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)

An Antique Prototype of the Modern Mathematisation of Psychology Ryszard Stachowski. (1) matter or that which is not in itself a particular thing, (2) form or essence, which is that precisely in accordance with which a thing is called a this, and ...

Artykuł jest tekstem dyskusyjnym. W dyskusji z tekstem poruszającym problemy semiotyczne (polisemia, nieostrość, zależność kontekstowa) omawiam i dyskutuję zarzuty kierowane pod adresem semiotyki jako narzędzia pozwalającego kształtować odpowiednie sprawności językowe, w kontekście postulatu krytycyzmu. Akceptuję opinie autorki tekstu o ograniczonych możliwościach w tym zakresie. W dyskusji z tekstami dotyczącymi filozofii religii bronię jej statusu jako uprawnionej subdyscypliny filozoficznej. Poddawane są także dyskusji szczegółowe kwestie z zakresu filozofii religii (m.in. problem wszechmocy). Bronię charakteru filozofii religii jako dyscypliny innej niż teologia i (...) nie dającej się zredukować do metafizyki. (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)

The paper attempts to reconstruct Thales’ argument about water, which is rightly considered to be the core of his philosophy of nature. It consists of two separate arguments – one biological and the other physical – which ascribe to water two different functions: in the first case, it is a source of life on the earth or, in another version, a source of life of the earth in its entirety; in the second case, it is something that supports the earth (...) in its stationary position in the cosmos. These two arguments indicate that Thales’ notion of water was meant to answer more than just one question about nature. This, in turn, might justify the use of the concept of arche, which Aristotle attributed to the Ionian philosophers, even though Thales had obviously never used the term. The concept may somehow accurately render Thales’ more general view of water. It should be noted, however, that if the term arche can be applied to Thales’ views, then it is only in the sense related to the “coming-to-be”. Thales’ arguments did not apply – contrary to what some doxographers said and what certain scholars still maintain – to the question of the end, or perishing of physical things, the problem taken up only by later Ionians. To put it differently, Thales never claimed that the physical things which die or undergo destruction change into water. (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)

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)

The standard model of rationality points to the following criteria of rationality: appropriate articulation, obeying the rules of logic, and proper justification. These criteria however cause troubles, when they are used in particular cases. In the article it is proposed two-level model of rationality. The first level would comprise four metaprinciples: linguistic exactness, obeying the rules of logic, criticism, and ability to solving the problems. The second level would refer to certain types of beliefs, building models for them.

Celem artykułu jest ukazanie podstaw prawnych i przebiegu sporu prawnego między królami Polski a władcami Hiszpanii dotyczącego praw do neapolitańskiego dziedzictwa królowej Bony, na które składały się księstwa Bari i Rossano, majątek ruchomy oraz pożyczka udzielona przez Bonę królowi Hiszpanii w wysokości 430 tys. dukatów zabezpieczona na komorze celnej w Foggii (tzw. sumy neapolitańskie). Skomplikowany i trwający półtora wieku spór dynastyczny dokumentuje kilka tysięcy różnego typu źródeł rozsianych po archiwach całej Europy od Krakowa po Simancas i od Neapolu po Sztokholm. (...) Część z nich, zwłaszcza z lat 1548–1572, została opublikowana w polskich i włoskich wydawnictwach źródłowych. Całość działań królów polskich w sprawie odzyskania spadku Bony nie doczekała się nowoczesnego opracowania, a jedynym pełnym opracowaniem jest popularnonaukowa książka Klemensa Kanteckiego wydana w 1881 r. Temat ten pojawiał się na marginesie w wielu pracach dotyczących Bony i Zygmunta Augusta, dziejów dyplomacji za ostatniego Jagiellona oraz w pracach dotyczących relacji polsko-hiszpańskich w XVI i XVII w. Punktem wyjścia analizy jest ustalenie sytuacji prawnej, w jakiej znajdowały się neapolitańskie posiadłości królowej w momencie podejmowania przez nią decyzji o wyjeździe z Polski. Na tym tle wskazano najważniejsze elementy gry dyplomatycznej, jaką Bona prowadziła z cesarzem Karolem V i królem Filipem II, oraz uwarunkowania jej powrotu do Bari. Śmierć królowej w listopadzie 1557 r. i jej testament, w którym księstwa Bari i Rossano zapisywała Filipowi II, a Zygmunt August dziedziczył jedynie dobra ruchome i sumy neapolitańskie, otworzyły nowy etap w dziejach sporu polsko-hiszpańskiego. Na potrzeby rokowań mających na celu odzyskanie całego spadku po matce Zygmunt August zbudował wyjątkowo rozległą i dobrze funkcjonującą sieć dyplomatyczną. Niepowodzenia w odzyskaniu Bari i Rossano spowodowały, że król zdecydował się na mediację cesarza w toczonym sporze z królem Hiszpanii. Arbitraż stwarzał dla Zygmunta Augusta nową sytuację prawną i modyfikował sposób i zakres działania. Wydaje się, że król nie do końca uświadamiał sobie, w jak skomplikowany labirynt prawno-administracyjny wprowadza sprawę spadku po matce i wkracza w świat odmiennych obyczajów i mentalności. Ostatecznie królowi udało się odzyskać jedynie część majątku ruchomego i zachować prawo do sum neapolitańskich, które wraz ze śmiercią Anny Jagiellonki przeszły na własność Rzeczypospolitej. W konsekwencji kolejni królowie elekcyjni aż do czasu wojny o sukcesję hiszpańską zabiegali w Madrycie i Neapolu o regularną wypłatę odsetek z sum neapolitańskich. (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)