Fr. Paweł Siwek, SJ may be considered the only Polish Jesuit philosopher of the 20th century to have achieved worldwide recognition. This article surveys his work from a broad perspective reflecting philosophy, psychology and theology as pursued in Catholic circles in the 19th and 20th centuries. We review his achievements, while also offering an interpretation. We put forward the thesis that he found his own way of practising neo-Thomism in the spirit of Pope Leo XIII’s Aeterni Patris. To substantiate our (...) claims, we first briefly sketch his biography, providing a synthetic overview of the relevant contexts for his philosophical oeuvre. We then identify his four main areas of interest: namely, the history of philosophy, systematic philosophy, the scientific psychology of religion and spirituality, and Christian apologetics in the face of world religions and spiritual movements. In our conclusion, we discuss the main traits of his intellectual work, along with its impact. (shrink)

The article reviews the book Odkrywanie aksjologicznego wymiaru nauki [Discovering the Axiological Dimension of Science], by Agnieszka Lekka-Kowalik.

Książka ukazała się jako drugi tom w nowo utworzonej serii Contemporary Debates in Philosophy, której patronuje wydawnictwo Blackwell Publishing Ltd, dobrze znane na rynku wydawnictw naukowych o charakterze przeglądowym czy quasi-encyklopedycznym. Ideą przewodnią serii jest udostepnienie studentom oraz wykładowcom forum filozoficznego, które dałoby im możliwość w pewien sposób włączyć się w dyskusje żywo podejmowane we współczesnej zachodniej filozofii. Jednakże autorzy są świadomi pewnej specyficznej trudności, jaką niesie dzisiaj filozofia, szczególnie, gdy chce się ją zaprezentować studentom. Chodzi tutaj o mniej lub (...) bardziej uzasadnione wrażenie, że każdy filozof rozumie terminy i problemy filozoficzne na swój sposób. To pociąga za sobą sytuacje, w których debaty wydają się tylko pozorne, 'gdyż jedni filozofowie atakują pozycje, których nikt nie broni, a drudzy bronią pozycji, których nikt nie atakuje'. Aby zapobiec takim paralelnym monologom i bezpośrednio zderzyć kontrastujące pozycje w ich całej mocy, autorzy przyjęli szczególną metodę. (shrink)

Both our understanding of the term “science”, and that which it is employed to refer to, have undergone significant changes over the centuries. The 20th century, in particular, has seen important transformations within science and, in consequence, heated debate. One important transformation, rarely noticed by philosophers of science, has been the emergence of large-scale research projects of the sort often referred to as “big science”. Such projects require science to be organized, and function, in quite new ways. Their influence upon (...) science, construed as an activity and an institution, has been very great indeed - as has been their impact on our understanding of what it is that such activities ultimately produce. The aim of this article is to identify and spell out the philosophical aspects of this scenario as it pertains to science. I begin with an outline of the historical development of big science. Then, with reference to other scholars, I try to establish a definition of it. I briefly point to some developments in 20th century philosophy of science, and argue for the need to construct a distinctive philosophy of big science itself. The latter, I claim, should construe the philosophy of science in terms broad enough to be adequate for the analysis of a number of issues emerging in the context of the most developed branches of the natural sciences. I review a selection of these issues in the last part of my article. (shrink)

The article reviews the book Odkrywanie aksjologicznego wymiaru nauki [Discovering the Axiological Dimension of Science], by Agnieszka Lekka-Kowalik.

„Filozofia w Instytucie Filozofii Akademii Ignatianum w Krakowie”.

Zapraszamy do lektury najnowszego, tym razem głównie filozoficznego, numeru półrocznika Wydziału Filozoficznego Akademii Ignatianum w Krakowie. Jest on w znacznej części poświęcony myśli ks. prof. dr. hab. Stanisława Ziemiańskiego SJ, ważnej i barwnej postaci krakowskiego ośrodka filozoficznego jezuitów. Był on uczniem o. prof. Mieczysława Alberta Krąpca OP, promotora jego pracy doktorskiej obronionej na Katolickim Uniwersytecie Lubelskim w 1978 r. Od 1962 do 2006 r. ojciec.

Can science, theology and spirituality cooperate with each other? Moreover, can each of them help the other to understand reality? Is it possible to create a coherent view of our world emerging from such different points of view? Some theologians, well-educated both in theology and science and aware of questions that arose in the history of relations between science and theology, have tried to build such consistent views. Among them is William R. Stoeger, Staff Astrophysicist and Adjunct Associate Professor, member (...) of Vatican Observatory Research Group, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson. (shrink)

Przedmiotem artykułu jest zagadnienie wielości teoretycznych ujęć w nauce (w refleksji przedmiotowej, jak i metaprzedmiotowej) oraz mnogość perspektyw w ramach filozofii nauki. Zagadnienie pluralizmu omówiono w odniesieniu do stanowiska lubelskiego filozofa nauki, ks. prof. Zygmunta Hajduka. Twierdzi się, że swoiste pluralistyczne podejście do nauki oraz problemów z zakresu filozofii nauki zajmowało istotne miejsce w jego filozoficznej refleksji. Celem artykułu jest próba scharakteryzowania i interpretacji jego podejścia. Cel ten realizowany jest w kilku etapach. Zarysowano historyczne tło omawianej problematyki. W oparciu o (...) literaturę przedmiotu zostały wyróżnione rodzaje pluralizmów, a następnie przedstawiono własną propozycję ich odróżniania (w nawiązaniu do prac ks. Hajduka). Jest to model trzech płaszczyzn analizy nauki: przedmiotowej, metodologicznej oraz metametodologicznej. Na każdej z tych płaszczyzn można stwierdzić pluralizm ujęć. Model ten zastosowano do studium stanowiska ks. Hajduka w kwestii pluralizmu w nauce i metanauce. Nawiązując do filozofii nauki Paula Feyerabenda, zaproponowano interpretację filozoficznego dorobku ks. Hajduka i określonojego stanowisko mianem „dobry empirysta”. (shrink)

On the 11th of January, 2001 the Philosophical Circle of the University School of Philosophy and of Education Ignatianum in Cracow organised a philosophical symposium on: The subject of metaphysics and the way of its determination. This problem seems important nowadays, although it has been discussed throughout the whole philosophical tradition. Solutions concerning basic philosophical problems have their impact on the understanding of reality, first of all the human being and the culture created by him which is expressed in knowledge, (...) morality, arts and religion. Reflection on the foundations of philosophy is especially important in the contemporary intellectual climate which is dominated by relativism and nihilism. This is demonstrated by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Fides et Ratio, which also proposes the way of overcoming the crisis through the return to the philosophy of being, that is metaphysics. The guests invited to the symposium belong to the above-mentioned philosophical trend. (shrink)

On the 11th of January, 2001 the Philosophical Circle of the University School of Philosophy and of Education Ignatianum in Cracow organised a philosophical symposium on: The subject of metaphysics and the way of its determination. This problem seems important nowadays, although it has been discussed throughout the whole philosophical tradition. Solutions concerning basic philosophical problems have their impact on the understanding of reality, first of all the human being and the culture created by him which is expressed in knowledge, (...) morality, arts and religion. Reflection on the foundations of philosophy is especially important in the contemporary intellectual climate which is dominated by relativism and nihilism. This is demonstrated by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Fides et Ratio, which also proposes the way of overcoming the crisis through the return to the philosophy of being, that is metaphysics. The guests invited to the symposium belong to the above-mentioned philosophical trend. (shrink)

Książka ukazała się jako drugi tom w nowo utworzonej serii Contemporary Debates in Philosophy, której patronuje wydawnictwo Blackwell Publishing Ltd, dobrze znane na rynku wydawnictw naukowych o charakterze przeglądowym czy quasi-encyklopedycznym. Ideą przewodnią serii jest udostepnienie studentom oraz wykładowcom forum filozoficznego, które dałoby im możliwość w pewien sposób włączyć się w dyskusje żywo podejmowane we współczesnej zachodniej filozofii. Jednakże autorzy są świadomi pewnej specyficznej trudności, jaką niesie dzisiaj filozofia, szczególnie, gdy chce się ją zaprezentować studentom. Chodzi tutaj o mniej lub (...) bardziej uzasadnione wrażenie, że każdy filozof rozumie terminy i problemy filozoficzne na swój sposób. To pociąga za sobą sytuacje, w których debaty wydają się tylko pozorne, 'gdyż jedni filozofowie atakują pozycje, których nikt nie broni, a drudzy bronią pozycji, których nikt nie atakuje'. Aby zapobiec takim paralelnym monologom i bezpośrednio zderzyć kontrastujące pozycje w ich całej mocy, autorzy przyjęli szczególną metodę. (shrink)

Agustín Udías Vallina SJ, Los jesuitas y la ciencia. Una tradición en la Iglesia, Ediciones Mensajero, Bilbao 2014, ss. 372. [Jezuici i nauki przyrodnicze. Dzieje pewnej tradycji w Kościele katolickim].

The article reviews the book Odkrywanie aksjologicznego wymiaru nauki [Discovering the Axiological Dimension of Science], by Agnieszka Lekka-Kowalik.

Can science, theology and spirituality cooperate with each other? Moreover, can each of them help the other to understand reality? Is it possible to create a coherent view of our world emerging from such different points of view? Some theologians, well-educated both in theology and science and aware of questions that arose in the history of relations between science and theology, have tried to build such consistent views. Among them is William R. Stoeger, Staff Astrophysicist and Adjunct Associate Professor, member (...) of Vatican Observatory Research Group, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson. (shrink)

If the physical mind is located in quantized space of the brain then how does the physical mind become the self? This remains an unresolved problem. It can be restated as how mental representations or mental states get their informational contents, and of doing so in terms of the natural functions brain states have? We call these natural brain functions not teleosemantic functions, but rather teleological functions. This is because teleosemantics portrays mental representations which must have informational contents that track (...) “operational explanations of cognitive capacities” while teleological functions do not as they are hidden in quantized space, suggesting that mind is physical. Specifically teleonomic capacities have been built into us by natural selection, which naturally leads to a teleogical notion of function. Our claim is that teleofunctionality as unification of mental states has natural functions that carry intrinsic dispositions that may be broadly defined as ‘subjectivity’ or intrinsic information content of mental states. Mental states have intrinsic dispositions to change their functions, producing correspondences to the world that includes further layers of subtlety hidden in quantized space. How does intrinsic information self-replicate content in cases of mental misrepresentation? The putative special virtue of teleosemantics and its ability to give a theory of error through ‘uncertainty’ is discussed based on a teleological functionalist epistemology. (shrink)

There is considerable discussion in contemporary philosophical inquiry concerning the problematics of personalism. Among these inquiries is the book of Wojciech Słomski, a professor of philosophy at the Higher Institute of Psychotherapy and Rehabilitation in Warsaw, entitled The Personalist Vision of Freedom: Examining Emmanuel Mounier's Concept of Personal Freedom. This is the second edition of the book which once appeared under the title Personal Freedom According to Emmanuel Mounier in 1996. The new additions are the first chapter, in which the (...) author introduces E. Mounier as a man and philosopher, as well as chapter five, which deals with the role and significance of freedom. This is rounded off by the remaining chapters. The book, therefore, is composed of six chapters and the bibliography. (shrink)

There is considerable discussion in contemporary philosophical inquiry concerning the problematics of personalism. Among these inquiries is the book of Wojciech Słomski, a professor of philosophy at the Higher Institute of Psychotherapy and Rehabilitation in Warsaw, entitled The Personalist Vision of Freedom: Examining Emmanuel Mounier's Concept of Personal Freedom. This is the second edition of the book which once appeared under the title Personal Freedom According to Emmanuel Mounier in 1996. The new additions are the first chapter, in which the (...) author introduces E. Mounier as a man and philosopher, as well as chapter five, which deals with the role and significance of freedom. This is rounded off by the remaining chapters. The book, therefore, is composed of six chapters and the bibliography. (shrink)

Zebrane w niniejszej publikacji prace są owocem namysłu zarówno badaczy przyrody, jak i filozofów oraz teologów. Prezentują one różnorodne spojrzenie na elementy dziejów dialogu między naukami przyrodniczymi, filozofią i teologią, a także własne poszukiwania autorów dotyczące współczesnych aspektów tej problematyki. W pierwszej części zostanie przedstawione spojrzenie na charakterystyczne punkty historycznego procesu formowania się relacji między różnymi dziedzinami ludzkiego poznania. Czytelnik będzie mógł prześledzić etapy jednoczenia się religijnego i filozoficznego obrazu rzeczywistości na gruncie chrześcijańskiej starożytności i średniowiecza. Ukazane też zostanie oświeceniowe (...) rozejście się teologii i nowożytnej filozofii pod wpływem rozwoju nauk szczegółowych. Współczesny etap poszukiwań obszarów i perspektyw, w których możliwy jest dialog pomiędzy wyodrębnionymi z filozofii naukami przyrodniczymi a samą filozofią oraz teologią, zostanie zaprezentowany w drugiej części niniejszej publikacji. Składają się na nią artykuły dotyczące zarówno aspektów metodologicznych, jak i konkretnych problemów pojawiających się na styku elementów triady: przyrodoznawstwo – filozofia – teologia. (shrink)

Zadaniem niniejszego wprowadzenia jest nakreślenie pewnych ram historycznych i teoretycznych współczesnej immunologii. Dyscyplina ta stosunkowo niedawno ukształtowana stara się wyjaśnić wszelkiego rodzaju zjawiska stojące na straży integralności organizmu. Organizmu rozumianego jako złożona struktura, wielosystemowa, ukształtowana w toku ewolucji. W wypadku tak szeroko rozumianego pojęcia odporności ewidentnie wymagana jest wnikliwa dyskusja, dlatego filozofowie biologii i naukowcy immunolodzy od pół wieku analizują podstawowe definicje i dochodzą do interesujących konkluzji.

We assess Cartwright's models for probabilistic causality, and in particular, her models for EPR-like experiments of quantum mechanics. We show that her models for the EPR are mathematically incorrect and physically implausible. Finally, we argue that her models are not adequate for EPR-phenomena, since they ignore modal and spatiotemporal aspects inherent in their setup.

We assess Cartwright's models for probabilistic causality and, in particular, her models for EPR-like experiments of quantum mechanics. Our first objection is that, contrary to econometric linear models, her quasi-linear models do not allow for the unique estimation of parameters. We next argue that although, as Cartwright proves, Reichenbach's screening-off condition has only limited validity, her generalized condition is not empirically applicable. Finally, we show that her models for the EPR are mathematically incorrect and physically implausible.

This paper discusses the problem of inconsistencies in the metaphorical conceptualizations of time that involve motion within the framework of conceptual metaphor theory (CMT). It demonstrates that the TIME AS A PURSUER metaphor contrasts with the reverse variant TIME AS AN OBJECT OF PURSUIT, just as the MOVING TIME metaphor contrasts with the MOVING OBSERVER variant. Such metaphorical conceptualizations of time functioning as pairs of minimally differing variants based on Figure-Ground reversal are, strictly speaking, inconsistent with one another. Looking at (...) these inconsistencies from a wider perspective suggests that time may belong to a separate category of conceptual phenomena. This paper puts forward a proposal to approach time from the perspective of “phenomena of the third kind”, which according to Keller’s thesis include conceptual establishments resulting from human cognition, but not of human design. (shrink)

The author presents Leszek Kołakowski from the perspective of his private acquaintanceship, lasting for about 47 years, as a witty man and a workaholic. L. Kołakowski never formed a classic “school”, but there is something all his disciples share: a thesis, key to understanding his ideas, which holds that “THERE IS MORE THAN ONE CORRECT OPINION IN THE HUMANITIES”, i.e. we will ALWAYS have opinions for and against, which goes against any dogmatism, wherever it may appear; this also bears consequences (...) in diagnosing the socio-political reality past and present. (shrink)

In 1968 the authors of the so-called Harvard Report, proposed the recognition of an irreversible coma as a new criterion for death. The proposal was accepted by the medical, legal, religious and political circles in spite of the lack of any explanation why the irreversible coma combined with the absence of brainstem reflexes, including the respiratory reflex might be equated to death. Such an explanation was formulated in the President’s Commission Report published in 1981. This document stated, that the brain (...) is the central integrator of the body, therefore the destruction of the brain results in the lack of that integration and the death of the organism. Therefore, according to that document, the so-called “brain dead” patients are really, biologically dead; strictly speaking they are not any more biological organisms but collections of organs and tissues. Their death was masked by the use of the medical equipment, but it was a real, biological death. Thus, the explanation given by the President’s Commission Report constituted a biological rationale for the new concept of death, known as “brain death.” However, after the long discussion, this rationale was refuted because of the evidence given by many medical authorities, that the bodies of the “brain dead” and “brainstem dead” patients are alive. In the context of the discussion about the neurological criteria for death, some authors follow the idea of Plato, that human being is the soul or mind, and the body does not belong to the human essence. Therefore, the loss of consciousness, which may be identified with the mind, constitutes the loss of personhood and may be interpreted as human death. The other group stresses the Aristotelian and Thomistic concept that the body belongs to the essence of every living creature, including human. Therefore, as long as the body is alive, the human being is alive and we cannot call the given patient dead even if he is deeply comatose. Moreover, in spite of the opinions dominating in the mass-media, these patients should be considered not only alive but also may be conscious to some degree and their state can be reversible. Their brains are lacking the electrical functions, but the neuronal tissue is alive and that state is reversible for at least first 48 hours since the onset of coma; this phenomenon is called “global ischemic penumbra” and is responsible for the regularly happening events interpreted as miracles, when some of the “brain dead” or “brainstem dead” patients turn to be alive and come back to normal life. Therefore, the neurological criteria of death are still lacking generally accepted scientific basis and should not be used in medicine and in the legal systems as a basis for diagnosing comatose/having no brainstem reflexes/apneic patients dead. (shrink)

Since the very dawn of its history, modern philosophical anthropology has been addressing the issue of the human body. As a result of those efforts, Descartes, de Biran, Husserl, Sartre, Marcel, Merleau-Ponty and others have brought forward a variety of conceptions concerning various aspects of human corporeality. Anthropological explorations concerning the question of the human body, appear in a particularly interesting way, when they are considered in the context of those points of view which, in an essential way, refer to (...) the subjective character of the human being. It is a matter of reconstructing and analyzing how the subject's corporeality is given to the subject, originarily, according to the phenomenological rule zu den Sachen selbst. The aim of this paper is thus to put into some order the concerns of a variety of anthropologists with regard to the question of the human body, as it is given to, or experienced by, the subject. A metatheoretical analysis of this field proves it is possible to do so with the use of a tool, which is called here, a dimension of corporeality. (shrink)

Since the very dawn of its history, modern philosophical anthropology has been addressing the issue of the human body. As a result of those efforts, Descartes, de Biran, Husserl, Sartre, Marcel, Merleau-Ponty and others have brought forward a variety of conceptions concerning various aspects of human corporeality. Anthropological explorations concerning the question of the human body, appear in a particularly interesting way, when they are considered in the context of those points of view which, in an essential way, refer to (...) the subjective character of the human being. It is a matter of reconstructing and analyzing how the subject's corporeality is given to the subject, originarily, according to the phenomenological rule zu den Sachen selbst. The aim of this paper is thus to put into some order the concerns of a variety of anthropologists with regard to the question of the human body, as it is given to, or experienced by, the subject. A metatheoretical analysis of this field proves it is possible to do so with the use of a tool, which is called here, a dimension of corporeality. (shrink)

The crux of the dispute on the mutual relations between attention and consciousness, and to which I have referred in this paper, lies in the question of what can be attended in spatial attention that obviously resonates with the phenomenological issue of intentionality. The discussion has been initiated by Christopher Mole. He began by calling for a commonsense psychology, according to which one is conscious of everything that one pays attention to, but one does not pay attention to all the (...) things that one is conscious of. In other words, attention is supposed to be a condition which is sufficient but not necessary for consciousness, i.e., consciousness is a necessary concomitant of attention, but attention is not a necessary concomitant of consciousness. Mole seeks to validate his stance with data from psychology labs. His view is, however, partly confronted, for instance, by Robert Kentridge, Lee de-Wit and Charles Heywood, who used their experimental research on a neurological condition called blindsight as evidence of a dissociation between attention and consciousness, i.e., that visual attention is not a sufficient precondition for visual awareness. In this meta-theoretical state of affairs, I would like to focus on the cognitive phenomenon most often referred to as Inhibition of Return and suggest that, following its micro dynamics from the perspective of micro-phenomenology, it can be used to actually showcase all of the options on both sides of the argument. One of my leading goals would be also to follow Mole’s attempt to link attention with agency but where we differ is that I wish to heuristically articulate the matter in terms of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological notion of embodied pre-reflective intentionality. (shrink)

Who, whom, why and how? -- The subject between extremes -- Genesis: the Socratic-Platonic deception or the irrepressible need for immortality -- Modern man: the adventures of Robinson Crusoe -- The scientific foundations of modern man -- The evolution of modern man, Nietzsche's moustache, the fittest man and the man without qualities: the four pillars of modern man -- Evolution and zoodicy: the animality of modern man -- Modernity as false consciousness -- Technology and the mind, God-machine, the individual vs. (...) Facebook -- That which returns -- The death of death and late-modern man. (shrink)

The article attempts to address the issue of nudity and eroticism in stage and screen versions of Shakespeare’s plays. Elizabethan theatrical conventions and moral and political censorship of the English Renaissance did not allow for an explicit presentation of naked bodies and sexual interactions on stage; rather, these were relegated to the verbal plane, hence the bawdy language Shakespeare employed on many occasions. Conventions play a significant role also in the present-day, post-1960s and post-sexual revolution era, whereby human sexuality in (...) Western culture is not just alluded to, but discussed and presented in an open manner. Consequently, nudity on stage and screen in versions of Shakespeare’s plays has become more marked and outspoken. Indeed, in both filmic and TV productions as well as stage performances directors and actors more and more willingly have exposed human body and sexuality to the viewer/spectator. My aim is to look at such instances from the perspective of realism and realistic conventions that the three media deploy and the effect nudity/sex can have on the recipient. The conclusion is that theatre is most conventional and stark realism and directness of the message need to be carefully dosed. Similarly to the theatre, television, more specifically television theatre, is, too, a most direct genre, as television is inherently a live medium, the broadcasts of which occur here and now, in the present tense. Film is markedly different from the two previous forms of art: it is narrated in the past tense, thus creating a distance between what is shown and the viewer, and allowing for more literalness. Naturally, particular cases discussed in the article go beyond these rather simple divisions. (shrink)

The aim of this note is to give an example of application of model theory to the theory of logical matrices. . More precisely, we show that Wojtylak's representation theorem is an immediate consequence of a result due to Mal'cev . Throughout the present note we assume that matrices, and classes of matrices under consideration are of the same xed similarity type. Suppose that K is an arbitrary class of matrices, and M is a matrix . We say that M1 (...) 2 K is called a replica of M in the class K i there is a homomorphism h of M onto M1 such that for every homomorphism g of M into arbitrary N 2 K there exists a homomorphism f of M1 into N such that g = f h. (shrink)

The following is an attempt to grasp synthetically the strategy and development of Jean Baudrillard’s intellectual standpoint. My view emphasizes late ideas by French Philosopher, while the earlier ones are treated from this perspective as preliminary. After having left Marxist and post-Marxist positions, Baudrillard developed an original and idiosyncratic way of thinking about contemporary world that—inspired by Nietzschean idea that the power of interpretation prevails over representation of truth—evolves around rejection of the traditional ideas of the social, reality and revolt, (...) while employing categories of mass, simulation or catastrophe. This attitude took him not only beyond good and evil, but also to affirmation of death and terror, conducting to an extreme standpoint of “intellectual terrorism”. (shrink)

In her books Szymborska touches many diverte subjects but it is easy to notice her predilection for some topics with which she deals in her successive books of poems. Unplanned haphazard happenings, their category and their role in the life of the man, in reality and in the world, are her main preocupations. As our century has witnessed a breakthrough in indeterminacy due to surprising discoveries in natural sciences the question of haphazard happenings has become more important and intriguing. It (...) has a great fascination for artistics. W. Szymborska giving so much attention to the category of haphazards familiorizes the man with the reality in dissaway that can result in a chaos. In her poems influenced by natural sciences the category of haphazards is not only a leitmotif but also a fascinating enigma. For her casualness and situations resulting from chance are the main mechanism that controls the course of events. In her many poems she focuses on the mystery of haphazards and their inevitability. Her poem Wszelki wypadek (It Might Have Happened) is, perhaps, her first work where she doesn’t deal but with the role of haphazards played in the life of the man. She directs her attention to situations happening in unplanned or disorderly manner thus making possible to save one’s life. Haphazards not only can save the man’s life but they also determine the angle from which he sees the world where the haphazard is ruling. Haphazards can influence all the spheres that are important for the man. The world full of haphazards pictured in the poem is mosaic-like – a number of happenings, various possibilities for the course of particular events. The language describing those events matches the structure of composition. What is happening in the sphere of the language it is precisely reflected in the meaning. Her symmetric and precise structure of the poem results in a scheme called “the tree of decision” transformed by Szymborska in a “tree of possibilities”. In the poem Terrorysta, on patrzy (He is Watching, the Terrorist) the poetess tries to paint the ruthless mechanism of a haphazard meaning the life of people. A terrorist, after having planted a bomb in a bar, is watching people coming in and out of the bar. The whole poem is a silent question about the aim and the sense of the events impossible to understand for people who are involved in them. Szymborska’s latest book of poems (Koniec i początek, The End And The Beginning) confirms her strong interest in haphazards (especially in the poem Seans). The title of the poem is a metaphor between the casualness and the man. Again one focuses on the surprised man who cannot understand the sense of the events happening with his participation. The spectators are surprised because they don’t know the way the illusionist plays his tricks. Szymborska’s man is dependent on something over which he has no influence. He is the passive protagonist of events he takes part in. At the same time the category of haphazard stresses the joyful aspect of human existence. For Szymborska both haphazards are important: the one that threatens the man’s life and the other that makes possible to save his life. So the pessimism in the poem It Might Have Happened is balanced by optimism. The poetess, inspired by everyday world and new achievements in sciences, pictures a world where the haphazard and invitability coexist and integrate and interrelate. Szymborska, in her poetry, surmounts the contradiction between those categories. (shrink)

The paper briefly presents a genesis of the research project called the theology of science initiated by Michał Heller in early 1980s, but also enriched by the remarks of Józef Życiński. Then the main features of the new Heller’s book Science and theology – not necessarily exclusively on one planet are discussed. The book develops and strengthens the early ideas of theology of science. The paper draws also attention to another author—C.B. Kaiser who—since a dozen years—has been developing a similar (...) project: theology of scientific endeavor. It is also suggested that the Heller’s project, especially in its axiological and praxeological aspects, could take advantage of the achievements of several Francophone authors who once developed a field of the so-called theology of earthly realities. (shrink)

The present paper is to be considered as a sequel to [1], [2]. It is known that Johansson's minimal logic is not uniform, i.e. there is no single matrix which determines this logic. Moreover, the logic C J is 2-uniform. It means that there are two uniform logics C 1, C 2 (each of them is determined by a single matrix) such that the infimum of C 1 and C 2 is C J. The aim of this paper is to (...) give a detailed description of the logics C 1 and C 2. It is performed in a lattice-theoretical language. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Frühmittelalterliche Studien Jahrgang: 46 Heft: 1 Seiten: 99-156.

The main purpose of this article is to discuss the views of the Jesuit Stanisław Dunin–Borkowski (1864–1934) about Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. These days, Dunin–Borkowski is a rather obscure figure despite rising to fame in the interwar period as an outstanding expert in the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Thus, the secondary aim of this article is to remind ourselves of this somewhat forgotten scholar. As a researcher, writer, and pedagogue, Dunin–Borkowski was interested in numerous fields of knowledge. Among these (...) were the natural sciences, including physics and the influence that new physical theories had on philosophical thought. This present study therefore fills a gap in the existing research about how Polish philosophers received Einstein’s theories. The example of Dunin–Borkowski also serves as a basis for discussing some of the fundamental problems of neo-scholasticism in receiving new mathematicised scientific theories. (shrink)