"Istotna tożsamość physis i techne" - Heidegger i problem artefaktu w ekofilozofii

Author(s): Magdalena Holy-Luczaj / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 20/2014

Celem artykułu jest pokazanie, że nowy trend w ekofilozofii, jakim jest próba włączenia artefaktów w zakres jej rozważań etycznych, może znaleźć wsparcie w filozofii Martina Heideggera. Artykuł skupia się na następujących założeniach ontologicznych filozofii Heideggera: odrzuceniu idei „drabiny bytu” (koncepcji hierarchii metafizycznej oraz rozszerzeniu jej spektrum), jedności physis i techne oraz nieodłączności jednostkowości i współzależności bytów. Te założenia prowadzą Heideggera do stworzenia koncepcji „właściwego używania”, która może stanowić podstawę dla ekologicznego ethosu obejmującego byty naturalne oraz artefakty.

"Projekt matematyczny" a idea "przewrotu kopernikańskiego" w filozofii Immanuela Kanta

Author(s): Tomasz Kups / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 20/2014

Jose Ortega y Gasset (w eseju Wokół Galileusza) oraz Martin Heidegger (w rozprawie Pytanie o rzecz) sformułowali wykładnię źródeł nowożytnej nauki i nowej postawy badawczej. Obu filozofów odkrycie nowej metody w przyrodoznawstwie przypisało Galileuszowi. Uzyskiwanie wiedzy naukowej o przyrodzie przybiera w nowożytności (w XVII i XVIII w.) charakterystyczną formę „projektu matematycznego”. Nowy sposób „tworzenia” praw, zastępujący dotychczasowy „opis” faktów, jest wyraźnie podkreślany przez obu współczesnych filozofów. Analogiczny sposób rozumienia przyrodoznawstwa został jednak sformułowany wcześniej przez Immanuela Kanta i po praz pierwszy wyrażony w postaci metafory „przewrotu kopernikańskiego” w przedmowie do drugiego wydania Krytyki czystego rozumu. Artykuł jest próba zestawienia tych dwóch spojrzeń na istotę nowożytnego przewrotu w przyrodoznawstwie.

"Wtedy zaczął się mój upadek...". Egzystencjalne dylematy bohaterów Józefa Conrada i Alberta Camusa

Author(s): Irena Jokiel / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 3/2014

The article uses the notion of 'border' in the interpretation of psychological and ethical themes in "Lord Jim" by J. Conrad and "The Fall" by A. Camus. The heroes of these novels realise that they had made bad use of their freedom , and the moment in which this happened had marked their lives irrevocably, and divided it into zones of rise and fall. After this moment nothing would be as it used to. Throughout the centuries literature has developed language to express the fundamental experience of this kind; it tells the stories of people experiencing the traumatic force of a demarcation moment, which after passing, leaves no posibility of returning to the life before; it creates alternative worlds inhabited by people who seek the truth about their "I", it constructs situations that embodies our anxiety resulting from the fact that man is not "redy and finished", and in the flowing "here and now" he does deeds which shape his destiny. "The Fall" indirectly includes the question of attitude of modern world towards Condrad's ethos.

(Nie)obiektywna podmiotowość

Author(s): Piotr Piotrowski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 36/2016

In this article, I analyze the issue of subjectivity in the form in which it appears in Charles Taylor’s and Richard Rorty’s writings. Positions of these philosophers are generally regarded as contradictory. I will, however, argued that the position on subjectivity represented by Rorty finds its complementation in Taylor’s concept. To do this, I will show firstly that both Rorty and Taylor use the category of contingency, presenting some common thesis about subjectivity. This way I will show that the location of the category of subjectivity and the scope of its use in each of them concept is closely related to the understanding of objectivity accepted by each of them. This will allow then to reconstruct the concept of subjectivity presented by Taylor and Rorty. Next, in the conclusion, I will present such a summary of those two standpoints, which will include justification of the thesis of their complementarity.

20th Cracow Methodological Conference: Philosophy in Science

Author(s): Piotr Urbanczyk / Language(s): English / Issue: 61/2016

The 20th Cracow Methodological Conference took place on May 30-31, 2016, at the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Kraków. The meeting brought together physicists, cosmologists, mathematicians and philosophers interested in research program called philosophy in science started and popularized by Michał Heller. It is worth noting that the 20th Cracow Methodological Conference was dedicated to Professor Heller and can be considered as a contribution to the celebration of the 80th anniversary of his birthday.

A Comparative Study of "Godmanhood" (bogochelovechestvo) in Russian Philosophy. The Eighth Day in V. Solovëv, S. Bulgakov, N. Berdiaev, and S. Frank

Author(s): Katharina A. Breckner / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2013

A criterion for realism, with an application to behavioral economic models

Author(s): Gustavo Marques,Diego Weisman / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2015

Many economists working within the framework of behavioral economics (BE) label the conventional way of modeling as unrealistic, and consider their own approach as more realistic than the standard practice. However, a criterion for realism is lacking in behavioral economics literature. This paper offers a simple criterion for predicating realism to economic models, and provides an illustration of such criterion at work on a particular BE model.

A Different Take on Humanities

Author(s): Wlodzimierz Bolecki / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2015

The foreword to this issue focuses on the core functional differences between the humanities and hard sciences (i.e. different approaches to such phenomena as language, translation, teamwork, writing, discipline.s history, publishing, tradition, innovation). Yet, this dichotomy is questioned in the conlusion. The author argues that whenever human artifacts are at stake, both the humanites and experimental sciences are equally hard, because they inquire the same matter, ie. how the products of human cognitive activities were created and what are their social functions. Therefore, the author calls for a new model for interdisciplinary studies.

A funkcionalizmus limitációi

Author(s): Levente Papp / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 06/2016

n this study I give a very brief overview of the general theory of functionalism and a particular interpretation of it, which is related to the views of David Chalmers. I consider some of the main objections to functionalism, and then I focus on one of them, namely the critique according to which functionalism leaves out from its account the subjective, qualitative, phenomenal side of the mind. Interestingly enough, Chalmers agrees on this point about this weakness of functionalism, although he still accepts it, thinking that, although this theory cannot be the whole story about the mind, it can quite successfully account for the so-called functional or psychological mind, which can be investigated independently of its phenomenal aspect.

A Holistic Understanding of Death: Ontological and Medical Considerations

Author(s): Doyen Nguyen / Language(s): English / Issue: 55/2018

In the ongoing ‘brain death’ controversy, there has been a constant push for the use of the ‘higher brain’ formulation as the criterion for the determination of death on the grounds that brain-dead individuals are no longer human beings because of their irreversible loss of consciousness and mental functions. This essay demonstrates that such a position flows from a Lockean view of human persons. Compared to the ‘consciousness-related definition of death,’ the substance view is superior, especially because it provides a holistic vision of the human person, and coheres with the perennial axiom about the ‘whole and parts.’

A Knowledge Concept Map: Structured Concept Analysis from Systematic Literature Review

Author(s): Philip Sisson,Julie J.C.H. Ryan / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2017

The purpose of this article is to present a mental model of knowledge as a concept map as an input to knowledge management (KM) investigations. This article’s extended knowledge concept map can serve as a resource where the investigation, development, or application of knowledge would be served with a broad mental model of knowledge. Previously unrelated concepts are related; knowledge concepts can sometimes be expressed as a range, i.e., certainty related states: view, opinion, sentiment, persuasion, belief, and conviction. Extrathesis is identified as a potential skill level higher than synthesis, and associated with the concepts: discovery, institution, insight (the event), revelation, or illumination that precedes innovation. Qualitative methods were used to gather and document concepts. System engineering and object analysis methods were applied to define and relate concepts. However, the theoretical sampling and theoretical saturation methods applied do not guarantee all appropriate concepts have been identified. Given the breadth, depth, and dimensionality of concepts of knowledge, later researchers may add additional concepts. This article provides evidence of additional things people know, an alternative to psychology’s acquaintanceship, understanding and placement of newer categorizations of knowledge in relation to older ones, and suggests that ranges for knowledge terms exist. This article extends the 2015 paper on this topic by: 1) taking a deeper look into epistemological terms and relationships, 2) providing contextual definitions, 3) suggesting extrathesis as an idea beyond synthesis, 4) updating the concept map; and 5) providing new insight on the overloaded knows including adding an eleventh know. It provides a much more solid basis for KM investigations than typical presentations, providing a broad understanding of knowledge that is beneficial.

A methodological analysis of the scientific research

Author(s): Kadzik OGANYAN / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

The article addresses the structure of scientific research in the context of the methodology of science. This goal is realized through the concrete material of physical theory, detailing the structure of scientific research and its elements; its process and the laws it obeys; its results, which leadthe process; its motives, e.g. the "driving forces" of research and the role of philosophy in the process.The paperexamines the theoretical phase of researches as a synthesis of the empirical and the speculative,in contrast to the existing literature that presents the opposition between theoretical and empirical research. The steps of knowledge of the objective laws in a particular area are analysed: the empirical research,the non-fundamental theoretical,the speculative, and the fundamental theoretical; this analysis allows the generalization of the patterns of scientific research. Particular attention is paid to the speculative research and its main elements. The“methodological mechanism” of formation of new fundamental conceptions in science is unravelled. The essence of this mechanism consists of some non-logical cognitive operations (idealization, choice of “Gestalt”, substitution, generalization). The knowledge of corresponding combinations of these operations made by the investigator facilitates the process of research, decreases the probability of errors in the scientific cognition.

A Note on a Remark of Evans

Author(s): Wolfgang Barz / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2016

In his seminal paper, ‘Can There Be Vague Objects?’ (1978), Gareth Evans advanced an argument purporting to prove that the idea of indeterminate identity is incoherent. Aware that his argument was incomplete as it stands, Evans added a remark at the end of his paper, in which he explained how the original argument needed to be modified to arrive at an explicit contradiction. This paper aims to develop a modified version of Evans’ original argument, which I argue is more promising than the modification that Evans proposed in his remark. Last, a structurally similar argument against the idea of indeterminate existence is presented.

A philosophical investigation in machine understanding. The case of implicit meaning

Author(s): Maria Wilkowska / Language(s): English / Issue: 12/2013

The question of machine thinking and understanding, once initiated by Alan Turing, has puzzled scholars from various disciplines. This paper aims at investigating some of the facets involved in the topic of machine language understanding with particular interest devoted to indirect meaning comprehension (more specifically, the implicature). So far as the subject under examination – the chatbot – manages to understand directly conveyed information, still much is to be done with respect to implicit data in which everyday messages (formulated in ordinary language) abound. This situation generates a number of not only hard-science questions but also, more importantly, given the viewpoint of this paper, it gives rise to a considerable amount of philosophically- oriented and frequently neglected issues and dilemmas too. This study is a brief investigation of exactly those phenomena.

A PORTRAIT OF FRIENDSHIP

Author(s): Manjulika Ghosh / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2018

This paper on friendship starts with noticing the cultural specificities of the words,“friend” and “friendship”: how they possess rich nuances and meanings in some cultures not available in others. It has then delved into Aristotle’s treatment of friendship in his three ethical treatises with special reference to the relationship between friendship and morality and that between friendship and self-knowledge. Some comments are made on whether friendship is possible between persons of unequal virtues and whether they are capable of attaining self-knowledge. This paper also discusses certain challenges to Aristotle’s claims that friendship is an unalloyed good. The point of these challenges is that friendship can also be a great bad. The paper concludes with the observation how rare has friendship become in the modern world resulting in loneliness, depression and alienation.

A Possible Way of Relaunching Philosophical Creation in Culture and Public Life [A Review of Andrei Marga, Explorări în present (Exploring in the Present), Cluj-Napoca, Eikon Publishing Housse, 2014, pp. 404]

Author(s): Martian Iovan / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

A Process Identity: The Aesthetics of the Technoself. Governing Networking Societies

Author(s): Oana ?erban / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2016

The main aim of this article is to analyse the relationship between two innovative concepts—the technoself and process identity—from a perspective inspired by process ontology. The working hypothesis is that industrialized and mass societies entered into a post-industrial or informational sphere of capitalism, becoming networking societies—also known as knowledge-based societies—which closely followed their role in approaching the plural identity of the digital Subject and the surveillance practices exercised in its governance as correspondent models for the changes of the current reality. The first section of the article is devoted to research on the technoself, a concept recently introduced by Luppicini in 2013. Criticizing the technoself in terms of process ontology and as a result of digitalization, subjectivity, and technical rationality, I will argue that the constitution of digital subjects, as well as their interactions, should be defined in terms of processes. Therefore, I introduce the concept of process identity—which includes the technoself—and explain how this approach contributes to the development of different research fields (such as speculative realism and object-oriented ontology) and how it affects Floridi’s distinction between digital ontology and informational ontology. The second section focuses on the effects of the digital environment on self-constitution practices and techniques, virtual worlds experiencing what Foucault recognizes as the aesthetics of existence. In the final part, I confront Bentham’s and Foucault’s panopticism, arguing that based on what is accomplished by process identities, networking societies represent societies of control, not disciplinary ones, and consequently this distinction should be applied in governing virtual communities. In the end, I will explain why notions such as digital personae or databased selves are insufficient, and should be replaced by the concepts of process identity and technoself, respectively, in order to improve the models of governing networking societies.

A Spiritual Philosophy of Recovery: Aquinas and Alcoholics Anonymous

Author(s): A. William McVey / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2016

The article is an attempt to formulate a Thomistic spiritual philosophy of recovery. The author faces two issues. One, what do recovering alcoholics mean when they say: “I am spiritual, but not religious?” He comes to the conclusion that it means recovering alcoholics are experiencing spiritual healing in their willingness to trust a loving God who has performed a miracle of recovery from alcoholism in their life. As a result of this experience, they are prepared to live a life of virtuous habit. Two, recovering alcoholics have discovered a spiritual second nature of moral character. The author explains why there are many in A.A. who discover that as God comes into their life and they turn to the path of virtue they rediscover religious worship and devotion is essential to the one day at a time journey.

A szellem a gépben és az átlelkesített test

Author(s): Lajos Horváth / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 06/2016

In this paper, I examine the contemporary possibilities of crosstalk between phenomenology and analytical philosophy. In a wider context,the debate between analytical and continental philosophy will be reconsidered, especially focusing on the relation between Ryle and Husserl. The main goal of the paper is to answer the question whether the conceptions of embodied mind and embodied self are able to eliminate the doctrine of the “ghost in the machine”. The interdisciplinary dialogues concerning the phenomenal body are not only aimed at overcoming Cartesian dualism, but also at solving epistemological questions. However, the body-phenomenological turn in the philosophy of mind sheds light on the wider horizons of the unsettled relationship between naturalism and phenomenology, which is also one of the central themes of this paper. According to my conclusions, the result of the contemporary interdisciplinary dialogues may lead to the development of a new concept of the phenomenological unconscious, which is already lurking within the dialogues of body-phenomenology and prereflective awareness.

A szentté/boldoggá avatás elméleti megközelítése

Author(s): József Marton / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 08/2016