Recent arguments claim that behavioral science has focused – to its detriment – on the individual over the system when construing behavioral interventions. In this commentary, we argue that tackling economic inequality using both framings in tandem is invaluable. By studying individuals who have overcome inequality, “positive deviants,” and the system limitations they navigate, we offer potentially greater policy solutions.

Figurativity has attracted scholars' attention for thousands of years and yet there are still open questions concerning its nature. Figurativity and Human Ecology endorses a view of figurativity as ubiquitous in human reasoning and language, and as a key example of how a human organism and its perceived or imagined environment co-function as a system. The volume sees figurativity not only as embedded in an environment but also as a way of acting within that environment. It places figurativity within an (...) ecological context, and approaches it as a phenomenon which cuts across bodily, psychological, linguistic, social, cultural and natural environments. Figurativity and Human Ecology will appeal to those interested in the analysis of the all-encompassing creativity of the human mind and in the methodological difficulties associated with the study of cognition. (shrink)

Though a common language of science allows for easier communication of the results among researchers, the use of lingua franca also comes with the cost of losing some of the diverse ideas and results arising from the plurality of languages. Following Quine’s famous thesis about the indeterminacy of translation, we elaborate on the inherent loss of diverse ideas when only one language of science is used. Non-native speakers sometimes experience epistemic injustice due to their language proficiency and consequently, their scientific (...) insights get marginalized. Thus, it is important epistemically to include the results of all researchers independent of their native language. As a solution, we promote epistemic equity and inclusion both on the individual level and on the level of the scientific community. Epistemic equity means that researchers who suffer disadvantages because of their language skills get support from the rest of the scientific community that will compensate for their disadvantage and at the same time facilitate their epistemic inclusion. This can be achieved through the introduction of mitigating agents – the individuals and organizations that ought to serve as a communication bridge between individual researchers and the scientific community. (shrink)

Inclusion of children in medical decision making, to the extent of their ability and interest in doing so, should be the default position, ensuring that children are routinely given a voice. However, optimizing the involvement of children in their health care decisions remains challenging for clinicians. Missing from the literature is a stepwise approach to assessing when and how a child should be included in medical decision making. We propose a systematic approach for doing so, and we apply this approach (...) in a discussion of two challenging clinical cases. The approach is informed by a literature review, and is anchored by case studies of teenagers' refusal of clinical care, regulatory requirements for research assent, and the accepted approach to involving cognitively impaired adults in medical decisions. (shrink)

Managers face increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous situations that are more and more challenging to navigate. Ethical decision-making has become particularly complicated considering that codes, frameworks and protocols have proven deficient in resolving moral dilemmas. Managers’ unpreparedness to handle such challenges reflects the ineffectiveness of business ethics education, calling for new approaches towards training managers. This article makes a case for transforming business ethics education by taking it back to its roots. This implies the re-incorporation of its foundational discipline: (...) philosophy. Philosophy offers a rigorous approach for decision-making, which helps managers face the unknown. It helps them analyse situations from different perspectives, reconsider how things are done and examine the underlying premises of their thinking. It can strengthen one of the most central managerial competencies: the ability to reason, especially ethically. As the foundational discipline of business, ethics and their intersect, philosophy is uniquely positioned to elevate business ethics education for managers at all levels. It can help current and future managers to reflect more deeply and critically on the ethical issues they face. (shrink)

Scientists, humanists, and art lovers alike value art not just for its beauty, but also for its social and epistemic importance; that is, for its communicative nature, its capacity to increase one's self-knowledge and encourage personal growth, and its ability to challenge our schemas and preconceptions. However, empirical research tends to discount the importance of such social and epistemic outcomes of art engagement, instead focusing on individuals' preferences, judgments of beauty, pleasure, or other emotional appraisals as the primary outcomes of (...) art appreciation. Here, we argue that a systematic neuroscientific study of art appreciation must move beyond understanding aesthetics alone, and toward investigating the social importance of art appreciation. We make our argument for such a shift in focus first, by situating art appreciation as an active social practice. We follow by reviewing the available psychological and cognitive neuroscientific evidence that art appreciation cultivates socio-epistemic skills such as self- and other-understanding, and discuss philosophical frameworks which suggest a more comprehensive empirical investigation. Finally, we argue that focusing on the socio-epistemic values of art engagement highlights the important role art plays in our lives. Empirical research on art appreciation can thus be used to show that engagement with art has specific social and personal value, the cultivation of which is important to us as individuals, and as communities. (shrink)

The selection of papers in the 6th Volume of the ESPES journal focusus on the development, analyses and critique of Arnold Berleant’s ideas on aesthetic engagement, social aesthetics, negative aesthetics, and environmental aesthetics. These issues are aproached by researchers from various continents showing the inspirational potential of Berleant’s perspective, inviting metaphors, opening paths for individual developmet in the field of art philosophy and aesthetics.

Two experiments probed the role of strategies used in social conflicts on perception of agency and communion. In study 1, persons who revealed prosocial orientation were perceived as less agentic, but more communal than those who revealed competitive orientation. In study 2 these findings were replicated in the context of organizational conflict, those who decided to use confrontational strategies were also perceived as more agentic, although less communal than these who used cooperative strategies. In line with the theory of power (...) effects on objectification of social targets, the perceived agency and communion were differently linked to superior’s and subordinate’s evaluation. While perceived agency predicted the subordinate’s evaluation, perceived communion predicted superior’s evaluation, but not the other way round. Moreover, perception of communion mediated the negative effect of confrontational strategies on supervisor’s evaluation. On the other hand, perceived agency suppressed the effect of strategies on subordinate’s evaluation. (shrink)

Organizational culture paves the way for employees, shows how one should function in a given organization – it aims to keep it together by adhering to similar values. Thanks to conditions prevailing there, specific rules employees know how they can perform their duties, properly cooperate with others and also how looks like the possibility of professional development, which is very important in the development of human capital. Human capital is people, their skills, creativity and qualifications. Development of capital through competence (...) development has a positive impact on further functioning of the organization, but also on the satisfaction of employees themselves. In the case of retired officers of the Polish Army, who acquired specialized knowledge and valuable skills during their service, it is important to use their capital after the end of service. They can be supplemented with additional courses, training that will enrich their existing potential, and also enable them to find work in the civilian market. A survey was conducted among retired Army officers and employers/supervisors hiring retired officers from 2019 to 2021. The snowball method was used. A qualitative method was used – a survey questionnaire. (shrink)

Kościoły katolickie wybudowane na terenie archidiecezji częstochowskiej od roku 1945 do współczesności cechuje duża różnorodność stylistyczna. Celem pracy jest przedstawienie rozwoju form i stylistyki obiektów sakralnych we wskazanym okresie. Praca powstała w wyniku badań własnych autorki przeprowadzonych na obszarze archidiecezji częstochowskiej. Obiekty sakralne powstające zaraz po II wojnie światowej realizowane były w dwóch różnych konwencjach estetycznych. Wznoszono kościoły o charakterze zachowawczym, nawiązujące do stylistyki poprzednich epok, budowane w stylu zwanym synkretyzmem, oraz budowle modernistyczne. W latach 60. i 70. ubiegłego stulecia (...) dominującą w budownictwie sakralnym tendencją stylistyczną pozostał modernizm. Lata 80., to czas, gdy pojawiały się już projekty kościołów postmodernistycznych i modernizm zaczynał mieć charakter zachowawczy. Jednak na terenie archidiecezji częstochowskiej nadal powstawało w tym czasie wiele obiektów modernistycznych. Równocześnie, zaczynając od późnych lat 80. XX w., pojawiają się na terenie archidiecezji pierwsze kościoły postmodernistyczne. Budowle sakralne powstające po roku 1989, gdy budownictwo kościelne przeżywało okres wielkiego rozkwitu po latach licznych przeszkód i restrykcji charakterystycznych dla czasów PRL, cechuje największa różnorodność: od obiektów neohistorycznych po neomodernistyczne, a także kościoły wznoszone w stylu regionalnym. W pracy przedstawiono w sposób chronologiczny przykłady budynków kościołów powstających w poszczególnych dekadach od roku 1945 aż do czasów współczesnych, skupiając się na ich stylistyce, geometrii oraz symbolice. (shrink)

Human culture is built upon nature to help humans adapt to their environment – first natural, but later natural-cultural. Cultural practices are aimed at aiding survival in changing environments, and in different settings they meet different environmental pressures, causing later changes in trajectories. According to cultural evolutionism, behaviours, ideas and artefacts are subject to inheritance, competition, accumulation of modifications, adaptation, geographical distribution, convergence and changes of function – these are mechanisms present also in biological evolution. In the following paper, we (...) examine women’s dance and physical exercise practices, which contain similar postures performed in comparable circumstances, as found in initiation ritual dances in chosen East African communities and in Slavic gymnastics for women in the Belarusian tradition. In times of globalization and the mixing of cultures, the position on knees and elbows is recontextualized in a visually attractive form of contemporary dances like Kangamoko and Baikoko, or more widely different variants of ‘twerking’ and reconstructed physical exercises. Approaching ‘twerking’ positions, especially on knees and elbows as a cross-genre performance, we find common roots in the communal support for women’s good wife and mother status teachings in various cultures, showing the importance of women’s circles, women’s health and well-being for the community. (shrink)

This article explores the concept of minor or general psychotherapy championed by physicians seeking to popularise psychotherapy in the post-Stalin Soviet Union. Understood as a set of skills and principles meant to guide behaviour towards and around patients, this form of psychotherapy was portrayed as indispensable for physicians of all specialities as well as for all personnel of medical institutions. This article shows how, as a result of Soviet teaching on the power of suggestion to influence human organisms, every interaction (...) with patients was conceptualised as a form of psychotherapy, leading to the embrace of placebo as a legitimate form of therapy, and to the blurring of the boundary between therapy and other activities in the clinic. The principles of minor psychotherapy reveal a concept of psychotherapy that is much wider, and rooted in different priorities, than the dominant understanding of this type of treatment found in Western Europe and North America. This article addresses the ethical principles implicit in the Soviet perspective, demonstrating that despite fighting against the uncaring and dismissive attitude of other physicians, Soviet psychotherapists remained rooted in the paternalistic tradition. Finally, it traces the efforts to establish minor psychotherapy as standard practice in medical institutions, which, like many other plans and ambitions of Soviet psychotherapists, were constrained by a lack of resources in the healthcare system. (shrink)

This paper presents and discusses design studio outcomes developed in response to a studio brief linked to the Fun Palace Futures initiative of the Royal British Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in honour of architect Cedric Price and artist Joan Littlewood. The studio brief was collaboratively developed by the authors. Its core question was: How could the thoughts that guided the development and design of the Fun Palace – a project that was never built but is still today cited as (...) a model for thinking flexible and open architecture – be re-interpreted and renewed for the future? This line of thinking guided the initial and experimental research phase, during which students developed an understanding of what indeterminacy is or could be. The paper shows that through the translation of some of the essential principles of the Fun Palace project into pedagogical instruments, students were enabled to approach the questions of indeterminacy in an open and innovative manner. The paper argues that the use of a variety of media, which often went far beyond the conventional architectural pallet, and the introduction of media shifts were crucial in assisting the students in developing their own tools for creating a new kind of open and flexible architecture. The paper presents this pedagogic approach. We show that the conditions of indeterminacy, uncertainty, chance and change, hold potential for framing the design and creation of a new kind of dynamic architecture, and for initiating experimental architectural thinking in a design studio setting. (shrink)

This paper presents a study of Rāmacandra–Guṇacandra’s theory of aesthetics in light of the Kashmiri rasa ideology and demonstrates that the Jain authors offer a new and original conceptualization of aesthetic experience, in which the spectator remains cognitively active in the course of watching the drama. In their model, the relationship between rasa and pleasure is mediated by a cognitive error, and the feeling of pleasure does not coincide with the savoring of rasa but emerges after the savoring of rasa (...) ceases. This paper argues that Rāmacandra and Guṇacandra demystify the Kashmiri theory of aesthetics by identifying affinities between the lived world and the fictive world of drama and by rendering the regular means of knowledge, such as inference and memory, as instrumental for the experience of rasa. It further suggests that this new conceptualization, in which pleasure is contingent upon the dissolution of illusion, may have facilitated the development of playwrighting among Jain monks from the twelfth century on. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:Clinical ethics consultants bear witness to the direct harms of intersecting axes of oppression—such as racism and classism—as they impinge on elucidating and resolving ethical dilemmas in health care. Health Care Ethics Consultation (HCEC) professional guidance supports recognizing and analyzing power dynamics and social-structural obstacles to good care. However, the most relied upon bioethical principles in clinical ethics have been criticized for insufficiency in this regard. While individual ethics consultants have found ways to expand their approaches, they do so in (...) an ad hoc way without frameworks to guide consistency. Motivated by the practical expertise of clinical ethicists, this essay offers a new framework to support openness to analyzing power imbalances and respecting marginalized voices and values. This framework is grounded in transformative justice, where the aim is to take responsibility for oppression by centering and responding to moral perspectives and value systems that are all too often silenced. (shrink)

Communication in law provides a space for alternatives, a Third Space, wherein boundaries between various systems are strongly anchored to a country’s language, history and societal development. Transfers, modifications, and integrations of such systems into other target languages may result in many effects of distortions and appropriations, reformulations and renewals as well as of misinterpretations in communication. Hence, Third Space is a necessary prerequisite for negotiation, transformation and translation from culture A to culture B, since it operates as a multi-stage (...) dynamic where such mechanisms should be analyzed in a fair and equitable manner. (shrink)

The study investigated psychometric properties of the Sport Motivation Scale-6, assessing intrinsic regulation, four extrinsic regulation constructs, and amotivation among athletes competing at a regional and national level. In particular, we tested the factorial structure of SMS-6, its short-term stability, and the associations of SMS-6 constructs with self-efficacy, self-esteem, motivational climate, and satisfaction with sport performance. Participants were 197 athletes, representing team and individual disciplines. The measurement was repeated at the three-week follow-up. Results yielded support for the six first-order factor (...) structure. More autonomous forms of motivation were related to higher levels of self-efficacy, performance satisfaction, and taskoriented motivational climate in sport organizations. Sequential multiple mediation analysis showed that the association between general self-efficacy and performance satisfaction at a follow-up was mediated by introjected regulation and personal-barrier self-efficacy. (shrink)

The paper deals with the problem of translating selected insolvency terminology from Polish into English and from English into Polish. The re- search corpora encompassed the Insolvency Act 1986 as amended and Ustawa z dnia 28 lutego 2003. Prawo upadłościowe i naprawcze [the Act on Polish Insolvency and Rehabilitation Law of 28th February 2003 as amended]. The research methods included: the comparison of parallel texts, the method of axiomatisation of the legal linguistic reality, the termino- logical analysis of the corpus (...) material, the concept of adjusting the target text to the communicative needs and requirements of the community of recipients and the techniques of providing equivalents for non-equivalent terminology. The research hypothesis has been so formulated that the parametrisation of legal reality may assist in finding more adequate equivalents and determine differences in meaning of compared source and target language terms, which in turn facilitates the choice of a more adequate technique of providing equivalents for non-equivalent or partially equivalent legal terminology meeting the com- municative needs of translation recipients. The research results revealed that insolvency terminology is highly system-bound and available equivalents may often be misleading for the community of target text recipients. (shrink)

The automatic tendency to anthropomorphize our interaction partners and make use of experience acquired in earlier interaction scenarios leads to the suggestion that social interaction with humanoid robots is more pleasant and intuitive than that with industrial robots. An objective method applied to evaluate the quality of human–robot interaction is based on the phenomenon of motor interference (MI). It claims that a face-to-face observation of a different (incongruent) movement of another individual leads to a higher variance in one’s own movement (...) trajectory. In social interaction, MI is a consequence of the tendency to imitate the movement of other individuals and goes along with mutual rapport, sense of togetherness, and sympathy. Although MI occurs while observing a human agent, it disappears in case of an industrial robot moving with piecewise constant velocity. Using a robot with human-like appearance, a recent study revealed that its movements led to MI, only if they were based on human prerecording (biological velocity), but not on constant (artificial) velocity profile. However, it remained unclear, which aspects of the human prerecorded movement triggered MI: biological velocity profile or variability in movement trajectory. To investigate this issue, we applied a quasi-biological minimum-jerk velocity profile (excluding variability in the movement trajectory as an influencing factor of MI) to motion of a humanoid robot, which was observed by subjects performing congruent or incongruent arm movements. The increase in variability in subjects’ movements occurred both for the observation of a human agent and for the robot performing incongruent movements, suggesting that an artificial human-like movement velocity profile is sufficient to facilitate the perception of humanoid robots as interaction partners. (shrink)

The author intends to present evolutionary and revolutionary changes in legal terminology. Legal terminology changes as a result of language usage, technological development, political and social changes and even economy reasons. The following research methods have been applied: the terminological analysis of the research material and the analysis of pertinent literature. The research material included legislation from the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada and Australia. The author focuses on terminological changes resulting from social transformations. Selected terms and (...) their transformation in respect to meaning and form are elaborated on in the paper. Finally, the author draws conclusions that translation of such terminology should aim at communication precision and many of them may be false friends in interlingual communication. (shrink)

Książka stanowi interdyscyplinarną refleksję nad problemem odmienności w kulturze. Składa się z pięciu części, w których oświetlone zostały różne oblicza odmienności oraz konteksty, w jakich się ona objawia: etniczny, historyczny, lingwistyczny, religijny, artystyczny oraz społeczny. Atutem książki jest szerokie spojrzenie na problem odmienności, co potwierdza nośność znaczeniową tej kategorii konceptualnej, a także otwiera nowe horyzonty analiz oraz refleksji.

Według tradycyjnych standardów, nauka powinna być wolna od wartościowań i perswazji, a w swej formie dążyć do beznamiętnego, obiektywnego opisu. Takich kryteriów nie da się jednak utrzymać szczególnie w naukach humanistycznych czy społecznych, operujących językami naturalnymi. Języki te obfitują bowiem w wyrażenia nacechowane emocjonalnie i oceniające, co sprawia, że nie mogą być wolne od perswazji. Perswazyjność języka należy do specyfiki nauk humanistycznych i nie jest zjawiskiem negatywnym. Jednakże świadome przedstawianie argumentacji i definicji perswazyjnych jako czystego opisu stanowi, z punktu widzenia (...) reguł metodologicznych, praktykę zasługująca na ocenę negatywną. Szczegółowa analiza i interpretacja popularnonaukowej książki pt. Płeć Mózgu, których dokonuję w niniejszym tekście, ujawniają zastosowane w niej liczne zabiegi perswazyjne. Autorzy świadomie posługują się nimi w celu przekonania odbiorcy do określonego światopoglądu, zaś powołanie się na autorytet nauki (tj. przyrodoznawstwa) ma uwiarygodnić ich stanowisko. Ten kontrowersyjny zabieg posiada nie tylko wymiar metodologiczny (wyznaczenie standardów literatury popularnonaukowej), ale także moralny, związany jest bowiem z odpowiedzialnością popularyzatorów nauki, którzy mogą wprowadzić czytelnika w błąd. (shrink)

Climate change is one of the most urgent global problems that we face today. The causes are well understood and many solutions have been proposed; however, so far none have been successful. Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu have argued that this is because our moral psychology is ill-equipped to deal with global problems such as this. They propose that in order to successfully mitigate climate change we should morally enhance ourselves. In this chapter we look at their proposal to see (...) whether moral enhancement is indeed a viable solution to the climate crisis, and conclude that due to various theoretical and practical problems it most likely is not. (shrink)

The aim of the article is to discuss the legal language transformations from a diachronic perspective taking into account the following factors: (i) spatial and temporal, (ii) linguistic norm changes, (iii) political, (iv) social (customs), and (v) globalization as well as (vi) EU-induced. Spatial and temporal factors include legal relations influenced by climate and the cycles of nature. Linguistic factors include spelling reforms and grammatical changes each language undergoes, for example, as a result of usage. As far as the law (...) is concerned, normative changes can be observed when laws are amended. Other factors such as customs, usage, etc. cannot be neglected when discussing the language of the law. Analogously political correctness and usage can be observed in gender sensitive language and the introduction of such terms as chairperson instead of chairman. Social factors should not be overlooked. As a result of social changes, numerous terms have been introduced to legal lexicons in many countries starting with same-sex unions or same-sex-marriages. The so-called political correctness enforces some language changes and leads to the introduction of new terms and at the same time the abandonment of others. Consequently, some terms cease to be used and consequently become archaic. The aim of the article is to focus on diachronic changes in legal languages and present the communication problems resulting from them from intra- and inter-lingual perspectives. (shrink)

Cet article présente les solutions utilisées pour le Corpus électronique des textes polonais des 17e et 18e siècles afin d’adapter son jeu de balises grammaticales à l’évolution du système morphologique qui a eu lieu au cours de la période. Les 17e et 18e siècles ont été marqués en effet par la formation d’une nouvelle catégorie grammaticale, appelée « masculine-personality » (Pl. *męskoosobowość*). Cette époque marque une transition de l’état ancien à l’état moderne et se caractérise par une variation significative des (...) terminaisons des formes plurielles N, A et V des noms masculins animés à cette époque. Par conséquent, le jeu de balises utilisé pour annoter le corpus, qui a été créé à l’origine pour le polonais moderne, a dû être légèrement modifié à cet égard. La deuxième partie de l’article décrit les recherches menées à l’aide de ce système d’annotation, qui ont montré que la différenciation des terminaisons flexionnelles des noms masculins personnels et impersonnels en polonais était déjà avancée au 17e siècle et presque achevée à la fin du 18e siècle. (shrink)

Mimo iż przestrzenie miejskie nasycone są dziełami sztuki, pełniącymi ważne funkcje estetyczne, społeczne, edukacyjne, historyczne, obiekty te często są przez odbiorców niezauważane, nierozu­miane lub nieidentyfikowane jako sztuka. Autorka stawia tezę, że jedną z przyczyn takiego stanu rzeczy jest brak profesjonalnych podpisów. Celem tekstu jest analiza tablic informacyjnych wybranych obiektów znajdujących się w Łodzi. Porównanie zebranych przykładów wskazuje na różnorodne braki w treści podpisów, ich nieczytelność, niewłaściwe umiejscowienie, a nawet zu­pełne pominięcie jakiegokolwiek tekstu informującego o danym dziele. Poddane analizie zostały dwadzieścia (...) dwa obiekty wykonane po II wojnie światowej, reprezentujące różne gatunki sztuki i typy przestrzeni. Artykuł kończą lista postulatów, których spełnienia wymaga prawidłowe oznaczanie dzieł sztuki (sporządzona na wzór dziesięciopunktowego przewodnika opracowanego przez Muzeum Wiktorii i Alberta w Londynie) oraz propozycja przykładowej tablicy (dotyczącej konkretnego muralu), która mogłaby stać się rozwiązaniem standardowym. (shrink)

Plans Not Needed if You Have High and Stable Self-Efficacy: Planning Intervention and Snack Intake in the Context of Self-Efficacy Trajectories Forming action plans is expected to move people from intention to action. We hypothesized that the effects of planning interventions may depend on changes in self-efficacy beliefs. Participants were assigned to the control or the planning intervention groups and reported their self-efficacy, sweet and salty snack intake at the baseline and four months later. The results suggest that an increase (...) of efficacy beliefs over time augmented the effects of the planning intervention and resulted in the lowest snack intake. Planning intervention also prompted lower unhealthy snacking if efficacy beliefs were decreasing. Those who have stable-high self-efficacy were able to achieve low snack intake regardless of the group assignment. (shrink)

By analising the specific use made by Thomas Aquinas of the verb ‘ostendere’ in the context of systematic philosophical conclusions as well as his presentation of biblical events and by scrutinizing the narrative strategies relative to ‘ostentatio’ (in the sense of displaying, hinting at, demonstrating) in ‘Der Saelden Hort’, a late medieval text on salvation, this paper makes clear that ostentation is a central category of mediality in the Middle Ages.

There is scarcely a sentence in the New Testament that could have unleashed a wider reception history than Paul‘s comparison of the letter and the spirit in the third chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians: “For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” In Patristics two diverging lines of reception can be identified, which, depending on the perspective, emphasise the hermeneutic or the soteriological side of the formula more strongly. This paper investigates the antithesis of spirit and (...) letter at various stations of its reception history from Late Antiquity to the late Middle Ages and ventures to profile the contrast primarily as the hermeneutic relationship between the object and the reading event. (shrink)

THE NATURE OF HISTORISM. THE MAIN CONCEPTS AND THESES OF ERNST TROELTSCH’S INTERPRETATION The article aims to present the main elements of Ernst Troeltsch’s conception of historism. Historism is understood here as a way of thinking (in science or worldview), which is directed to explain things as products of a historical process. In this view, there is no place for any absolute or universal solutions, causes and rules (thus historism is something completely different from historicism in K.R. Popper’s sense). In (...) the first step, the author tries to show the philosophical context of Troeltsch’s thought (Hegel, Dilthey, Neo-Kantianism, Fenomenology) and to present some of the most important ideas connected with historism (like irrationalism, subjectivism, relativism and individuality). The main part of the article discusses Troeltsch’s conception according to the first chapter of his “Historismus und seine Probleme.” This part presents Troeltsch’s opinion about the crisis of historism and his vision of the real philosophy of history, which should be based on a formal logic of history. Keywords: HISTORISM, ERNST TROELTSCH, PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. (shrink)

Globalization of financial markets led to the enormous growth of volume and diversification of financial transactions. Financial derivatives were the basic elements of this growth. Derivatives play a useful and important role in hedging and risk management, but they also pose several dangers to the stability of financial markets and thereby the overall economy. Derivatives are used to hedge and speculate the risk associated with commerce and finance. When used to hedge risks, derivative instruments transfer the risks from the hedgers, (...) who are unwilling to bear the risks, to parties better able or more willing to bear them. In this regard, derivatives help allocate risks efficiently between different individuals and groups in the economy. Investors can also use derivatives to speculate and to engage in arbitrage activity. Speculators are traders who want to take a position in the market; they are betting that the price of the underlying asset or commodity will move in a particular direction over the life of the contract. In addition to risk management, derivatives play a very useful economic role in price discovery and arbitrage. Financial derivatives trading are based on leverage techniques, earning enormous profits with small amount of money. (shrink)

The concept of well being has become the main criterion to assess quality of life in contemporary society. Individual well-being describes the individual quality of life, while social well-being refers to quality of life in a society. Given that well-being has a multitude of dimensions, a unique definition of it is elusive to scholars. In this article social well-being is conceptualised as a dynamic process within the context set by social integration as one?s relationship to society and the community. This (...) includes the quality of interaction between the individual and society and one?s?social actualisation? understood as the realisation of one?s social capacities. Social actualisation also involves one?s ability to influence social processes and to benefit from social cohesion, which consists, in any society, of the quality, organisation and functioning of the social world. Hence the ability to impact society is an integral part of individual well being. This paper suggests that philosophical practice as a new paradigm in the humanities holds out promise for the improvement of both individual and social well-being. (shrink)

One of the reasons for many different and even opposing interpretations of Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is the absence of consensus concerning the question of which character in the Dialogues represents Hume. In this paper I argue that taking Philo to be his primary spokesperson provides us with the most consistent reading of the whole work and helps us better understand Hume’s religious viewpoint. I first stress the specific dialogue form of Hume’s work, which requires us to take into (...) account literary tools such as irony and double-talk when interpreting it. From there I proceed to show why I believe that my hypothesis is better supported than the other two main hypotheses concerning Hume’s presence in the Dialogues, the first one being that Cleanthes represents Hume and the other one that none of the characters consistently speaks for Hume but rather that the whole structure of the work does that. Although there is both textual and historical evidence which suggests that Hume favoured Cleanthes, I show that his opinions deviate from Hume’s well-known views on important subjects such as scepticism, morality and Christianity, while Philo’s opinions on these subjects agree with Hume’s almost verbatim. The second hypothesis is proven to be wrong by the fact that Philo actually consistently defends Hume’s opinions. Finally, I argue that Philo’s understanding of true religion as a philosophical position devoid of any religious import agrees with Hume’s religious scepticism. (shrink)