The author discusses the question whether an alternative version of cosmological and bio-logical evolution could have been actualized to eliminate negative phenomena specific for evo­lutionary processes in our universe. Specifically, one tries to answer whether the omnipotent God could have created quite different world with different logical principles and diverse laws of nature. Maybe such a world would be better than our universe regarded by Leibniz as the best of all possible universes. In trying to solve this problem, one has (...) to remember that the process of evolution co-directs the created world to Divine ideals, values, and purposes; it does not, however, destroy by a logic of necessity or by a determinism of events, which would limit the freedom of creation. It does not eliminate pain and it does not change suffering into joy; it only shows the deepest meaning of the struggles thanks to which biological pain manifests its creative role. (shrink)

Discussions on original sin conduced over the last 50 years yield the conclusion that the second half of the 20th century brought about the most far-reaching changes in the perception of original sin since the times of St. Augustine. In spite of these profound changes, the matter in question continues to give rise to controversies. Thus, Alfred Vanneste considers the omission of monogenism in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2 to be a gross oversight on the part of the (...) drafting committee. During deliberations on the transformations of modern culture, an issue may arise, which implied that the notion of human nature encumbered with the weakness of original sin is one of the truths of highest empirical confirmation. It should be noted, however, that an immense diversity of standpoints In expressing his truth exist. (shrink)

rzemiany kulturowe ostatniego okresu przyniosły głęboką zmianę wartościowań dotyczących społecznej roli nauk przyrodniczych. Podczas gdy w początkach XX wieku pozytywizm upatrywał w nauce jedyne źródło wartościowej poznawczo wiedzy, postmodernizm z początku obecnego stulecia traktuje teorie przyrodnicze przede wszystkim jako formę narracji literackiej. W antyintelektualnych nastrojach, wyrażających krytykę oświeceniowej afirmacji racjonalności, ceni się pragmatyczne zastosowania nauki, nie zaś jej funkcje poznawcze. Sytuacja taka stwarza pilną potrzebę interdyscyplinarnej współpracy między filozofami, teologami i przedstawicielami nauk przyrodniczych. W ostatnim okresie podjęto w wielu ośrodkach (...) interdyscyplinarne programy badawcze, które dotyczą różnych aspektów teorii ewolucji, związków między przetwarzaniem informacji w komputerach a neurofizjologią, relacji między naturalizmem metodologicznym a różnorodnymi wersjami naturalizmu ontologicznego. Rozwijane badania stanowią nową jakość we wzajemnych relacjach nauk przyrodniczych z myślą chrześcijańską. Przezwyciężają one zarówno złudzenia scjentyzmu, jak i dominującą w pozytywizmie cząstkową koncepcję prawdy, w której brakuje odpowiedzi na pytania istotne dla całościowej wizji świata. Równocześnie stanowią one również odpowiedź na wizję interdyscyplinarnego dialogu, którą Jan Paweł II ukazał w encyklice Fides et ratio oraz w Liście do George \'a Coyne \'a SI, skierowanym z racji 300-lecia publikacji Principiów Newtona. (shrink)

Discussions on original sin conduced over the last 50 years yield the conclusion that the second half of the 20th century brought about the most far-reaching changes in the perception of original sin since the times of St. Augustine. In spite of these profound changes, the matter in question continues to give rise to controversies. Thus, Alfred Vanneste considers the omission of monogenism in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2 to be a gross oversight on the part of the (...) drafting committee. During deliberations on the transformations of modern culture, an issue may arise, which implied that the notion of human nature encumbered with the weakness of original sin is one of the truths of highest empirical confirmation. It should be noted, however, that an immense diversity of standpoints In expressing his truth exist. (shrink)

mathematical formulae are our “mother tongue”, thanks to which we are able to develop a creative dialogue with our physical environment. The application of the language of mathematics gives us access to valuable information about events which occurred billions years ago and so allows us to reconstruct the history of the universe. This amazing property of nature inspires a non-trivial philosophical question: Why are there the mathematically described universal laws of physics at all, when nature could have been only an (...) uncoordinated disorder? The existence of the universal laws of nature seems to constitute the essence of the ontological structure of the world. Various authors call this basic field of formal structures – the matrix of the universe, the field of rationality, the formal field, the Logos, the Absolute, etc. Jan Łukasiewicz, the well-known representative of the Polish School of Logic, argued that the reality of ideal mathematical structures independent of human experience could be regarded as an expression of God’s presence in nature. Regardless of our terminological preferences, this structure can be regarded as a basic level of physical reality where the necessitarian inter- pretation of the laws of nature is confirmed and the astonishing effectiveness of mathematics could be explained. (shrink)

The recent scientific discoveries cast a new light on the classical distinction between the actual and the possible. A creative elaboration upon this theme, stimulated by works on modal logic and controversies around the semantics of Kripke, has been developed in contemporary discussions on epistemological aspects of quantum cosmology and on ontological preconditions of genetic determinants.Proceeding from new scientific theories, in the paper an attempt is undertaken to determine the ontological structure of nature in which one satisfactorily explains new data (...) implied by these theories. In the context of contemporary physical discoveries the very concept of possible being is reinterpreted. A new version of moderate Platonism is proposed in a form of modified modal actualism. Its classical counterpart was earlier developed by Robert C. Stalnaker and Alvin Plantinga in their ontology of the possible worlds. (shrink)

Panentheism and classical theism. Comments on the basis of Jacek Wojtysiak’s criticism of Józef Życiński’s position The article was inspired by the tenth anniversary of the death of Archbishop Życiński and the article containing polemic with his panentheism published by Wojtysiak. Wojtysiak claims that the essence of theism is the thesis about the existential selfsufficiency of God and the resulting asymmetry of his causal relationship with the world, which consists in the fact that God can exert causal influence on (...) the world, but the world cannot influence God in this way. Since Życiński contradicts this thesis, according to Wojtysiak, his panentheism is not theism at all. I do not agree with this judgment, and what Wojtysiak calls ‘theism’ I call ‘classical theism’. Both panentheism and classical theism constitute legitimate versions of theism. Ishow that the classical theism in the version proposed by Wojtysiak is entangled in serious difficulties. One of them is that on cosmological level it harmonizes best with occasionalism, that is, with full theological determinism. Another one is connected with the thesis t that God is impassible, which deprives him of the possibility of fulfilling these pro-religious functions, which are crucial for Christianity, such as God’s experiential involvement in the history of the world. I propose that the recognition of divine passibility be the minimum condition for any panentheism or position similar to it. Meeting this condition does not require the rejection of the thesis about the classically understood divine immutability, omnipotence or the creation of the world ex nihilo, but it is conducive to the revision of these notions. I point out that revisions proposed by Życiński in his version of panentheism were incomparably smaller than those proposed by Whitehead or especially Hartshorne, but still they cannot be treated as a minor supplement to classical theism. They constitute version of panentheism or neoclassical theism, which is a much better philosophical basis for Christianity. (shrink)

In the two-volume work _Theism and the Analytical Philosophy _(1985; 1988a) Joseph Życiński took up the challenge of renewing Christian metaphysics so that it could appear as a full-fledged partner in the dialogue with other streams of contemporary philosophy. This renewal should use two sources: the methodological principles of analytic philosophy, especially its philosophy of language, and certain elements of Whitehead’s process philosophy. This study presents a critical reconstruction of Życiński’s arguments contained in the first two chapters of (1985), which (...) are devoted to the problem of language. Main results of this part of Życiński’s work are negative, that is, they refute the arguments and interpretations of those analytical philosophers who show the meaninglessness of the theistic language or try to assimilate it to other standard languages, depriving it of a reference to the transcendent reality. How can a positive part of the Życiński program be developed? It seems that only by formulating specific problems in the field of philosophy of God, or even theology, and choosing the right linguistic tools to drill down on a given problem and seek its solution. This is in line with Wittgenstein’s concept of language games. Życiński tries to do this in (1988a). Życiński turned out to be a precursor of nowadays increasingly developing analytical theology. (shrink)

The paper outlines and discusses the major tenets of moderately pluralistic methodology. The latter is juxtaposed to J. Życiński’s principle of natural interdisciplinarity. It instantiates scientific pluralism as a domain-specific agenda for research. The symbolic and causal understanding are integrated in this methodological conception by means of a specific kind of counterfactual reasoning, which is coined the delimiting counterfactual. It makes the moderately pluralistic methodology applicable to non-experimental research. -/- Streszczenie Tytuł: “Umiarkowanie pluralistyczna metodologia” -/- Artykuł prezentuje i omawia zasadnicze (...) założenia koncepcji umiarkowanie pluralistycznej metodologii. Ta ostatnia jest zbieżna z J. Życińskiego zasadą naturalności interdyscyplinarnej. Reprezenuje ona szeroko rozumiany nurt pluralizmu naukowego w zakresie sposobu prowadzenia badań w danej dziedzinie. W tej koncepcji połączone są dwa poziomy rozumienia symboliczny i przyczynowy za pomocą swoistego rodzaju wnioskowań kontrfaktycznych, określonych tu jako rozgraniczających wnioskowań kontrfaktycznych. Dzięki nim umiarkowanie pluralistyczna metodologia ma zastosowanie do badań nieeksperymentalnych. -/- Słowa kluczowe: pluralizm naukowy, Józef Życiński, Rudolf Carnap, wnioskowanie kontrfaktyczne . (shrink)

The Center of Interdisciplinary Studies in Cracow has a very rich tradition that has been studied by many and recently by Kamil Trombik. The very difficult period for the Church and for philosophy during the materialistic Marxist ideology was an opportunity for card. K. Wojtyła to outline a new mode of dialog between science and religion. The future Center, organized by Michał Heller and Józef Życiński not only captured this idea but transformed it into an academic institution centered on (...) the idea of philosophy in science, which was also developed at the Vatican Observatory by W.G. Stoeger et al. Trombik’s book is an excellent study of the historical context and initial years of activity of the Center and its development. (shrink)

The Center of Interdisciplinary Studies in Cracow has a very rich tradition that has been studied by many and recently by Kamil Trombik. The very difficult period for the Church and for philosophy during the materialistic Marxist ideology was an opportunity for card. K. Wojtyła to outline a new mode of dialog between science and religion. The future Center, organized by Michał Heller and Józef Życiński not only captured this idea but transformed it into an academic institution centered on (...) the idea of philosophy in science, which was also developed at the Vatican Observatory by W.G. Stoeger et al. Trombik’s book is an excellent study of the historical context and initial years of activity of the Center and its development. (shrink)

The paper concerns the origin and early stage of development of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Kraków. Center for Interdisciplinary Studies was founded by Michał Heller and Józef Życiński in the late 1970s. It was an informal institution which focused on conducting scientific activity in the area of philosophy of nature, relationship between mathematical & natural sciences and philosophy, history of science, as well as relationships between science and religion. In this paper (...) I would like to present how this institution developed, I will discuss various forms of its activity and discuss—very generally—what kind of philosophy was promoted by M. Heller, J. Życiński as well as their pupils and close associates. An important part of the paper will also concern the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies as a unique institution, which has developed—in difficult historical period in Poland—philosophical research in the spirit of freedom and respect for the new achievements of science, and also promoted interdisciplinary dialogue between scientists and philosophers. (shrink)

he article is a review of Kamil Trombik’s book, in which he presents particular concepts of the philosophy of nature at the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Kraków in the years 1978 to 1993. It was the first and decisive period in the formation of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Academy. The goal of the monograph was to demonstrate the factors that contributed to philosophy of nature becoming one of the most prominent and representative trends in this academic center, (...) as well as to attempt to answer the question of why “philosophy in science,” developed initially by Michał Heller and Józef Życiski, became the main style of doing philosophy of nature there. In the reporting part of the review main problems that the author raises are presented. They are collected in three chapters of his work, which corresponds to three initial phases of the formation of the philosophical department at the Pontifical Academy of Theology. Then, in the critical part, some aspects of Trombik’s work are assessed. First of all, the attention is paid to the part concerning the determination of the sources of “philosophy in science” which—although it seems to be the most interesting—is also the least original part of the work. Next, the contribution of Karol Wojtyła and many other lesser-known scientists and philosophers to the formation of an interdisciplinary atmosphere and the promotion of “philosophy in science” in the structures of The Pontifical Academy of Theology and the Krakow intellectual milieu is also appreciated. Many hypotheses and research perspectives in Trombik’s book are highlighted in the review, demonstrating the importance of this Krakow research center for the history of Polish science and philosophy. (shrink)

The paper briefly presents a genesis of the research project called the theology of science initiated by Michał Heller in early 1980s, but also enriched by the remarks of Józef Życiński. Then the main features of the new Heller’s book Science and theology – not necessarily exclusively on one planet are discussed. The book develops and strengthens the early ideas of theology of science. The paper draws also attention to another author—C.B. Kaiser who—since a dozen years—has been developing a (...) similar project: theology of scientific endeavor. It is also suggested that the Heller’s project, especially in its axiological and praxeological aspects, could take advantage of the achievements of several Francophone authors who once developed a field of the so-called theology of earthly realities. (shrink)

The introduction of the concept of the field of rationality and its correlates (the field of potentiality and the formal field) by Józef Życiński and Michał (Michael) Heller opened up space for the philosophical explanation of the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in capturing regularities built into the physical reality. The presented study is a response to the clear incentive of these authors towards the development of the understanding and applicability of these concepts. It is argued that identifying symmetries within (...) the field of rationality not only helps to articulate the fundamental role of symmetries in physics but also provides a better grasp on the issue of potentialities for the emergence of complexity in the Universe. Additionally, some global properties of this field can be more deeply comprehended. By indicating the drawbacks and limitations of this approach, perspectives for further inquiry into the meaning and usefulness are suggested. (shrink)