This essay attempts to elaborate a first thorough comparative analysis of August Cieszkowski and Nikolaj Berdjaev. Although the latter is well known as one of the most important Russian philosophers, the former is hardly known beyond the Polish borders. This general lack of recognition contrasts with the fact that Cieszkowski played a significant role in nineteenth century philosophy in Germany, France, Poland and Russia. A comparative analysis of Cieszkowski and Berdjaev will undergird the idea that Cieszkowski was not merely a (...) ‘marginal’ figure in the history of philosophy. This essay has sought the reasons why Berdjaev considered himself to a large extent as a disciple of Cieszkowski. The stress is put on the central aspects of both philosophers’ thinking: freedom, praxis and the way they relate to morality in general. (shrink)

Subjective determiners of treating the final secondary school examination as a threat The article discusses the findings of the research carried out basing on the investigation procedure originating from the function-action approach to psychological defense developed by A. Senejko, where every reaction to threat can be considered as a defensive reaction. A nation-wide final secondary school examination was employed as the threat in the study and the reactions to such a threat were diagnosed twice: in January 2005 and two weeks (...) before the exam in April 2005.The participants were 177 students of secondary schools of the Lower Silesian and Upper Silesian regions of Poland.In the she study two questionnaires were employed. Part one of The Psycho-Social and Psychic Defenses Questionnaire and the Questionnaire of Personal Judgements developed by Kinga Lachowicz-Tabaczek and Alicja Senejko for identifying the following psychological dispositions: self-esteem, social anxiety, depressiveness, obligation will, emotional reactivity, sensitivity, activity and endurance.The basic research questions concerned the effect which the diagnosed factors had on the two dimensions of the subjects' attitude to their final exam as a threat as well as how they influenced their reactions to it, that is their psychological defenses. The multiple regression analyzes showed that the two dimensions of the participants' approach to their exam as a threat were the most substantially influenced by endurance, self-esteem, gender and reactivity. However, the way the examinees reacted their exam was the most substantially influenced by their obligation will, depressiveness and endurance. (shrink)

This work is comprised of personal essays by some of the most noted Holocaust educators working in or with Holocaust museums, resource centers, or educational organizations across the globe.

Editorial - On the Road to Adulthood Although the picture of adolescence G. Stanley Hall drew over a hundred years ago is no longer accepted, most contemporary researchers agree that the period between childhood and adulthood poses a serious challenge to the developing individual. The developmental achievements typical of this age, such as radical changes in appearance and behaviour, severe criticism of existing reality brought about by the recent acquisition of formal thinking, first intimate relations and sexual experiences and the (...) various forms of social pressure connected with the new, age-related demands and expectations can often lead to emotional instability, disturbed parent-child relations and a propensity for risky behaviour. These are the phenomena that accompany the struggle of a young person in the process of self-discovery and self-determination. (shrink)

Some theories of rational belief assume that beliefs should be closed under conjunction. I motivate the rejection of the conjunction closure, and point out that the consequences of this rejection are not as severe as it is usually thought. An often raised objection is that without the conjunction closure people are unable to reason. I outline an approach in which we can – in usual cases – reason using conjunctions without accepting the closure in its whole generality. This solution is (...) based on the notion of confidence levels, which can be defined using probabilities. Moreover, on this approach, reasoning has a scalable computational complexity adaptable to cognitive abilities of both rationally bounded and perfectly rational agents. I perform a simulation to assess its error rate, and compare it to reasoning with conjunction closure. (shrink)

The relation between bioethics and ethical methodology is the subject of this article. The author is of the opinion that bioethical considerations demand both medical and biological knowledge as well as some general ethical theory. As we know there is not one ethical theory. but many. The author asks whether we have any moral rational foundations for choosing one of the competing ethical systems, and, if this is not possible, whether normative ethics is at all necessary for the solution of (...) practical conflicts. In other words, the author poses the question whether the cultivation of normative ethics. while one is aware of the pluralism of values and variety of ethical theories, has any scientific and practical sense. Still, according to the author methodological relativism need not necessarily imply the acceptance of an axiologically relativistic stand and need not necessarily lead to moral indifference. Beauchamp and Childress work shows a fine approach to bioethical problems. (shrink)

The paper presents George Steiner’s view of the right conditions for the contemplation of art. The position has been presented as motivated by a certain concept of artistic creation and the reception of art.Steiner’s vision of art finds its legitimacy in a belief which describes the linguistic activity of man as one which is at the same time creative (innovative) and conditioned by external discourses. In this view both the speaking subject and the subject of an artistic activity are motivated (...) by a desire to become independent from an impartial discourse of mind. An artist is someone who opposes the past and present forms of expression in an attempt to incarnate a sense which in the light of the established forms of discourse appears inexpressible. The key point of Steiner's concept is his argumentation in favor of the ambiguity of dividing the human activity into the original and the derived (mediated by secondary narratives). An artist, a recipient of art or a theorist do not have the tools which could point at the divide.The analysis sets out to make an outline of Steiner’s rendition of the problem of interpretation and development o art. The originality of the position on the issue results from attributing a major significance to interpretative errors for the survival and the constant appeal of art. The process of interpretation is also described as one which yields to no theoretical taxonomy. According to Steiner, a recipient of art disposes of no tools that would warrant access to a transcendental sense of a work of art. Therefore, it ought to be ascertained that a reliable act of reception is one which does not pursue agreement with its object. The recipient must remain detached from the work of art. Paradoxically, only thanks to such an attitude can they make art part of their experience. (shrink)

The article focuses on an analysis of Hart Crane’s essay “Note on the Paintings of David Siqueiros.” One of Crane’s few art-historical texts, the critical piece in question is first of all a tribute to the American poet’s friend, the Mexican painter David Siqueiros. The author of a portrait of Crane, Siqueiros is a major artist, one of the leading figures that marked the history of Mexican painting in the first half of the twentieth century. While it is interesting to (...) delve into the way Crane approaches painting in general and Siqueiros’ œuvre in particular, an analysis of the essay with which the present article is concerned is also worthwhile for another reason. Like many examples of art criticism—and literary criticism, for that matter—”Note on the Paintings of David Siqueiros” reveals a lot not only about the artist it revolves around, but also about its author, an artist in his own right. In a text written in the last year of his life, Hart Crane therefore voices concerns which have preoccupied him as a poet and which, more importantly, are central to modernist art and literature. (shrink)

Badania nad twórczością Brunona Schulza, ze względu na brak ciągłości w zapiskach autobiograficznych, zaginioną korespondencję czy wreszcie nawet zaginione dzieła, nie od dziś przysparzają problemów badacz(k)om. Kompletne archiwum Schulza nie istnieje. Twórca, którego historia nie dysponuje kopią zapasową w postaci multimedialnych archiwów, zmienia się zatem w medialny byt, którego los jest nierozerwalnie związany z gestem tworzenia narracji. W ciągu ostatnich lat szczególnie dominującą narracją stała się ta wiążąca twórczość i całe życie Schulza z dyskursami kultury pamięci poświęconej Zagładzie. Poszukując znaczenia (...) archiwum w kontekście interpretacji dzieł pisarza i dyskursów biograficznych, autorka artykułu szuka odpowiedzi na pytanie dotyczące znaczenia luk w biografii Schulza i ich udziału w tworzeniu mitu pisarza poprzez referencje do teorii mediów i archiwistyki. Porównując biograficzne trendy z tymi dominującymi polską kulturę pamięci, tekst oferuje uaktualnione spojrzenie na twórczość Schulza oraz na sposoby pisania o pisarzach dwudziestolecia międzywojennego. Wykorzystując warsztat metodologiczny charakterystyczny dla badań medioznawczych, tekst udowadnia zasadność pozycjonowania prozy Schulza na szerszym socjopolitycznym i kulturowym tle Galicji początku XX wieku. Poprzez ponowną analizę takich tekstów, jak Wiosna czy Druga jesień, artykuł ukazuje twórczość pisarza jako multimedialne i komunikacyjne archiwum, którego jedną z płaszczyzn (istotnych dla prawidłowej interpretacji) jest ewokowanie kontekstów kulturowych związanych z dokładnie określonym czasem i przestrzenią. (shrink)

El objetivo de este artículo es examinar el papel de la imagen y de la imaginación desde la perspectiva del proceso ternario místico basado en la tradición del Pseudo Dionisio Areopagita. Destaco en este proceso la etapa primera relacionada con la teología simbólica y la experiencia exterior y sensorial; la etapa intermedia relacionada con el conocimiento racional y con la experiencia interior; la etapa tercera relacionada con la teología mística, esto es con la experiencia sobrenatural. Llego a la conclusión de (...) que en la primera etapa la imaginación sobrepasa lo exterior y lo superficial que se le atribuía tradicionalmente, porque varios autores metafísicos y místicos introducen en su contexto un momento de la comprensión intuitiva. En la segunda etapa la imaginación no sólo es un fundamento del pensamiento discursivo, sino que también constituye un ejercicio espiritual que ha de intensificar el proceso pensativo. En la tercera etapa la imagen y la imaginación son un medio que ayuda a vencer la inefabilidad de la experiencia mística. The objective of the article is to examine the role of the image and imagination from the perspective of the tripartite mystical process based on the tradition of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. I distinguish in the first stage of this process the symbolical theology related to the external and sensuous experience; in the second stage the rational cognition and internal experience; in the last stage the mystical theology related to the supranatural experience. I arrive at a conclusion that in the first stage the imagination exceed the exterior and superficial character which was attributed traditionally to it, because various metaphysical and mystical authors introduce in the context of it a moment of a intuitive comprehension. In the second stage it is not only a basis of discursive thinking but it constitutes spiritual exercise which should intensify the process of thinking. In the third stage the image and imagination are a medium which help to overcome the ineffability of the mystical experience. (shrink)

The present research investigates gender gaps in the results of secondary school exit exams in mathematics in Poland in 2015. The analysis shows that, in the basic level exam, males are highly overrepresented at the upper end of the score distribution. The same pattern did not exist in the extended-level Matura. Two explanations are offered here. The differences are driven by gender self-selection in high school programs. Students who decide on maths-related tracks have more maths lessons than other students. Secondly, (...) a student who takes the extended Matura also has to take the basic Matura exam. As a result, the population of students taking the basic Matura is highly differentiated in terms of maths competence and motivation. Additionally, the analysis of differential item functioning shows that only a few items were flagged as having DIF. (shrink)

Increasing activity in the field of lifelong learning is an important educational goal of the European Union. The rapidly changing environment creating new demands makes it necessary to take action in the field of continuous education. Labour market requirements in the process of evolving towards a knowledge-based society are changing, which is particularly important in the era of population ageing and raising the retirement age. All forms of education: formal, non-formal and informal should gain importance in response to the growing (...) requirements. The situation in Poland is vary unfavourable when comparing the participation in activities related to lifelong learning with other European Union countries. Research indicates various demographic, social and economic determinants of adult engagement in lifelong learning. This study attempts to assess the relationships between the level of competences in various areas and the educational behaviours of adult Poles. The analyses are based on individual data from a national survey on human capital. The crucial purpose, which is to identify interdependences among the considered factors, attitudes and behaviours, is accomplished by selected statistical and econometric methods supported by suitable data visualization techniques. (shrink)

The article deals with the concept of femme fatale as presented in Gladys Huntington’s 1956 novel Madame Solario. The eponymous protagonist, Natalia Solario, displays several characteristics of this female archetype, omnipresent in literature, culture and visual iconography. As a femme fatale, Natalia is beauty, danger and mystery incarnate. The cause of tragedies, but also a tragic figure herself, Madame Solario is both victim and victimizer. The article explores the interplay between innocence and experience, life and death, the erotic and the (...) thanatic, as well as the motifs of transgression, ambiguity, love, passion, desire, perversion, dominance and control crucial to Huntington’s novel. Madame Solario reminds us that, paradoxically, the femme fatale usurps certain stereotypically masculine traits. This, in turn, brings us to the novel’s feminist dimension: the femme fatale is victimized by men, but she is also the agent of female revenge and, ultimately, liberation, symbolically marking the transition from patriarchy to women’s emancipation. (shrink)

The paper presents George Steiner’s view of the right conditions for the contemplation of art. The position has been presented as motivated by a certain concept of artistic creation and the reception of art.Steiner’s vision of art finds its legitimacy in a belief which describes the linguistic activity of man as one which is at the same time creative and conditioned by external discourses. In this view both the speaking subject and the subject of an artistic activity are motivated by (...) a desire to become independent from an impartial discourse of mind. An artist is someone who opposes the past and present forms of expression in an attempt to incarnate a sense which in the light of the established forms of discourse appears inexpressible. The key point of Steiner's concept is his argumentation in favor of the ambiguity of dividing the human activity into the original and the derived. An artist, a recipient of art or a theorist do not have the tools which could point at the divide.The analysis sets out to make an outline of Steiner’s rendition of the problem of interpretation and development o art. The originality of the position on the issue results from attributing a major significance to interpretative errors for the survival and the constant appeal of art. The process of interpretation is also described as one which yields to no theoretical taxonomy. According to Steiner, a recipient of art disposes of no tools that would warrant access to a transcendental sense of a work of art. Therefore, it ought to be ascertained that a reliable act of reception is one which does not pursue agreement with its object. The recipient must remain detached from the work of art. Paradoxically, only thanks to such an attitude can they make art part of their experience. (shrink)

When we talk about the coherence of a story, we seem to think of how well its individual pieces fit together—how to explicate this notion formally, though? We develop a Bayesian network based coherence measure with implementation in _R_, which performs better than its purely probabilistic predecessors. The novelty is that by paying attention to the network structure, we avoid simply taking mean confirmation scores between all possible pairs of subsets of a narration. Moreover, we assign special importance to the (...) weakest links in a narration, to improve on the other measures’ results for logically inconsistent scenarios. We illustrate and investigate the performance of the measures in relation to a few philosophically motivated examples, and (more extensively) using the real-life example of the Sally Clark case. (shrink)

The volume aims to show the variety of research currents of the Lvov-Warsaw School and the ways in which these currents are developed today. The content of the book is divided into three parts: “Logic and Semiotics”, “Metaphysics and Ontology”, and “Psychology and Sociology”.

Semantic externalism is one of the most popular and thoroughly discussed standpoints in the contemporary philosophy of language. Briefly speaking, it is a position which claimes that the meanings of linguistic expressions or contents of mental states depend on the nature of beings that exist in the real world and on the language practices of the community. In the paper I present briefly views of the most famous representatives of externalism: Saul Kripke, Hilary Putnam and Tyler Burge, and present typical (...) objections against semantic externalism. Opponents of this position pay attention not only to the limitation of Kripke's and Putnam's causal theory of reference, but also attempt to prove that the meanings of linguistic expressions or the contents of mental states depend on the biological and psychological characteristics of the individual. I point out the ontological and epistemological consequences of externalism resulting from the adoption of this standpoint, and also try to identify the main merits and difficulties of this position. (shrink)

Alicja Gescinska verraste met haar kandidatuur op de Europese lijst van de Vlaamse liberalen. Op internet volgde een stortvloed aan reacties: lovende en lasterlijke. Niet enkel de keuze van de partij en het Europese project werden druk besproken, vooral ook wie aan politiek behoort te doen? en wie dus aan de zijlijn moet blijven? bleek stof voor discussie. Wat is de plaats van een filosoof in de samenleving? Zijn politiek en filosofie onverenigbare disciplines? En wat doe je wanneer uit (...) het hart van de Europese politiek het verzoek komt om uit je pen te kruipen? Politiek is meer dan dat wat politici doen. Politiek is alles en iedereen. In het gebrek van de wereld weerklinkt volgens Gescinska een moreel appel dat op ons allen wordt gedaan. 0'Intussen komen mensen om' is een essay over de persoonlijke worsteling met politieke betrokkenheid en intellectuele verantwoordelijkheid. (shrink)

The subject of this article is an ideological aspect of Pan Tadeusz, directed by Ryszard Ordyński as a film adaptation of Adam Mickiewicz’s poem. Picture was realised in 1928 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of regaining of national independence by Poland. Main goal of this article is to reflect in what ways filmmakers of Pan Tadeusz tried to implement a project of Polish national cinema. I also want to present how this film expressed social needs, programme specifications of political power (...) camp and how it explored national values in the cinema. (shrink)