In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Christian Social Ethics by Elmar NassAndrzej Dominik KucińskiChristian Social Ethics by Elmar Nass (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Little-field, 2022), 512 pp.In his extraordinarily comprehensive work, Elmar Nass, professor for Christian social sciences and societal dialogue at the Academy for Catholic Theology of Cologne, Germany, delivers with what he promises [End Page 302] in the title of this great opus: it is a real guide to Christian social (...) ethics, including both its foundations and numerous fields of current application. Although the book was first published in Germany and some application parts refer rather to specific discussions in the Teutonic area, as the author himself says in the preface, his general intention to provide a "universal socio-ethical basis for argumentation" and the ambitious attempt to "make this work a starting point for globally effective Christian social ethics" (xiv) are fulfilled, as the book undoubtedly speaks to the universal questions of social ethics, while it invites a search for concrete solutions to regional problems by implementing the corresponding criteria and basic principles. Indeed, the original German perspective, in which the growing emphasis on the ultimate authority of human sciences in theology often leads to a Cinderella-like existence of genuine Christian traditions and proposals based on Revelation, may be understood as a productive challenge which incentives Nass's efforts to re-create a "substantive ethics" that is marginalized in the postmodernity (xviii). However, these efforts are not destined to flow into a kind of restoration or a mere archaeological appreciation of former Catholic propositions. Nass struggles rather for adequate answers corresponding to the present, but answers deeply rooted in the conviction that Christians still have something to say to the world based on their own timeless knowledge.Hence, it is understandable that, in the short introduction, the author first sets out the postmodern contexts of ethical tasks and, while dealing with secular orientations of the present, calls for an ethics that derives from respective views of humanity and society. For Nass, there is no reason to exclude the religious point of view from this dialogue. On the contrary, his anti-secularist programmatic statement—"Imagine there is a God" (xix)—is both courageous and provocative in a scientific world that forbids theology to give orientations to all the people, with the excuse of alleged lack of universalizability In doing this, Nass complies with Jesus's mandate to the disciples to be "leaven" in Matt 13:33 and light and salt of the earth in Matt 5:13 and following (xx). The rationale for addressing and advocating "substantive Christian social ethics" is its rationality and the author's trust in the "healthy democratic culture of debate" (xx), which is, however, understood in terms of dialogue around common values and positions rather than based on mere rules of secular discourse ethics. The chosen Catholic perspective is thereby situated in an ecumenical context and directed to a real dialogue with other competing ethics, both religious and secular, including the disposition to better understanding of one's own views. Out of this approach, Nass will propose some applications of Christian principles of social action. [End Page 303]These purposes determine the clear structure of the work, consisting of three main parts, divided in thirteen singular chapters. Part 1 ("The Mission") revives a concept which—at least under this specific term—is almost completely removed from mainstream theological debates in Germany, especially in ethical context. "Christians are in the world, but not of the world" (1)—that is how Nass begins his argumentation in favor of an indispensable missionary calling within Christianity. In my opinion, it is this part of the volume that deserves the most attention, as it expresses a sound, self-confident Christian awareness of being enabled and invited to do something good for the rest of the world, while starting from one's own metaphysical basis. Nass presents Christian social ethics without any inferiority complex, as if it were something to be hidden in the twenty-first-century world or as if Christians were compelled to merely repeat what the secular world permits them to say. Consequently, Nass addresses from a Christian perspective the question of goodness as... (shrink)

In der Bundestagsrede 2011 hat Benedikt XVI. das Schlagwort "Ökologie des Menschen" in Verbindung mit dem Naturrecht gebracht. Letzteres steht für die Integration des Menschlichen und wird aktuell, wo der Mensch über sich selbst verfügen will. Die Zeit des Naturrechts als System ist vorbei, unabweisbar aber bleibt die Frage nach Leben und Sein des Menschen "im Recht". So wird z. B. bei biomedizinischen Eingriffen in das menschliche Genom die Frage nach der künftigen Identität der Menschennatur gestellt. Kein anderer Philosoph hat (...) den konstitutiven Zielbezug des Naturrechts auf die Person des Menschen als allem Denken vorausliegendes Sein so deutlich herausgearbeitet wie Robert Spaemann. Die Erschließung der Entsprechung von Sein und Sollen, wie sie in jeder Person schon präsent ist, und die Umsetzung in eine grenzbewusste Ethik sind entscheidende Anstöße zur Erneuerung naturrechtlichen Denkens. The old philosophical notion of "natural law" becomes relevant again, notedly concerning attempts taking possession of "humanum". Although the natural law cannot be seen as a system of rules, it fits to the necessity of generally binding coordinates. The present work shows how the opus of the philosopher R. Spaemann aids to renew the natural-law-thinking based on teleology and ontology of person. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:To Bear Man's Greatness:On the Moral-Theological Message of a Recent Document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Samaritanus Bonus1Andrzej KucinskiBackground and ObjectiveWhen, in 1582, Camillus de Lellis, the later-canonized founder of the Order of Camillians, the "servants of the sick," had the inspiration to found a society of men who would serve the sick for religious motives,2 the revolutionary nature of such a decision was clear. (...) An unprecedented hope broke into the world of the hopelessly marginalized, who did not have sufficient means to be cared for at home, and therefore had to go to hospitals, where they were often assisted only by untrained caregivers, who did so under obligation because they were either criminals or compelled by economic need to perform such menial service. This hope consisted in the message that the love of God urges the voluntary and sacrificial service of dedication to the sick, and especially to those who will not recover from their illness. However, this service should be holistic, because the welfare of the needy encompasses all the dimensions of the human person: the body and the soul, but also the spirit.The letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) Samaritanus Bonus, dated July 14, 2020—the liturgical day of commemoration of Camillus of Lellis—on the care of persons in the critical and [End Page 753] terminal phases of life, seeks to promote the same concern for comprehensive service to the sick out of respect for the divinely anchored dignity of the human person. The letter suggests that it is this dignity, and therefore the incomparable greatness of each human being, that makes it necessary, contrary to any logic of efficiency and a cost–benefit calculation, to persevere at the side of the (terminally) ill until their natural death.This article aims to highlight some (in the author's opinion) central elements of this letter, and to comment on them specifically against the background of the magisterial positions underlying the document. For this purpose, I will often quote Robert Spaemann, the German philosopher who died in 2018 and whose ethical views appear in parts as well suited to illuminate from the ethical point of view the foundations of thought of the universal Church magisterium with regard to the relevant topics and to prepare these foundations for a scientific discussion. However, it is explicitly not the aim here to engage in such a discussion or to analyze the already existing relevant contributions. Rather, it is to deepen the current Church teaching in certain aspects on the basis of this new document. In this sense, contributions from the press conference on its presentation on September 22, 2020, will also be drawn upon. After the exploration of what one could understand as "core" of the letter according to a certain reading of the document, some concretizations follow under the guiding perspective of the "Catholic" approach to the terminally ill.The Core of the DocumentThe structure of Samaritanus Bonus will be briefly described: An introduction, in which above all the need for magisterial intervention is justified, is followed by chapter 1, on the comprehensive character of the care which is always possible for persons in critical states, according to the principle that "the judgement that an illness is incurable cannot mean that care has come at an end" (8).3 Chapter 2 then further explicates the grounds of Christian hope in the face of approaching death, starting from the mystery of the Crucified, with special reference to those who stay around him at the moment of the Passion. Chapter 3 recalls the positive meaning of human life as an expression of inalienable human dignity and as the source of certain imperatives in dealing with it. A clear reference to the proclamation [End Page 754] of Pope Francis is made in chapter 4, which explains some "cultural obstacles" to the recognition of the "sacred value of every human life." Finally, chapter 5 (the longest) addresses individual bioethical, medical-ethical, legal, pastoral, and educational issues related to care at critical stages of life.In substance, the doctrine set forth in the new document... (shrink)

The purpose of the study was to analyse the level and the trends of Potential Years of Life Lost due to the main causes of death in Poland in the years 2002-2011. The material for the study was the information from the Central Statistical Office on the number of deaths due to the main causes of death in Poland in the years 2002-2011. The premature mortality analysis was conducted with the use of the PYLL indicator. PYLL rate was calculated following (...) the method proposed by J. Romeder, according to which premature mortality was defined as death before the age of 70. Time trends of PYLL rate and the average annual percent change were assessed using jointpoint models and the Joinpoint Regression Program. In the years 2002-2011, PYLL rate for all-cause deaths decreased by 7.0% among men and 8.1% among women. In 2011, the main reasons for PYLL among men were: external causes, cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Among women the leading causes were: cancers, cardiovascular diseases and external causes. PYLL rate increased among men for colorectal cancer, and among women for colorectal and lung cancer. The presented epidemiological situation for premature mortality in Poland shows that in the majority of cases it is caused by preventable deaths, which highlights a need to intensify measures in primary and secondary prevention. (shrink)

Despite the great expansion and many benefits of information and communication technologies in healthcare, the attitudes of Polish general practitioners to e-health have not been explored. The aim of this study was to determine the GPs’ perception of ICT use in healthcare and to identify barriers to the adoption of EMR in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Online and telephone surveys were conducted between April and May 2013. Responses from 103 GP practices, 43% of all practices in the region, were analysed. The (...) results showed that 67% of the respondents agreed that IT systems improve quality of healthcare services. In the GP group who declared at least partial EMR implementation, 71.4% see the positive impact of IT on practice staff processes and 66.1% on personal working processes. In this group, more than three-quarters of GPs did not see any positive impact of ICT on the average number of patients treated per day, number of patients within the practice or scope of services. The four most common barriers to EMR implementation were: lack of funds, risk of a malfunction in the system, resistance to change, and lack of training and proper information. Although the use of ICT by Polish GPs is limited, their attitude to e-health is generally positive or neutral and resembles the overall pattern in Europe. Barriers identified by GPs need to be taken into account to ensure the effective implementation of e-health across the country. (shrink)

Die Welt ist alles, was wir in unseren naturwissenschaftlichen Theorien beschreiben können – so eine weit verbreitete Überzeugung, die seit den Tagen des Positivismus unser Weltbild bestimmt. Aber reicht das tatsächlich schon aus? Wer sich am Ideal der wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnis orientiert, neigt dazu, viele nicht-begriffliche Erfahrungsformen zu unterschlagen, die uns aus dem Alltag vertraut sind: Symbolsysteme wie Musik, Literatur oder Bilder, Instanzen der unmittelbaren Erfahrung wie Anschauung, Wahrnehmung oder Gefühl und den Bereich des praktischen Könnens. In der Regel sind wir (...) nicht in der Lage, den Gehalt dieser Phänomene vollständig begrifflich wiederzugeben. Dennoch ist das weite Feld des Nichtbegrifflichen eine unverzichtbare Voraussetzung unserer Sätze und Gedanken: Ohne Kunst, Wahrnehmung und Handeln gibt es kein Denken, keine Wissenschaft, keine Philosophie. Der Band geht der Vielfalt des Nicht-Begrifflichen in ästhetischen, symboltheoretischen und semantischen Untersuchungen nach. Aus ihnen ergibt sich ein umfassender systematischer Überblick über eines der spannendsten und offensten Problemfelder der aktuellen philosophischen Debatte. Mit Beiträgen von: Andreas Bartels, Uwe Baumann, Volker Beeh, Gottfried Boehm, Olaf Breidbach, Joachim Bromand, Gottfried Gabriel, Markus Gabriel, Ernest Wolf Gazo, Annemarie Gethmann-Siefert, Jürgen Goldstein, Jens Halfwassen, Thomas Sören Hoffmann, Wolfgang Harms, Jochen Hörisch, Peter Janich, Guilherme F. R. Kisteumacher, Jakub Kloc-Konkolowicz, Imi Knoebel, Theo Kobusch, Klaus-M. Kodalle, Sibylle Krämer, Guido Kreis, Wolfgang Kubin, Sönke Lorenz, Antonio Cota Marçal, Aliasghar Mosleh, Theodoros Penolidis, Dominik Perler, Hans-Joachim Pieper, Andrzej Przylebski, Birgit Sandkaulen, Matthias Schmoeckel, Oswald Schwemmer, Josef Simon, Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer, Dieter Teichert, Kai Vogeley, Gottfried Willems und Gereon Wolters. (shrink)

The article attempts to define the concept of “post-neo-Kantianism” based on the nature of its relationship to the concept of “neo-Kantianism”. Concerning this matter, the author poses the following tasks: to characterize the phenomenon of neo-Kantianism, to point out the problems of its definition, to identify the relevance of the term “post-neo-Kantianism” and its relation to the philosophy of I. Kant in particular. The author emphasizes the need to introduce this term in the classification of philosophy of the XX century (...) with the appropriateness of building the model of “Kantianism - Neo-Kantianism - Neo-Neo-Kantianism - Post-Neo-Kantianism”, where each new stage is determined by the nature of the reflection of thinkers of a certain period over the fundamental philosophical problems articulated in Kant's “Critics”. Among the post-Neo-Kantians, A. Noras names thinkers traditionally considered to be german phenomenologists, such as E. Husserl and M. Heidegger: it is from the philosophical concept of Husserl that one can speak of the emergence of post-Neo-Kantianism, and the semantically correct interpretation of Heidegger, according to author, is most clearly understood in the framework of Baden Neo-Kantianism. Investigating the phenomenon of post-Neo-Kantianism, the need is established for answering a question regarding the preceding Neo-Kantian tradition, within which there is still a number of contradictions unresolved in the history of philosophy regarding the classification of Neo-Kantian schools and the distinction between the two periods of Neo-Kantianism: early and late. Neo-Kantianism shows the relevance of Kantian philosophy, highlighting the ongoing debate about understanding the Kantian “Critique of Pure Reason”. Post-Neo-Kantianism plays an important role in terms of the perspectives of modern Kant studies, which include Gottfried Martin, Manfred Brelage, or Hans-Michael Baumgartner. (shrink)

In the present paper the well-known Gödels – Churchs argument concerning the undecidability of logic (of the first order functional calculus) is exhibited in a way which seems to be philosophically interestingfi The natural numbers are not used. (Neither Chinese Theorem nor other specifically mathematical tricks are applied.) Only elementary logic and very simple set-theoretical constructions are put into the proof. Instead of the arithmetization I use the theory of concatenation (formalized by Alfred Tarski). This theory proves to be an (...) appropriate tool. The decidability is defined directly as the property of graphical discernibility of formulas. (shrink)

We continue investigations of reasonable ultrafilters on uncountable cardinals defined in previous work by Shelah. We introduce stronger properties of ultrafilters and we show that those properties may be handled in λ-support iterations of reasonably bounding forcing notions. We use this to show that consistently there are reasonable ultrafilters on an inaccessible cardinal λ with generating systems of size less than $2^\lambda$ . We also show how ultrafilters generated by small systems can be killed by forcing notions which have enough (...) reasonable completeness to be iterated with λ-supports. (shrink)

Teoria cywilizacji Marcuse oferuje udaną syntezę freudyzmu i marksizmu. Podejście Marcusego, które znalazło swój najdobitniejszy wyraz w Erosie i cywilizacji, miało na celu całkowite przeformułowanie nauki o popędach Freuda, uhistorycznienie jej i sprzęgnięcie z zagadnieniem strukturalnej przemocy czy zinstytucjonalizowanymi (oraz zinternalizowanymi) mechanizmami represji. Twierdzę, że wspomniane przeformułowanie stanowi kamień węgielny dla idiosynkratycznej wersji teorii krytycznej Marcusego, która w mojej interpretacji posiada wyraźne akcenty protoakceleracjonistyczne. Artykuł krótko rekapituluje "dialektykę cywilizacji" Marcusego i wskazuje na jej zaskakujące zbieżności z akceleracjonistyczną wersją post-kapitalizmu w (...) refleksji Marcusego nad polityką, technologią oraz rolą sztuki i wyobraźni estetycznej w zakwestionowaniu afirmatywnego (desublimującego) charakteru kultury. (shrink)

This paper is a systematic comparison between two well–known and theologically relevant concepts – the sublime as developed in Kant’s third Critique, and Marion’s saturated phenomenon. Although it discusses the significant and apparent similarities between them, it also criticizes Marion’s identification of the sublime as a possible example of a saturated phenomenon. This is primarily because of the different origins and philosophical presuppositions guiding the elaboration of these two ideas. Kant’s aim is to confine the reception of the phenomenon to (...) the conditions of experience, so that both in the case of judg-ments of beauty and judg-ments of the sublime, the subject achieves pleasure through self-centred appreciation of its rational capacities. Marion’s saturated phenomenon, on the other hand, aims at dispensing with the ‘metaphysical’ horizon of either the object, or the transcendental subject, in favour of passive appropriation of givenness. Although both are meant to describe what happens when the limits of understanding are breached, in the sublime this breach only serves to reinforce the capacity of the rational subject, whereas in the saturated phenomenon it points to the possibility of apprehension of the totally Other as purely given. (shrink)

Dynamical Grammar explores the consequences for language acquisition, language evolution, and linguistic theory of taking the underlying architecture of the language faculty to be that of a complex adaptive dynamical system. It contains the first results of a new and complex model of language acquisition which the authors have developed to measure how far language input is reflected in language output and thereby get a better idea of just how far the human language faculty is hard-wired.

This article continues Rosłanowski and Shelah (Int J Math Math Sci 28:63–82, 2001; Quaderni di Matematica 17:195–239, 2006; Israel J Math 159:109–174, 2007; 2011; Notre Dame J Formal Logic 52:113–147, 2011) and we introduce here a new property of (<λ)-strategically complete forcing notions which implies that their λ-support iterations do not collapse λ + (for a strongly inaccessible cardinal λ).

Social entrepreneurship is usually understood as an economic activity which focuses at social values, goals, and investments that generates surpluses for social entrepreneurs as individuals, groups, and startups who are working for the benefit of communities, instead of strictly focusing mainly at the financial profit, economic values, and the benefit generated for shareholders or owners. Social entrepreneurship combines the production of goods, services, and knowledge in order to achieve both social and economic goals and allow for solidarity building. From a (...) broader perspective, entities that are focused on social entrepreneurship are identified as parts of the social and solidarity economy. These are, for example, social enterprises, cooperatives, mutual organizations, self-help groups, charities, unions, fair trade companies, community enterprises, and time banks. Social innovation is a key element of social entrepreneurship. Social innovation is usually understood as new strategies, concepts, products, services, and organizational forms that allow for the satisfaction of needs. Such innovations are created in particular in the contact areas of various sectors of the social system. For example, these are spaces between the public sector, the private sector, and civil society. These innovations not only allow the solving of problems but also extend possibilities for public action. (shrink)

This paper develops a new proof method for two propositional paraconsistent logics: the propositional part of Batens' weak paraconsistent logic CLuN and Schütte's maximally paraconsistent logic Φv. Proofs are de.ned as certain sequences of questions. The method is grounded in Inferential Erotetic Logic.

Das Buch ist eine systematische Bearbeitung der neukantischen Philosophie und enthält einen Überblick über die wichtigsten Vertreter aller sieben neukantianischen Richtungen und Schulen: physiologische, metaphysische, relativistische, psychologische, realistische, so wie auch Badische Schule und Marburger Schule.

Problem with understanding the system is subject to analysis, with particular emphasis on position presented by Franz Kröner. The article is an attempt to show that Kröner's work is in line with started in the beggining of 20th century tradition of critical thinking towards philosophical system.

The first part of this paper presents the fundations and some properties of the inclusive theory of quantification and analyses the relationship between inclusive and standard quantification theory. Some arguments concerning application of the inclusive theory instead of the standard theory have been discussed too. The second part of the article presents some versions of the inclusive theory of quantification formulated by: Mostowski (1951), Hailperin (1953), Quine (1954), Meyer and Lambert (1968). In the third part, a new conception of the (...) inclusive theory of predicates has been presented. This conception is based, analogically to Meyer and Lambert theory, on the idea of undersignating names the first-order language. Four consequence relations have been semantically defined, and the way, how the fundations concerning realizing in the domain of individual names condition the form of the quantification theory has been presented. The discussed consequence relations have been axiomatically characterized. The only difference between the axiomatics is the way of dealing with the formulas of the following type: ∀xα –> α [x/t] where t is the name (term) of the first-order language. (shrink)