Drug abuse is a growing social problem in Poland and is a particularly serious problem in the Military. The conditions of military service may be a factor that stimulates drug addiction among soldiers, particularly those who are psychically and physically weak and not adapted to team work. The psychical stress that results from the abrupt breaking of existing bonds and social relationships (family, colleagues, partners) is intensified by spatial limits (military barracks), and the character of military units (personal freedom limitation). (...) Another important aspect is, natural in this situation, access to weapons and the nature of tasks performed by a modern army. Yet the army continues to recruit young people who are physically and mentally weaker and weaker. In face of this problem, the commanders, supervisors and teachers are required to possess not only psychological and pedagogical knowledge, but also ethical and moral awareness. The article is based on empirical results of the test conducted in 2007 among 100 conscription soldiers of the Lublin Garrison of the Polish Army. (shrink)

The most basic aim of the psychological and pedagogical advisory centre is providing the child and its family with support at every stage of the problems arising. The target of such centres is also undertaking preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, counselling and advisory actions. The profession of a diagnostic – therapeutic counsellor triggers ethical dilemma. Two parties meet and interact with each other in the relations occurring in such advisory centres – the counsellor and the person who needs advice and help. To (...) enable such a contact and make it effectively therapeutic instead of destructive, specialists employed in these centres have to be not only competent and highly qualified but also should possess a sufficient amount of knowledge about themselves, their system of values, opinions etc. (shrink)

Sleep-related experiences [Watson, D. . Dissociations of the night: Individual differences in sleep-related experiences and their relation to dissociation and schizotypy. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 526–535] refer to a host of nocturnal altered-consciousness phenomena, including narcoleptic tendencies, nightmares, problem-solving dreams, waking dreams, and lucid dreams. In an attempt to clarify the meaning of this construct, we examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of sleep-related experiences , altered-consciousness tendencies , psychological distress, childhood maltreatment , and life stress in young adults. Both (...) types of SREs were found to be distinguishable from altered-consciousness tendencies. Transliminality emerged as a longitudinal predictor of both general SREs and lucid dreams. Psychological distress and an increase in life stress predicted an increase in general SREs over a 3-month interval. We conclude that transliminality is a general altered-consciousness trait that accounts for some of the individual differences in sleep-related experiences, and that general sleep experiences are an outcome of psychological distress and life stress. (shrink)

In The Birth of Reason Louis Dudek establishes the link between ancient pre-Socratic Atomism and modern quantum mechanics. In characteristically unencumbered terms, Dudek shows how this revolutionary philosophy, the invention of thinkers from Ioanian Greek trading cities, has been consistently misrepresented and resisted. Atomism nevertheless marks the transition from primitive mythological thinking (mythos) to the abstract, concept-based rationality (logos) that informs our modern approach to an ultimately unknowable reality. This essay ìis a kind of summation of myself ó (...) gnothi seautÛn.... I am neither a materialist nor a theist, really, nor am I altogether an agnostic. As I say in [the] essay, ëthe ultimate reality is unknowable,í but I am sure that if it were knowable it would satisfy both the materialist and the theist, and much more that we cannot imagine.î Identified by Wynne Francis as Canadaís first ìman of letters,î Dudek once again ventures into new intellectual territory ó and reveals the underpinnings of his own remarkable cultural, social, and economic thought. Critical Comment ìIf anyone could make the Ionian skeptics palatable to a generation raised on music and television, itís Louis Dudek.î ó The Ottawa Citizen ì...the highlight is ... 39 fragments from the pre-Socratics that Dudek astutely describes as reading ëlike a philosophical poem.íî ó The Montreal Gazette ì...includes the thesis that the scientific conception of the universe ... is the most advanced stage of religious evolution.î ó Canadian Book Review Annual. (shrink)

This article briefly presents and characterizes a relatively young (nineteen-nineties) trend in methodology, the theory of science – and philosophy, called “the new experimentalism”. The fundamental problem is determined by the question about the value of the new experimentalism and experimental grounds of scientific knowledge in empirical sciences. In the first part of the article, the previous (old) experimentalism is presented. First of all, the history of the experimental method is outlined and the definitions of experiment, object, phenomenon, and of (...) the carried out and analyzed observation are provided. It is shown why the main proposition of experimentalists – “determining a fact based on sensory experience” is fallacious. The second part describes the way in which the representatives of the new experimentalism try to identify and characterize those factors of an experiment that guarantee the objectivity of its result; demonstrate that results are not only determined by psychological, historical, sociological or economic factors but also that they exist in nature as real objects and events. A correct and reliable analysis of the experiment and its results may – according to the new experimentalists – contribute to this conclusion. Therefore, the important role and value of the experimental foundation of social activity in general, and in particular, for the natural sciences, is rightly noted. (shrink)

Medicine is the field of knowledge and set of clinical practices, characterized by the presence of politics and ethics on all the levels. Politics should be treated as a domain of power, which aims to make strategic decisions concerning health of the citizens leading to form socially accepted objectives of health care policy. Ethics sets axiological frames for morally just decisions both political and medical in the field of health care. The article analyzes the reasons of conflicts and moral dilemmas (...) in the health care system. Decisions which are made within health care system should accomplish five criteria: medical, economical, social, legal and axiological. The term “moral panic” is used to illustrate situations concerning corruption and moral atrophy of doctors. (shrink)

The article analyzes the crisis of political and medical elites in the context of honesty, reliability and diligence. The starting point is the notion of “professional elite” and the differences between representatives of both groups. The text emphasizes the public resonance and interpretation of both professions. According to E. Freidson’s theoretical model, the physician`s and politician`s authorities have different reasons, functions and legitimization. Both professions are based on public trust in interaction practices. The public expectations are focused mostly on instrumental (...) and axiological trust. Obeying various rules and norms is expected from both professions but the social control and sanctions are different. Both physicians and politicians have their own ethical codes; the problem is that they are not always respected. The article concludes with discussion on the notion of risk in both professions and presents suggestions about what elites should do to maintain or regain public trust. (shrink)

Relations between Australia and the United States have developed for long time notably during World War II. Over the following decades, cooperation has become more intense as Australians adopt many cultural patterns from the Americans. Australia declared and supported US presidents in military operations, which is why some have called Australia, America’s sheriff for working to stabilize this part of the world. One cannot overlook the personal arrangements between leaders that help shape the dynamic of deepening the mutual relations these (...) two nations. Donald Trump’s personal interactions’ with the Prime Ministers of Australia play a significant role in this regard. (shrink)