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The article is dedicated to the reflexions on the manner, in which the opinions formed by Jozef Ignacy Kraszewski in his statements concerning his writing path and the desired development directions of his literary career that date back to the 30s of the 20th century correspond with the first novels of this author that were created at the preliminary stages of Romantic tendencies taking shape in the national prose fiction. The main focus of the article are Mister Walery and Big World of a Small Town whose literary profile delineated by the autothematic comments as well, was confronted with the critical reflection of the author included in such article as A Quick Look at the Path I Took (1832) or On Polish Novelists (1836).
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This research paper draws upon English novelist George Orwell’s observations on human proclivities toward struggle and self-sacrifice, as seen in his criticism of “Mein Kampf”, and uses them to explore the complex nature of political extremism. By analyzing the evolution of the political narrative since the 1970s, from economic to cultural issues, it investigates the foundations of extreme nationalism within contemporary liberal democracies. In order to show the features and motives of this phenomenon, the study observes several European far-right groups through the lens of extreme nationalism, uncovering similar themes of anti-globalization, immigration, and European Union views. It delves further into the examination of human beings by taking a closer look at the way culture shaped our development as a species and the fundamental urge for identification and belonging, providing insights into the psychological underpinnings of extreme beliefs and behavior. It also looks at the foundations of group violence, discussing it as a morally motivated behavior meant to maintain and preserve social ties and the concept of struggle as behavioral mechanisms exploited by extreme nationalists. To thoroughly assess the validity of Orwell’s ideas, the research combines the theoretical framework with a case study of the contemporary tendencies towards extremism in the U.S. political system. The analysis leads to the conclusion that George Orwell’s findings that the attractiveness of political extremism has its roots in basic features of human nature are still applicable in modern democratic societies.
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The aim of the present article is to analyze the poetry of Xenophanes of Colophon concerning his epistemological considerations with the notion of god proposed by him. Traditionally, Xenophanes is well known as a philosopher engaged in the debate on the meaningfulness of mythological ideas. At the same time, he advocates the concept of god, which is different from pictures transmitted through The Greek epic. It shall be shown how the theological approach of the Colophonian finds its justification in his remarks on cognitive abilities, especially in creatively used opposition between human and divine knowledge. Recently indicated, the connection between Xenophanes’ theology and his epistemological theses is not exhausted in the critique of religious anthropomorphism but is more profound, and based on the awareness of the impossibility of clear knowledge (saphes) for a human being. The latter is, however attributed to god alone, who gains the knowledge in the manner of synesthesia.
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The essay presents two ideas. First, the philosophical-aesthetic category of the dystopian-utopian is the basis of the literary-philosophical genre of dystopia-utopia in classical socio-political works. And second, it outlines some features of the genres dystopia-utopia and dystopia. The first idea is derived from European critical philosophy. The second is based on Plato, mostly on the Republic, a work that serves as a starting point for the analysis of the dystopia-utopia and dystopia genres. Classical and more recent works, some of which have not been examined as dystopia-utopia, illustrate these theoretical ideas. The essay pays particular attention to the novels Resurrection by Tolstoy and Bend Sinister by Nabokov.
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"The HeartMath Tree Rhythm project is a citizen science interconnectivity initiative. Interconnectivity refers to the hypothesis that all life forms are interconnected via intersecting magnetic energy fields. HeartMath tree rhythm research complements the HeartMath Global Coherence Initiative (GCI) and Global Consciousness Project (GCI). Related websites are as follows: https://treerhythms.net/ https://www.heartmath.org/gci/gcms/live-data/ and https://gcp2.netThe present contribution employs a narrative methodology to introduce the iBhubesi Tree Rhythm project at Umhlanga Rocks South Africa. The isiZulu term “iBhubesi” denotes an African lion. Ubuntu connotes humanity. Its deeper meaning is that we only become human through others (umuntu umuntu ngabantu), especially, ancestors, family and friends. African dialogue is epitomized by respectful greeting and openness in human relationships. Umhlanga Rocks iBhubhesi Mango has a unique ecological ancestry and eco-spiritual story. Mango trees are originally indigenous to India, its people and continent. They are also connected to everything else - nature, people, continents, planets and cosmos. The following contribution intends to unpack some universal, differential and unique aspects of this interconnectedness. "
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Book review: Калин Михайлов. Християнство и литература. Фигури на (не)благородното. София, УИ „Св. Климент Охридски“, 2023, ISBN: 978-954-07-5726-1.[Kalin Mikhaïlov. Christianisme et littérature. Figures du noble et de l’ignoble. Éd. de l’Université de Sofia, 2023, ISBN : 978-954-07-5726-1 ; Christianity and Literature. Figures of the (Ig)Noble.]
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In the modern world, the understanding of philosophy as an abstract, speculative and impractical pursuit has led to its dismissal by many people as a useless field of knowledge. However, throughout history, philosophy has consistently addressed fundamental concerns related to human existence and to the world of living. On the other hand, today’s organizations grapple with concerns similar to fundamental philosophical issues. They involve ethical conduct, ethical leadership, and well-being. Thus, philosophizing may pave the way for the solution of problems related to these topics within modern organizations. In this context, philosophical counselling may be a useful perspective that organizations should benefit from. It may be integrated into many management and human resource practices to harness the power of philosophy for dealing with ethical and ontological problems of employees. For this purpose, this study aims to review the literature on philosophical counselling and to explore how leadership development and employee well-being programmes increase the power of philosophical counselling. Based on the review, propositions for integrating philosophical counselling into organizations as an employee assistance service is discussed.
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With the assumption that the work of the intellectual Uroš Milanković (1800–1849) can be marked as pioneering in terms of the beginning of the evolutionist idea within Serbian philosophical and sociological heritage, the paper analyses the overall influences of evolutionism as a theory. Besides explaining general characteristic of evolutionism and comparing Milanković’s historical appearance in that context, the article also points to the interdependence of the formation of evolutionist tendencies and their reflections on society. In this manner, the research not only reexamines Milanković’s individual work and confirms the perception of him as a herald of evolutionism in Serbian culture, but it also uses the interdisciplinary approach which includes the analysis of Milanković’s writings and comparison with other theoreticians, giving a more complex assessment of the development of evolutionism in this era
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The present article traces the three main cults of Ancient China, presenting the latest findings and research related to the cult of fertility, the Chinese ancestor veneration, the cult of gods and the sacred animals through the Neolithic times, Xia and Shang dynasty.
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The autonomy of art does not mean that from the Renaissance onwards there was a period in which art depended only on itself and on nothing else. Artists did break away from the traditional spheres of mythology, religion, and courtly canons, but they consistently and explicitly inscribed their works within the freer and broader objective structures of social communication, from immediate interpersonal communication all the way to the various forms of mass communication. Art takes on a new, completely free publicity that emphasizes the highly marketable and communicative character of the artwork and the mass character of its audience. Under the influence and support of different and even contradictory audiences, art is constantly changing its artistic form and social meaning. Considered in this way, autonomy represents a constantly changing form of socialization of art that also reaches very high, unique, and autonomous degrees of individualization of the artistic process. Within this process, the artist is now more subject to norms and rules that he freely and unconstrainedly chooses for himself and which he imposes on his imagination. But the specific characteristics of this free art must also be seen and understood as internal ciphers of a hidden external social context.
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The article analyzes the hypermental unconscious during the latter half of the 20th and early 21st centuries.
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The philosophical starting point of the collective work "Pražské jaro: Logika nového světa. Od reforem k revoluci" [Prague Spring: The Logic of the New World. From Reform to Revolution], edited by philosopher Michael Hauser, is, according to the reviewer, the conviction in the real potential for development of historical alternatives that did not materialize. It is through this lens that the five authors (three philosophers, a sociologist and a legal historian) view the phenomenon of the Prague Spring of 1968 and explore some of its aspects. In a way, they follow the debate between the writers Václav Havel and Milan Kundera from the late 1960s, the core of which was the question of the peculiar possibilities of socialism in relation to th etraditional model of liberal democracy, linked to capitalism. The authors develop the ideological line of Kundera’s “pro-socialist” position, and the reviewer comments on the individual chapters, which deal with the “second life” of the Prague Spring, the social dynamics of the so-called revival process, the workers’ councils between 1968 and 1970, the transformation of the Czechoslovak legal system in the 1960s, and the contemporary role of interdisciplinary expert teams in relation to political leadership and citizen initiatives. The last chapter sharply criticizes the direction of Czechoslovak, or rather Czech, socio-economic transformation after November 1989, which, according to the author, through the significant contribution of Václav Klaus and Václav Havel in “building capitalism”, blocked alternative possibilities of development and, with the ideological legacy of the Prague Spring, rejected all left-wing concepts. The authors see the main lasting inspiration of the Prague Spring in the idea of workers’ councils. The emphasis on their direct participationin the management of the economy goes beyond the current social model.
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In the text, the humanities are understood as the only realistic counterbalance, but also resistance to the dominance of instrumental mind. Devaluation and marginalization of the humanities herald cultural regression and cultural autism of individuals. The humanities are treated as an important project for the formation of sensitivity, social integration, but also emancipation, the creation of a common universe that protects society from atomization. The humanities makes us realize that despite its focus on pragmatism and efficiency, the most important thing always is and has to be the human being. Although it can sometimes be inconclusive, although it leaves many things open, uncompleted, this is where its strength lies, breaking us out of certainties, breaking the hegemonic discourse of what is oppressive, speaking up for the human being.
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In the article, referring to the common experiences related to the pandemic, I reflect on the meaning of texts read in the “times of plague.” I ask the question, to what extent and what kind of reading helps to understand the traumatic events experienced by people (affecting the physical and mental state), what readers are looking for in novels, memoirs and journals concerning mass diseases, for example, plague and cholera. The review and analysis of these themes in selected works is accompanied by a question about the metaphorical meaning of the epidemic, symbolizing the diseases of civilization, such as: consumerism, materialism, thoughtless exploitation of natural goods, destruction of the environment, or, in general, the evil accumulating in subsequent wars. An important theme is also the one relating to the connection between eroticism with the plague–a trail important in T. Mann’s Śmierć w Wenecji and in G. G. Márquez’s Love in the Time of the Plague. Both fictional works, such as the novels mentioned above, as well as records of witnesses of history depicting the war as a plague, or referring, like S. Márai, to the journalistic style in describing the course of cholera in Italy, may inspire an attempt to answer the question to what extent readings describing the time of human trials in a situation of endangered humanistic values may be a signpost for future generations not necessarily feeling well in a culture without books.
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The article presents the problem of the tension arising between academic creativity and non-academic experiences of scholars. The individual subsections consist of approximations of expressive cases of scholarly auto/biographies that fall into the category of “consciously halved”– researchers whose works are situated at the intersection of what is personal with what is academic, giving it a specific cognitive tenor. The perspective adopted in the considerations is contained in the horizon of reflexive thinking, enabling the cultivation of hermeneutics of the Self in the area of “new humanities” as starting (and ending) with lived experiences of active human agents.
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Referring to researchers who emphasize the Anthropocene aspect of modernity, I put forward a thesis on the need for a posthumanist pedagogical imagination, which I understand with reference to the sociological imagination of C. W. Mills and the ontological imagination of A. W. Nowak as an openness to the complexity of the world and questioning the accepted pedagogical settlements on ontology, methodology and axiology. Pedagogical imagination is an openness to the complex relations between humans and non-humans (R. Braidotti, D. Haraway, B. Latour, J. Law). Within its framework, questions are raised about the basic educational actors of the collective and what they can do for the common world. Pedagogical imagination is combined with the demand to constantly transcend the established horizons of what is pedagogical/humanistic.
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If therapeutic discourse is the horizon of contemporary culture and the ideological underpinning of neoliberalism, then the present crisis requires transcending this horizon. The article examines the historical and political dimensions of the therapeutic dominant of contemporary culture. The first part presents the model of subjectivity implicit in therapy culture, the expansion of psychology as a narrative and cognitive paradigm, and two rival political orientations in critique of therapy culture. The second part looks at historical sources of the therapeutic mode and its subsequent transformations. The third part examines the entanglement of therapy culture in neoliberalism, its role in responsibilisation of the subject, pathologization of poverty, and privatisation of stress. The conclusions look at responses to such critique coming from therapists themselves.
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