Problem moralności w świetle języków słowiańskich.Artykuł jest próbą odpowiedzi na stawiane często pytanie: czy istnieje różnica między pojęciami Moral i Sitte. Na ogół odpowiada się, że pojęcia te są przez Kanta używane synonimicznie, oddanie różnicy miedzy nimi – jeśli miałaby być podkreślona – sprawia trudności tłumaczom dzieł Kanta. Ważnych intuicji dotyczących sposobu oddawania niuansów kantowskiej terminologii w języku polskim dostarczają pisma Krzysztofa Celestyn Mrongowiusza, ucznia Kanta i autora zbiorów notatek z wykładów Kanta o moralności, tłumacza i pisarza.

Niniejszy artykuł stanowi próbę globalnej rekonstrukcji związków, które łączyły Immanuela Kanta z Polską. Część pierwsza zawiera fakty biograficzne dotyczące tego problemu oraz fragmenty wykładów z antropologii, w których Kant mówi o Polsce i Polakach. Podejmuje się też próbę interpretacji fragmentu traktatu Zum ewigen Frieden dotyczącego prawdopodobnie właśnie Polski. Część druga dotyczy rzeczywistych i domniemanych związków filozofa z Polakami.

Artykuł stanowi próbę autorskiej interpretacji dwóch kluczowych kategorii w filozofii Jaspersa: znak egzystencji i szyfr transcendencji. Pokazane zostało, jaka pomiędzy nimi zachodzi różnica i jakie łączą je relacje. Autorowi szczególnie chodziło o podkreślenie znaczenia Jaspersowskiego terminu „transcendencja”, często niesłusznie pojmowanego jako po prostu zaświaty. „Transcendencja” wywodzi się bowiem od „transcendowania ku” i oznacza takie transcendowanie, które nie zwraca się ani ku przedmiotom świata empirycznego, ani ku ukrytemu charakterowi ludzkiej osoby, którym to charakterem jest egzystencja, a mimo to staje się nieodłączne (...) od ludzkiego działania. (shrink)

The article familiarizes us with Salomon Maimon, a self-taught philosopher of Jewish descent, and with his attitude to the scientific views of Immanuel Kant. Although Maimon depicted himself as a follower of Kant, the reality contradicts this picture. The conclusions drawn in the article are based on Maimon’s letters and his manuscript of A Dialogue between Kant and One of His Students discovered only recently. The abovementioned correspondence with Kant clearly shows Maimon’s position in relation to the views of the (...) philosopher from Königsberg. The letters, most of which remained unanswered, are written in a characteristic, somewhat audacious manner. Maimon begins them with glorifying Kant’s philosophy but then suggests numerous corrections concerning not only its insignificant details but also some principal issues which would radically change the whole system of Kant’s philosophy. Presumably that justifies the fact that Maimon received but one answer in the whole correspondence. Kant answered it at the instigation of his friend, Marcus Herz, with whom Maimon won favour. Later, however, Kant bore a grudge against Herzto such an extent that their own correspondence, previously frequent and very personal in character, almost ceased, becoming scarce and official. This, however, did not discourage Maimon, who in his Autobiography claimed that Kant had a high regard of him. The Jewish self-taught philosopher kept writing letters to Kant, and as he could not bear the lack of any answer, he decided to respond to the lettershimself. Kant’s would-be answers are contained in the abovementioned manuscript of A Dialogue between Kant and One of His Students, which for Maimon was a kind of compensation for Kant’s repudiation. Thetitle dialogue is between the Königsberg philosopher and a student N, whose views are identical with those of Maimon. It is hard to overlook the importunity of his attacks on Kant, whose answers are far more polite perhaps due to the fact he cannot equal him. In the dialogue, Kant contradicts himself, is lost in the arguments, and finally agrees with the statements of N despite the fact that they are quite distant from his own critical philosophy. N – that is Maimon – casts doubts concerning various aspects of Kant’s philosophy, e.g. the notion of space as a form of pure intuition, and Kant’s attempts to defend his position are quite helpless. Frequent statements such as “I do not know” or “highly probable” compound Maimon’s picture of Kant. It turns out, however, that in some of the theses contained in the dialogue Maimon was close the views of Fichte, which Kant refused as well. Perhaps, then, Maimon was a link between Kantian philosophy and the classical German idealism, a link much more important than it is generally acknowledged. (shrink)

Notwithstanding the opportunities it provides, the implementation of some measures of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (EU CAP), including agri-environment-climate measures (AECMs), also generates threats. The study identifies an extremely disturbing process that can be referred to as “internal neo-colonialism”, which has been driven by the technocratic agrarian policy of the EU and transformations in Poland at the turn of the twenty-first century. The associated disadvantageous practices mainly affect areas under threat of marginalisation and peripheralisation, including Poland with its post-Socialist (...) heritage, which has shaped the attitudes and behaviour of society and has consolidated linkages between politics and business. In order to retrace such activities, the study analyses EU funds granted in support of farmers implementing AECMs, with a focus on analysing the place of residence of the “farmer” and the location of the farm. As the research shows, the attractiveness of CAP support causes Polish agriculture and Poland’s countryside, including its natural and financial resources, to be drained by so-called “suitcase farmers”, i.e. people/entities not tied to the place where the agricultural activity is pursued, many of whom live in cities. One common practice is to take over land located in legally protected areas noted for their high quality of natural environment. Not only does the practice of land grabbing strengthen the social exclusion of rural communities and the peripheralisation and pauperisation of these areas, but it also hinders discussion about environmental justice and the ecological integrity of rural areas. (shrink)

Obóz Kultury 2.0 Mirosław Filiciak, Alek Tarkowski, Agata Jałosińska, Andrzej Klimczuk, Maciej Rynarzewski, Jacek Seweryn, Stunża M., D. Grzegorz, Marcin Wilkowski & Anna Orlik .

This paper examines how the Polish communist intelligence service attempted to recruit professor Stefan Węgrzyn, who was a prominent specialist on automatic control and computer science in post-war Poland. Eventually, Węgrzyn’s refusal to cooperate with the Polish spy agency, together with his profound relationship with French scientist and servomechanism expert Jean Charles Gille, made them both targets of surveillance orchestrated by the communist security apparatus. In the broader context of human-intelligence studies, this case study involves the problem of moral ambiguity. (...) We experience informative examples of scientists, who often – not only during the Cold War – have had to choose between commitment to the rules of the academic world, along with its openness and transparency on the one hand, and patriotism including an ethos of secrecy for the sake of the homeland’s prosperity, on the other hand. (shrink)

This article regards the field of neuroscience and indicates on the proper or erroneous functioning of the human brain. Intellectual virtues, especially practical wisdom play a significant role in capturing the truth and implementing it in life. The agile formation of the cognitive function of man encompasses both his reason as well as the sensual judgment of utility with all the bodily backup. The brain possesses great plasticity in the production of neuronal connections. Habit as a permanent wont utilizes the (...) reactions being developed to the construction of often inappropriate mechanisms, that in turn are not easy or completely impossible to eliminate. When practical reason is introduced into a false ethos, the brain responds by forming “ruts” of neuronal connections which seem difficult to consider as something appropriate. The reparation of the existing situation and the removal of the wrong habit require relevant virtues so as to unblock the psychological resistance that is deeply rooted within the physiological neuronal substrate. The learning about the virtues of St. Thomas Aquinas is the best warranty not only for theoretical explanations, but also for the practical application of virtues in dealing with the arised situation. Only well-formed virtues give the opportunity to correct the false instinctive cognition and liberate from erroneous actions. (shrink)

W artykule przedstawiono twórczość jako integralny składnik procesu poznania. Podział pola percepcyjnego na figurę i tło jest przejawem obecności twórczości w procesie poznania, podobnie jak jej efektem jest konstrukcja spostrzeżenia składającego się z: czucia i informacji (teoria J.Gibsona), czy z informacji przetwarzanych „od góry” i „od dołu” (teorie poznawcze). Konsekwencją ścisłego związku twórczości z poznaniem są odstępstwa twórców (in plus lub in minus ) od tzw. normy psychicznej.

Starting with the words that finish, or interrupt Master Wincenty’s Polish Chronicle, I interpret its historiographic content as characteristic of 12th century humanism, expression of love, of wisdom. The infallible condition of ethicalarete may be found to be formulated in the last words of the Chronicle concerning humanity which consists in tolerant indulgence of others’ vices and modesty about one’s virtues.