The idea of the moral good is considered a desirable and appreciated real existence. With reference to teachers it constitutes a personal pattern of judicious acting. Their special task is not only to teach necessary knowledge to students but also to instil moral conduct in them i.e. to form ‘a correct character’. This notion was present at the beginning of the 20th century and is also reflected in Archbishop Józef Bilczewski’s letter ‘The Character’ (1920). The ideas presented there remain still (...) valid also in the present historic moment of the nation. (shrink)

The freedom, in Latin libertas, is the object of philosophical reflection since Plato. Yet as the determined philosophical direction it took the form of the „liberalism” on the turning point of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, represented by two philosophers: Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778). Among contemporary scholars Isaiah Berlin is standing out. From his point of view the philosophical problem of the freedom should be examined in two aspects: the negative freedom i.e. the attribute of not hindered (...) freedom in making choices and the positive freedom as opportunity of being the master of one’s own fate. The author of the article, after critical demonstrating the conception of liberalism, sketches the theory of freedom from the position of Christian ethics. As a starting point he takes the conception of man as a person whose rational activities take on the form of twofold freedom of choice. In the psychological aspect, this freedom assumes the ambivalent form of doing good or evil, however in the moral aspect it turns out to be freedom put in order by the hierarchy of objective moral values. In this meaning the freedom also organizes the whole free man's activity and becomes creative strength of his moral personal perfection. It also defines the crucial sense of Christian philosophical science of truth about freedom. (shrink)

The encychcal Fides et ratio proclaimed by John Paul II on 14 September 1998 is a continuation of doctrinal statements by the Magisterium of the Church on a matter that has been an object of its concern from its very beginnings. This is the problem posed by the relationship between philosophy and faith. The solutions put forward by Vatican Council I in connection with this problem provoked a response in Catholic philosophical and theological circles. One of the most important events (...) in this field in Polish terms was the publication of Father Marian Ignacy Morawski's S J considerable work Filozofia i jej zadanie. This work is the subject of discussion in the article below. (shrink)

The encychcal Fides et ratio proclaimed by John Paul II on 14 September 1998 is a continuation of doctrinal statements by the Magisterium of the Church on a matter that has been an object of its concern from its very beginnings. This is the problem posed by the relationship between philosophy and faith. The solutions put forward by Vatican Council I in connection with this problem provoked a response in Catholic philosophical and theological circles. One of the most important events (...) in this field in Polish terms was the publication of Father Marian Ignacy Morawski's S J considerable work Filozofia i jej zadanie. This work is the subject of discussion in the article below. (shrink)

The author of the article argues against some of Stanisław Pyszka's views presented in the article Ewolucja katolickiej nauki społecznej [Evolution of the Catholic social teaching], published in: „Forum Philosophicum", 8: 2003. T. Ślipko reproaches S. Pyszka for considering the views on social problems expressed in the encyclical letter „Kerum novarum" „dogmatic", as influenced in part by the Thomistic philosophy. Pyszka opposes them to a pastoral perspective of the encyclical letters written by Pope John XXIII, Paul VI and John (...) Paul II. Ślipko states that Catholic social teaching develops, taking into consideration historical circumstances in which human social groups are placed, but the moral principles are unchanged. (shrink)

Sprawiedliwość jako kategoria etyczno-prawna pozostaje w ścisłym związku z prawem tak naturalnym, jak też pozytywnym. Powiązania te są wszakże tego rodzaju, że umożliwiają traktowanie sprawiedliwości jako odrębnej struktury w ramach ogólnego ładu moralno-prawnego. Dzięki temu również w obrębie etyki chrześcijańskiej istnieje pokaźna literatura poświęcona problematyce oplecionej około tego pojęcia. W czasie, kiedy łacina była w powszechnym użyciu, często pojawiały się traktaty pod tytułem De iustitia bądź De iure et iustitia. Z chwilą, kiedy w filozofii i etyce górę wzięły języki narodowe, (...) sprawiedliwość nadal przyciąga ku sobie uwagę autorów. Owszem krąg zainteresowania się tą problematyki rozszerzył się na teoretyków innych także, poza chrześcijańskich filozofów. Panujący w tym świecie pluralizm doktryn etycznoprawnych spowodował, ze zamiast coraz klarowniejszego pojecia sprawiedliwości mamy coraz więcej znaków zapytania, niekiedy wręcz zasadniczych trudności odnośnie do właściwego rozumienia tego pojecia. W tym stanie poglądów narzuca się konieczność skonfrontowania stanowiska etyki chrześcijańskiej z głoszonymi dziś koncepcjami. Dobrą po temu okazję stwarza praca znanego w Polsce i zagranicą filozofa i teoretyka prawa Ch. Perelmana. Nie jest to autor tak w świecie naukowym populamy, jak np. J. Rawls, ale właśnie jego prace dostarczają najlepszego materiału dla realizacji postawionego sobie przed chwilą celu. (shrink)

Sprawiedliwość jako kategoria etyczno-prawna pozostaje w ścisłym związku z prawem tak naturalnym, jak też pozytywnym. Powiązania te są wszakże tego rodzaju, że umożliwiają traktowanie sprawiedliwości jako odrębnej struktury w ramach ogólnego ładu moralno-prawnego. Dzięki temu również w obrębie etyki chrześcijańskiej istnieje pokaźna literatura poświęcona problematyce oplecionej około tego pojęcia. W czasie, kiedy łacina była w powszechnym użyciu, często pojawiały się traktaty pod tytułem De iustitia bądź De iure et iustitia. Z chwilą, kiedy w filozofii i etyce górę wzięły języki narodowe, (...) sprawiedliwość nadal przyciąga ku sobie uwagę autorów. Owszem krąg zainteresowania się tą problematyki rozszerzył się na teoretyków innych także, poza chrześcijańskich filozofów. Panujący w tym świecie pluralizm doktryn etycznoprawnych spowodował, ze zamiast coraz klarowniejszego pojecia sprawiedliwości mamy coraz więcej znaków zapytania, niekiedy wręcz zasadniczych trudności odnośnie do właściwego rozumienia tego pojecia. W tym stanie poglądów narzuca się konieczność skonfrontowania stanowiska etyki chrześcijańskiej z głoszonymi dziś koncepcjami. Dobrą po temu okazję stwarza praca znanego w Polsce i zagranicą filozofa i teoretyka prawa Ch. Perelmana. Nie jest to autor tak w świecie naukowym populamy, jak np. J. Rawls, ale właśnie jego prace dostarczają najlepszego materiału dla realizacji postawionego sobie przed chwilą celu. (shrink)

La dénomination „soins palliatifs" apparait trop rarement dans la langue courante pour qu'on puisse s'en servir sans aucun commentaire, au moins très court. Sa compréhension nominale suggère que ces soins ont pour objet la personne âgée qui, suite à Infirmité et à la maladie, commence l'étape ultime de sa pérégrination terrestre, l'etape qui trouve sa fin dans la mort. Cependant notre expérience nous apprend aussi que les personnes entre deux ages ou même très jeunes peuvent également se retrouver dans une (...) situation qui, pour des raisons semblables, les met en présence de la mort et implique leur dépendance de l'entourage. Alors c'est dans ces raisons qu'il faut chercher le déterminant de la situation dans laquelle l'homme a besoin d'une aide spécifique - „les soins palliatifs". A partir de cela nous pouvons essayer de formuler la première définition des „soins palliatifs". On peut comprendre ces soins comme I'ensemble d'actes entrepris par I'entourage en faveur des personnes menacées par la mort à la suite d'une dégradation profonde de leur condition psychophysique due à une maladie ou à d'autres défauts organiques, ce qui fait qu'elles sont incapables de satisfaire elles-mêmes à leurs besoins vitaux. (shrink)

La dénomination „soins palliatifs" apparait trop rarement dans la langue courante pour qu'on puisse s'en servir sans aucun commentaire, au moins très court. Sa compréhension nominale suggère que ces soins ont pour objet la personne âgée qui, suite à Infirmité et à la maladie, commence l'étape ultime de sa pérégrination terrestre, l'etape qui trouve sa fin dans la mort. Cependant notre expérience nous apprend aussi que les personnes entre deux ages ou même très jeunes peuvent également se retrouver dans une (...) situation qui, pour des raisons semblables, les met en présence de la mort et implique leur dépendance de l'entourage. Alors c'est dans ces raisons qu'il faut chercher le déterminant de la situation dans laquelle l'homme a besoin d'une aide spécifique - „les soins palliatifs". A partir de cela nous pouvons essayer de formuler la première définition des „soins palliatifs". On peut comprendre ces soins comme I'ensemble d'actes entrepris par I'entourage en faveur des personnes menacées par la mort à la suite d'une dégradation profonde de leur condition psychophysique due à une maladie ou à d'autres défauts organiques, ce qui fait qu'elles sont incapables de satisfaire elles-mêmes à leurs besoins vitaux. (shrink)

The idea of expressing an opinion on the difficult issue of relating to the anthropological basis of human dignity, arose in response to writings coming from two ideologically very different philosophical positions. The first of these is to be found in the author's academic neighborhood, namely school of Christian personalist philosophy associated with the Catholic University of Lublin. The second, on the other hand, originates from the sphere of libertarian humanist philosophy and expresses itself in a secular concept of human (...) moral autonomy. Ideas coming from these two diametrically opposed standpoints provoke critical reflection; the latter will form the basis on which an alternative concept of human dignity will be outlined. With this aim in mind, analysis of this subject will consist of two parts: the first will take the form of a commentary-style critique, while the second will consist of proposals and clarifications. (shrink)

The author of the article argues against some of Stanisław Pyszka's views presented in the article Ewolucja katolickiej nauki społecznej [Evolution of the Catholic social teaching], published in: „Forum Philosophicum", 8: 2003. T. Ślipko reproaches S. Pyszka for considering the views on social problems expressed in the encyclical letter „Kerum novarum" „dogmatic", as influenced in part by the Thomistic philosophy. Pyszka opposes them to a pastoral perspective of the encyclical letters written by Pope John XXIII, Paul VI and John (...) Paul II. Ślipko states that Catholic social teaching develops, taking into consideration historical circumstances in which human social groups are placed, but the moral principles are unchanged. (shrink)

The idea of expressing an opinion on the difficult issue of relating to the anthropological basis of human dignity, arose in response to writings coming from two ideologically very different philosophical positions. The first of these is to be found in the author's academic neighborhood, namely school of Christian personalist philosophy associated with the Catholic University of Lublin. The second, on the other hand, originates from the sphere of libertarian humanist philosophy and expresses itself in a secular concept of human (...) moral autonomy. Ideas coming from these two diametrically opposed standpoints provoke critical reflection; the latter will form the basis on which an alternative concept of human dignity will be outlined. With this aim in mind, analysis of this subject will consist of two parts: the first will take the form of a commentary-style critique, while the second will consist of proposals and clarifications. (shrink)

This is a new edition of the manual published in 1974 and 1984. Compared with those earlier editions it is revised, enlarged and more precise in its argumentation. In its beginnings the manual aimed at meeting the didactic needs to present students of the Faculty of Christian Philosophy at the ATK a complete handling of Christian ethics. The author, who wrote his manual in difficult times of communist ideology, decided to include in one work, besides a positive exposition of Christian (...) ethics, a critical discussion with other ethical systems as well as his own explicit theory on Augustinian and Thomistic ethics, which he endeavoured to develop. Thus the work interlocked the didactic objectives and the process of growth and justification of the Author's views, Krakow 2001, p. 308). (shrink)

This new volume from the Polish Christian Philosophy in the 20th Century series focuses on Fr. Tadeusz Ślipko, S.J., born in Lvov, but for most of his academic life a professor in Krakow. His work spanned “general ethics,” concerned with the foundations of morality; “detailed ethics,” which includes both personal and social ethics; and bioethics, to which Ślipko was one of Poland’s earliest philosophical contributors. The volume under review contains two parts, the first serving as an introduction (...) to Ślipko’s life and thought, written by several Polish scholars, and the second containing excerpts from Ślipko’s main works. Most Anglo-American philosophers will be unfamiliar with this work, which is edited by Ewa Podrez and translated by Małgorzata Wójcik for the first time. (shrink)

The article contains an exposition of the moral philosophy of J. P. Sartre as well as a trial of its evaluation. The author presents the social basis and main theses of Sartre’s.philosophical system and stresses the questions of social conditioning, real contents, and functions of the situational ethics of Sartre. According to the author, the situational ethics of Sartre, being an expression of feelings of intellectuals, middle-class, and students in the period of violent changes in our civilization, simply describes a (...) certain type of man, peculiar to these conditions and this time. Therefore, this type cannot be considered a definite universal construction of a human subject. Pessimism, characteristic for the existentialism, as an expression of.certain social and political conditions, can be easily surmounted, provided that a possibility of definite social transformations can be demonstrated. This gives evidence of a positive alternative which proposes development of social democracy, elimination of the remnants of worship of the individual, as well as a more and more full realization of social humanism, that are limiting the experiments of existentialism. Together with an increasing conviction of a possibility to surmount and to abolish the capitalistic alienation and together with the development of socialist democracy, when marxist thinking comprises more and more effectively all aspects of human fates, the social basis of existentialism and its influence are losing ground. On the other hand, whatever might be said about arbitrariness and subjectivism of many theses of existentialism, it has raised many essential questions of particular importance in our time. These are: 1) subjective aspect of human freedom in situations of a choice of an action; 2) responsibility of an individual to himself, other people, and history; 3) contradiction between general systems of valuation and norms and of a definite situation in which a choice is taken; 4) danger of a non-authentic apparent communication; 5) danger of a lost of personality in conditions of consumptionist civilisation; 6) necessity of responsibility and engagement; 7) necessity of forbearance, tolerance and respecting the subjective world of other persons; 8) existence of conflict situations. According to the author, a resolution of the above problems, which are important for a modern man, can be done only basing on marxism which should be conceived in a creative way. It is necessary, however, to reject arbitrary assumptions of the existentialist metaphysics, ethical formalism, and, above all, ahistorical conception of freedom. The opinions of Sartre that the, good a priori cannot exist, that everybody should determine his own existence, and that in each situation he should maintain his creative attitude and moral alertness, are in a certain sense and within certain limits right and productive. However, depriving people of a possibility to build any system of values and norms of a super-subjective character is a risky thing and may lead to moral relativity and nihilism. The social function of the existentialism is also a double one. On the one hand, existentialism, which demonstrates a super-historical and unchangeable character of the drama of human existence, in some way confirms and justifies the social system submitted to critic. On the other hand, as it states a moral and idealistic outsidership, bareness, and loneliness of a human individual in a modern bourgeois 1society, existentialism presents an important ethical indictment directed to the capitalistic society and indirectly shows a necessity to create such relations which would remove the tragic gap between individual and society. This is the reason of a peculiar paradox that for same people the existentialism is a point of departure from the files of the revolutionary movement, and for others a point which leads into marxism – cum duo faciunt idem, non est idem. (shrink)

The British philosopher Michael Dummett (1925–2011) not only had a massive influence on the development of analytical philosophy within the philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and metaphysics, but also contributed significantly to historical and metaphilosophical debates about the nature of this philosophical movement and its proper account. He proposed to define analytical philosophy as philosophy whose aim is the analysis of the structure of thought by way of the analysis of language. Hence, it is philosophy the gist of which (...) is the linguistic turn. A number of critics of this proposal (including Barry Smith, Peter Hylton, and Hans-Johann Glock) emphasised that Dummett’s proposal captures merely some features of this diversified and multifaceted philosophical tradition, and is far from being historically adequate. (shrink)

Popiel, J. Filozofia Władysława Tatarkiewicza.--Czeźowski, T. Wyszydzony podręcznik. Jak budować logikę dóbr?--Dąmbska, I. Zagadnienie marzeń sennych w greckiej filozofii starożytnej.--Elzenberg, H. Ideał zbawienia na gruncie etyki czystej.--Frydman, D. Zagadnienie oczywistości u Franciszka Brentany.--Gawecki, B.J. Realizm ewolucyjny.--Grzegorczyk, A. Przerosty cywilizacyjne a wartości twórcze.--Ingarden, R. O zagadnieniu percepcji dzieła muzycznego.--Kadler, A. Działalność filozoficzna Michała Wiszniewskiego i miejsce filozofii w jego twórczości naukowej.--Krajewski, J. Julian Ochorowicz jako autor filozoficznego programu pozytywizmu warszawskiego.--Morawksi, S. Poglądy estetyczne Juliana Ankiewicza.--Ossowska, M. Parę uwag na temat rozróżnienia przyjemności (...) cielesnych i duchowych w etyce starożytnej.--Pelc, J. Funkcje semantyczne a forma i treść w sztuce. (shrink)

Le travail est consacré á la caractérisation de la théorie ď'argumentation créée par Perelman. Ce philosophe belge veut traitor la philosophie d’une façon ample, trouvant qu'elle doit aussi construire les principes de ľ'activité humaine, íl fáut que ces principes soient raisonnables et mútivés. Selon Perelman la logique contemporaine ne favorise pas сеs aspirations. Souvent elle est reduite à la logique formelle (A, Church, J. Bocheński), laissant en dehorn de ses intéréts ces moyens de raisonnemont qu’on applique a'laboration de la décision. (...) Perelman n'accepte pas ces conceptions, se reférant à Aristote. La théorie d ’argumentation proposée par lui, qu'on appelle rhétorique nouvelle, comprend ces techniques de raisonnement à l'aide desquelles on tend a faire accepter par l'auditoire donné la these présentée. Ces méthodes se trouvent à l'extérieur de la logique formelle et ne concement pas les situations dans les quelles on peut recourir a la vérification empirique. Elles sont langement appliquées dans les discussions philosophiques, morales, politiques et aussi juridiques. (shrink)

Grzegorczyk, A. O pewnych formalnych konsekwencjach reizmu.--Hiż, H. O rzeczach.--Kołakowski, L. Determinizm i odpowiedzialność.--Kotarbińska, J. Tak zwana definicja dejktyczna.--Ossowska, M. Norma prawna i norma moralna u Petrażyckiego.--Ossowski, S. Od "Kodeksu natury" do "Sprzysiężenia równych."--Lazari-Pawłowska, I. Tworzenie pojęć nauk humanistycznych według koncepcji Leona Petrażyckiego.--Pawłowski, T. Klasyfikacja sztuczna a klasyfikacja naturalna w biologii.--Pelc, J. Szkic analizy znaczeniowej terminu "ideologia dzieła literackiego."--Poznański, E. Operacjonalizm po trzydziestu latach.--Przełęcki, M. Postulat empiryczności terminów przyrodniczych.--Pszczołowski, T. Prakseologiczne pojęcie pracy.--Stonert, H. Analiza logiczna teorii atomistycznej w klasycznej chemii.--Szaniawski, (...) K. O indukcji eliminacyjnej.--Wallis, M. Koncepcje biologiczne w humanistyce. (shrink)

In his paper, the author makes an attempt at reconstructing one of the first propositions in Poland to start a philosophical discourse on ecological problems. The author of this proposition is priest Tadeusz Ślipko. According to this author the problems of the moral aspects of natural environmental protection are also bioethical problems. Therefore, we can see that he does not consider ethics of the environment as an individual philosophical discipline. The article concentrates on presenting the sources and the (...) range of moral duties of humankind towards the natural environment. Tadeusz Ślipko does not approve of the anthropocentric or biocentric standpoints in the issues of natural environmental protection. He offers his own idea of anthropopriorism, which takes the middle ground between these two extreme concepts. In conclusion, the author underlines that there is still a strong need for ethical reflection over the state of the natural environment along the lines of Ślipko’s stance. (shrink)

Using the emerging technology of large-scale textual analysis, this study examines the use of the term ‘customer satisfaction’ and its variants in the annual reports issued by publicly traded U.S. corporations and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as Form 10-K. We document the frequency of the term’s occurrence in 10-Ks over the 1995–2013 period and the differences in usage across industries. We then relate the term’s usage in 10-Ks to subsequent scores from the American Customer Satisfaction Index to (...) determine whether management’s discussion of customer satisfaction in financial disclosures is credible. The commitment of management to shareholders versus, more broadly, stakeholders is a central question in business ethics, and the integrity of management communication is a fundamental construct in the American Marketing Association’s Statement of Ethics. We document a complex relation between management’s discussion of customer satisfaction and subsequently reported satisfaction. We find that the general use of customer satisfaction in 10-K documents is negatively correlated with subsequent ACSI scores. However, for retail firms, when the phrase is located near words indicating measurement or monitoring of the phenomenon, the empirical relation is reversed and becomes positive. (shrink)

Introduction -- Tending the dark fire: the Boehmian notion of drive -- The night-side of nature: the early Schellingian unconscious -- The speculative psychology of dissociation: the later Schellingian unconscious -- Schellingian libido theory.

While commentators have long decried managerial short-termism, the deleterious effects of managerial short-termism on corporate social performance (CSP), and how to ameliorate those negative effects, remain underexplored. Specifically, due to the difficulty of unobtrusively measuring what is fundamentally a cognition in managers, empirical evidence at the organizational level of managerial short-termism’s effect on CSP is relatively sparse. Here, we measure managerial short-termism by content analyzing firms’ publicly filed annual reports (10-Ks). Using a combined dataset for 1,665 U.S. firms for the (...) period 2000–2012, we show that managerial short-termism is negatively associated with CSP. However, we also show that this effect can be reduced through increased external monitoring by important stakeholders who value CSP. Specifically, we show that increasing dedicated institutional ownership and increasing analyst coverage both decrease the negative effect of managerial short-termism on CSP. We contribute to theory by predicting and showing the negative effect of managerial short-termism on CSP, and how external monitoring can reduce its deleterious effects. We contribute to practice by showing how this managerial cognition can be identified, and how its negative effects can be ameliorated, at the organizational level. (shrink)

Background Empirical studies of surrogate decision-making tend to assume that surrogates should make only a 'substituted judgement'—that is, judge what the patient would want if they were mentally competent. Objectives To explore what people want in a surrogate decision-maker whom they themselves select and to test the assumption that people want their chosen surrogate to make only a substituted judgement. Methods 30 undergraduate students were recruited. They were presented with a hypothetical scenario about their expected loss of mental capacity in (...) the future and asked to answer some questions about their choice of surrogate. These data were analysed qualitatively using thematic content analysis. Results Most respondents talked about choosing someone who was caring and competent in certain ways, giving interesting evidence for their judgements. Surprisingly few highlighted how well they thought their chosen surrogate knew their preferences and would be able to make a substituted judgement. Moreover, few specified that their chosen surrogate had similar attitudes and values to their own and so would make a similar decision to theirs in the circumstances presented. Some respondents also referred to the social role of their chosen surrogate or the social dynamics of their situation which influenced their choices, as well as to ideas of reciprocity and characteristics of honesty and loyalty. Conclusion In the event that they lose mental capacity, many people will not select a surrogate to decide about medical treatments on their behalf solely on the basis that they expect their surrogate to make a substituted judgement. (shrink)

The early Schelling and the romantics constructed the unconscious in order to overcome the modern split between subjectivity and nature, mind and body, a split legislated by Cartesian representationalism. Influenced by Boehme and Kabbalah, the later Schelling modified his notion of the unconscious to include the decision to be oneself, which must sink beneath consciousness so that it might serve as the ground of one's creative and personal acts. Slavoj Zizek has read the later Schelling's unconscious as a prototype of (...) Lacan's reactive unconscious, an unconscious that only exists as the excluded other of consciousness. This reading, though close to the text of Schelling, misses something essential: the unconscious for Schelling is not a repression but a condition of the possibility of life and love. (shrink)

Increasingly, medical students are required to face up to ethical issues in their training and practice. At the same time, there is growing interest in philosophy courses in the ethical issues raised by medical practice. This textbook, designed primarily for students of medicine, develops the issues to a philosophical level complex enough to be satisfying to students of philosophy as well as MA students on applied ethics courses. The author advocates an approach to medical ethics which breaks out of the (...) straitjacket of the narrow choice between utilitarian or deontological theory, and contains a valuable discussion of practical wisdom. It maintains a balance between case studies and philosophical arguments - which are developed in a historical context, and will be of interest at all levels of the medical profession. (shrink)

Increasingly, medical students are required to face up to ethical issues in their training and practice. At the same time, there is growing interest in philosophy courses in the ethical issues raised by medical practice. This textbook, designed primarily for students of medicine, develops the issues to a philosophical level complex enough to be satisfying to students of philosophy as well as MA students on applied ethics courses. The author advocates an approach to medical ethics which breaks out of the (...) straitjacket of the narrow choice between utilitarian or deontological theory, and contains a valuable discussion of practical wisdom. It maintains a balance between case studies and philosophical arguments - which are developed in a historical context, and will be of interest at all levels of the medical profession. (shrink)

Context: Philosophical debates in recent decades have developed new ways of dealing with old philosophical problems such as reality, truth, knowledge, language, communication, and action. These new approaches deserve serious consideration because they can improve the discourse of radical constructivism. Problem: This paper discusses the following problem: How can we overcome dualistic and ontological approaches to basic philosophical problems – problems that are relevant to all scientific domains? Method: The method applied here can be roughly described as a transition from (...) entities/substantives/identities to actions and processes, the actions and processes from which so-called entities result. Action-orientation – or an actor-based process – is necessarily combined with sense-orientation as provided by culture and society. Results: The paper demonstrates how the problems mentioned above can be reformulated in a non-dualistic and non-ontological way. Implications: Opening up constructivist thinking to insights provided by neighbouring philosophical approaches facilitates interdisciplinary cooperation and helps overcome dualistic remnants – as well as the cognitive one-sidedness of traditional constructivism. (shrink)

In the academic year 1920-1921 at the University of Freiburg, Martin Heidegger gave a series of extraordinary lectures on the phenomenological significance of the religious thought of St. Paul and St. Augustine. The publication of these lectures in 1995 settled a long disputed question, the decisive role played by Christian theology in the development of Heidegger’s philosophy. The lectures present a special challenge to readers of Heidegger and theology alike. Experimenting with language and drawing upon a wide range of now (...) obscure authors, Heidegger is finding his way to Being and Time through the labyrinth of his Catholic past and his increasing fascination with Protestant theology. A Companion to Heidegger's Phenomenology of Religious Life is written by an international team of Heidegger specialists. (shrink)

In this paper the authors argue that research ethics committees should not be paternalistic by rejecting research that poses risk to people competent to decide for themselves. However it is important they help to ensure valid consent is sought from potential recruits and protect vulnerable people who cannot look after their own best interests. The authors first describe the tragic deaths of Jesse Gelsinger and Ellen Roche. They then discuss the following claims to support their case: competent individuals are epistemologically (...) and ethically in the best position to say which risks are reasonable for them, so RECs should be no more restrictive than the “normal” constraints on people taking risks with themselves; RECs do not judge individual competence ; individual liberty is mostly limited by what serves the public interest, and RECs do not determine public interest; RECs may have a paternalistic role in preventing exploitation of competent people vulnerable to the use of incentives, and in protecting the interests of incompetent people; however, the moral and political authority of RECs has not been established in this respect. (shrink)