The question of the relation between the economic reforms introduced in or contemplated by the East European communist countries (including now a days the Soviet Union as well) and China, and the pattern of income distribution is obviously of great interest: how will the increased use of market mechanisms affect the degree of inequality? Strong views on the matter are frequently voiced both by proponents and opponents of market-oriented reforms, but there is surprisingly litde empirical evidence based on systematic research. (...) To my knowledge the work under review is the first book with such an explicit objective. (shrink)

Due to the Internet, the traditional media monopoly has been irretrievably broken. Available technologies have created unavailable earlier conditions for personalization and manipulation of information that is generating to the Internet users. It is sharply noticeable with reference to the computer games, media and the potential of Web 2.0, social networking. The freedom of information concerning the social networking seem to be a temporary phenomenon—effectively dominated by the commercialization.

Refining big data is a new multipurpose way to find, collect, and analyze information obtained from the web and off-line information sources about any research subject. It gives the opportunity to investigate (with an assumed level of statistical significance) the past and current status of information on a subject, and it can even predict the future. The refining of big data makes it possible to quantitatively investigate a wide spectrum of raw information on significant human issues—social, scientific, political, business, and (...) others. Refining creates a space for new, rich sources of information and opens innovative ways for research. The article describes a procedure for refining big data and gives examples of its use. (shrink)

BL With a new preface by the authors This is an important work of original scholarship by two of the most distinguished East European economists now working in the West. The authors, both of whom were involved in the Planning Office of the Polish economy in the 1950s and 1960s, present here the results of their efforts to develop theoretically a system of economic management which could in practice avoid the worst excesses of both market capitalism and central planning. The (...) conclusions derived from this analysis are shown to open up a new dimension to the `socialism versus capitalism' controversy which has dominated much of the world throughout the twentieth century and which is especially significant as the countries of East and Central Europe re-structure their economies. (shrink)

The text is a commentary to the phenomena in Polish modern art in the final years of the 20th century. It constitutes a “first-hand” account by a participant of the events and the host of the location. The location was the author’s private workshop in the attic of a Łódź tenement house in the very centre of the city, in the circles of artists creating situations, meetings, events and objects, which established Kultura Zrzuty [the Whip-round Culture], a phenomenon which described (...) the activities of artists independent of state institutions and officials patrons in the 1980s. The analysis of the events within the area of independent Okolice Sztuki inspired the author to discuss the form of other artists and his own, who created art in Strych [literally: attic] in an unchanging conflict between physical and social existence and freedom in art. (shrink)

This collection of 12 essays at the 100th anniversary of Roman Ingarden is to show the actuality of the outstanding Polish representative of twentieth century philosophy. The authors take up Ingarden's main philosophical topics and, accordingly, deal with phenomenological and ontological problems on the various modes of givenness and existence in the wide range of real and intentional being, true and fictional existence, and they devote particular interest to Ingarden's conception of reality as well as to his aesthetics and theory (...) of arts. (shrink)

This collection of 12 essays at the 100th anniversary of Roman Ingarden is to show the actuality of the outstanding Polish representative of twentieth century philosophy. The authors take up Ingarden's main philosophical topics and, accordingly, deal with phenomenological and ontological problems on the various modes of givenness and existence in the wide range of real and intentional being, true and fictional existence, and they devote particular interest to Ingarden's conception of reality as well as to his aesthetics and theory (...) of arts. (shrink)

Innovation is fundamental to the pharmaceutical industry and a key to improvements in healthcare. Its effectiveness depends on huge, constant investments in research. This innovative industry directly affects the course of studies in healthcare and medicine. Its efforts translate directly into the length and quality of our lives. For several years now, the progress underway in pharmaceutical industry has produced measurable benefits. Doctors have new pharmaceuticals at their disposal, including many types of antibiotics and anti-viral drugs, vaccines and a wide (...) range of drugs which save lives or make them more comfortable. In the near future, ever more efficient cures for neoplastic, rheumatic, neurological, psychic, metabolic, circulatory or respiratory diseases can be expected. (shrink)

In his Tractatus and Notebooks 1914-1916, Wittgenstein develops some themes concerning the nature of the subject, transcendentalism, solipsism and mysticism. Though Wittgenstein rejects a naive, psychological understanding of the subject, he preserves the idea of the metaphysical subject, so-called “philosophical I”. The present investigations exhibit two ways of grasping the subject: (1) subject as a boundary (of the world); (2) subject (I) as the world. The author of the paper aims to analyze different methods of conceiving the subject, both logical (...) and transcendental. Then he discusses the naturalistic or reductionist consequences of solipsism which were derived by Wittgenstein. Moreover, he refers to the concept of ‘subject of will’ introduced in the Tractatus. Finally, the author puts a question whether the metaphysical subject is a boundary of the world identified with the subject of will. While trying to answer this question one can point to the essential difficulties of Wittgenstein’s standpoint. These difficulties become especially evident if we examine Wittgenstein’s statements concerning mysticism. The category of subject seems to gain a new dimension when reconsidered in this context. In the conclusion, the author offers an interpretation inspired by Schopenhauer’s conception of the double aspect of the subject that is to overstep these difficulties. (shrink)