicz expanded the scope of the work to include 19t century and contemporary philosophy, publishing the third volume of his History in 1948. Tatarkiewicz’s History of Philosophy became very popular with readers, and saw no less than twenty four editions until 2004. There were a number of reasons for this popularity. One of Tatarkiewicz’s important tasks was the standardization of philosophical terminology in the Polish language and he succeeded admirably. The elegance of his writing style, clarity and order in the exposition of issues and concepts, made his work exceptionally useful for teaching; Tatarkiewicz provided his readers with an orderly picture of history of philosophy and motivated them for further studies. To his merit, Tatarkiewicz also included discussion of important results of the medieval philosophy in Poland. Another important facet contributing to the long-lasting popularity of his oeuvre were the ideological conditions that reigned in Poland after World War Two, a time marked by a promoting of different philosophical language and new research methods. In the paper, the author presents a critical assessment of the contemporary value of Tatarkiewicz’s magnum opus. Even though History has become over the years a monument to crisp style and clear exposition, the work shows its age, as its scope corresponds to the state of research in the 1920’s (in the first two volumes) and in the late 1940’s (in the third volume). In view of this, the author calls for starting a collective and (no doubt multi-year) effort on a new history of philosophy in Polish language, work that would include the research in the field since 1945. (shrink)

The difference between what's possible and what's not is a construct of the human mind, a matter of perspective, and it's one that can be changed. Working Wonders explains the fundamentals that shape the mind: how it builds walls to protect itself and how a person can tear those walls down to tackle challenges that would have previously been discounted as unrealistic. This volume shares case studies featuring people making the impossible a reality and, in doing so, changing the world (...) for the better. On a deeper level and yet still using non-technical language, the book identifies possible neurological and psychosocial mechanisms that limit the brain, and techniques that may open it up to exploring the seemingly unachievable. Praszkier also introduces the concept of 'possibilitivity', a personality trait that reflects the propensity to perceive insurmountable challenges as doable, and concludes by presenting a portfolio of 'Do It Yourself' techniques. (shrink)

This article explains how people synchronize their thoughts through empathetic relationships and points out the elementary neuronal mechanisms orchestrating this process. The many dimensions of empathy are discussed, as is the manner by which empathy affects health and disorders. A case study of teaching children empathy, with positive results, is presented. Mirror neurons, the recently discovered mechanism underlying empathy, are characterized, followed by a theory of brain-to-brain coupling. This neuro-tuning, seen as a kind of synchronization between brains and between individuals, (...) takes various forms, including frequency aspects of language use and the understanding that develops regardless of the difference in spoken tongues. Going beyond individual-to-individual empathy and SYNC, the article explores the phenomenon of synchronization in groups and points out how synchronization increases group cooperation and performance. (shrink)

Cooperation between doctors of various specialties and other medical specialists is the standard of care in the treatment of patients. Due to the variety of diseases and the dynamic development of medicine in general, it is difficult to be an expert in every field and know all the recommended treatments. An example of such cooperation is the joint treatment of patients with the problem of ingrown toenails. The article contains an analysis of patients who received treatment in a doctor’s office (...) in cooperation with podiatrists. A conservative approach towards the treatment of this condition sees the patient being initially diagnosed and treated by a podiatrist and then later, if necessary, being referred to a doctor for surgical treatment. The exchange of experiences and information on patients treated by interdisciplinary teams allows doctors and podiatrists to find the best possible treatment and improve the quality of life of patients. The follow-up of patients after surgery can be performed later in podiatry offices. Owing to modern electronic communication, it is possible for a doctor to constantly monitor the patient’s condition without the need for direct visits to the doctor’s office. (shrink)

In a departure from traditional Western political theory that is reminiscent of left?wing anarchism, contemporary libertarianism rejects the necessity of making political choices based on a value hierarchy, instead claiming that it is possible for all individuals to pursue their divergent values simultaneously?as long as each respects the equal rights of others to do the same. The caveat, however, hides a conflict of loyalties that would plague a libertarian society: on the one hand are the particular loyalties of one's preferred (...) Utopian community; on the other hand, loyalty to the larger ?framework for utopias?; within which one's utopia exists. The second loyalty implies a value relativism incompatible with the first one, meaning either that loyalty to the libertarian framework will undermine the utopias within it, or that the particular values of the utopias will destabilize the libertarian framework. The durability of a libertarian society, then, requires a mentality best characterized as nihilistic. In this, libertarianism differs from liberalism but is surprisingly similar to the cultural diversity movement. The thesis is illustrated by examining John Gray's attempt to eschew both a hierarchy of values and moral relativism. (shrink)

This paper was presented at the Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Logic, Melbourne, November, 1979. The present note being complementary to [1], I shall only brie y recall the key notions to be exploited here, and for more details the reader is advised to consult [1]. By a propositional logic we mean a couple , where L is a propo- sitional language and C a structural consequence de- ned on L. A couple W = is said to be (...) a referential matrix for the language L i there exists a non-empty set T such that the following two conditions are satised: i. A is an abstract algebra similar to L, whose all elements belong to f0; 1g T , i.e. they are mappings from T into the two-element set f0; 1g. ii. D = ffa 2 A : a = 1g : t 2 Tg. (shrink)

Przypadek i Opatrzność Boża. Uwagi metodologiczne z Pascalem w dalszym tle Wedle autora tego artykułu, analityczna filozofia religii nie powinna być zamknięta dla innych sfer kultury i ignorować lub lekceważyć osiągnięć innych, zarówno przeszłych, jak i współczesnych prądów filozoficznych. Filozof analityczny, w tym analityczny filozof religii, może zatem szukać inspiracji również poza sferą filozofii analitycznej. Jednocześnie nie oznacza to, że filozof analityczny ma lekceważyć nauki przyrodnicze lub nie troszczyć się o precyzję języka i właściwe argumenty. Troska o precyzję językową i (...) stosowanie odpowiedniej argumentacji ma kluczowe znaczenie dla tożsamości filozofii analitycznej. Ten artykuł, biorąc pod uwagę wskazane nastawienie metafilozoficzne, poświęcony jest krytycznej dyskusji na temat niektórych problemów poruszonych przez prof. Dariusza Łukasiewicza, w jego wybitnej pracy w dziedzinie filozofii religii, noszącej tytuł Opatrzność Boża, wolność, przypadek. Studium z analitycznej filozofii religii. (shrink)

The book has two currents. The first is an analysis of the three concepts of freedom, which are called, respectively, negative, positive, and inner. Negative freedom is defined as an absence of coercion, positive freedom as an ability to rule oneself and rule others, inner freedom as being oneself, that is, being an author of one's decisions. Each concept is analyzed both in terms of its development in the history of ideas and in terms of its internal logic. The major (...) problem of negative freedom is to find widely accepted rules according to which this freedom can be distributed. The major problem of positive freedom is to define what constitutes a free person. The major problem of inner freedom is how to correlate it with the proper interpretation of the human self. The book advances the thesis - and this constitutes the other current of its narrative - that we have been witnessing the advent of a new form of despotism, much of it being the effect of the dominant position of liberalism. Precisely because it took a reductionist position, liberalism has impoverished our view of freedom, and consequently, our notion of human nature with its political, moral, and metaphysical dimensions. (shrink)

We can speak about individual and social (characteristic for a population) values, but it is difficult to present universal, specifically human values, except for biological needs. The reason of it follows from the fact that superior values, related to two human needs (world model cognition and the meaningful sense of life) depend upon a world-view, in advance accepted and inculcated in us. From this world-view we as its followers draw our notions of good and bad, we shape our ideas on (...) proper human relations and on what for us should be the most important. So what can be of universally human character? It seems that only the possibility of possessing a system of values, of forming its features and defining its components. (shrink)

It is an attempt to exemplify the style of Wierciński’s scientific approach. The first part (A. Zamojski) presents his concept of the peculiarity of the specific human nature which is polarized into the animal side versus the human potential. The second part (R. Stefański) describes the anthropological concept of ideological development with the focus on the notion of ideological control subsystem. The latter can be employed as a tool of surveying the internal consistency of social organizations.