Several times, when faced with a difficult passage of scripture in Sermones ad populum, Augustine implores his audience, “knock and it shall be opened” (Matt. 7:7c; par. Luke 11:9c). Augustine uses this phrase to stress humility and the human need for God’s activity when interpreting scripture. Studying the archeological record of domestic architecture of locked doors in Roman North Africa elucidates Augustine’s message. Knowledge of the material culture shows that Augustine calls upon Christians to “knock” upon scripture as if it (...) were a door, locked and barred in such a way that it could only be opened from inside. Thus, a reader of scripture is like a petitioner calling from outside a locked door, needing God to open its meaning. Augustine’s use of “knocking” contrasts with the metaphor of “keys” to scripture, which was favored by Tyconius and other early Christian writers. In De doctrina Christiana, Augustine expresses concern that “keys” could lead a person into overconfidence, expecting to unlock obscure passages of the Bible by his or her own power. Augustine’s frequent use of Matt. 7:7c is a call for exegetes to approach scripture with humility. All members of the totus Christus, great and small, must humbly knock. The image of “knocking” provides a versatile theological message: human effort is important, but the meaning of the Bible is ultimately unlocked by God’s activity. (shrink)

Nondirectiveness is widely regarded as an important principle of genetic counseling. However, numerous studies have indicated that the use of this principle and its content itself are subject to controversies. The present study aimed to verify how the nondirectiveness principle is defined by Polish geneticists, the extent to which it is considered the main principle in clinical practice, and the situations in which geneticists see the positive value of the directive action. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, the study compared the (...) abstract declarations of the directiveness validity and the scope of this principle with the declaration of action in situations close to reality (case scenarios). The results showed that the high rank assigned to the nondirectiveness principle does not translate into the conviction about the absolute obligation to use it in clinical practice. Polish geneticists are inclined to restrict the scope of patients’ choices when these are outside of their definition of medical standard. Strong medical paternalism manifests itself particularly in invasive prenatal diagnostics, where geneticists play the role of gatekeepers. In this study, we offer hypotheses about the sources of these attitudes by analyzing the current cultural and legal context of Poland. (shrink)

W artykule staram się dowieść, że fotografia artystyczna, za sprawą technologii wytwarzania „mieniących się, syntetycznych wizerunków” (K. Linker, On Artificiality), może stać się medium sztuki ze społecznością, tworzonej wraz z osobami systemowo pozbawianymi widoczności w sferze publicznej. Posługując się metodą analizy ikonograficznej, opisuję wybrane fotografie portretowe Krzysztofa Marchlaka prezentujące wizerunki osób należących do społeczności LGBTQ w Polsce. W konkluzji nawiązuję do wykonanej przez artystę wielkoformatowej fotograficznej panoramy Paradiso, którą interpretuję jako zaangażowany społecznie, „mieniący się, syntetyczny wizerunek” sztucznego raju dla wygnanych (...) z królestwa binarnych opozycji płciowych. Artificial Paradises for the Expelled. Krzysztof Marchlak’s Art Photography as a Medium for Performing Queer Identities In the article, I try to demonstrate that artistic photography which involves the use of technology of creating “shimmering, synthetic appearances” (K. Linker, “On Artificiality”) can become a medium for community art projects developed with people who are systemically excluded from view in the public sphere. Applying the method of iconographic analysis, I describe selected portrait photographs by Krzysztof Marchlak that feature images of people who belong to the Polish LGBTQ community. I draw in conclusion upon the artist’s large-format photographic panorama Paradiso, which I interpret as a socially engaged, “shimmering, synthetic appearance” of an artificial paradise for people expelled from the kingdom of binary gender oppositions. (shrink)

An increasing number of academic papers, newspaper articles, and other media representations from all over the world recently bring climate change’s impact on mental health into focus. Commonly summarized under the terms of climate or ecological emotions, these reports talk about distress, anxiety, trauma, grief, or depression in relation to environmental decline and anticipated climate crisis. While the majority of psychology and mental health literature thus far presents preliminary conceptual analysis and calls for empirical research, some explanations of ecological emotions (...) are already offered. They mainly draw from psychoanalysis and depth existential and humanistic psychology, as well as social psychology and address the relationship between ecological emotions and individual engagement in climate action. While these studies suggest building on individual resilience if concerned by ecological emotions, we argue that this only addresses their acute symptoms and not the social causes. Based upon our literature research, we show that in an individualistic society such as the liberal ones, feelings of individual responsibility are fostered, and this also applies to climate activism. (shrink)

Textual and visual analyses of nation-branding campaigns are rare but highly needed (Bolin and Ståhlberg, 2010; Hao, Paul, Trott, Guo, and Wu, 2019) as online media have become a popular tool for states to shape people’s perception (Volcic and Andrejevic, 2011). In Anholt’s much applied nation brand hexagon (2007), immigration and investment, society, governance, and culture and heritage are, along with tourism and export, the core aspects that build a country’s reputation. As the 2015 refugee peak situation resulted in a (...) more restrictive approach of the Swedish government towards asylum applicants, the country’s brand was put under pressure. How could Sweden’s values related to openness be highlighted while policymakers chose a deterrent road? In this study, we bridge streams of research on nation branding, framing, and migration studies by presenting a multimodal analysis of the “Portraits of migration” campaign as a strategic response to the refugee situation. (shrink)

The paper reconstructs a famous ethical debate on the Baby Doe case. The consequence of the fact that contemporary medicine can not and probably should not treat all severely handicapped children is twofold: we have to establish who is entitled to decide on the ways of treatment in the case of incompetent children ; and what are the criteria of fair judgment. The second part of the paper is an overview of Polish legal regulations establishing the proper kinds of treatment (...) in the case of terminally ill patients. The author concludes with some remarks on the place of ethical debate in political life of contemporary Poland. (shrink)

The article aims at organizing multifaceted discourse on the concept of nondirectiveness in the practice of genetic counseling. The analysis of areas where nondirectiveness was invoked and discussed reveals the problematic confusion of different meanings of the term that often leads to false conclusions about the relations between the professional standards and the practice of genetic counseling. The article offers clear and comprehensive description of different approaches to nondirectiveness and various ideas associated with the term. Normative consequences of various meanings (...) attributed to nondirectiveness are explored. The article concludes by presenting important but unsolved problems regarding both theory (the meaning of nondirectiveness and its operational definition) and practice of genetic counseling (the scope and content of the norm of nondirective counseling). (shrink)

The paper reports two studies exploring the relationship between scholars’ self-reported publication pressure and their self-reported scientific misconduct in research. In Study 1 the participants...

The subject of this article is the problem of truth in works of literature. The purpose of presenting the polemic between Roman Ingarden and Jerzy Pelc concerning the issue of verity of statements in literary fiction is to show the difficulties that inevitably arise while analyzing literary fiction. The major theses and solutions proposed by both authors are, in my opinion, still relevant - in the sense that they give a picture of the magnitude of logical problems with which everyone (...) who wants to build a thorough theory of literary fiction must cope. (shrink)

This book explores an innovative set of critical narratives, accounts and engagements by different authors about their professional mobility and how that relates to the discipline and their life experiences. Human Geography and Professional Mobility seeks to encourage, influence, and help students understand geographic concepts based on critical reflections, international experiences, and practical insight laid out in stories of real people, real geographers, real college faculty, that students can relate to. This volume is less theoretical and more personal insight-based, wherein (...) first-hand and personal accounts of practical experiences are explored, which renders the text supplementary reading for human geography, population geography, world geography, and migration/mobility classes. With critical navigation of spaces in response to several geographical questions, this book offers a novel perspective on professional mobility of geographers which will be of interest to students and academics in the fields of geography, tourism, sociology and anthropology. (shrink)

Yenidoğanlara ve hayvanlara dair herhangi bir soru sorduğumuzda ve soruyu cevaplamaya çalıştığımızda çoğu örtük olan birtakım varsayımlarımız vardır. Bunlardan en önemlisi, insanı insan yapan ve diğer canlılardan ayıran temel unsurlar hakkındadır. Yani, “insanı insan yapan nedir?” sorusuna keskin sınırları olan bir cevabımız varsa, bu cevabımız, aynı zamanda yenidoğanlara ve hayvanlara dair birtakım soruların da cevabı haline gelir. Örneğin “insanı insan yapan veya en azından onu diğer canlılardan ayırt eden unsurların en önemlilerinden biri dildir ve dil öğrenebilmesidir” dersek, bu ifade, en (...) temelde, dünyaya henüz gelen bebeğin ve örneğin bir kedinin yalnızca “gelişmemiş” değil, aynı zamanda “aynı zeminde gelişmemiş” olduğu yönünde bir varsayıma bizi götürür, zira dil öğrenmek veya öğrenebilmek ve bu süreç neticesinde alışageldiğimiz, bildiğimiz anlamda diller aracılığıyla iletişim kurabilmek ve düşünebilmek “gelişmek”tir. Bu yazının amacı, yenidoğanlara ve hayvanlara dair özellikle bilinç çalışmalarının, bu eksende yürütülen dil ve en genel anlamda felsefe ve psikoloji araştırmalarının (yukarıdaki örnekteki gibi) temel varsayımlarını ve hareket noktalarını sorgulamak ve son dönemde Yalçın Koç’un geliştirdiği aşkınlık tasavvuru çerçevesinde eleştiriler ve öneriler sunmaktır. Son olarak, bir tecrübe sahibi olmak ile en geniş anlamıyla tecrübe sahibi olmaya dair bir fikriyat inşa etmek ve -mümkünse- bilimini yapmak arasındaki ilişkiye değineceğiz. (shrink)

Among ethicists and engineers within robotics there is an ongoing discussion as to whether ethical robots are possible or even desirable. We answer both of these questions in the positive, based on an extensive literature study of existing arguments. Our contribution consists in bringing together and reinterpreting pieces of information from a variety of sources. One of the conclusions drawn is that artifactual morality must come in degrees and depend on the level of agency, autonomy and intelligence of the machine. (...) Moral concerns for agents such as intelligent search machines are relatively simple, while highly intelligent and autonomous artifacts with significant impact and complex modes of agency must be equipped with more advanced ethical capabilities. Systems like cognitive robots are being developed that are expected to become part of our everyday lives in future decades. Thus, it is necessary to ensure that their behaviour is adequate. In an analogy with artificial intelligence, which is the ability of a machine to perform activities that would require intelligence in humans, artificial morality is considered to be the ability of a machine to perform activities that would require morality in humans. The capacity for artificial (artifactual) morality, such as artifactual agency, artifactual responsibility, artificial intentions, artificial (synthetic) emotions, etc., come in varying degrees and depend on the type of agent. As an illustration, we address the assurance of safety in modern High Reliability Organizations through responsibility distribution. In the same way that the concept of agency is generalized in the case of artificial agents, the concept of moral agency, including responsibility, is generalized too. We propose to look at artificial moral agents as having functional responsibilities within a network of distributed responsibilities in a socio-technological system. This does not take away the responsibilities of the other stakeholders in the system, but facilitates an understanding and regulation of such networks. It should be pointed out that the process of development must assume an evolutionary form with a number of iterations because the emergent properties of artifacts must be tested in real world situations with agents of increasing intelligence and moral competence. We see this paper as a contribution to the macro-level Requirement Engineering through discussion and analysis of general requirements for design of ethical robots. (shrink)

For centuries, women involved in armed operations, wearing uniforms and supporting the army in other ways are among the guarantors of freedom of societies, nations, cultures and generations. Their attitudes towards war, as well as the ways in which they perceive and describe it, make an important contribution to studying this issue. When describing female soldiers, the author analyses their attitudes, motives, the specificity of their stories, as well as their significance for the war narrative.

This article presents research on the scale of the phenomenon of sexual violence against students at selected 33 universities across Poland, the mechanisms used to combat the problem and the awareness of students on the subject. The study focuses on the practical dimension of combating sexual violence against students in the Polish academic environment. It looks at the existence and functioning of both specialised bodies and the procedures used to help the victims and punish the perpetrators. Additionally, the paper describes (...) how the diversity of available legal measures to address the problem by both helping the victims and holding perpetrators accountable creates the issue of the coexistence of two systems—criminal and intra-university. Presenting preliminary results of gathered opinions of universities’ officials regarding functioning of the bodies specialised in combating sexual violence shows not only the most dominant observations and conclusions the professionals have regarding the functions they hold at their home universities, but also main challenges that have to be considered in both creating sufficient policies in order to deal with sexual violence and conducting comprehensive research on said phenomenon. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to show that the meaning and significance of legal evidence is being constituted throughout the course of a singular instance of legal proceedings. This is to be achieved by describing what legal agents _do_ while appealing to different propositions of fact and inferring from them throughout the course of legal proceedings. The authors claim that the process of applying the law is ultimately rooted in the inferential discursive practices of exchanging reasons on the part (...) of the participants of legal proceedings. Therefore, they set forth a model of legal proceedings that consists of an interplay between three types of reasons, which are exchanged by the participants of legal proceedings: i.e. legal reasons, epistemic reasons and stake reasons. To illustrate this interplay, the authors deploy a metaphor of law as a game, and provide a description of legal proceedings as a particular instance of playing a game of law. The conclusion is that the legal concept of evidence is (at least in part) constituted by the role that evidence plays in affecting which reasons for action the participants to legal proceedings choose to act on. The other final assumption of this paper is metatheoretical: authors want to show that when analyzing what legal evidence is, one should begin from the perspective of a singular instance of legal proceedings, rather than from the perspective of law in general. (shrink)

This study assesses the knowledge of medical students on the health effects of the use of psychoactive substances, in the context of their future role in prevention and treatment of addictions. The...

This new edition of Baran and Davis's successful text provides a comprehensive, historically based, introduction to mass communication theory. Clearly written with examples, graphics, and other materials to illustrate key theories, this edition traces the emergence of two main bodies of mass communication theory: social, behavioral and critical, cultural. The authors emphasize that media theories are human creations that typically are intended to address specific problems or issues.

Według standardowej koncepcji krzywdy, inkorporującej test kontrfaktyczny, osoba B została skrzywdzona, jeśli na skutek działania x osoby A znalazła się w gorszej sytuacji niż ta, w której znajdowałaby się, gdyby osoba A nie zrealizowała tego działania. Zastosowanie tej koncepcji do wyborów prokreacyjnych napotyka jednak dwa poważne problemy teoretyczne: tzw. problem nie-istnienia, będący także istotą spraw sądowych z tytułu „wrongful life”, oraz problem nie-tożsamości, opisany przez Derka Parfita. Problemy te ujawniają, że standardowa koncepcja krzywdy prowadzi do wniosków, które są całkowicie sprzeczne (...) z powszechnie podzielanymi intuicjami dotyczącymi obowiązków moralnych rodziców wobec przyszłych dzieci. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest analiza alternatywnej koncepcji krzywdy – tzw. krzywdy progowej. Wykazane zostanie, że koncepcja ta jest oporna na problem nie-istnienie, ale nie jest w stanie w sposób satysfakcjonujący rozwiązać problemu nie-tożsamości. (shrink)

İdrak ve niteliği felsefenin en önemli problemlerinden biridir. İbn Sînâ hissî, hayalî, vehmî ve aklî olmak üzere dört farklı idrak mertebesi dillendirir. Buna göre insan nefsi nesnelerin suretlerini duyu yetileriyle algılar. Daha sonra bu suretleri hayal yetisine teslim eder. Akabinde akıl bu sureti barındırdığı maddî eklentilerden arındırarak aklî suretlerin oluşumu için gerekli zeminleri hazırlar. Daha sonra faal akıl insan nefsine aklî suretleri verir. İnsan zihninde duyularla algılanan bu kavramlardan başka kavramlar da vardır. Bu küllî kavramların yeri nesnel âlem değil öznel (...) âlemdir. İslam felsefesi geleneğinde Fârâbî ilk defa bu ayırımı yapar ve ma‘kūlleri birinci ve ikinci ma‘kūller diye iki kısma ayırır. İbn Sînâ da bu sınıflandırmayı benimser ve konu hakkında yeni açıklamalar getirir. İbn Sînâ, ikinci ma‘kūllerin sonraki dönemlerde yapılan felsefî ve mantıkî ayırımını her ne kadar dillendirmese de eserlerinden bu iki ma‘kūl türünün farklılığına teveccüh eder. Bu çalışmada İbn Sînâ felsefesinde idrak olgusunun gerçekleşme niteliği ele alınacak ve daha sonraki dönemlerde dillendirilen ikinci felsefî ma‘kūl anlamların İbn Sînâ felsefesindeki yeri açıklanacaktır. (shrink)

Curiosity is a personality trait that is inversely related to depression and positively related to subjective wellbeing. However, the relationship between curiosity and these two outcomes is still unclear which hampers our general understanding of well-being. Based on research within positive psychology that showed character strengths such as curiosity can indirectly decrease depression, we hypothesized that the inverse relationship between curiosity and depression would be mediated by subjective well-being. Two hundred and fifty seven participants, between 18 and 64 years old (...) completed a web-based survey comprising: The Curiosity and Exploration Inventory - II, Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression and the Steen Happiness Index. We found that well-being mediated the relationship between curiosity and depression. The results indicate that curious individuals tend to report higher levels of subjective well-being which, in turn, is associated with lower levels of depression. Our findings contribute to the understanding of positive results obtained from clinical samples that underwent positive psychotherapy of depression. (shrink)