In this article, the question is discussed if and how Healthcare Ethics Committees (HECs) should be regulated. The paper consists of two parts. First, authors from eight EC member countries describe the status quo in their respective countries, and give reasons as to the form of regulation they consider most adequate. In the second part, the country reports are analysed. It is suggested that regulation of HECs should be central and weak. Central regulation is argued to be apt to improve (...) HECs’ accountability, relevance and comparability. To facilitate biomedical citizenship and ethical reflection, regulation should at the same time be weak rather than strict. Independence of HECs to deliberate about ethical questions, and to give solicited and unsolicited advice, should be supported and only interfered with by way of exception. One exception is when circumstances become temporary adversarial to ethical deliberation in healthcare institutions. In view of European unification, steps should be taken to develop consistent policies for both Eastern and Western European countries. (shrink)

Discussions on original sin conduced over the last 50 years yield the conclusion that the second half of the 20th century brought about the most far-reaching changes in the perception of original sin since the times of St. Augustine. In spite of these profound changes, the matter in question continues to give rise to controversies. Thus, Alfred Vanneste considers the omission of monogenism in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2 to be a gross oversight on the part of the (...) drafting committee. During deliberations on the transformations of modern culture, an issue may arise, which implied that the notion of human nature encumbered with the weakness of original sin is one of the truths of highest empirical confirmation. It should be noted, however, that an immense diversity of standpoints In expressing his truth exist. (shrink)

rzemiany kulturowe ostatniego okresu przyniosły głęboką zmianę wartościowań dotyczących społecznej roli nauk przyrodniczych. Podczas gdy w początkach XX wieku pozytywizm upatrywał w nauce jedyne źródło wartościowej poznawczo wiedzy, postmodernizm z początku obecnego stulecia traktuje teorie przyrodnicze przede wszystkim jako formę narracji literackiej. W antyintelektualnych nastrojach, wyrażających krytykę oświeceniowej afirmacji racjonalności, ceni się pragmatyczne zastosowania nauki, nie zaś jej funkcje poznawcze. Sytuacja taka stwarza pilną potrzebę interdyscyplinarnej współpracy między filozofami, teologami i przedstawicielami nauk przyrodniczych. W ostatnim okresie podjęto w wielu ośrodkach (...) interdyscyplinarne programy badawcze, które dotyczą różnych aspektów teorii ewolucji, związków między przetwarzaniem informacji w komputerach a neurofizjologią, relacji między naturalizmem metodologicznym a różnorodnymi wersjami naturalizmu ontologicznego. Rozwijane badania stanowią nową jakość we wzajemnych relacjach nauk przyrodniczych z myślą chrześcijańską. Przezwyciężają one zarówno złudzenia scjentyzmu, jak i dominującą w pozytywizmie cząstkową koncepcję prawdy, w której brakuje odpowiedzi na pytania istotne dla całościowej wizji świata. Równocześnie stanowią one również odpowiedź na wizję interdyscyplinarnego dialogu, którą Jan Paweł II ukazał w encyklice Fides et ratio oraz w Liście do George \'a Coyne \'a SI, skierowanym z racji 300-lecia publikacji Principiów Newtona. (shrink)

Discussions on original sin conduced over the last 50 years yield the conclusion that the second half of the 20th century brought about the most far-reaching changes in the perception of original sin since the times of St. Augustine. In spite of these profound changes, the matter in question continues to give rise to controversies. Thus, Alfred Vanneste considers the omission of monogenism in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2 to be a gross oversight on the part of the (...) drafting committee. During deliberations on the transformations of modern culture, an issue may arise, which implied that the notion of human nature encumbered with the weakness of original sin is one of the truths of highest empirical confirmation. It should be noted, however, that an immense diversity of standpoints In expressing his truth exist. (shrink)

mathematical formulae are our “mother tongue”, thanks to which we are able to develop a creative dialogue with our physical environment. The application of the language of mathematics gives us access to valuable information about events which occurred billions years ago and so allows us to reconstruct the history of the universe. This amazing property of nature inspires a non-trivial philosophical question: Why are there the mathematically described universal laws of physics at all, when nature could have been only an (...) uncoordinated disorder? The existence of the universal laws of nature seems to constitute the essence of the ontological structure of the world. Various authors call this basic field of formal structures – the matrix of the universe, the field of rationality, the formal field, the Logos, the Absolute, etc. Jan Łukasiewicz, the well-known representative of the Polish School of Logic, argued that the reality of ideal mathematical structures independent of human experience could be regarded as an expression of God’s presence in nature. Regardless of our terminological preferences, this structure can be regarded as a basic level of physical reality where the necessitarian inter- pretation of the laws of nature is confirmed and the astonishing effectiveness of mathematics could be explained. (shrink)