The development of the individual attributes of ethics of responsibility in conjunction with the principles of civic liberalism in Slovak political thought is associated with the thinking of Ján Palárik. His political ideas published in the second half of the 19th century come out of an effort to characterize and achieve reform of the Habsburg monarchy on the basis of constitutionalism and federalism. These attributes, in Palárik’s opinion, were to bring more effective solutions to the issue of educating people in (...) their mother tongue and the creation of civic culture. A part of Palárik’s approach to the formation of civic skills is also the advocating of free expression, the idea of pluralism and gradualism within the idea of the unity of the different. His realistic approach to politics was framed by knowing and respecting the objective limits when implementing the aims of national civic freedom. Palárik linked the development of the state and the process of acculturation of the people with application of the principles of practical reasonableness and ethics of responsibility. He found its essence in understanding the interconnectedness of political goals and ideals, which were to be reflected in close association with the real limitations of the capabilities of individuals and social circumstances. (shrink)

After the revolutionary year 1848 both Slovak and Czech political representations faced the same challenge in their searching for a new constitutional order, although their respective state-forming activity differed. In this context the overlapping conceptions of Ján Palárik and Karel Havlí?ek Borovský are worthy consideration. They both underline the strategy of gradualism in the nation-forming process as well as cultural distinctiveness combined with civic ethos. Further, they both combined the romanticism grounded in national feeling with the Enlightenment ideas and the (...) importance of practical reason. Their liberalism underlining the national and civic equality and the bottom up political activity thus can be seen as a new incentive in creating the constitutional grounds of both Slovak and Czech nations. (shrink)

The aim of the paper is to reconsider the traditional evaluation of S. H. Vajanský, which underlines mainly the anti-progressive, conservative and anti-realistic features of his later writings. The examination of his earlier articles in Narodné noviny up to 1883 shows, however, his critical openness to the contributions of constitutionalism. His primordialistic standpoint is enriched by the ideas emphasizing the importance of the education of wider public as well as the necessity of polemics in creating Slovak national awareness. Young Vajanský (...) did not dismiss the incentives of liberalism or constitutionalism. He rather criticized their formalism. He acknowledged their key contribution in expanding the ideas of the freedom of press and speech, which should have served the political elites in their creating the national identity. (shrink)

The study explains the perception of the nation in the political thinking of Svetozár Hurban Vajanský, which is founded on primordialist starting points and has a holistic character. In this context, the relationship between the nationally conscious elite and the people is analysed in more detail. The ambivalence of Vajanský’s political thinking is evident in the fact that, in many ways, he formally promotes Ľudovít Štúr’s original idea of unity, but, within Slovak political discourse, he promotes the idea of programme (...) uniformity. Subsequently, this becomes a source of cultural and political isolationism. This fact is complemented in parallel by reflecting the primary acculturation importance of the national elite in developing the national consciousness of the population. Vajanský also incorporated the idea of Slavic mutuality into the national emancipation concept of developing Slovak national identity. Its content is in line with Štúr’s ethnic romanticism. The historicist concept of the development of Slavs under Russian protection also appears in his thinking. Vajanský’s Russophilism was, thus, loosely tied to the ideas of Russian Slavophiles and the idealising perspective of the Slavs’ civilisational mission, who were to form a new, more spiritual and culturally advanced, civilisation circle compared with the morally declining nations of the West. (shrink)

The main goals of this work are: Ethical and social aspects of policy, contemporary liberal democratic structures, morality in political decision-making, human rights and their individual conceptions, political-philosophical ideas, function of a social-scientific education, selected aspects of security policy, environmental policy, eco-social market economy and religion and law.

Decision outcomes sometimes result in negative emotions. This can occur when a decision appears to be wrong in retrospect, and/or when the obtained decision outcome does not live up to expectations. Regret and disappointment are the two emotions that are of central interest in the present article. Although these emotions have a lot in common, they also differ in ways that are relevant to decision making. In this article we review theories and empirical findings concerning regret and disappointment. We first (...) discuss how regret and disappointment differ with respect to their antecedent conditions, appraisals, and phenomenology. We also discuss possible behavioural consequences of experiencing these emotions. Next, we consider how the anticipation of regret and disappointment may influence decision making. We use regret and disappointment theory, developed by the economists Bell (1982, 1985), and Loomes and Sugden (1982, 1986, 1987), as a framework for our discussion. Finally, we argue that combining the theoretical approaches and research paradigms of behavioural decision theory with emotion theories will significantly increase our knowledge of antecedents and consequences of emotions. (shrink)

Cet ouvrage est une réédition numérique d’un livre paru au XXe siècle, désormais indisponible dans son format d’origine.

Religion in Western culture and functional impairment have an awkward relationship. This awkwardness stems from theological and cultural prejudice, theological prejudice as far as functional impairment is considered a consequence of original sin, which will be taken away in future life, cultural prejudice as far as functional impairment is looked upon as a relict of a lower stage of evolution. The author of this article analyses the views of theologians who have a functional impairment themselves, and derives from this analysis (...) three starting points for theological reflection on functional impairment are derived: the deconstruction of the concept of disability, functional impairment as a world generating state, and contingent human persons as an image of God. He formulates a viewpoint in which the image of God is not only understood on the level of individual persons, but rather as the ideal inclusive communities of people aspire to achieve when they answer to the calling that stems from God's covenant with humankind. (shrink)

This ar ti cle pres ents cer tain el e ments of what has been called the lan guage phi los o phy of Wittgenstein ac cord ing to re cent stud ies car ried out in sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics. Among these el e ments, a prag matic vi sion of lan guage and inter-sub jec tive forms of life..

El presente artículo indaga en elementos centrales presentes en las exploraciones filosóficas realizadas por Simone Weil, entendidas estas en cuanto herramientas para conseguir una mayor comprensión de la experiencia humana. Muestra operaciones conceptuales que evidencian cómo su vida y escritura desenraizan el pensamiento de las ideas convencionales, buscando transformar nociones instaladas en la vida de las sociedades que, bajo el signo de la fuerza, propician el desmedro existencial y climático que caracteriza el presente. Para este fin se analiza el alcance (...) político del lenguaje y de los cuerpos como fuente de significados en la conversación interseccional de las instituciones y en el interior de los colectivos cuyos dispositivos vuelven más reales las significaciones fijadas a los nombres que las cosas mismas a las que aluden, entendiendo que esta modalidad de fuerza impide el acceso a la verdad impersonal. (shrink)

Weil construyó inteligibilidad mediante una escritura que desenraiza el pensamiento de conceptos habituales. Sus reflexiones sobre la fuerza indican que solo leemos sensaciones que el mundo nos ofrece mediante nuestro cuerpo que resultará determinante para propiciar transposiciones semánticas que modifiquen lo que el ser humano lee en la realidad. De aquí el alcance político de cuerpos y discursos en la conversación transversal de las instituciones y en el interior de los colectivos cuyos dispositivos vuelven más reales las significaciones fijadas a (...) los nombres que las cosas mismas a las que aluden, esta modalidad de fuerza impide el acceso a la verdad impersonal. (shrink)