Fenomén zakoušené psychedelie (doslova „vyjevení mysli“) stojí na pomezí filosofického zkoumání a antropologického bádání. V našem příspěvku se pokusíme nahlédnout jedno ze základních filosofických východisek amerického etnobotanika a antropologa Terence McKenny, které našel u Hérakleita a jeho pojetí logu. Dle Terence McKenny se při psychedelické zkušenosti děje "emanace" Logu a je to také Logos, který dle Terence McKenny promlouvá k modernímu člověku skrze technologii. V tomto článku není zkoumána úplnost oprávnění ztotožnění McKennova pojetí logu s tím Herakleitovským, ale úvodní vyložení (...) McKennových inspirativních úvah. (shrink)

Translation failure occurs when a treatment shown to be safe and effective in one type of population does not produce the same result in another. We are currently in a crisis involving the translatability of preclinical studies to human populations. Animal trials are no better than a coin toss at predicting the safety and efficacy of drugs in human trials, and the high failure rate of drugs entering human trials suggests that most of the suffering of laboratory animals is futile, (...) creating no commensurate benefit for human patients. Here, I argue that animal ethics committees have a role to play in getting us out of this crisis. Inadequate representation is a known contributor to translation failures and is a matter of both scientific and ethical concern. Ethical review committees have the authority to address it by reprioritising the values already enshrined in their guiding principles. (shrink)

The text introduces a translation of Ilyenkov’s famous text “On the State of Philosophy,” which was meant as a letter to the Central Committee of the CPSU and expressed his exasperation with the development of Soviet philosophy. In our introduction, we describe the historical context of the emergence of the letter, including the main changes in Soviet philosophy in the 1960s (esp. rise in popularity of cybernetics), and the institutional details of Ilyenkov’s biography. We point to the contemporary relevance of (...) the letter by emphasizing how Ilyenkov’s dialectical account of science can enrich contemporary discussions in the sociology of science and STS. (shrink)

Human–nonhuman chimeras have been the focus of ethical controversies for more than a decade, yet some related issues remain unaddressed. For example, little has been said about the relationship between the origin of transferred cells and the morally relevant capacities to which they may give rise. Consider, for example, a developing mouse fetus that receives a brain stem cell transplant from a human and another that receives a brain stem cell transplant from a dolphin. If both chimeras acquire morally relevant (...) capacities as a result of transplantation, and if those capacities are indistinguishable, should the difference in cell origin matter to how we classify these creatures? I argue that if morally relevant capacities are easy to detect, cell origin is irrelevant to how the chimera ought to be treated. However, if such capacities are hard to detect, cell origin should play a role in considerations about how to treat the chimera. (shrink)

The article is dedicated to aspects of a journalist’s work published between 1996–2014 in the professional monthly magazine Press, aimed at people interested in media, advertisement and public relations. These statements help other media professionals become familiar with the work experience of their colleagues, as well as help acquaint new entrants to the profession with the rules, difficulties and dilemmas associated with this work. The author classifies and defines three types of published texts: those written in an instructional form, those (...) which approach the conventions of an informative article, and finally, copyright protected publications. An analysis of these texts leads to a conclusion that the primary aims of the publication have led its authors to focus attention on perceptions and the practical dimensions of the knowledge being shared. They use detailed descriptions, and have gradually abandoned ready solutions, encouraging readers instead to consider a range of possibilities; they also illustrate their suggestions with examples from personal experience. They do not fail to provide enlightening recollections of their own mistakes or detail the difficult beginnings of their own careers. The role models presented demand from the reader an ability to synthesize various elements. The original structure of the publication as well as its thoughtful and recollection-driven approach to the subject helps to achieve this. An awareness of the technical nature of texts urges experienced journalists to explain in plain terms the ins and outs of the profession by presenting specific events, making comparisons, and offering brief advice or warnings. This also relates to the language of expression they use, which makes even the official and hackneyed style of instructional discourse easy to understand. (shrink)

The notion of empathy has been explicated in different ways in the current debate on how to understand others. Whereas defenders of simulation-based approaches claim that empathy involves some kind of isomorphism between the empathizer’s and the target’s mental state, defenders of the phenomenological account vehemently deny this and claim that empathy allows us to directly perceive someone else’s mental states. Although these views are typically presented as being opposed, I argue that at least one version of a simulation-based approach—the (...) account given by de Vignemont and Jacob—is compatible with the direct-perception view. My argument has two parts: My first step is to show that the conflict between these accounts is not—as it seems at first glance—a disagreement on the mechanism by which empathy comes about. Rather, it is due to the fact that their proponents attribute two very different roles to empathy in understanding others. My second step is to introduce Stein’s account of empathy. By not restricting empathy to either one of these two roles, her process model of empathy helps to see how the divergent intuitions that have been brought forward in the current debate could be integrated. (shrink)

Vocal fry is a phonation, or voicing, in which an individual drops their voice below its natural register and consequently emits a low, growly, creaky tone of voice. Media outlets have widely acknowledged it as a generational vocal style characteristic of millennial women. Critics of vocal fry often claim that it is an exclusively female vocal pattern, and some say that the voicing is so distracting that they cannot understand what is being said under the phonation. Claiming that a phonation (...) is so distracting as to prevent uptake of the semantic content of an utterance associated with it is an extreme reaction, especially when accompanied by demands for women to change their phonation. We argue that this reaction limits women's communicative autonomy. We analyze the extreme reaction to female vocal fry, which we characterize as a non-content-based response, from the perspectives of philosophy of language, feminist epistemology, and linguistics. We argue that when fry is heard as annoying and distracting, it is because the hearer interprets the speaker as echoing an utterance from a position of authority to which she is not entitled. We show that this reaction encodes conscious or unconscious sexist attitudes toward women's voices. (shrink)

According to Haber and Benham (2012), a sufficient condition for full moral consideration is that a creature bears a genealogical relation to the Homo sapiens lineage. Since part-humans do not bear such a relation, they are not due full moral consideration on that basis. Given this argument, my aim in this commentary is twofold. First, I want to challenge its soundness by showing that it is possible for part-humans to bear a genealogical relation to the H. sapiens lineage. Second, I (...) want to argue that Haber and Benham's attempt at avoiding moral confusion by reframing ethical concerns about part-humans doesn’t work. (shrink)

In the digital age, the use of advanced technology is becoming a new paradigm in police work, criminal justice, and the penal system. Algorithms promise to predict delinquent behaviour, identify potentially dangerous persons, and support crime investigation. Algorithm-based applications are often deployed in this context, laying the groundwork for a ‘smart criminal justice’. In this qualitative study based on 32 interviews with criminal justice and police officials, we explore the reasons why and extent to which such a smart criminal justice (...) system has already been established in Switzerland, and the benefits perceived by users. Drawing upon this research, we address the spread, application, technical background, institutional implementation, and psychological aspects of the use of algorithms in the criminal justice system. We find that the Swiss criminal justice system is already significantly shaped by algorithms, a change motivated by political expectations and demands for efficiency. Until now, algorithms have only been used at a low level of automation and technical complexity and the levels of benefit perceived vary. This study also identifies the need for critical evaluation and research-based optimization of the implementation of advanced technology. Societal implications, as well as the legal foundations of the use of algorithms, are often insufficiently taken into account. By discussing the main challenges to and issues with algorithm use in this field, this work lays the foundation for further research and debate regarding how to guarantee that ‘smart’ criminal justice is actually carried out smartly. (shrink)

Due to the ongoing advancements in technology, socio-technical collaboration has become increasingly prevalent. This poses challenges in terms of governance and accountability, as well as issues in various other fields. Therefore, it is crucial to familiarize decision-makers and researchers with the core of human–machine collaboration. This study introduces a taxonomy that enables identification of the very nature of human–machine interaction. A literature review has revealed that automation and technical autonomy are main parameters for describing and understanding such interaction. Both aspects (...) must be carefully evaluated, as their increase has potentially far-reaching consequences. Hence, these two concepts comprise the taxonomy’s axes. Five levels of automation and five levels of technical autonomy are introduced below, based on the assumption that both automation and autonomy are gradual. The levels of automation were developed from existing approaches; those of autonomy were carefully derived from a review of the literature. The taxonomy’s use is also explained, as are its limitations and avenues for further research. (shrink)

What’s the basis for considering an egg donor a genetic parent but not a mitochondrial donor? I will argue that a closer look at the biological facts will not give us an answer to this question because the process by which one becomes a genetic parent, i.e., the process of reproduction, is not a concept that can be settled by looking. It is, rather, a concept in need of philosophical attention. The details of my argument will rest on recent developments (...) in biological technology, but the persuasiveness of my argument will turn on the history of another biological concept, death. Given some important similarities between the two concepts, the way in which ‘death’ evolved in the recent past can provide guidance on how we should think about ‘reproduction.’. (shrink)

The concept of vulnerability is widely used in human rights policy documents, reports, and case law focusing on the impacts of climate change on human rights. In academic discussions, the concept, however, has also sparked a discussion on its benefits and challenges for the advancement of human rights, especially concerning the principles of equality and non-discrimination. This article aims at contributing to this debate from a frame-analytical perspective. In social sciences, frame-analysis is a form of discourse analysis which focuses on (...) the consequences of different concepts for legal, political, and social discussions and norms. With the example of selected UN documents on different human rights issues in the context of climate change, the article, firstly, analyzes whether and how the concept of vulnerability is defined in the documents and why it is used in the documents. Secondly, it is elaborated to which individuals and groups the concept is applied. Thirdly, it is discussed how vulnerability is conceptualized in relation to or in distinction to the concepts of inequality and discrimination. In a further section it is analyzed what narratives are mobilized by the frame of vulnerability. The article concludes that from a discourse-analytical perspective the frame of vulnerability mobilizes problematic narratives which has gendered and racialized implications for those labeled vulnerable. (shrink)

On the issue of abortion, Ireland and Poland have been among the most conservative countries in Europe. Their legal and cultural approaches to this issue have been deeply influenced by the institution of the Catholic Church and its purported role as a defender of an authentic national identity. However, their political climates for abortion reform are increasingly divergent: Ireland has liberalised its abortion law substantially since 2018, while Poland is moving towards further criminalisation with the repeated introduction of restrictive laws (...) in parliament. Both have seen active pro-choice movements who mobilise for reform and widespread non-compliance with their restrictive abortion laws, but the policy impact of these trends varies significantly. What accounts for this difference? This article draws on comparative analysis of Ireland and Poland to assess their divergent trajectories on abortion reform, arguing that the most significant driver of change between the two is the disparity in influence of the Catholic Church on politics and policymaking. (shrink)

Ryszard Kilvington jako jedyny ze szkoły tzw. Kalkulatorów Oksfordzkich napisał komentarz do Etyki nikomachejskiej Arystotelesa. Powstałe w 1332 r. Kwestie do Etyki są jednak komentarzem niestandardowym z kilku powodów. Po pierwsze, Kilvington wbrew przyjętej tradycji komentowania Etyki nikomachejskiej nie odnosi się do wszystkich ksiąg ani zagadnień dzieła Stagiryty. Po drugie, wybrane zagadnienia traktuje z różnym zainteresowaniem — niektóre analizuje niezwykle wnikliwie, innym poświęca znacznie mniej miejsca. Po trzecie, w komentarzu na niespotykaną wręcz skalę wykorzystuje argumentację zaczerpniętą z obszaru logiki i (...) filozofii przyrody oraz stosuje procedury badawcze standardowo wykorzystywane w traktatach logicznych, jak i tych dotyczących filozofii przyrody. Pozwala mu to na przyjęcie nader oryginalnej perspektywy w analizach problemów etycznych. W artykule wskazuję na strukturę komentarza oraz charakterystyczny dla tego tekstu układ kwestii, omawiam specyfikę argumentacji wykorzystywanej w Kwestiach do Etyki oraz analizuję wykorzystywane przez Kilvingtona procedury badawcze, takie jak rachunek proporcji, metoda secundum imaginationem oraz rozróżnienie sensów simpliciter i secundum quid, wskazując na ich zastosowanie w dyskursie etycznym. (shrink)

It has become increasingly common to talk about the second person in the theory of mind debate. While theory theory and simulation theory are described as third person and first person accounts respectively, a second person account suggests itself as a viable, though wrongfully neglected third option. In this paper I argue that this way of framing the debate is misleading. Although defenders of second person accounts make use of the vocabulary of the theory of mind debate, they understand some (...) of the core expressions in a different way. I will illustrate this claim by focusing on Reddy’s and Gallagher’s accounts and argue that these authors use the notions of knowing and of understanding other minds differently than traditionally assumed. As a consequence, second person accounts thus conceived do not directly address the questions that gave rise to the theory of mind debate. They invite us, however, to critically reflect upon the way the debate has been set up. (shrink)

The Theory of Mind Debate has seen a recent shift of focus from social observation toward social interaction. Defenders of so-called second-person accounts claim that social interactions reveal an understanding of another person which is different in kind to merely knowing that the other has a particular mental state. The aim of this paper is to specify this new form of understanding. In the first part, I criticize attempts to describe it as the knowledge of how to react to the (...) other’s mental state, i.e. as the exhibition of a social skill. In the second part, I develop an alternative proposal which is based upon the work of Cavell and Thompson. I suggest that understanding another person in a social interaction is to be conceptualized as the propositional nexus of acknowledging his mental state to him. (shrink)

With an increasing number of ways to ‘assist’ reproduction, some bioethicists have started to wonder what it takes to become a genetic parent. It is widely agreed that sharing genes is not enough to substantiate the parent–offspring relation, but what is? Without a better understanding of the concept of reproduction, our thinking about parent–offspring relations and the ethical issues surrounding them risk being unprincipled. Here, I address that problem by offering a principled account of reproduction—the Overlap, Development and Persistence account—which (...) I believe best captures the meaning of ‘genetic parenthood’. (shrink)

The current study investigated age differences in the use of attentional deployment, positive reappraisal and suppression while regulating responses to sadness-eliciting content. We also tested to what extent these emotion regulation strategies were useful for each age group in managing response to age-relevant sad information. Forty-two young participants (Mage = 18.5, SE =.15) and 48 older participants (Mage = 71.42, SE = 1.15) watched four sadness-eliciting videos (about death/illness, four to five minutes long) under four conditions—no-regulation (no regulation instructions), attentional (...) deployment (divert attention away), positive reappraisal (focus on positive outcomes) and suppression (conceal emotional expressions). We assessed negative emotional experience, expression, skin conductance level (SCL) and visual fixation duration while participants watched the emotional clips and followed the instructions for each condition. Results suggest that older adults were more successful than younger adults at implementing both attentional deployment and positive reappraisal. Ability to suppress emotions appears to remain stable with age. Within age-group comparisons suggested that for the older adults, positive reappraisal was a more useful emotion regulation strategy than the others, while the pattern among younger adults was less conclusive. Age-relevant differences in motivation and successful emotion regulatory efforts based on theoretical and empirical literatures are discussed. (shrink)

The concept of the dialogical soul proposed by Joseph Ratzinger is a contemporary attempt to describe the anthropology of humanity in terms of basic, fundamental theological concepts. Epistemological approach of the dialogic soul is not about the division, but co-existence in the concept of humanity significantly different anthropological concepts. Modern neuroscience, although following completely different paths of knowing is currently concerning an important issue "of the embodied mind". Such a holistic effort to discover the truth about the man, though carried (...) out on completely different epistemological platforms, however, have some points in common. The difficulty in finding a common language for the dialogue in this field can be overcome and lead to dialogue, which is extremely difficult but doable. We must, however, at the beginning formulate certain fundamental axioms that define class concepts used in different areas of scientific activity. The concept of dialogical soul of Ratzinger’s now exceeds the barrier of scientific paradigms axioms. It does not stop on the vision of human oneself, but recognition of one in the area of relationships and makes room for a substantial dialogue with the world of modern science. (shrink)

Die philosophische Kausaldebatte hat in den vergangenen vier Jahrzehnten eine neue Blüte erlebt. Kontrafaktische, interventionistische, mechanistische und transfertheoretische Ansätze haben sich neben den bislang dominierenden Regularitätstheorien etabliert. Vertreter aller dieser Ansätze sehen sich jedoch mit Gegenbeispielen konfrontiert, keine Theorie scheint allen unseren intuitiven Kausalurteilen gerecht werden zu können. Dieses Buch führt anhand ausgewählter Beispiele in die aktuelle Debatte ein und liefert eine Erklärung für die derzeitige Patt-Situation. Der Grund dafür, dass sich zu jedem Ansatz offenbar mühelos Gegenbeispiele finden lassen, liegt, (...) so zeigt die Autorin, in einer bislang unbemerkten Mehrdeutigkeit des Ausdrucks »kausaler Zusammenhang«. Wer danach fragt, was ein kausaler Zusammenhang sei, kann damit entweder einen konkreten Vorgang – Verursachung – oder einen Zusammenhang zwischen zwei Tatsachen – kausale Relevanz – meinen. Der Unterschied zwischen diesen beiden Begriffen wird mit Hilfe einer sprachphilosophischen Analyse singulärer Kausalaussagen belegt und auf zwei verschiedene Zugänge zu kausalen Zusammenhängen – Kausalwahrnehmung und kausales Schließen – zurückgeführt. (shrink)

This book provides a detailed commentary on the classic monograph by Alfred Tarski, and offers a reinterpretation and retranslation of the work using the original Polish text and the English and German translations. In the original work, Tarski presents a method for constructing definitions of truth for classical, quantificational formal languages. Furthermore, using the defined notion of truth, he demonstrates that it is possible to provide intuitively adequate definitions of the semantic notions of definability and denotation and that the notion (...) in a structure can be defined in a way that is analogous to that used to define truth. Tarski’s piece is considered to be one of the major contributions to logic, semantics, and epistemology in the 20th century. However, the author points out that some mistakes were introduced into the text when it was translated into German in 1935. As the 1956 English version of the work was translated from the German text, those discrepancies were carried over in addition to new mistakes. The author has painstakingly compared the three texts, sentence-by-sentence, highlighting the inaccurate translations, offering explanations as to how they came about, and commenting on how they have influenced the content and suggesting a correct interpretation of certain passages. Furthermore, the author thoroughly examines Tarski’s article, offering interpretations and comments on the work. (shrink)

Media reporters often announce that we are on the verge of bringing back the woolly mammoth, even while there is growing consensus among scientists that resurrecting the mammoth is unlikely. In fact, current “de-extinction” efforts are not designed to bring back a mammoth, but rather adaptations of the mammoth using close relatives. For example, Harvard scientists are working on creating an Asian elephant with the thick coat of a mammoth by merging mammoth and elephant DNA. But how should such creatures (...) be classified? Are they elephants, mammoths, or both? Answering these questions requires getting clear about the concept of reproduction. What I hope to show is that with an appropriate notion of reproduction—one for which I will argue—resurrecting a member of Mammuthus primigenius is a genuine possibility. (shrink)

Extrapolation from a well-understood base population to a less-understood target population can fail if the base and target populations are not sufficiently similar. Differences between laboratory mice and humans, for example, can hinder extrapolation in medical research. Mice that carry a partial or complete human physiological system, known as humanized mice, are supposed to make extrapolation more reliable by simulating a variety of human diseases. But what justifies our belief that these mice are similar enough to their human counterparts to (...) simulate human disease? I argue that, unless three requirements are met in the process of humanizing mice, very little does. My requirements are not meant to provide necessary and sufficient conditions that guarantee a particular outcome. Instead, they serve as a heuristic for guiding scientific judgments involving extrapolation. In developing each requirement, I engage with philosophical issues concerning the nature of model-based science and the mechanistic approach (and its limits) to making generalizations in the life sciences. (shrink)

Wspołcześnie filozoficzne studia nad ludzką tworczością nie zamykają się jedynie na opisie życiorysow geniuszy i na estetycznych analizach oryginalnego wytworu. Wraz z poszerzeniem granic pojęcia creatio, rozumianego obecnie często jako uniwersalna ludzka potencjalność tworzenia (kreatywność), rozszerzyło się też pole możliwych analiz do podjęcia w ramach kiełkującej dopiero dziedziny filozofii tworczości. Pojawiły się też jednocześnie nowe dylematy do rozwiązania.W niniejszym tekście pokazuję ową rożnorodność i problematyczność wspołczesnych badań nad fenomenem tworczości poprzez (1) wymienienie głownych opozycyjnych głosow w dzisiejszych analizach, a także (...) (2) przez opisanie obecnie wiodących kierunkow studiow podejmowanych wokoł tego zagadnienia. Podniesione zostaną tutaj m.in. takie problematyczne kwestie jak: egalitarność vs. elitarność tworczości, miejsce świadomości i racjonalności w procesie tworczym, natura tworczości naukowej, perspektywa międzykulturowa w badaniach nad kreatywnością, naturalizowanie ludzkiej tworczości czy też rola wyobraźni oraz dziecięcej zabawy w udawanego w kształtowaniu zdolności tworczych człowieka. (shrink)

Wspołcześnie filozoficzne studia nad ludzką tworczością nie zamykają się jedynie na opisie życiorysow geniuszy i na estetycznych analizach oryginalnego wytworu. Wraz z poszerzeniem granic pojęcia creatio, rozumianego obecnie często jako uniwersalna ludzka potencjalność tworzenia (kreatywność), rozszerzyło się też pole możliwych analiz do podjęcia w ramach kiełkującej dopiero dziedziny filozofii tworczości. Pojawiły się też jednocześnie nowe dylematy do rozwiązania.W niniejszym tekście pokazuję ową rożnorodność i problematyczność wspołczesnych badań nad fenomenem tworczości poprzez (1) wymienienie głownych opozycyjnych głosow w dzisiejszych analizach, a także (...) (2) przez opisanie obecnie wiodących kierunkow studiow podejmowanych wokoł tego zagadnienia. Podniesione zostaną tutaj m.in. takie problematyczne kwestie jak: egalitarność vs. elitarność tworczości, miejsce świadomości i racjonalności w procesie tworczym, natura tworczości naukowej, perspektywa międzykulturowa w badaniach nad kreatywnością, naturalizowanie ludzkiej tworczości czy też rola wyobraźni oraz dziecięcej zabawy w udawanego w kształtowaniu zdolności tworczych człowieka. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to point out the basic areas of judgment made by employees considering the ethical or unethical behaviour of employers in the workplace. The authors analyse this subject from three perspectives: The first one is labour legislation in Poland; the second is the perspective of employers, especially codes of ethical standards created by contemporary organizations, and the third perspective is the point of view of employees. The conclusions in this area have been made on the (...) basis of research in two Polish insurance companies. The authors attempted to create a ranking of ethical elements significant for employees. Such knowledge could be very useful for creating proper personnel policy in any organisation. (shrink)

The remarkable growth in the application of information and communications technologies indicates a great shift toward a globally integrated society. The urban metropolises are turning into intersections of transit and migration of goods, capital, services, cultures, knowledge and especially people. Moreover the flow of bodies, information and money is changing the rules of what defines national territory, space and identity. Social realities with specific qualities are appearing, implying a new spatial correlation between the local and the global. International airports and (...) within emerging extraterritorial zones have become an important threshold controlling the flow of people in a free market economy. The airport border mutates into an abstract space permeating the physical territory of the airport and beyond. This abstract border space, within which mobile bodies operate, is created by a bureaucratic system of inclusion and exclusion particular to transition states. Transit zones at airports emerge because of a complex set of factors: border crossing as well as increasingly stringent security and safety regulations. The innumerable thresholds within these transit zones are points of congestion governed and increasingly supported by technological systems of identification. Within the transnation state, the movement of bodies is the constant subject of streaming and proceduralization. Increasingly, the conventional system of control based on face-to-face interaction between the controlling and the controlled is being replaced by the algorithmic precision of database logic. The paradigm of pattern matching ensures precise verification of the uniqueness of the body, in turn offering new potentials for permeability and flux. These different orders of legal and economic categorization create manifold sub-territories accessible to select groups of travellers. Nowadays, the airport is a transnation state spatialized through a new order of architecture, a manifestation of technology of abstract procedures of transition, inclusion and exclusion, adopting emergent patterns of socio-spatial mobility in a globalized network. (shrink)

Este trabajo ofrece una presentación general del perfil personal y de la filosofía de Bernard Lonergan , en especial de su teoría cognitiva y su epistemología. Se centra en la exposición de sus ideas a partir de su obra filosófica más importante: Insight: A Study of Human Understanding . Para exponer la filosofía del conocer de Lonergan, se tratan los puntos siguientes: 1. Vida; 2. Influencia; 3. Obras; 4. Exposición general de la filosofía de Lonergan; 5. El conocer como objeto (...) de la filosofía; 6. La auto-apropiación como meta y como método de la filosofía; 7. Cuestiones filosóficas fundamentales y jerarquía de las distintas áreas filosóficas; 8. La teoría cognitiva y la cuestión cognitiva: a. El método empírico generalizado; b. La estructura dinámica del conocer ; 9. La epistemología y la cuestión epistemológica: a. La finalidad del conocer; b. La noción de objetividad; 10. La metafísica del sujeto del conocer y la cuestión metafísica: a. La noción de ser ; b. El deseo infinito de conocer y de ser un auténtico conocedor. (shrink)

This paper presents views on the aim of science worked out by Stanisław Kamiński (1919–1986) supplemented with applications added by his followers from the methodological school at KUL. First, Kamiński offers general and convenient categories with which to grasp problems of the philosophy of science using the category of the aim of science. Second, he adopts his own stand on the aim of science. He prefers theoretical aims to practical ones, but he considers them as complementary. Similarly, he prefers explanation (...) to description, but he maintains that they complement each other. His position is derivative of his broad and pluralistic notion of science, not limited to mathematical or natural sciences but including also (as antinaturalists do) human sciences, philosophy and theology as kinds of valuable knowledge. The paper does not discuss particular positions on the aim (aims) of science, but reports on the basic categories used to distinguish particular ways to understand it. They can help in the thoroughgoing analysis of the aim of science problems and they can be applied to characterize science in general, particular types of sciences, and studies that pass the limit of one discipline or one type of knowledge: interdisciplinary, trans-disciplinary or multi-disciplinary studies. (shrink)

Koncepcja autonomii osoby Harry’ego Frankfurta, uznawana obecnie za jedną z ważniejszych teorii autonomii, podkreśla istotną rolę zdolności podmiotu moralnego do świadomej refleksji nad sobą i swoim życiem i ufundowana jest na zdolności podmiotu do formułowania pragnień pierwszego oraz drugiego rzędu. Intrygujące, że już w myśli średniowiecznej daje się zauważyć propozycje, które budują prekursorski wobec współczesnych teorii obraz podmiotu moralnego, odnosząc się do złożonej struktury woli, jak również dwurzędowości jej aktów. W niniejszym artykule śledzę rozwój terminologii oraz argumentacji wykorzystywanej w tych (...) średniowiecznych koncepcjach, które odwołują się do pragnień pierwszego oraz drugiego rzędu oraz rozróżnień między różnymi aktami woli. Skupiam się na koncepcjach powstałych do pierwszej połowy XIII wieku wprowadzających do debaty woluntarystycznej terminologię, niuanse pojęciowe oraz argumentację, która stanie się punktem wyjścia dla późnośredniowiecznych teorii woli. (shrink)

What is the nature and what is the role of trust between teacher and student in academic education at school? Providing a philosophically informed answer to these questions is the aim of this paper. In its first part, I present a relationship account of trust based on two fundamental assumptions: first, trust between teacher and student is essentially about them being in a trust relationship, and second, the reasons for trust are relationship dependent. The second part explores the role of (...) trust by looking at two aspects of academic education at school: the student's acquisition of knowledge from the teacher's testimony and the student's development of epistemic confidence, the latter being a key constituent of competent epistemic agency. Drawing on findings from developmental psychology, I explain how trust is involved in successful academic education at school. My aim is to provide a detailed conception of trust in the teacher–student relationship, as well as a conclusive argument for the importance and the value of trust in academic education at school. (shrink)

Research ethics committees must sometimes deliberate about objects that do not fit nicely into any existing category. This is currently the case with the “gastruloid,” which is a self-assembling blob of cells that resembles a human embryo. The resemblance makes it tempting to group it with other members of that kind, and thus to ask whether gastruloids really are embryos. But fitting an ambiguous object into an existing category with well-worn pathways in research ethics, like the embryo, is only a (...) temporary fix. The bigger problem is that we no longer know what an embryo is. We haven’t had a non-absurd definition of ‘embryo’ for several decades and without a well-defined comparison class, asking whether gastruloids belong to the morally relevant class of things we call embryos is to ask a question without an answer. What’s the alternative? A better approach needs to avoid what I’ll refer to as “the potentiality trap” and, instead, rely on the emergence of morally salient facts about gastruloids and other synthetic embryos. (shrink)

This paper argues that critical realism is one of the main theoretical orientations of the social sciences in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Critical realism aims to study the transcende...

Science communication has gained high importance in the current knowledge and risk society. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of qualitative studies on how non-experts and experts engage in opinionated scientific debates and which linguistic devices they use to gain influence on other people’s attitudes toward a scientific issue. In our study, we examine dialogical modes of science communication (i.e. weblogs) used by bloggers and audiences to engage into opinionated discourse about scientific endeavors. As those exchanges easily lead to controversies (...) between different points of views, stances and attitudes, we focus from a rhetorically-driven linguistic perspective on devices to persuade the other participants and readers and to control the discourse. Hence, we ask which linguistic instruments are used to gain influence on influence. The aim of our study is to get deeper insights into the persuasive strategies mainly used in those forms of external science communication. (shrink)