We use finite model theory to prove:Let m ≥ 2. Then: If there exists k such that NP ⊆ σmTIME ∩ ΠmTIME, then for every r there exists kr such that PNP[nr] ⊆ σmTIME ∩ ΠmTIME; If there exists a superpolynomial time-constructible function f such that NTIME ⊆ Σpm ∪ Πpm, then additionally PNP[nr] ⊈ Σpm ∪ Πpm.This strengthens a result by Mocas [M96] that for any r, PNP[nr] ⊈ NEXP.In addition, we use FM-truth definitions to give a simple sufficient (...) condition for the σ11 arity hierarchy to be strict over finite models. (shrink)

We show, under the assumption that factoring is hard, that a model of PV exists in which the polynomial hierarchy does not collapse to the linear hierarchy; that a model of S21 exists in which NP is not in the second level of the linear hierarchy; and that a model of S21 exists in which the polynomial hierarchy collapses to the linear hierarchy. Our methods are model-theoretic. We use the assumption about factoring to get a model in which the weak (...) pigeonhole principle fails in a certain way, and then work with this failure to obtain our results. As a corollary of one of the proofs, we also show that in S21 the failure of WPHP (for Σb1 definable relations) implies that the strict version of PH does not collapse to a finite level. (shrink)

We define a new NP search problem, the “local improvement” principle, about labellings of an acyclic, bounded-degree graph. We show that, provably in , it characterizes the consequences of and that natural restrictions of it characterize the consequences of and of the bounded arithmetic hierarchy. We also show that over V0 it characterizes the consequences of V1 and hence that, in some sense, a miniaturized version of the principle gives a new characterization of the consequences of . Throughout our search (...) problems are “type-2” NP search problems, which take second-order objects as parameters. (shrink)

The theory , axiomatized by the induction scheme for sharply bounded formulae in Buss’ original language of bounded arithmetic , has recently been unconditionally separated from full bounded arithmetic S2. The method used to prove the separation is reminiscent of those known from the study of open induction.We make the connection to open induction explicit, showing that models of can be built using a “nonstandard variant” of Wilkie’s well-known technique for building models of IOpen. This makes it possible to transfer (...) many results and methods from open to sharply bounded induction with relative ease.We provide two applications: the Shepherdson model of IOpen can be embedded into a model of , which immediately implies some independence results for ; extended by an axiom which roughly states that every number has a least 1 bit in its binary notation, while significantly stronger than plain , does not prove the infinity of primes. (shrink)

Modifying the methods of Z. Adamowicz's paper Herbrand consistency and bounded arithmetic [3] we show that there exists a number n such that ⋃m Sm (the union of the bounded arithmetic theories Sm) does not prove the Herbrand consistency of the finitely axiomatizable theory $S_{3}^{n}$.

Journal of Mathematical Logic, Volume 22, Issue 03, December 2022. We study a new class of NP search problems, those which can be proved total using standard combinatorial reasoning based on approximate counting. Our model for this kind of reasoning is the bounded arithmetic theory [math] of [E. Jeřábek, Approximate counting by hashing in bounded arithmetic, J. Symb. Log. 74(3) (2009) 829–860]. In particular, the Ramsey and weak pigeonhole search problems lie in the new class. We give a purely computational (...) characterization of this class and show that, relative to an oracle, it does not contain the problem CPLS, a strengthening of PLS. As CPLS is provably total in the theory [math], this shows that [math] does not prove every [math] sentence which is provable in bounded arithmetic. This answers the question posed in [S. Buss, L. A. Kołodziejczyk and N. Thapen, Fragments of approximate counting, J. Symb. Log. 79(2) (2014) 496–525] and represents some progress in the program of separating the levels of the bounded arithmetic hierarchy by low-complexity sentences. Our main technical tool is an extension of the “fixing lemma” from [P. Pudlák and N. Thapen, Random resolution refutations, Comput. Complexity, 28(2) (2019) 185–239], a form of switching lemma, which we use to show that a random partial oracle from a certain distribution will, with high probability, determine an entire computation of a [math] oracle machine. The introduction to the paper is intended to make the statements and context of the results accessible to someone unfamiliar with NP search problems or with bounded arithmetic. (shrink)

The paper discusses the notion of finite model truth definitions (or FM-truth definitions), introduced by M. Mostowski as a finite model analogue of Tarski's classical notion of truth definition. We compare FM-truth definitions with Vardi's concept of the combined complexity of logics, noting an important difference: the difficulty of defining FM-truth for a logic ᵍ does not depend on the syntax of L, as long as it is decidable. It follows that for a natural ᵍ there exist FM-truth definitions whose (...) evaluation is much easier than the combined complexiy of ᵍ would suggest. We apply the general theory to give a complexity-theoretical characterization of the logics for which the $\Sigma_{m}^{d}$ classes (prenex classes of higher order logics) define FM-truth. For any $d \geq 2.m \geq 1$ we construct a family $\{[\Sigma_{m}^{d}]^{\leg\kappa}\}\kappa\in\omega$ of syntactically defined fragments of $\Sigma_{m}^{d}$ which satisfy this characterization. We also use the $[\Sigma_{m}^{d}]\leg\kappa$ classes to give a refinement of known results on the complexity classes captured by $\Sigma_{m}^{d}$ . We close with a few simple corollaries, one of which gives a sufficient condition for the existence, given a vocabulary $\sigma$ , of a fixed number $\kappa$ such that model checking for all first order sentences over $\sigma$ can be done in deterministic time $n^{\kappa}$. (shrink)

We show that the arithmetical theory -INDx5, formalized in the language of Buss, i.e. with x/2 but without the MSP function x/2y, does not prove that every nontrivial divisor of a power of 2 is even. It follows that this theory proves neither NP=coNP nor.

We study the long-standing open problem of giving$\forall {\rm{\Sigma }}_1^b$separations for fragments of bounded arithmetic in the relativized setting. Rather than considering the usual fragments defined by the amount of induction they allow, we study Jeřábek’s theories for approximate counting and their subtheories. We show that the$\forall {\rm{\Sigma }}_1^b$Herbrandized ordering principle is unprovable in a fragment of bounded arithmetic that includes the injective weak pigeonhole principle for polynomial time functions, and also in a fragment that includes the surjective weak pigeonhole (...) principle for FPNPfunctions. We further give new propositional translations, in terms of random resolution refutations, for the consequences of$T_2^1$augmented with the surjective weak pigeonhole principle for polynomial time functions. (shrink)

We study the first-order consequences of Ramsey’s Theorem for k-colourings of n-tuples, for fixed $n, k \ge 2$, over the relatively weak second-order arithmetic theory $\mathrm {RCA}^*_0$. Using the Chong–Mourad coding lemma, we show that in a model of $\mathrm {RCA}^*_0$ that does not satisfy $\Sigma ^0_1$ induction, $\mathrm {RT}^n_k$ is equivalent to its relativization to any proper $\Sigma ^0_1$ -definable cut, so its truth value remains unchanged in all extensions of the model with the same first-order universe. We give (...) a complete axiomatization of the first-order consequences of $\mathrm {RCA}^*_0 + \mathrm {RT}^n_k$ for $n \ge 3$. We show that they form a non-finitely axiomatizable subtheory of $\mathrm {PA}$ whose $\Pi _3$ fragment coincides with $\mathrm {B} \Sigma _1 + \exp $ and whose $\Pi _{\ell +3}$ fragment for $\ell \ge 1$ lies between $\mathrm {I} \Sigma _\ell \Rightarrow \mathrm {B} \Sigma _{\ell +1}$ and $\mathrm {B} \Sigma _{\ell +1}$. We also give a complete axiomatization of the first-order consequences of $\mathrm {RCA}^*_0 + \mathrm {RT}^2_k + \neg \mathrm {I} \Sigma _1$. In general, we show that the first-order consequences of $\mathrm {RCA}^*_0 + \mathrm {RT}^2_k$ form a subtheory of $\mathrm {I} \Sigma _2$ whose $\Pi _3$ fragment coincides with $\mathrm {B} \Sigma _1 + \exp $ and whose $\Pi _4$ fragment is strictly weaker than $\mathrm {B} \Sigma _2$ but not contained in $\mathrm {I} \Sigma _1$. Additionally, we consider a principle $\Delta ^0_2$ - $\mathrm {RT}^2_2$ which is defined like $\mathrm {RT}^2_2$ but with both the $2$ -colourings and the solutions allowed to be $\Delta ^0_2$ -sets rather than just sets. We show that the behaviour of $\Delta ^0_2$ - $\mathrm {RT}^2_2$ over $\mathrm {RCA}_0 + \mathrm {B}\Sigma ^0_2$ is in many ways analogous to that of $\mathrm {RT}^2_2$ over $\mathrm {RCA}^*_0$, and that $\mathrm {RCA}_0 + \mathrm {B} \Sigma ^0_2 + \Delta ^0_2$ - $\mathrm {RT}^2_2$ is $\Pi _4$ - but not $\Pi _5$ -conservative over $\mathrm {B} \Sigma _2$. However, the statement we use to witness failure of $\Pi _5$ -conservativity is not provable in $\mathrm {RCA}_0 +\mathrm {RT}^2_2$. (shrink)

We prove that: • if there is a model of I∆₀ + ¬ exp with cofinal Σ₁-definable elements and a Σ₁ truth definition for Σ₁ sentences, then I∆₀ + ¬ exp +¬BΣ₁ is consistent, • there is a model of I∆₀ Ω₁ + ¬ exp with cofinal Σ₁-definable elements, both a Σ₂ and a ∏₂ truth definition for Σ₁ sentences, and for each n > 2, a Σ n truth definition for Σ n sentences. The latter result is obtained by (...) constructing a model with a recursive truth-preserving translation of Σ₁ sentences into boolean combinations of $\exists \sum {\begin{array}{*{20}{c}} h \\ 0 \\ \end{array} } $ sentences. We also present an old but previously unpublished proof of the consistency of I∆₀ + ¬ exp + ¬BΣ₁ under the assumption that the size parameter in Lessan's ∆₀ universal formula is optimal. We then discuss a possible reason why proving the consistency of I∆₀ + ¬ exp + ¬BΣ₁ unconditionally has turned out to be so difficult. (shrink)

D’Aquino et al. (J Symb Log 75(1):1–11, 2010) have recently shown that every real-closed field with an integer part satisfying the arithmetic theory IΣ4 is recursively saturated, and that this theorem fails if IΣ4 is replaced by IΔ0. We prove that the theorem holds if IΣ4 is replaced by weak subtheories of Buss’ bounded arithmetic: PV or ${\Sigma^b_1-IND^{|x|_k}}$ . It also holds for IΔ0 (and even its subtheory IE 2) under a rather mild assumption on cofinality. On the other hand, (...) it fails for the extension of IOpen by an axiom expressing the Bézout property, even under the same assumption on cofinality. (shrink)

We show that for each n ≥ 1, if T2n does not prove the weak pigeonhole principle for Σbn functions, then the collection scheme B Σ1 is not finitely axiomatizable over T2n. The same result holds with Sn2 in place of T 2n.

For any n, we construct a model of in which each formula is equivalent to an formula.

Contents: INTRODUCTION. Kazimierz TWARDOWSKI: The Majesty of the University. I. Zygmunt ZIEMBI??N??SKI: What Can Be Saved of the Idea of the University? Leszek KO??l??AKOWSKI: What Are Universities for? Leon GUMA??N??SKI: The Ideal University and Reality. Zygmunt BAUMAN: The Present Crisis of the Universities. II. Kazimierz AJDUKIEWICZ: On Freedom of Science. Henryk SAMSONOWICZ: Universities and Democracy. Jerzy TOPOLSKI: The Commonwealth of Scholars and New Conceptions of Truth. Klemens SZANIAWSKI: Plus ratio quam vis. III. Leon KOJ: Science, Teaching and Values. Klemens (...) SZANIAWSKI: The Ethics of Scientific Criticism. Jerzy BRZEZI??N??SKI: Ethical Problems of Research Work of Psychologists. IV. Janusz GO??L??KOWSKI: Tradition in Science. Jerzy KMITA: Is a "Creative Man of Knowledge" Needed in University Teaching? Leszek NOWAK: The Personality of Researchers and the Necessity of Schools in Science. RECAPITULATION. Jerzy BRZEZI??N??SKI: Reflections on the University. (shrink)

The paper is a review of the book Przewodnik po metafizyce (ed. S. Ko³odziej­czyk, WAM, Kraków 2011). The book consists of fourteen essays concerning key issues of metaphysics, mostly written by leading Polish experts. The review contains a number of critical and polemic comments on some of the essays.

Contents: PART I. PHILOSOPHICAL EXPLANATIONS OF CREATIVITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS. Krystyna ZAMIARA: The psychological approach to creativity. A critical appraisal. Rick L. FRANKLIN: Creativity and depth in understanding. Zdzis??l??awa PIATEK: Creativity of life and F.W. Nietzsche's idea of Superman. Jaromír JANOUSEK: Dialogue and joint activity: A psychological approach. Krystyna ZAMIARA: Some remarks on Piaget's notion of "consciousness" and its importance for the studies of culture. Anna GA??L??DOWA, and Aleksander NELICKI: Attitudes towards values as a factor determining creativity. PART II. THE (...) ROLE OF CREATIVITY IN THE THEORY-BUILDING. Leszek NOWAK: On creativity in theory-building. Izabella NOWAK: Discovery and correspondence. A contribution to the idealizational approach to science. Jerzy BRZEZI??N??SKI: Research process in psychology in the context of the researcher's methodological consciousness. Andrzej FALKOWSKI: Cognitive similarity in scientific discovery: An ecological approach. PART III: CONSCIOUSNESS IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE. Kathleen V. WILKES: Inside insight. Franco DI MARIA, and Gioacchino LAVANCO: History and epistemology of the unconscious. Franco DI MARIA, and Gioacchino LAVANCO: Conscious/unconscious and group-analysis. Banjamin WALLACE, Andrzej KOKOSZKA, and Deanna D. TUROSKY: Historical and contemporary thoughts on consciousness and its altered states. PART IV. BETWEEN EXPRESSION AND PROJECTION. Micha??l?? STASIAKIEWICZ: Creativity and projection: Paradigm opposition and implicit correspondence. Anna BRZEZI??N??SKA: Creative expression versus projection. PART V. THE ROLE OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL COMPONENTS IN EXPLANATION OF PHENOMENA OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND CREATIVITY. Mario BUNGE: Explaining creativity. Piotr WOLSKI: Hemispheric asymmetry and consciousness. Is there any relationship? Andrzej KOKOSZKA: A rationale for psychology of consciousness. PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF CREATIVITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS. Santo DI NUOVO: Consciousness and attention. Tomasz MARUSZEWSKI: Two looks on consciousness. Is there any interface between philosophy of science and psychology? Marek KOWALCZYK: On the question of the functions of consciousness. Dean Keith SIMONTON: From childhood giftedness to creative genius. Magdalena FAFROWICZ, Tadeusz MAREK, and Czes??l??aw NOWOROL: Effectiveness of innovation as a function of creative style of behavior and type of leadership. Mark A. RUNCO, and Joni RADIO GAYNOR: Creativity and optimal development. (shrink)

The article presents research into borrowings from German to the Polish language. That research was initiated in the 19th century. German lexical borrowings were linked to other linguistic issues, such as morphology, syntax, phonology or semantic field theory. The most important researcher of German borrowings in Polish were Aleksander Bruckner, Leszek Moszyński, Ludwik Zabrocki, Wilhelm Kästner, Alicja Karszniewicz-Mazur etc. The article is a critical analysis of the most significant publications on this subject.

From the viewpoint of its Stalinist-era creators, the IKKN/INS could at best be described as a mixed success. Despite heroic efforts, it failed to train the cadres that might have permeated Polish scholarship with Marxism-Leninism. If it was the major channel for transmitting Soviet experience to Polish academia, then Poland's universities would not learn to be Soviet—the Polish historian Jerzy Halbersztadt has made the point that the institute was the only direct conduit of Soviet experience into Polish academic life. It (...) even had a major role in educating some of Poland's most famous critical thinkers, although they, unlike their master Adam Schaff, seem less fond of reminiscing about the institute. Leszek Koŀakowski writes that he does not regard his role in the ideological struggles of the early 1950s as a “source of pride”.90The legacy of the IKKN/INS has also been a mixed one. It was not only a “foundry of revisionists”. For every future critical thinker of world repute, it graduated several cadres who served the PZPR loyally over decades. Adam Schaff recognises this dual legacy. Looking back on a long and active life, he has called the institute a “pearl in my crown”.91 Its members filled top party and government posts throughout the history of People's Poland. Andrzej Werblan served as Central Committee secretary and a member of the Politburo, Sylwester Zawadzki became minister of justice, Stanisŀaw Wroński was minister of culture, Mieczysŀaw Jagielski was the Politburo member who negotiated the Gdańsk accords, Stanisŀaw Kania succeeded Edward Gierek, and Mieczysŀaw Rakowski acted as General Jaruzelski's Party First Secretary.92Undoubtedly much of the institute's strange course is to be attributed to the designs of Adam Schaff. Despite his Moscow training, Schaff retained an attachment to the Polish academic milieu which had formed him. He may have believed in Stalinist doctrine, but he also believed that this doctrine would show its superiority in competition with other views—even if the competition was far from a fair one. Of course, Schaff tried to retain ultimate control, and to play, as he now calls himself, the “grey eminence”. Nevertheless, his was a very unstalinist way of propagating Stalinism, and he must be given credit for helping to keep a spirit of intellectual inquiry alive in Poland during the dark years of the early 1950s.Yet Schaff tends to exaggerate his personal role in educating philosophers, dissidents and critical thinkers. This tendency is itself a legacy of the Stalinist period and its concentration of power. Stalinists view the present as their personal creation and therefore reject all criticisms of the past. At the final meeting of the Crooked Circle Club in 1962, Schaff encountered unwonted criticism from, among others, Andrzej Walicki. Schaff shot back at him: “You are ours, you are our creation, a creation of socialism ... we educated you, and we didn't do such a bad job.” But far from being a “creation” of Schaff's, the non-party member Walicki had been denied admission to graduate studies in philosophy. He felt relieved when those in attendance, who knew him better than Schaff did, burst out laughing.93The point is that the Polish intellectual world maintained its integrity outside the IKKN/INS, and in the end it was the institute which merged into the Polish intelligentsia, rather than the opposite. After 1957 the non-Marxist sociologists and philosophers made their way back to academia, and were joined by many former INS staff members. The basic unity of Polish social science training, and of the Polish intelligentsia, was restored.94Of course in a larger sense the fate of the IKKN/INS had little to do with the designs of its master. Schaff admits as much, proclaiming that “I did this because I did not know what I was doing!” If he had been asked to start such a project five years later, the answer would have been: “No!”95 The fatal flaw of the Institute for Training Scientific Cadres was cadres: Poland did not have them. By 1956, Schaff and the party leadership, and perhaps Soviet advisers as well, had learned that one could not create an elite party scientific institution almost out of nothing. It would either be party or scientific, because apparatchiki could not become scientists, scientists would not become apparatchiki, and students could not produce teachers. In the Stalinist period, Polish intellectual life had stood in the shadow of the party; yet during the Thaw the relationship was reversed—increasingly the tiny party training institute was engulfed by the shadow of the resurgent Polish universities. Talented young people, even those in the party, made their way into the traditional higher educational establishment.The IKKN/INS did not, therefore, fail because of its own failings, nor succeed because of its own successes. It was a failed part of a failed whole. To succeed, “mild” revolution would have required decades, and Poland's Stalinists had only a few years. To make matters worse—or better, depending on viewpoint—they did not use these years in a conventional Stalinist manner. Under Schaff's guidance and at somewhat erratic Soviet bidding, the institute became an awkward series of half-measures, reminiscent of much of Polish Stalinism. When Poland's communists fell back and regrouped in 1956, the IKKN/INS occupied a lonely position they preferred to abandon. (shrink)

THE GALICIAN ATHEIST. PROPHETISM, MYSTICISM AND ROMANTICISM IN ALEKSANDER (LESZEK) DUNIN BORKOVSKY’S WRITINGS Using the example of Leszek Dunin Borkowski’s works, the author presents a form of a dialogue with a biblical source which was literary prophecy and mysticism. This philosophical basis converted poetic statement into a cultural discourse with traditional forms of religiousness. The outcome of this aesthetics led to the extension of the liberation ideas supporters’ circles as well as to promoting democratic ideas.

We describe a corpus of speech taking place between 30 Korean mother–child pairs, divided in three groups of Prelexical, Early-Lexical, and Advanced-Lexical. In addition to the child-directed speech, this corpus includes two different formalities of adult-directed speech, i.e., family-directed ADS and experimenter-directed ADS. Our analysis of the MLU in CDS, family-, and experimenter-directed ADS found significant differences between CDS and ADS_Fam, and between ADS_Fam and ADS_Exp, but not between CDS and ADS_Exp. Our finding suggests that researchers should pay more attention (...) to controlling the level of formality in CDS and ADS when comparing the two registers for their speech characteristics. The corpus was transcribed in the CHAT format of the CHILDES system, so users can easily extract data related to verbal behavior in the mother–child interaction using the CLAN program of CHILDES. (shrink)

Aristotel je vpeljal pojem skupnega čuta, zaznavno zmožnost višjega reda, ki združuje in nadzoruje posamezne čute. Osnovni namen prispevka je predstaviti, kako je skupni čut in njegove funkcije razumel Aristotelov najodličnejši antični komentator Aleksander iz Afrodizijade. Avtor je pri tem pozoren na Aleksandrovo ujemanje z Aristotelom ali odmikanje od njega, opozarja pa tudi na njegove prispevke k problematiki. Drugi cilj prispevka je obravnava enega posebnega odmika, ki je prevladoval v kasnejših razlagah Aristotelovega pojma skupnega čuta, tj. analogije med skupnim (...) čutom in središčem kroga, v katerem se srečujejo različni polmeri. (shrink)

Niniejsza wypowiedź jest próbą ukazania wyższości intelektualnej jednostki wybitnej nad jednostkami przeciętnymi. Transgresja jest tutaj formą przejścia, przemiany artysty, negującego zastany porządek świata, pragnącego podłożyć podwaliny pod nową rzeczywistość widzianą oczami szalonego geniusza - Friedricha Nietzschego, do którego często się odwołuję. Jego pojęcie \"Nadczłowieka\" jest tożsame z pojęciem genialnego twórcy, jednostki wybitnej, niezrozumiałej przez pospólstwo, która swoimi horyzontami twórczymi wybiega daleko poza własną epokę\".

Igor Aleksander has spent many years developing artificial neural networks of a special category called weightless - the elements are effectively chunks of computer memory - which show interesting and useful properties. In this book he gives us an overview of his research leading to his "basic guess" about consciousness: he thinks that the brain is a neural state machine, the activity of this machine is the mind, a subset of which is conscious. I leave it to the reader (...) to decide whether this makes sense though i cannot reconcile automata theory with consciousness. (shrink)

Intelligent neurotechnology is an emerging field that combines neurotechnologies like brain-computer interface (BCI) with artificial intelligence. This paper introduces a capability framework to assess the responsible use of intelligent BCI systems and provide practical ethical guidance. It proposes two tests, the threshold and flourishing tests, that BCI applications must meet, and illustrates them in a series of cases. After a brief introduction (Section 1), Section 2 sets forth the capability view and the two tests. It illustrates the threshold test using (...) examples from clinical medicine of BCI applications that enable patients with profound disabilities to function at a threshold level through computer mediation. Section 3 illustrates the flourishing test by exploring possible future applications of BCI involving neuroenhancements for healthy people, using examples adapted from research currently underway in the US military. Section 3 applies a capability lens to a complex case involving dual effects, both therapeutic and non-therapeutic, showing how the threshold and flourishing tests resolve the case. Section 4 replies to three objections: neurorights are the best tool for assessing BCI; the two tests are moving targets; and the analysis utilizes a capability view to do work it is not designed for. The paper concludes that a capability view offers unique advantages and gives practical guidance for evaluating the responsible use of present and future BCI applications. Extrapolating from our analysis may help guide other emerging technologies, such as germline gene editing, expected to impact central human capabilities. (shrink)

ABSTRACT The following text is a large fragment of the lectures on heresy that Leszek Kołakowski gave between November 1982 and February 1983 on the Polish radio station Radio Free Europe. These lectures have never been published in English. They were only published under the title ‘Herezja’ in Poland after the author’s death in 2010 by the publishing company Znak. Kołakowski raises the universal and timeless issues of tolerance, ideological struggles, protection of doctrine by religious institutions and the changing (...) attitude of the Catholic Church towards heretical challenges. The concept of heresy is an opportunity to describe the history of ideological conflicts, show how they arise and how they can be resolved. The story of struggle between dogmatists and heretics is an endless story of changing social order and giving new shapes to the reality created by people and their ideas. Kołakowski points out that any doctrinal, political or ideological system must allow for criticism and otherness. Nearly 40 years after these lectures were given, they retain a special freshness in the context of the political, ideological and social crisis that Europe is experiencing in the early twenty-first century. (shrink)

'This is an outline of a coherence theory of law. Its basic ideas are: reasonable support and weighing of reasons. All the rest is commentary.’ These words at the beginning of the preface of this book perfectly indicate what On Law and Reason is about. It is a theory about the nature of the law which emphasises the role of reason in the law and which refuses to limit the role of reason to the application of deductive logic. In 1989, (...) when the first edition of On Law and Reason appeared, this book was ground breaking for several reasons. It provided a rationalistic theory of the law in the language of analytic philosophy and based on a thorough understanding of the results, including technical ones, of analytic philosophy. That was not an obvious combination at the time of the book’s first appearance and still is not. The result is an analytical rigor that is usually associated with positivist theories of the law, combined with a philosophical position that is not natural law in a strict sense, but which shares with it the emphasis on the role of reason in determining what the law is. If only for this rare combination, On Law and Reason still deserves careful study. On Law and Reason also foreshadowed and influenced a development in the field of Legal Logic that would take place in the nineties of the 20th century, namely the development of non-monotonic logics for the analysis of legal reasoning. In the new Introduction to this second edition, this aspect is explored in some more detail. (shrink)

What is archaeology? A research field dealing with monuments? A science? A branch of philosophy? Dzbyński suggests the simple but thoughtful equation: Archaeology = History = Knowledge. This book consists of 8 chapters presenting a collection of characteristic philosophical attitudes important for archaeology. It discusses the historicity of archaeological sources, the source of the algorithmic approach in archaeological reasoning, and the accuracy of logical and irrational thinking. In general, this book is concerned with the history of archaeologists' search for a (...) suitable methodology. All these issues are discussed in relation to two main intellectual trends of archaeology to the present day: processual and post-processual archaeology. Processualism introduced and developed the idea of algorithmic and universal reasoning in archaeology, while post-processualism focused attention on the individual value of a monument and the archaeologist himself. These are still two foundations on which the present knowledge of the past is based, and thus their defining role cannot be overestimated. An additional layer of narrative, visible right from the beginning of the book, is the gradual discovery of the relationship between archaeology and popular culture, especially film and literature. Its aim is both illustration and explanation. It is intended that the reader receives not only information and knowledge, but also a deeper emotional reference which is connected with the reception of works of art. (shrink)

This book was written with the purpose of revealing the duty of each individual to search for truth and the meaning of existence. Thinking requires determination and endurance. It is not easy. Above all, passion for truth is necessary for every honest seeker.