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Practica et Speculativa Cover Image

Practica et Speculativa
Practica et Speculativa

Studies Offered to Professor Andrzej M. Kaniowski

Contributor(s): Marek Gensler (Editor), Agnieszka Gralińska-Toborek (Editor), Wioletta Kazimierska-Jerzyk (Editor), Krzysztof Kędziora (Editor), Monika Mansfeld (Editor), Joanna Miksa (Editor)
Subject(s): Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Special Branches of Philosophy
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: Immanuel Kant;Jürgen Habermas;Franz Kafka;Julius Fröbel;Leszek Kołakowski;Tomasz z Akwinu;history of philosophy
Summary/Abstract: The Jubilee of Professor Andrzej M. Kaniowski’s seventieth birthday, in July 2021, was an opportunity to offer him this volume. Its authors are representatives of human and social studies, two closely related disci¬plines that are also His areas of interest.The interdisciplinary group of researchers have contributed their texts, which together make up a mosaic of problems and perspectives. The dominant topics are the philosophy of Kant and modern social, political and cultural issues. Many ideas and concepts reappear in several texts. In order to facilitate tracking them, the volume has been provided with a uniform system of citing Kant’s works and the index of authors. The papers of the international group of authors have been arranged, first of all, according to the language of composition (Polish, German, English), then according to the content in historical order. The whole volume presents an image of academic openness and com-mitment, for which the editors thank the authors. To Professor Kaniowski, they give thanks for such a lofty inspiration.

  • E-ISBN-13: 978-83-8220-571-8
  • Print-ISBN-13: 978-83-8220-570-1
  • Page Count: 640
  • Publication Year: 2022
  • Language: English, Polish, German
Porządek dobroczynności w etyce Tomasza z Akwinu

Porządek dobroczynności w etyce Tomasza z Akwinu
(The order of beneficence in Thomas Aquinas)

  • Author(s):Włodzimierz Galewicz
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy
  • Page Range:21-41
  • No. of Pages:21
  • Keywords:Thomas Aquinas;Aristotle;Cicero; beneficence; prioritization of duties to others;resolving moral conflicts
  • Summary/Abstract:This paper aims to provide a contribution to the perennial discussion on ranking of our duties to help others by analyzing Thomas Aquinas’s conception of the order of beneficence. After outlining Aquinas’s notion of beneficentia as a virtue guiding positive duties to others I present his prioritization of these duties as a version of multi-criteria approach, developing antecedent ideas of Aristotle and Cicero. In reference to these philosophers, I distinguish a few crucial principles used for priority setting in discharging duties to act for the good of others: the rule of greater commitment, the rule of closer connection, the rule of greater need, the rule of greater benefit and the rule of higher worth. Then I seek to to highlight how these principles and their sub-criteria are accounted for and applied by Thomas Aquinas, focusing especially on his considerations how to resolve conflicts among competing rules of preference.
Rozum i Pismo. Cud, objawienie i interpretacja Biblii w filozofii Christiana Wolffa

Rozum i Pismo. Cud, objawienie i interpretacja Biblii w filozofii Christiana Wolffa
(Reason and writing. Miracle, revelation and interpretation of the Bible in the philosophy of Christian Wolff)

  • Author(s):Artur Banaszkiewicz
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Philosophy
  • Page Range:43-60
  • No. of Pages:18
  • Keywords:Reason;Bible;understanding;miracle;revelation;nature;God
  • Summary/Abstract:This analytical and reconstructive paper discusses the issues of a miracle and of revelation in Christian Wolff’s rationalistic philosophy. The article comprises three major parts: in the first one I introduce Wolff’s conception of nature, followed by the conception of the supernatural and the outline of Wolff’s conception of a miracle. In the second one I talk about the issue of the rationality of revelation based on seven signs of its genuineness put forward by Wolff. In the third one I discuss the principles of understanding and interpreting text, especially Scripture. Finally, I evaluate Wolff’s apologetic strategy and point out that his means of defending both revelation and religion founded in it, can be very well used against them.
Kant i Hippel, czyli obywatelskość jako wartość

Kant i Hippel, czyli obywatelskość jako wartość
(Kant and Hippel – civility as a value)

  • Author(s):Leon Miodoński
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Social Philosophy
  • Page Range:61-79
  • No. of Pages:19
  • Keywords:German enlightenment;Kant;Hippel; civility;civil society
  • Summary/Abstract:This article deals with the comparative approach of two philosophers of the German Enlightenment Immanuel Kant and Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel in the context of socio-political issues, primarily civil society, civil rights and civility. The article consists of three parts. First part – presentation of the era of Frederick II, in particular the concept of state reform, the formation of bourgeois consciousness and the role of Freemasonry. The second part focuses on the semantic analysis of the notion of “citizen” and the question of the change that took place at the end of the eighteenth century, namely the transition from the original meaning of “city dwelling” to a political and legal meaning. Kant’s practical philosophy takes up this theme. The third part is devoted to the analysis of the concept of “citizen” and the conditions and prospects for the development of civil society in the philosophy of Kant and Hippel. Hippel’s concept can be considered secondary to Kant’s. Nevertheless, both approaches – Kant’s and Hippel’s – grow out of the spirit of the age, the expectation of change, the prospect of a better world to come.
Problem zła u Kanta

Problem zła u Kanta
(Kant and the problem of evil)

  • Author(s):Paweł Pieniążek
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy
  • Page Range:81-98
  • No. of Pages:18
  • Keywords:evil;will;practical reason;autonomy;law
  • Summary/Abstract:Kant consequently achieved the moral subjectivation of evil, referring it solely to human will and to the moral law established by it. The article shows, however, the difficulties with explaining the possibility of evil in the mature thought of Kant. They emerged from the difficulty with determining the relation between will and moral law and underlay the evolution of his understanding of evil. If in the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and in the Critique of Practical Reason Kant identifies will with moral law, abolishing in this way the possibility of the choice of good and evil, in Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason he tries to establish this possibility. The tension between the moral and historical dimensions of evil is also shown.
Miejsce szczęścia w Kantowskiej antropologii moralnej

Miejsce szczęścia w Kantowskiej antropologii moralnej
(A role of happiness in Kant's moral anthropology)

  • Author(s):Joanna Miksa
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy
  • Page Range:99-116
  • No. of Pages:18
  • Keywords:anthropology;practical philosophy;happiness; duties of virtue
  • Summary/Abstract:In my paper I propose to analyse the problem of happiness in Kantian philosophy by taking into consideration the antropological perspective. I undertake to show that contrary to what is often said about Kant, he respected the pivotal role of quest after happiness in human nature. Kantian anthropology consists of two parts: practical and pragmatic. Practical anthropology is a science whose object is the human nature as it is actually given. The happiness there is defined as a goal shared by the whole humankind. Pragmatic anthropology is a project of evolution of the human kind according to the laws prescribed by the pure practical reason. The notion of happiness is included in the notion of the highest goodness. Kant defines it as happiness that belongs to those who are morally good. The happiness is a subject of analysis in the framework of discussion on duties of virtue. The imperative of love for our next of kin should be put into practice through helping the others to achieve whatever that makes them happy – as long as their aims are compatible with the moral law. All the arguments I gathered in this paper make one say that according to Kant happiness and morality do not exclude each other. Happiness is a part of the description of the human nature and morality a project of the evolution of moral agents, but their moral evolution is not to consist in destroying their natural characteristics. Morality only requires taht a normative order should be introduced as far as satisfying natural needs is concerned and the assumption is that morality and our nature can become harmonised. Especially interesting is the duty of helping the others in their search after happiness. Its presence in Kant's philosophy can be interpreted as an argument for rethinking of the relation between morality and empirically given nature of the humankind. Even though as far as its origin is concerned, the moral law does not have anything in common with the empirically given nature of the humankind, still, the putting into practice of the moral law is not conceived as a plan to fight the human nature but rather to limit it according to the moral law.
Kłopoty z demokracją dziś

Kłopoty z demokracją dziś
(The problems with democracy today)

  • Author(s):Andrzej Szahaj
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Social Philosophy
  • Page Range:117-127
  • No. of Pages:11
  • Keywords:democracy; liberalism; capitalism;globalization;Internet
  • Summary/Abstract:The text is devoted to the problems of today democracy. Author tries to identify several of them. Very important are those which are connected with lack of liberal component in democracy (phenomenon of so called “unliberal democracy”). But he especially focuses on threat for democracy which is caused by today liberalism (neoliberalism) which inserts the economical dimension of social life above the political one. The main thesis of the text is that this process of depolitization of economical decisions is very dangerous for the democarcy because it makes it unimportant and even redundant for the citizens. It shows also that traditional connection of democracy and capitalism is not necessary and can be linked with the short period of Western history only.
Debata Habermasa z Rortym o uzasadnianiu i prawdzie

Debata Habermasa z Rortym o uzasadnianiu i prawdzie
(The Habermas – Rorty debate about justification and truth)

  • Author(s):Tadeusz Szubka
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Philosophy
  • Page Range:129-139
  • No. of Pages:11
  • Keywords:Jürgen Habermas;epistemic conception of truth;Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz;minimal truth;Richard Rorty;semantic conception of truth;universal validity;justification
  • Summary/Abstract:Jürgen Habermas and Richard Rorty share many philosophical commitments. However, their ways have parted when Habermas has begun to emphasize the essential or internal connection between justification and truth, and especially with its feature which may be described as unconditional or universal validity. Rorty strongly disagrees with Habermas’s contention about the essential connection between justification and truth, and puts into doubt the unconditionality claim involved in the latter notion. In this debate Habermas is arguably more convincing, but his arguments may be strengthen by pointing out that we do need not only the notion of truth over and above the notion of justification, but the notion of truth is also involved in the very notion of justification.
Powściągliwość myślenia

Powściągliwość myślenia
(Philosophical modesty)

  • Author(s):Krzysztof Kędziora
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Metaphysics
  • Page Range:141-158
  • No. of Pages:18
  • Keywords:Habermas;Rawls;metaphysics;postmetaphysical thinking;reasonable pluralism
  • Summary/Abstract:In the article, I postulate a „philosophical modesty”. I elaborate on its understanding in the works of Jürgen Habermas and John Rawls. I reconstruct conditions („postmetaphysical thinking” and „reasonable pluralism”) in which philosophy operates today. I show what consequences they have for philosophy. I point to the substantial differences between these two thinkers.
Czym jest filozofia? Rola filozofii w kulturze

Czym jest filozofia? Rola filozofii w kulturze
(What is philosophy? The role of philosophy in culture)

  • Author(s):Józef Piórczyński
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Social Philosophy
  • Page Range:159-171
  • No. of Pages:13
  • Keywords:philosophy;method;object;questions;truth;incompleteness (lack);irremovability;historicity;culture
  • Summary/Abstract:Achieving great results, science and its ideological form, scientism, cannot eliminate philosophy from culture. The loss of cognitive, emotive and existential value and actuality puts an end to every philosophy with its method, object, and solutions to its constituent matters. The incompleteness of human existence, which is determined by the search for meaning and truth, is constantly bound to negate of the ever-new attempts to resolve philosophical issues.
Leszek Kołakowski o racjonalizmie. Analiza krytyczna

Leszek Kołakowski o racjonalizmie. Analiza krytyczna
(Leszek Kołakowski on rationalism. Critical analysis)

  • Author(s):Ryszard Kleszcz
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Philosophy
  • Page Range:173-199
  • No. of Pages:27
  • Keywords:Leszek Kołakowski;anthropocentrism;anti-absolutism;criticism of positivism;Christianity;rationalism;justification of rationalism
  • Summary/Abstract:Leszek Kołakowski (1927-2009) was a thinker whose reflection was at the beginning associated with Marxism, anthropocentrism, anti - absolutism and a radically secular attitude. At the same time, from the very beginning Kołakowski, as a philosopher, was highly critical of the positivist version of rationalism. The paper presents and analyses the philosopher’s views on rationalism. This requires appropriate methodological analyses and the distinction between different types of rationalism. The presented analysis shows that the evolution of Kołakowski's views means resignation from radical anthropocentrism and the slogans of fighting secularism. A thinker, retaining some elements of anti – absolutism and the related skepticism, positively valorises the content related to European culture and Christianity.
Wolność i słabość woli u Donalda Davidsona

Wolność i słabość woli u Donalda Davidsona
(Free will and week weel in Donald Davidson)

  • Author(s):Janusz Maciaszek
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Philosophy
  • Page Range:201-232
  • No. of Pages:32
  • Keywords:action;anomaly;freedom;intention;practical syllogism;propositional attitude;reason to act;theory of truth;weak will
  • Summary/Abstract:In the paper I present Donald Davidson’s solution of the problem of freedom against the background of his complex philosophical system. In spite of the fact that freedom understood as anomality was justified by Davidson by means of his philosophy of language I argue that it can be fully appreciated against the background of his philosophy of action. I argue also that the phenomenon of will explained by Davidson in terms of prima facie judgements and sans-phrase judgement is a necessary condition of freedom conceived as anomality. In the end I indicate that in spite of superficial analogies suggested by Davidson his solution of the problem of freedom is incomparable with the Kantian one.
Etyka i pasja w pracy naukowca

Etyka i pasja w pracy naukowca
(Ethics and passion in research work)

  • Author(s):Joanna Madalińska-Michalak
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy
  • Page Range:233-244
  • No. of Pages:12
  • Keywords:scientific ethics;scientific work;emotional involvement;passion;sense of meaningful work
  • Summary/Abstract:The paper focuses on the issues of ethics and passion in the work of a scientist. The growing interest in ethical issues within science is linked to the changes we are currently experiencing and the increasing sensitivity to the need to develop and adhere to ethical standards of research. At the heart of the highest standards in scientific work is the accepted way of working and living of scientists involved in the creation of scientific knowledge. The presented analyses direct our attention towards questions about the possible relationship between science and the scientist's valuable life, about the development of science in the context of changes and challenges currently occurring in science, and finally about the ethos of science and the scientist, for whom passion is one of the sources of freedom and power to construct one's own identity
Koneczny i Giertych, czyli przyczynek do trwałości mitologii narodowej

Koneczny i Giertych, czyli przyczynek do trwałości mitologii narodowej
(Concepts by Koneczny and Giertych and their contribution to the durability of national mythology)

  • Author(s):Marek Nikodem Jakubowski
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):Culture and social structure , History and theory of sociology
  • Page Range:245-259
  • No. of Pages:15
  • Keywords:historiosophy;Feliks Koneczny;theory of civilizations;catastrophism;latin civilization;Maciej Giertych
  • Summary/Abstract:This paper does not aim to pesent an outline of Feliks Koneczny’s (undoubtly interesting) theory of civilizations but rather tries to show the dangers of an attempt to update it while ignoring the historical context In which it arose. This attempt to popularize Koneczny’s thought throughout the world must have proved counterproductive.
Powieść pokoleniowa w służbie rozliczenia z historią. Emigracja, ucieczka i wypędzenie w literaturze niemieckiej po 2000 roku

Powieść pokoleniowa w służbie rozliczenia z historią. Emigracja, ucieczka i wypędzenie w literaturze niemieckiej po 2000 roku
(Generational novel in the service of settling scores with history. Emigration, escape and expulsion in German literature after 2000)

  • Author(s):Joanna Jabłkowska
  • Language:Polish
  • Subject(s):German Literature
  • Page Range:261-280
  • No. of Pages:20
  • Keywords:generational novel;forced emigration;communicative memory;Reinhard Jirgl;Ulrike Draesner;Ursula Krechel
  • Summary/Abstract:Generational novel has been popular in German literature for about twenty years. This popularity can be explained by the need sum up the communicative memory comprising the traumatic events of the twentieth century that is coming to a close. This paper shows the specificity of the most recent generational novels, taking as examples Reinhard Jirgl’s Die Unvollendeten, Ulrike Draesner’s Sieben Sprünge vom Rand der Welt and Ursula Krechel’s Landgericht. The works are representative of the group but exceptional too, since they raise problems which until recently were taboo in the public discourse. Their leitmotif is forced emigration. Their characters are the descendants of both victims of war and (German) victims of expulsion, i.e., two antagonistic memory groups. One of the aims of the paper is to show the divergences in the experiences of the two groups, even though those divergences become gradually obliterated in the texts written from the twenty first century perspective.
Liberalismus oder Republikanismus bei Kant?

Liberalismus oder Republikanismus bei Kant?
(Liberalism or republicanism by Kant?)

  • Author(s):Christoph Horn
  • Language:German
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy
  • Page Range:283-300
  • No. of Pages:18
  • Keywords:Kant’s political philosophy;liberalism; republicanism;human rights;indivualism
  • Summary/Abstract:Should we assign Kant’s political philosophy rather to the tradition of liberalism or to that of republicanism? Prima facie one might think that liberalism must be the right classification since Kant emphasizes, in his Doctrine of Right, the original, innate right to freedom. Many interpreters believe that he, thereby, wants to express the primacy of human rights. In this article, however, I argue that Kant’s political philosophy should be seen as a combination of elements taken from liberalism as well as from republicanism. It holds even true that the more fundamental aspects are derived from the tradition of republicanism. If we look at ancient and early modern forms of republicanism, we see that the peculiar way in which Kant formulates his normative individualism mirrors his preference for the republican tradition.
Die Moral der Exekutive. Das Charisma der guten Politik und eine ‚Fichteanische‘ Gefährdung im modernen Institutionenstaat

Die Moral der Exekutive. Das Charisma der guten Politik und eine ‚Fichteanische‘ Gefährdung im modernen Institutionenstaat
(Morality of the executive power. The charisma of good politics and the ‘fichtean’ threat in the modern institution state)

  • Author(s):Rainer Adolphi
  • Language:German
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy
  • Page Range:301-329
  • No. of Pages:29
  • Keywords:justice and law;cultural idea of the political;Fichte;moralization of law;absolutization of the executive branch;decisionism;legal positivism
  • Summary/Abstract:As a structural problem of the normative dimension of contemporary societies, the article shows that increasing real justice deficits go hand in hand with high political expectations of ‘justice’, while on the other hand the achievements of the law are often no longer sufficiently valued. This has a background in a certain way in which modern moral and political spheres have diverged, for which the theoretical significance can be illustrated with Johann G. Fichte. Fichte had tried to renew once again the Western cul¬tural idea of the political with maximum moralization – and for this very reason ended up having massive gaps in relation to concrete questions of justice. Today’s mental constellation can be described as ‘inverse Fichteanism’. There is a threat of – especially in the institutional state – a general moralization of all correlations, and above all a (moral) general empowerment of politics (absolutizing the executive). This development stands at the end of an erosion that took place during the 20th century, and which was reflected in the great theoretical positions of decisionism and, on the other hand, of legal positivism.
Verfassungsgesetzgebung als historisches Ereignis der Verkörperung von Vernunft. Zur Verbindung von Demokratie Und menschenrechten

Verfassungsgesetzgebung als historisches Ereignis der Verkörperung von Vernunft. Zur Verbindung von Demokratie Und menschenrechten
(Constitutional legislation as a historical situation of the embodiment of reason. On the relation between democracy and human rights)

  • Author(s):Georg Lohmann
  • Language:German
  • Subject(s):Philosophy
  • Page Range:331-348
  • No. of Pages:18
  • Keywords:“Embodiment of reason”;Julius Froebel;constitution-making;general formation of opinion and will;human rights;capitalism;de-democratization;egalitarian universal morality
  • Summary/Abstract:Based on three open questions, which Habermas poses at the end of his two-volume book "Also a History of Philosophy", the national constitution-making of a people is reconstructed as an answer to the first question, following Julius Froebel. Already the elements of a public opinion formation answer the third question, in which the constitution-making can already establish the egalitarian universalism of the human rights, which then become constituted basic and human rights in the general will-making. However, the open questions and ambivalent solutions of the national constitutional formulations, such as the promotion of capitalist economy or political de-democratizations, make it clear that the answer to the second question in international human rights must remain open and require morally unbound efforts.
„Actio libera in se" und „actio libera in (sua) causa" im Strafrecht und bei supererogatorischem Verhalten

„Actio libera in se" und „actio libera in (sua) causa" im Strafrecht und bei supererogatorischem Verhalten
(Actio libera in se and actio libera in (sua) causa in criminal law and supererogatory behaviour)

  • Author(s):Jan C. Joerden
  • Language:German
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy
  • Page Range:349-374
  • No. of Pages:26
  • Keywords:actio libera in causa;Imputation;Criminal Law;Supererogation
  • Summary/Abstract:This article deals with the phenomenon of the actio libera in causa. With this expression traditionally those case constellations in law and ethics are denoted in which a person commits an act in a state of mental incapacity, but is responsible for this state himself. For example, in a case in which A kills B while A is completely drunk, and cannot be held responsible for killing because he is completely drunk (see Sec. 20 of the German Criminal Code). It is now questionable whether one can still hold A accountable for killing B, considering that he himself freely brought about his own state of full drunkenness. In this context represented models of imputation in criminal law will be discussed. Furthermore, examples from the area of supererogatory action are used, in order to indicate which model of imputation should be preferred in criminal law cases of actio libera in causa.
Neurobiologie und Willensfreiheit

Neurobiologie und Willensfreiheit
(Neurobiology and freedom of will)

  • Author(s):Manfred Stöckler
  • Language:German
  • Subject(s):Philosophy
  • Page Range:375-392
  • No. of Pages:18
  • Keywords:Consciousness;determinism;decision; reasons and causes;Libet experiments;action;naturalism;neurobiology;free will
  • Summary/Abstract:“Neuroscience shows that free will is an illusion” is what we hear from some prominent neurobiologists. Most philosophers, on the other hand, defend free will, albeit with different arguments. The core of the dispute consists of two different intuitions that seem to be in irreconcilable contradiction. On the one hand, the results of the natural sciences argue that all bodily movements (including our actions) follow the immutable laws of nature. In addition, a much-discussed experiment by Benjamin Libet seems to show that our supposedly free decisions are already made before we become aware of the decision-making process. On the other hand, there is the everyday experience that we (at least when we are not in prison or suffering from mental limitations) can act according to our will, that what we do is in accordance with our intentions and that we can consider and change these intentions and desires. This ability is also a prerequisite for us to be able to attribute responsibility to ourselves and others for the respective actions. In my paper, I try to show that natural determinism and free will are indeed compatible if we carefully analyse what we actually mean by free will. Neurobiology cannot take this clarification away from philosophy.
Altruismus und Moral

Altruismus und Moral
(Altrusim and morals)

  • Author(s):Winfried Franzen
  • Language:German
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy
  • Page Range:393-413
  • No. of Pages:21
  • Keywords:morals;altruism;nature and culture
  • Summary/Abstract:Concerning the relation between altruism and morals there are not only disputes about how to conceptualize altruism, but even arguments that something like genuine altruism does not exist at all. Questions and arguments of this type will be analyzed. Furthermore it is argued that all moral reasoning has to be based on the prerequite of a certain – at least partly natural – protoaltruism. At the same time, however, it has to be taken into accont that there are more things involved in morals than mere altruism. Included are some aspects from evolutionary psychology and anthropology.
Philosophie ‒ Ethnologie ‒ Translation. Über den Umgang mit kultureller Differenz

Philosophie ‒ Ethnologie ‒ Translation. Über den Umgang mit kultureller Differenz
(Philosophy – ethnology – translation. On dealing with cultural differences)

  • Author(s):Matthias Kaufmann
  • Language:German
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Culture and social structure
  • Page Range:415-428
  • No. of Pages:14
  • Keywords:Social anthropology;philosophy;Claude Lévi-Strauss;Ludwig Wittgenstein;translation as the migration of objectified ideas
  • Summary/Abstract:There has been a long-standing connection between social anthropology and philosophy, not only because Claude Lévi-Strauss named Rousseau as the “father” of his discipline. This connection had essentially critical components insofar as the epistemological and moral premises of social anthropology were called into doubt by philosophers raising questions concerning the understanding of other cultures and their denunciation as “primitive”. On the other hand, this ongoing debate also revealed the Eurocentrism of large parts of “Western” philosophical tradition. Wittgenstein and thinkers inspired by him played an important role in revealing hidden premises and presuppositions in dealing with non-European traditions in authors such as James Frazer, but also in anthropological “classics” such as Evans-Pritchard. “Corrections” made in the anthropological discussion, which led to conceptions such as “multiple ontologies”, could have benefited from partly parallel philosophical reflections - and vice versa. Through the concept of translation, understood as the migration of objectified ideas, common elements and differences between cultures can be grasped on the basis of their integration into the various webs of belief and, among other things, the possibilities and limits of science can be evaluated in comparison to other methods of dealing with the world.
Diversität verpflichtet. Medizin in einer pluralistischen Gesellschaft

Diversität verpflichtet. Medizin in einer pluralistischen Gesellschaft
(Diversity mandatory. Medicine in a pluralistic society)

  • Author(s):Florian Steger, Marcin Orzechowski
  • Language:German
  • Subject(s):Social Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
  • Page Range:429-444
  • No. of Pages:16
  • Keywords:social and cultural diversity;medicine;ethics;religious motivated circumcision;transsexuality
  • Summary/Abstract:The increasing social and cultural diversity of modern society leads to important ethical challenges. A special area of tension arises when the concepts of individual freedom of choice and pluralistic social order have to be reconciled with the obligations of medicine in the sense of responsible and caring action. Based on the examples of religious motivated circumcision and transsexuality, the authors analyze the confrontations between the needs of the patients and the ethical principles of modern medicine. In this, apparent becomes the special role that doctors play in weighing the values of a pluralistic social order on the one hand and the principles of self- determination, non-harm, benevolence and social justice on the other hand. Doctors and healthcare professionals should have the appropriate skills to be able to perceive existing religious or gender-specific differences and individual circumstances and to integrate these into their decisions and actions.
Kafkaeske Schuld – Existentielle Schuld und Gastrecht im Ausgang von Kafkas Roman „Das Schloss"

Kafkaeske Schuld – Existentielle Schuld und Gastrecht im Ausgang von Kafkas Roman „Das Schloss"
(Kafkaesque guilt – existential guilt and the law of hospitality on the basis of Kafka’s novel das schloss)

  • Author(s):Stephan Grätzel
  • Language:German
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy
  • Page Range:445-458
  • No. of Pages:14
  • Keywords:Paul Ricoeur;Franz Kafka;existential guilt
  • Summary/Abstract:Based on Paul Ricoeur’s ideas, the paper presents the “Kafkaesque guilt” as a modern, unconscious and diffused form of existential guilt, in which we owe our existence to others and therefore we are guilty of it. Existential guilt as mutual indebtedness manifests itself fundamentally in the right to hospitality. One can deal with it only in a narrative. The guilt for breaking the law of hospitality becomes clear in Kafka’s novel Das Schloss.
Sind Wir Sisyphi? Überlegungen zum Sinn des Lebens

Sind Wir Sisyphi? Überlegungen zum Sinn des Lebens
(Are we Sisyphi? Reflections on the meaning of life)

  • Author(s):Aldona Pobojewska
  • Language:German
  • Subject(s):Philosophy
  • Page Range:459-476
  • No. of Pages:18
  • Keywords:The meaning of life;absolute; immortality;existence;pleasure;the myth of Sisyphus
  • Summary/Abstract:We are now more often than ever contemplating existential problems. In this text I present some reflections related to the issue in the title. I do it in two steps. First, I consider from which perspective one can reasonably and effectively adjudicate about the meaning of an individual's life. Next, I illustrate this problem by presenting several concepts that refer to the mythological fate of Sisyphus. I precede the text with an introduction and close with an ending.
Adversus calumniatores medii aevi. How the Middle Ages Paved Way for Modern Age

Adversus calumniatores medii aevi. How the Middle Ages Paved Way for Modern Age
(Adversus calumniatores medii aevi. How the Middle Ages Paved Way for Modern Age)

  • Author(s):Marek Gensler
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, History of Philosophy
  • Page Range:479-489
  • No. of Pages:11
  • Keywords:medieval history;medieval philosophy;medieval science;medieval universities
  • Summary/Abstract:The popular opinion sees Middle Ages as a “bad” period holding that it was a time of regress in civilisation and that it was characterized by exaggerated interest in religious or theological issues leading to a neglect of all other aspects of human existence. The two claims are refuted with arguments taken from history of civilisation and science, as well as from history of political doctrines and history of universities.
God and Religion of the Enlightened Man According to Kant

God and Religion of the Enlightened Man According to Kant
(God and Religion of the Enlightened Man According to Kant)

  • Author(s):Ryszard Panasiuk
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Philosophy
  • Page Range:491-501
  • No. of Pages:11
  • Keywords:Enlightenment;God;Kant;metaphysics;religion
  • Summary/Abstract:Having revealed an illusion of man’s cognitive efforts, Kant sealed the progress of enlightenment inscribed into a historical process, with a deep conviction that an ancient Greek prescription to „know thyself” was finally fulfilled. A man became aware of being equipped with a mind, and accordingly, with freedom as well as the ability to act morally, still of remaining a finite natural being with cognitive skills limited. This critical self-knowledge of an enlightened man relieved him of his nonage to open his eyes for a new vision of both the world and a man himself regarded as a self-conscious subject and active creator of his fate. The character and ontological status of religious beliefs the enlightened man confesses are in fact defined by the famous Kantian formula: as if (als ob.) Driven by moral reasons, they are distinguished with a rationality for which a fundamental value is the Highest Good, purely rationalistic construction, a kind of God thought to be an essential being and a ration for existence of the phenomenal world.
The Antinomies of Practical Reason

The Antinomies of Practical Reason
(The Antinomies of Practical Reason)

  • Author(s):Paul Guyer
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy
  • Page Range:503-526
  • No. of Pages:24
  • Keywords:Kant;antinomy;practical reason;determinism;freedom;fact of reason;highest good;apperception;transcendental idealism
  • Summary/Abstract:The official antinomy in the Transcendental Dialectic of the Critique of Practical Reason concerns the highest good. But the entire Transcendental Analytic of the first half of the Critique also concerns an antinomy, namely the antinomy between freedom and determinism that was the topic of the third antinomy of the Critique of Pure Reason. These facts raise two questions: what does the treatment of freedom and determinism in the second Critique add to that of the first? And how does transcendental idealism, which is supposed to be the key to the resolution of all antinomies for Kant, play into his solution to the question of the highest good? I argue that we need to look to Kant’s previous works, especially Section III of the Groundwork, to answer the first question, and to his subsequent works, especially the Critique of the Power of Judgment, to answer the second: the second Critique clarifies that we do have a certain kind of insight through pure reason into our noumenal will, and clarifies that the postulate of pure practical reason of the existence of God as the ground of the possibility of the highest good has to be understood through transcendental idealism.
A Civic Ethics in Kant?

A Civic Ethics in Kant?
(A Civic Ethics in Kant?)

  • Author(s):Alessandro Pinzani
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Philosophy
  • Page Range:527-541
  • No. of Pages:15
  • Keywords:Doctrine of method;schematism;republicanism;civic virtues
  • Summary/Abstract:The paper analyzes the “Doctrine of the method” of the Critique of Practical Reason, and uses the findings to investigate the possibility of juridical morality and political virtues in Kant. With respect to the first task, we shall discuss the pages that precede the “Doctrine of the method” and introduce the notion of a moral schematism analogous to the transcendental one in the Critique of Pure Reason. To discuss the possibility of civic ethics in Kant, we shall consider differences and similarities between his doctrine of law and his ethics.
The Application of Metaphysical Principles to the Empirical World. A Brief Reconstruction of the Core of Kant’s Doctrine of Right

The Application of Metaphysical Principles to the Empirical World. A Brief Reconstruction of the Core of Kant’s Doctrine of Right
(The Application of Metaphysical Principles to the Empirical World. A Brief Reconstruction of the Core of Kant’s Doctrine of Right)

  • Author(s):Ewa Wyrębska-Ðermanović
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Philosophy
  • Page Range:543-559
  • No. of Pages:17
  • Keywords:Kant’s political philosophy;Kant’s legal philosophy;innate right;private right;public right
  • Summary/Abstract:The rediscovery of Kant’s Doctrine of Right resulted in many attempts to apply Kant’s position to current affairs. This research often faces the problem of defining clear borders of what in Kant’s texts needs to be considered as rational core of his theory and what is merely a theoretically less significant consequence of particular political situation of 18th century. My claim is that in order to be able to adequately apply Kant’s ideas and concepts to the 21st century problems, the process of application of his rational principles to the world of experience must be reconstructed. This will not only bring about the core structure of right but may also determine which elements of Kant’s legal theory are contingent to changing empirical data. I recognise two levels of Kant’s application of the rational principles to human condition, which consecutively determine the rational core of right and secondary structural divisions that emerge from contingent data about political history of mankind. The aim of the article is to investigate the fundamental steps of Kant’s application on the first level, in order to reconstruct the rational core of his legal theory. In the first step I analyse the universal principle of right in order to clarify Kant’s concept of a right. Further, I investigate the axiom of external freedom, which, in conjunction with human condition generates the necessity of using external objects of choice and therefore grounds the emergence of acquired rights. Nevertheless, these rights, as particular legal titles that limit the freedom of others, cannot be reconciled with universal freedom in the state of nature. Therefore, from the establishment of innate and acquired right, there arises the necessity of public right and entering the civil condition.
Some Problematic Philosophical Implications of the Thomas Theorem

Some Problematic Philosophical Implications of the Thomas Theorem
(Some Problematic Philosophical Implications of the Thomas Theorem)

  • Author(s):Dariusz Aleksandrowicz
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, History of Philosophy
  • Page Range:561-593
  • No. of Pages:33
  • Keywords:Thomas theorem;situation;environment;behavior;interactions
  • Summary/Abstract:Despite of its wide recognition in the social sciences, the Thomas theorem lacks clarity and finds its expression in diverging statements. A sound core of the theorem is blurred by notions these statements consist of. They include untenable ontology and episte¬mology along with a flawed claim concerning the peculiarity of the human world.
The Idea of a Global History of Philosophy

The Idea of a Global History of Philosophy
(The Idea of a Global History of Philosophy)

  • Author(s):Gunnar Skirbekk
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Philosophy
  • Page Range:595-604
  • No. of Pages:10
  • Keywords:philosophy;history of philosophy;a global history of philosophy;situated and argumentative;a history of global modernizati
  • Summary/Abstract:In this paper I assume, by definition, that philosophers are arguing, first and foremost concerning their own validity claims, but now and then also concerning claims or presuppositions presented by other thinkers, and also concerning validity claims raised by scientists and scholars in different fields, or concerning political ideologies or religious claims, or concerning major events and challenges in societies. Hence, a history of philosophy should be situated and argumentative: both socio-historically situated, and argumentative, taking various validity claims seriously. Hence, we could learn something from these thinkers, and not merely about them. Moreover, for a history of philosophy global, in our time, it should be brought up to our present situation, epistemically and otherwise. If so, the idea of a global history of philosophy, conceived in this way, tends to become a history of global modernization – certainly, each time with its short-comings and special selections.
Challenging Habermas’ Practical Discourse to Justify the Rights of Animals

Challenging Habermas’ Practical Discourse to Justify the Rights of Animals
(Challenging Habermas’ Practical Discourse to Justify the Rights of Animals)

  • Author(s):Ewa Nowak, Kinga Ciereszko, Alicja Dłużewicz, Karolina Napiwodzka
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Philosophy, Ethics / Practical Philosophy
  • Page Range:605-626
  • No. of Pages:22
  • Keywords:animal rights;justifying the animal rights;challenging discourse ethics;practical discourse revised;animals and humans;J. Habermas
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