This paper seeks to rediscover the traditional meaning of “property” in the light of Thomistic philosophy and the practice of ancient legal texts, both in the West and in the Far East, in order to better grasp the reality of slavery analyzed not according to modern property law, but according to the traditional conception of this “property,” considered as a bond of political domination more than as a right to use and abuse. This change of perspective is necessary to the (...) work of historical research in order to avoid anachronism on the one hand, and to facilitate the analysis of historical phenomena of the past on the other. This philosophical reflection should also make it possible to put political analysis, in the noble and classical sense of the term, back at the center, as opposed to the materialistic and economistic analyses of the last century, which reduced man to his material aspect. Lastly, this paper seeks to highlight a certain anthropological universality of (just) political domination as opposed to (tyrannical) servile domination, and a Christian specificity that orders this domination to the good of the subordinate out of charity. (shrink)

Philosophical personalism has placed special emphasis on the dynamic dimension of man, identifying his actions (conscious, voluntary, and free) with his very essence. However, little or no attention has been given to the “passive” dimension, that is, the receptive and needy aspect that also characterizes the essence of the person. This study aims to recover the dimension we will call “pathetikós,” which provides elements for not only a balanced or integral view of the person but also justifies the social and (...) cultural dimensions that are intrinsically linked to human nature in an essential way. (shrink)

The article presents a hitherto unknown lecture by Karol Wojtyła in 1954, discussing St. Thomas Aquinas’ teaching on love. Wojtyła juxtaposes this teaching with the philosophy of Max Scheler and unequivocally argues for a Thomistic understanding of love. In the article, I discuss how Wojtyła understood love in general after St. Thomas and then situate love between a man and a woman within its framework. The conclusion of this juxtaposition and the argumentation is that only multidimensional love between a man (...) and a woman can adequately perfect their natures. Other relationships that mimic the complete love of a man and a woman cannot adequately perfect either side of the relationship. In addition, due to the nature of the material on which the article’s argumentation is based, historical and philosophical issues that shed significant light on the development of Wojtyla’s teaching on love – especially in the 1950s – are also presented. (shrink)

This paper demonstrates the symbiotic, real bond between the existence of the state, culture and religion, through which a person living in a national community can strive to achieve Aristotelian eudaimonia. The expression of this bond can be found, among other things, in the solemn Preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997, in which the Constituent Assembly, establishing the very foundation of the state’s order, referred to God, emphasizing the importance of Poland’s Christian heritage. (...) This heritage draws its identity not from a cultural vacuum, but from the achievements of Latin civilization, which served as the building blocks that formed the long history of the Piast State, beginning in the tenth century. This paper is therefore intended to answer the question of whether the Third Republic, in the twenty-first century, is also a continuation of the great cultural heritage of Latin civilization. (shrink)

The article deals with the role of Thomas Aquinas in the philosophical search for wisdom. The author first indicates what were the origins of philosophy, how and where it was born, then shows why the pursuit of understanding knowledge is something natural for man as a rational. The author then points out that philosophy is a wisdom cognition which, although initiated out of astonishment, is not limited to it. The purpose of philosophizing is to acquire wisdom knowledge - that is, (...) general, necessary and constant knowledge that covers all reality. Wisdom, then, is not the quantitative gathering and ordering of information. Wisdom is the intellectual ability to understand the available information that results in knowledge. Then the author shows the reasons for the breakdown of philosophy into two traditions - realism and idealism, and shows their main features and their variety. She also explains where this variety of philosophical currents came from. The main part of the article deals with the main theses of the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. The author briefly presents Aquinas's views and shows why they were groundbreaking for philosophical cognition. Then she makes a short summary in which she justifies the role of Thomas Aquinas in the search for wisdom knowledge. (shrink)