The article examines the role played by policy advice institutions in the governance of ethically controversial new and emerging science and technology in Europe. The empirical analysis, which aims to help close a gap in the literature, focuses on the evolution, role and functioning of national ethics advisory bodies (EABs) in Europe. EABs are expert bodies whose remit is to issue recommendations regarding ethical aspects of new and emerging science and technology. Negative experiences with the impacts of science and technology (...) in the past have resulted in calls for increased transparency and broader participation and pluralism in expert advice and policy decision-making. Do national EABs function as inclusive, anticipatory “hybrid forums”? Or do they resemble more “classical” expert-oriented bodies, inspired by technocratic or decisionist approaches? As part of the empirical analysis of the role and functioning of institutional ethical advisory structures in 32 European countries, an extensive analysis of EAB websites and the content of publicly available documents on such institutions has been carried out, supplemented by an online survey of representatives of the EABs. One major finding of the empirical analysis is the very uneven distribution of “hybrid forum” features of EABs across Europe. (shrink)

Axiomatization of Gödel-Dummett predicate logics S2G, S3G, and PG, where PG is the weakest logic in which all prenex operations are sound, and the relationships of these logics to logics known from the literature are discussed. Examples of non-prenexable formulas are given for those logics where some prenex operation is not available. Inter-expressibility of quantifiers is explored for each of the considered logics.

Egypt is a place with a long tradition of female participation in revolutions. After years of Mubarak’s despotism, women joined the revolution once again. As a result, they had to deal with the violation of women’s rights. When Morsi was removed, women were again at the top of political topics. The new constitution was described as the most progressive for women. Sisi has been a president for short time but he is already called the president of women. However women still (...) face problems. They defended themselves from the Muslim Brotherhood’s rules by supporting Sisi, but did they really win by overthrowing the regime of Mubarak? (shrink)

The paper offers a discussion of the views of intuitive realists on the philosophy of psychology, which the author sees as related to their respective philosophical conceptions. According to the author there were no responses to the intuitivist interpretation of the psychic phenomena from the side of the psychologists of that time. The responses came, however, from the philosophers S. Felber and I. Hrušovský, who criticized the views of O. Losski and J. Dieška immediately after their being published. The psychology (...) of intuitive realism is voluntaristic, closely related to Losski’s ontology. (shrink)

This article explores various interpretations of philosophical counselling. These interpretations are determined by the nature and status of the key concepts from which they are derived. The first is “critical thinking”, which a number of authors have based their conceptions on; just two examples are mentioned in the article—Elliot D. Cohen and Tim LeBon. Many philosophical practitioners, especially those whose philosophizing is influenced by Socrates, use critical thinking, and indeed believe that it is what philosophical practice is all about. Pierre (...) Grimes is another example of someone who has been influenced by Socrates. Eckart Ruschmann and Ran Lahav believe that interpreting world beliefs is the basis of philosophical counselling. Others think philosophical counselling stems from interpretations of the concept of “wisdom”. The article also discusses Ran Lahav’s more recent views and those of Gerald Rochelle. The concept of “virtues” is discussed in relation to the work of Arto Tukiainen, Lydia B. Amir and Jess Fleming. (shrink)

In recent years we have witnessed growth in the practical application of philosophy. Some authors talk about a so-called “shift in philosophical counselling” or “philosophical practice” taking place chiefly in western countries. Some Slovak authors also discuss the application of philosophy in practice but this issue is only in its infancy here. The author of this paper seeks to establish the boundaries of understanding the possibilities philosophy has to offer in practical life and to formulate an opinion on the competency (...) of philosophy in this area. The author believes that it is the “good life” that is central to the agenda of philosophical practice. The aim of philosophical counselling is to advise people through their personal life philosophy. It is a conversational process that controls dialectic thinking and reflects the fears and questions that arise in everyday life as well as questions about the meaning of life as a whole. The author understands philosophical dialogue as a space for seeking a good life, identity and critical thinking. (shrink)

The article poses three questions relating to the self-definition of philosophical counselling: 1. Is it an alternative to psychological and psychotherapeutic approaches? 2. What is the therapeutic nature of philosophical counselling? 3. Is it contemplation or critical reasoning? The first part introduces some examples of the concepts that sharply distinguish philosophical counselling from psychological and psychotherapeutic approaches. It also considers those that mix these different approaches. The second part deals with the question of whether or not philosophical counselling can be (...) considered to be a therapy. Some philosophical counsellors work on the belief that there is a synchrony between modern philosophical counselling and the classical conception of philosophy as therapy. Many, however, are of the opinion that it is not possible to speak of it in terms of therapy. The third part gives examples of the way in which philosophical counselling is understood to be contemplation and on the other hand of those who employ approaches based on critical thinking in philosophical counselling. (shrink)

U kompleksnom ispreplitanju znanosti i javnosti već je Oton Kučera krajem 19. stoljeća vidio važnu ulogu filozofije »koja savjesno računa sa napretkom prirodne znanosti« kojoj »stadosmo na prag« s novim razumijevanjem prirodnih procesa i pojava. Budući da su mediji u približavanju znanstvenih informacija javnosti nesumnjivo najučinkovitiji, ovdje ću prikazati rezultate recentnih europskih i američkih anketa o informiranosti javnosti o znanosti , o stavovima javnosti prema znanosti i očekivanju javnosti od znanosti. Ukratko ću se osvrnuti na utjecaj medija s obzirom na (...) sadržaj i na neke od modela komuniciranja znanosti te opisati vrste i osobine publike za znanost u javnosti. Naime, korelacija znanja i pozitivnih stavova postoji do određenog stupnja informiranosti i dosadašnje su studije pokazale da kod donošenja odluka ili zauzimanja stava prema osjetljivim ili rizičnim pitanjima veliku ulogu imaju vjerovanja, više nego informiranost ili znanje. Nakon analize nekolicine studija slučaja, moj će zaključak biti da filozofija može pomoći upravo u tim najslabijim točkama javnoga razumijevanja i prihvaćanja znanosti. (shrink)

In the complex interaction between science and the public already at the end of the 19th century, Oton Kučera has seen the important role of philosophy, which counts on the advancement of the natural sciences that has begun with the new understanding of natural processes and phenomena. There is no doubt that the media are the most effective in bringing science closer to the broader publics. Therefore, in this short presentation I will compare the results of the recent Public Understanding (...) of Science surveys dealing with the knowledge about, the expectations from and the attitudes towards science. I will discuss the possible influence of the media with regard to the content and will present some of the models of science communication, as well as the types and characteristics of audiences for science in the lay public. Many important studies have shown that the correlation between knowledge and positive attitudes exists only to a certain point and that the beliefs have an important role in the creation of attitudes and in the decisionmaking process about sensitive issues or risk. After the analysis of few case studies, my conclusion will be that philosophy can help to improve the science–media–public relationship in its weakest points. (shrink)

Dans l’interaction complexe entre la science et le public, déjà Oton Kučera avait vu le rôle important de la philosophie qui compte sur l’avancée des sciences naturelles, amorcée par la nouvelle compréhension des processus et des phénomènes naturels. Puisque les médias sont sans doute le moyen le plus efficace lorsqu’il s’agit de familiariser un public plus large à la science, je présenterai ici les résultats de récentes enquêtes d’opinion européennes et américaines sur l’état de connaissance , les attitudes et les (...) attentes du public à l’égard de la science. Je reviendrai brièvement sur l’influence des médias par rapport au contenu ainsi que sur certains modèles de communication scientifique, puis je décrirai les types et les caractéristiques de publics profanes pour la science. En effet, de nombreuses études ont montré que la corrélation entre la connaissance et les attitudes positives existe jusqu’à un certain point seulement et que les croyances, plus que l’état d’information ou la connaissance, jouent un rôle important dans la prise de décision et l’adoption d’attitudes par rapport aux questions sensibles ou le risque. Après avoir analysé plusieurs cas d’étude, je concluerai que la philosophie peut justement améliorer les points les plus faibles de la compréhension et l’acceptation publique de la science. (shrink)

Positive psychology has recently seen unprecedented rise and has reached vast achievements in the area of quality of life improvement. The purpose of this study is to show that there are different aspects of well-being that make healthy older people motivated to learn a foreign language at a later age. The research was conducted in the Czech Republic and Poland in two groups of learners aged 55 years and more. The experimental group consisted of 105 Czech respondents who were targeted (...) with an online questionnaire with the aim to determine the level of FLL outcomes connected to QoL in healthy older adults in their L2 acquisition. The second experimental group was established of Polish seniors who attended similar language courses. The findings of the research clearly show that FLL has an irreplaceable role as one of several non-pharmacological strategies utilized to improve the aging process and reduce drawbacks of aging. The results indicate that seniors' overall satisfaction and subjective feelings of well-being are enormously high when attending foreign language classes at older age. FLL, therefore, creates an environment that can enhance QoL of older adults that can be supplemented by other means such as well-balanced diet, other social activities, sport and physical activity, music, or computer games. All these intervention methods can significantly improve QoL of older adults and the parties engaged and/or responsible for taking care of older generation should take it into serious consideration. (shrink)

The purpose of this mini-review is to investigate if there are any cognitive benefits of computer-based foreign language training for healthy older individuals aged 55+ years. The author conducted a literature search of peer-reviewed English written research articles found in Pub Med, Web of Science and Scopus. The findings of this mini-review reveal that the research on the cognitive benefits of computer-based foreign language training for healthy older individuals is small-scale. The limited research findings of only three relevant studies indicate (...) that these computer-based foreign language training programs may bring cognitive benefits for healthy elderly people, especially as far as the enhancement of their cognitive functions such as working memory are concerned. In addition, the authors of these studies suggest that foreign language learning is a useful activity for healthy older adults since it has the benefits of being meaningful and provides the chance for acquiring important skills that can benefit other aspects of life, such as travel or communication. In conclusion, the author of this mini-review also provides several implications for practice and future research. (shrink)

The emancipation of women has become a strong critical discourse in Bengali literature since the 19th century. Only since the second half of the 20th century, however, have female writers markedly stepped out of the shadow of their male colleagues, and the writings on women become more and more often articulated by women themselves. In this article, I focus on particular concepts of femininity in selected texts of two outstanding writers of different generations, a prose writer, and a woman poet: (...) Mahasweta Debi (b. 1926) and Mallika Sengupta (1960–2011). Analyzing Mahasweta’s female characters, I focus on the issue of the double marginalization of dalit tribal women; we can find here impacts of intersectional discrimination of class, gender and caste. Debi is very radical in her social criticism but is quite reluctant to accept the label of feminism. Mallika, on the other hand, represents a movement among the female writers of her generation that openly declares her support for feminist ideologies, which can be demonstrated on some of the examples referred to here. Another important strand of Mallika’s constructions of femininity are archetypal images — mythological metaphors of femininity (in the Hindu context) which may in some cases be interpreted in accordance with difference feminism, in others as a critique of the essentialized and dichotomous concepts of masculinity and femininity. While Mahasweta’s emancipation drive is more deeply grounded in her field research and journalistic activism in the tribal areas she writes about, Mallika’s has been more strongly linked with the academia and has joined the theoretical feminist discourse. Through a close reading the women’s emancipation discourse of these two protagonists in Bengali literature, we can speak of a shift from a practical, concrete criticism, to a theoretically founded radicalism. (shrink)