What are the main results of Bocheskiinvestigations in ethics and moral philosophy?In his own view, he contributed to threematters: his treatise on miltary ethics, hisclear delineation of morals, ethics, andreligious morality, and, finally, hisdemonstration of the potentialities of analysisin matters moral and ethical. This view isdiscussed and verified in the paper.

Bertrand Russell was one of those moralists who advocate a broad concept of ethics, including both social and individual ethics. This latter ethics is composed of prescriptions relating to the various ways of attaining happiness and perfection. Since however both happiness and perfection, i.e. the creative experience of one’s own existence can be attained by the same way, the requirement of self-realization may contribute to the harmonious coexistence of all people an effect that is desirable from social point of view. (...) Russell believed that if all people an effect that is desirable form social point of view. Russell believed that if all individuals are granted possibilities of unrestrained self-realization armed conflicts will cease. The requirement of self-realization will be fulfilled above all when the barriers that have up to now handicapped the free development of human possibilities are pulled down. The barriers to self-realization include the restrictions connected with the specific living conditions pertinent to the industrial civilization, the commonly accepted false picture of human nature, and traditional morality. (shrink)

This book introduces an important chapter of Polish 20th century philosophy, by analyzing the studies that contributed to value theory; i.e. the studies of Kazimierz Twardowski, Tadeusz Czeżowski, Tadeusz Kotarbiński, Władysław Tatarkiewicz, Roman Ingarden, Henryk Elzenberg, Maria Ossowska, and Józef Maria Bocheński.

The author starts with recalling, primarily in reliance on Du Contrat social the main clauses of the social contract. Then he advances arguments to show that the text of The Social Contract admits of two interpretations of Rousseau’s theory of the social contract. In the first interpretation, the state which is produced as a result of the contract is viewed as the environment in which man fulfils his moral calling; it is the state that by social actions people can discover (...) and pursue moral values while preserving their individual freedom and sovereignty. The other interpretation implies that Rousseau had little respect for the individual person’s freedom and moral sovereignty, because both the construction of the “political machine” and its first decisive motions are dependent on the law-maker, a factor independent of the contracting parties, who is expected to take care of the unenlightened masses to transform them into a society reminiscent of those of Republican Rome or Sparta. In conclusion, the author advances the conjecture that the tensions pervading the theory of the social contract bad their source In certain deeper beliefs by which Rousseau abode also e his literary and educational work. Those beliefs included his distaste of modern civilization, his belief in the unconditional supremacy of moral values, his admiration of freedom, moral sovereignty and integrity, his belief that freedom is a most fundamental value, and his commitment to the kind of social ties which he saw embodied first in Geneva and most perfectly in Sparta. (shrink)

Polish philosophers’ contribution to the philosophy of our times is not limited to logic. Neither was Polish philosophy mainly one more form of analitical school. The scope of this philosophy was broader, and its methods were much more diversified. This may be confirmed by many examples. One of these is Polish value theory as represented by Ingarden, Tatarkiewicz, Czezowski, and Ossowska.The differences in their methods are striking: we have Ingarden’s phenomenolgy as a tool of axiological inquires into the nature of (...) works of art, various analytical procedures presented by Tatarkiewicz, Czezowski and Elzenberg, the descriptive method of Ossowska. In spite of deep substantial differences these thinkers have much in common: subtlety in their philosophical work, faithfulness to the facts that are the point of departure in their axiological investigations, clearly objectivist tendency in solving the problems of value theory (except for Maria Ossowska). Another common feature: these thinkers tested their views with their lives opposing - when need arose - the outbursts of totalitarian barbarity. (shrink)

This article examines the topic of approaches to personal development that aim at achieving the highest possible level. Such approaches are considered here in the context of Kazimierz Dąbrowski “Theory of Positive Disintegration”. The shaping of the personality is accomplished by the dynamic integration and disintegration of the individual, and also by considering his/her five levels of development. The first level is called the stage of primary integration, whilst harmonious secondary integration refers to the highest level of development itself. The (...) discovery of the highest level of personal value in one’s progress is one of the most effective stages in protecting the individual from any unacceptable moral or ethical standards present in society. It is also effective in the resocialisation of cases involving social pathology. Each person has the task of promoting their personal values to the highest level of development. When the individual conclusively fulfils this task, he/she reaches an optimal stage of harmoniousness and peacefulness. (shrink)

The use of experimental animals, mostly rodents, in biomedical research and especially in oncology and immunology should be acknowledged with respect, recognizing the contribution of animal experimentation in the fascinating scientific progress in these disciplines of research. It is an obligation of the investigator to justify the scientific and ethical aspects of each study requiring the use of animals. The international guiding principles for using animals in biomedical research are well defined and have been distributed worldwide by the International Council (...) for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS) since 1956, when this Organization was founded. In Poland the ICLAS philosophy and principles are highly respected and were implemented firstly by the members of the Commission on Biology of Experimental Animals appointed in 1962 by the Department of Medical Science of the Polish Academy of Science in Warsaw. Animal Protection Acts, first proclaimed in 1928 were gradually modified and improved. Actual legislation (enacted in 1997, 2003 and 2005) is consistent with EU Directives (86/609/EEC) and follows the internationally recommended principles that include ICLAS guidelines concerning animal welfare and care condition in biomedical research. The problem of “alternative methods” is briefly discussed. Dr. Donald Boisvert, CCAC — Canadian Council on Animal Care. (shrink)

Judaism was a mythical, strongly tribal religion with anthropomorphic God in which the leading element was the concept of a covenant between God and the exceptional “chosen people.” Such views produced a strong emphasis on tribal unity and attitude of election and moral superiority vis-à-vis the rest of humanity. Philo must have felt inadequacy of the ancient Judaism and its limitations to compete for the minds of Hellenes with their universalistic philosophical thought. Philo represented a trend in Jewish ideology which (...) attempted, in confrontation with the Greek culture, to assert itself as a valid cosmic view to support the existence of a community. He attempted to reevaluate Hebrew ideology found in the scriptures adopting Greek metaphysical, ethical, and religious doctrines to Judaism.The focus of this article is on Philo’s introduction of the Greek concept of Logos, in the modified version of Xenocrates into Judaism. Philo developed this concept further and transformed from a metaphysical entity into an extension of a divine and transcendental anthropomorphic being and mediator between God and men. Thus Philo produced a synthesis of both Hebrew and Greek traditions developing concepts that were used for future Hellenistic interpretation of messianic Hebrew thought by providing foundations for Christianity. (shrink)

Obiektywna podstawa prawa według św. Tomasza z Akwinu -- Moc obowiązująca prawa a teoria Kelsena -- Problem filozofii prawa , filozofia prawa, jej przedmiot, metoda i podział.

How does one conceive time? Measurement by means of Time Metaphors Questionnaire Attitude towards time are usually expressed by means of metaphors. This paper presents phases of construction and validation of the Time Metaphors Questionnaire. This is a method for testing conceiving of time. An exploratory factor analyses yielded seven factor scales: Friendly Time, Hostile Time, Rapid Passage of Time, Significance of the Moment, Subtle Time, Wild Time and Empty Time. Results of correlations between scales of the Time Metaphors Questionnaire (...) and with selected methods indicate, among other things, an ambivalence of psychological time and an importance of positive evaluation of current moment. (shrink)

The structure and regulative function of the cognitive styles: a new theory The organization of human cognitive styles can be described as a kind of functional system or as an holon. In this framework it is possible to propose a new theoretical base for classifying the primary cognitive styles. The fundamental theoretical thesis is that for all styles there is one common mechanism of forming and scanning the perceptual and memory field induced by the situation, and by the differences in (...) the manner of carrying out the processes of field scanning /codes interfering depend on the range of conceptual equivalency and cognitive control of behavior. In the functional describing of the basic set of cognitive styles we must take into account three elements of the chain: neurobiological modules ® organization of cognitive holon ® behavioral manifestation of styles. (shrink)

The theory of descriptions occupies a very prominent place in Russell's system of logic and indeed in his system of philosophy. Since the publication of the now classical paper “On Denoting” in Mind for 1905 the theory had been incorporated into Principia Mathematica , the first volume of which appeared in 1910. In 1918 Russell discussed descriptions in his lectures on the Philosophy of Logical Atomism, which subsequently were published in The Monist for 1919. A very lucid exposition of the (...) main tenets of the doctrine is to be found in the Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy dating from the same year. Epistemological aspects of the theory of descriptions are examined in “Knowledge by Acquaintance and Knowledge by Description“, in the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society for 1910–11, and also in Chapter V of The Problems of Philosophy, first published in 1912. (shrink)