This book is not a list or an overview of various theories of ethics. Nor is it a didactic manual for specific teaching units on moral education aimed at some group based on age or a particular theme (although some educational frameworks will be proposed). As the title suggests, the book intends to seek the starting points or foundations without which no moral education would be possible. The goal is to formulate and tackle the key questions that precede all moral (...) education. What makes ""good vs. evil"" language possible and meaningful? Can virtue be taught and learned? What makes our actions good? What is the condition of human nature? Are we naturally good, or evil? What constitutes an educator's right to morally influence anyone else (not just a child)? What is the goal of moral education? What does a morally educated person look like? And how can we ensure the coveted moral result? Or--in the words of Jan Amos Comenius, the ""teacher of nations""--how to educate a person to not only know what is good, but also to want what is good, and to do what is good ""even when no one is looking?"" ""I wish I would have had Jan Habl's concise, passionate, and eminently readable book available as a text for my ethics courses during my thirty-six years of teaching at colleges and universities in Canada. Habl not only raises the alarm about a moral crisis in Western societies today, but also provides a careful treatment of some oft-neglected presuppositions of moral education. The concluding chapter introduces us to Jan Amos Comenius, a seventeenth century Czech philosopher, theologian, and pedagogue, from whom we have much to learn about a better approach to moral education."" --Elmer Thiessen, Emmanuel Bible College ""With a sound and broad grasp of ethical (moral) theorists, Jan Habl incisively critiques the fallacies of popular theories, rendering them ineffectual if not dangerous. Then, drawing on Czech educator/philosopher Comenious, he persuasively advances a theistic proposal for nurturing moral persons and communities. Immensely timely, never more needed, a rich, compelling read for our contemporary societies if we wish for a civil and peaceful existence for ourselves and future generations. Highly recommended."" --Duane H. Elmer, Trinity International University ""You have in your hands a text by someone I take to be one of the very serious young moral philosophers of our time. The profundity of his analysis of the need for moral education reminds me of the style of analysis of one of the great moral philosophers of the final decades of the twentieth century, Alasdair MacIntyre."" --Thomas K. Johnson, World Evangelical Alliance Jan Habl is a professor of pedagogy at universities in Hradec Kralove and Usti nad Labem (Czech Republic). He has taught systematic theology and ethics at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Prague. He has authored a number of books and studies in the areas of philosophy of education, ethics, and pedagogy, including On Being Human(e) (2016); Teaching and Learning Through Story, Comenius' Labyrinth and the Educational Potential of Narrative Allegory (2014). (shrink)

There is a difference between that which is and that which is to be. Anthropologically: there is a way I am, and the way I am to be, or not to be. How are we to explain this? This book presents the argument that human nature is both complex and complicated in at least two specific ways--ontologically and ethically. In our being we are indisputably good, dignified, worthy, important, or even noble. But in our morality we are ambivalent--capable of both (...) good and evil, the humane and the inhumane. In his paramount work Jan Amos Comenius expresses the goal of his lifelong endeavor: "to help keep man from falling into a non-man" (Pampaedia). If human beings are to become what they ought to be, they need to be educated towards humanity, says Comenius. But the fundamental question is, what is a human being? And what ought one to be? "Salt ought to be salty. A river ought to be clear. A knife ought to be sharp. But what ought a person to be?" What is the essence of our humanity? And how can that be cultivated or educated? This book presents Comenius's answers to these questions. (shrink)

The aim of this book is to explore the possibilities and limits of Comenius's greatest and most important work, General Consultation Concerning Restoration of Human Affairs. The humanity of people is not quite right, but not quite lost--that is the foundational anthropological assumption of the Consultation. How does Comenius understand humanity? What are human affairs? What's wrong with them? And the most important question: Can they be somehow corrected, improved, or restored?

The continuing viability of the free‐radical theory of ageing has been questioned following apparently incompatible recent results. We show by modelling positional effects of the generation and primary targets of reactive oxygen species that many of the apparently negative results are likely to be misleading. We conclude that there is instead a need to look more closely at the mechanisms by which free radicals contribute to age‐related dysfunction in living systems. There also needs to be deeper understanding of the dynamics (...) of accumulation and removal of the various kinds of molecular damage, in particular mtDNA mutations. Finally, the expectation that free‐radical damage on its own might cause ageing needs to be relinquished in favour of the recognition that the free‐radical theory is just one of the multiple mechanisms driving the ageing process. (shrink)

Bei der Herausbildung des modernen sozialtheoretischen Denkens haben zwei Theorieströmungen eine zentrale Rolle gespielt: der amerikanische Pragmatismus und die deutsche Tradition des Historismus. Eine Zusammenführung der beiden damals unverbundenen Strömungen, so die These des Bandes, wäre historisch höchst fruchtbar gewesen. Die Autoren zeigen, wie eine vergleichende Bezugnahme noch heute revitalisierend auf die aktuelle Sozialtheorie und die empirischen Forschungsprogramme des Sozialen wirkt.

Bl. Ladislaus of Gielniów is commonly regarded as the first major literary figure in Poland to write in Polish, as well as Latin. He is also the most important writer among the friars of the early Franciscan observant reform movement in Poland, which grew vigorously there after the visit of St. Giovanni of Capestrano in 1453. There, they took on the name of "Bernardines" to distinguish them from the Conventual Franciscans, after the cult of St. Bernardino of Siena, which Capestrano (...) promoted so strongly on all his travels.1 The Bernardine contribution to the development of the Polish literary language was significant, and the Bernardine contribution to the development of popular... (shrink)

BL-algebras rise as Lindenbaum algebras from many valued logic introduced by Hájek [2]. In this paper Boolean ds and implicative ds of BL-algebras are defined and studied. The following is proved to be equivalent: (i) a ds D is implicative, (ii) D is Boolean, (iii) L/D is a Boolean algebra. Moreover, a BL-algebra L contains a proper Boolean ds iff L is bipartite. Local BL-algebras, too, are characterized. These results generalize some theorems presented in [4], [5], [6] for MV-algebras which (...) are BL-algebras fulfiling an additional double negation law x = x **. (shrink)

In this paper we define sheaf spaces of BL-algebras (or BL-sheaf spaces), we study completely regular and compact BL-sheaf spaces and compact representations of BL-algebras and, finally, we prove that the category of non-trivial BL-algebras is equivalent with the category of compact local BL-sheaf spaces.

Generalizations of Boolean elements of a BL-algebra L are studied. By utilizing the MV-center MV(L) of L, it is reproved that an element x L is Boolean iff x x * = 1. L is called semi-Boolean if for all x L, x * is Boolean. An MV-algebra L is semi-Boolean iff L is a Boolean algebra. A BL-algebra L is semi-Boolean iff L is an SBL-algebra. A BL-algebra L is called hyper-Archimedean if for all x L, xn is Boolean (...) for some finite n 1. It is proved that hyper-Archimedean BL-algebras are MV-algebras. The study has application in mathematical fuzzy logics whose Lindenbaum algebras are MV-algebras or BL-algebras. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim). (shrink)

Une question souvent posée par les spécialistes de la culture byzantine est celle qui concerne les relations entre littérature et réalité à Byzance - relation réputée «obscure» (comme si la dite relation était «claire» ou «évidente» pour les autres littératures). Le mélange entre théologie et paganisme, intellectualisme et passion, haute culture et amoralisme, réalisme et abstraction, continue à poser des problèmes, jadis escamotés sous le nom de «byzantinisme». Dans ce cadre général, on doit inclure une question plus concrète sur la (...) philosophie et son exercice à Byzance et, plus précisément, celle qui concerne la «persona» du philosophe, ses attributs et sa vocation. En tant que cas exemplaire, et en même temps extraordinaire, nous avons choisi le destin de Jean Italos. (shrink)

Recently Flaminio and Montagna (Proceedings of the 5th EUSFLAT Conference, II: 201–206. Ostrava, 2007), (Inter. J. Approx. Reason. 50:138–152, 2009) introduced the notion of a state MV-algebra as an MV-algebra with internal state. We have two kinds: state MV-algebras and state-morphism MV-algebras. These notions were also extended for state BL-algebras in (Soft Comput. doi:10.1007/s00500-010-0571-5). In this paper, we completely describe subdirectly irreducible state-morphism BL-algebras and this generalizes an analogous result for state-morphism MV-algebras presented in (Ann. Pure Appl. Logic 161:161–173, 2009).

This paper is a report of the 700th anniversary of the death of Bl. Jan Duns Scotus. International Jubilee Symposium in Lublin.

We define the set of double complemented elements in BL-algebras and state and prove some theorems which determines properties of these sets. We introduce the notion of an almost top element and study the properties of these elements.

Different constructions of BL-chains are compared. We establish when the ordinal sum and the poset product of the same family of BL-chains coincide. We also compare the poset product of MV-chains and product chains with saturated BL-chains.

In this paper we introduce n -fold implicative basis logic and the related algebras called n -fold implicative BL-algebras. Also we define n -fold implicative filters and we prove some relations between these filters and construct quotient algebras via these filters.

For each integer n≥0, we provide an explicit functional characterization of the free n-generated BL-algebra, together with an explicit construction of the corresponding normal forms.

In this paper we investigate splitting algebras in varieties of logics, with special consideration for varieties of BL-algebras and similar structures. In the case of the variety of all BL-algebras a complete characterization of the splitting algebras is obtained.

In this paper we introduce a poset of subvarieties of BL-algebras, whose completion is the entire lattice of subvarietes; we exhibit also a description of this poset in terms of finite sequences of functions on the natural numbers.

In the field of many-valued logics, Hájek’s Basic Logic BL was introduced in Hájek (Metamathematics of fuzzy logic, trends in logic. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Berlin, 1998). In this paper we will study four families of n-contractive (i.e. that satisfy the axiom \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\phi^n\rightarrow\phi^{n+1}}$$\end{document}, for some \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${n\in\mathbb{N}^+}$$\end{document}) axiomatic extensions of BL and their corresponding varieties: BLn, SBLn, BLn and SBLn. Concerning BLn we have that (...) every BLn-chain is isomorphic to an ordinal sum of MV-chains of at most n + 1 elements, whilst every BLn-chain is isomorphic to an ordinal sum of MVn-chains (for SBLn and SBLn a similar property holds, with the difference that the first component must be the two elements boolean algebra); all these varieties are locally finite. Moving to the content of the paper, after a preliminary section, we will study generic and k-generic algebras, completeness and computational complexity results, amalgamation and interpolation properties. Finally, we will analyze the first-order versions of these logics, from the point of view of completeness and arithmetical complexity. (shrink)

In this paper we investigate splitting algebras in varieties of logics, with special consideration for varieties of BL-algebras and similar structures. In the case of the variety of all BL-algebras a complete characterization of the splitting algebras is obtained.

In this paper we study and equationally characterize the subvarieties of BL, the variety of BL-algebras, which are generated by families of single-component BL-chains, i.e. MV-chains, Product-chain or Gödel-chains. Moreover, it is proved that they form a segment of the lattice of subvarieties of BL which is bounded by the Boolean variety and the variety generated by all single-component chains, called ŁΠG.

In this paper, the notion of the radical of a filter in BL-algebras is defined and several characterizations of the radical of a filter are given. Also we prove that A/F is an MV-algebra if and only if Ds ⊆ F. After that we define the notion of semi maximal filter in BL-algebras and we state and prove some theorems which determine the relationship between this notion and the other types of filters of a BL-algebra. Moreover, we prove that A/F (...) is a semi simple BL-algebra if and only if F is a semi maximal filter of A. © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. (shrink)

De acordo com BL. Hijmans, diante da pergunta sobre o caráter filosófico do pensamento de Epicteto é possível afirmar que ele não se constitua, de fato, como uma filosofia. Para Hijmans, o estoicismo epictetiano é construído a partir de um conjunto de crenças inquestionáveis que têm como base a relação de submissão a um princípio divino responsável por criar e comandar o cosmos. Por esse motivo, Hijmans afirma que faltam dois elementos ao pensamento de Epicteto para caracterizá-lo como filosofia, são (...) eles: o sentimento de maravilhamento ou perplexidade típico de uma reflexão filosófica e a capacidade de autocrítica. Nesse sentido, nosso artigo irá propor duas objeções aos argumentos de Hijmans com o intuito de demonstrar que o estoicismo de Epicteto detém as características necessárias para ser considerado, de fato, filosofia. (shrink)

In this paper, the notions of tense operators and tense filters in \-algebras are introduced and several characterizations of them are obtained. Also, the relation among tense \-algebras, tense \-algebras and tense Boolean algebras are investigated. Moreover, it is shown that the set of all tense filters of a \-algebra is complete sublattice of \\) of all filters of \-algebra \. Also, maximal tense filters and simple tense \-algebras and the relation between them are studied. Finally, the notions of tense (...) congruence relations in tense \-algebras and strict tense \-algebras are introduced and an one-to-one correspondence between tense filters and tense congruences relations induced by tense filters are provided. (shrink)

In this paper, the notions of tense operators and tense filters in \-algebras are introduced and several characterizations of them are obtained. Also, the relation among tense \-algebras, tense \-algebras and tense Boolean algebras are investigated. Moreover, it is shown that the set of all tense filters of a \-algebra is complete sublattice of \\) of all filters of \-algebra \. Also, maximal tense filters and simple tense \-algebras and the relation between them are studied. Finally, the notions of tense (...) congruence relations in tense \-algebras and strict tense \-algebras are introduced and an one-to-one correspondence between tense filters and tense congruences relations induced by tense filters are provided. (shrink)

This work presents a model-theoretic approach to the study of first-order theories of classes of BL-chains. Among other facts, we present several classes of BL-algebras, generating the whole variety of BL-algebras, whose first-order theory has quantifier elimination. Model-completeness and decision problems are also investigated. Then we investigate classes of BL-algebras having (or not having) the amalgamation property or the joint embedding property and we relate the above properties to the existence of ultrahomogeneous models.

In [10] it is claimed that the set of predicate tautologies of all complete BL-chains and the set of all standard tautologies coincide. As noticed in [11], this claim is wrong. In this paper we show that a complete BL-chain B satisfies all standard BL-tautologies iff for any transfinite sequence of elements of B, the condition ∧i ∈ I = 2 holds in B.

BL-algebras are the Lindenbaum algebras for Hájek's Basic Logic, just as Boolean algebras correspond to the classical propositional calculus. The finite totally ordered BL-algebras are ordinal sums of MV-chains. We develop a natural duality, in the sense of Davey and Werner, for each subvariety generated by a finite BL-chain, and we use it to describe the injective and the weak injective members of these classes.

In this paper, we consider a collection of filters of a BL-algebra A. We use the concept of congruence relation with respect to filters to construct a uniformity which induces a topology on A. We study the properties of this topology regarding different filters.

Consider any subvariety of BL-algebras generated by a single BL-chain which is the ordinal sum of the standard MV-algebra on [0, 1] and a basic hoop H. We present a geometrical characterization of elements in the finitely generated free algebra of each of these subvarieties. In this characterization there is a clear insight of the role of the regular and dense elements of the generating chain. As an application, we analyze maximal and prime filters in the free algebra.