A significant impediment to the study of perceptual consciousness is our dependence on simplistic ideas about what experience is like. This is a point that has been made by Wittgenstein, and by philosophers working in the Phenomenological Tradition, such as Husserl and Merleau-Ponty. Importantly, it is an observation that has been brought to the fore in recent discussions of consciousness among philosophers and cognitive scientists who have come to feel the need for a more rigorous phenomenology of experience. The central (...) thought of this paper is that art can make a needed contribution to the study of perceptual consciousness. The work of some artists can teach us about perceptual consciousness by furnishing us with the opportunity to have a special kind of reflective experience. In this way, art can be a tool for phenomenological investigation. The paper has three parts. First, I present what I call the problem of the transparency of experience. This is a problem for philosophy, for art, and for cognitive science. Second, I present an alternative conception of experience as a mode of interactive engagement with the environment. Finally, against the background of this conception, I discuss, briefly, the work of the sculptors Richard Serra and Tony Smith. (shrink)

Historia religii jednoznacznie wskazuje, że religia nie stanowi wyłącznie jakiejs idei ani że nie jest jedynie systemem praktyk kultowych. Jest przede wszystkim spotkaniem czlowieka z sacrum, z boskością, i nawiązaniem dialogu z rzeczywistością transcendentną. Do spotkania z sacrum moze dojść na drodze poznania wewnętrznego, na podstawie obserwacji świata odczytywanego jako symbol czegoś ponad nim, słuchania słowa Bożego, doznawania wizji lub oświecenia. Jest ono uwarunkowane działaniem całego czlowieka, zarówno jego uczuć, jak i rozumu. W tym spotkaniu człowiek otwiera się na sacrum (...) całym sobą, w swej psycho-fizycznej strukturze. Antoine Vergote, współczesny psycholog belgijski, ukończył studia fiozoficzne i teologiczne w Lowanium. Formację psychologiczną i psychoanalityczną zdobył w Paryżu. W praktyce zawodowej i w badaniach naukowych zajął sie problematyką religijnosci jednostki. Interesuje go przede wszystkim problem doświadczenia religijnego. Szuka odpowiedzi na pytanie: w jakim stopniu potrzeby, pragnienia i frustracje oddziałują na postawy religijną człowieka? W szczególności, w jakim stopniu obrazy ojca i matki mają wpływ na postawy religijny dziecka? Co sprawia, ze człowiek jest religijny? (shrink)

Martin Heidegger in 'The Origin of the Work of Art' (Der Ursprung des Kunstwerkes) developed a whole new way of thinking about art, going beyond traditionally understood aesthetics or even philosophy of art. Some of Heidegger’s thoughts, however, appear to be understated and only signal a huge complexity of both experiencing works of art and the very issue of the origin of the work of art. The analysis of the terms ‘anxiety’ and ‘eyeblink’ from 'Being and Time' presented in this (...) article complement and develop Heidegger’s ideas included in his essay. Linking art to these two crucial phenomena of fundamental ontological analysis of Dasein casts light on the status of art and its existential significance. The author aims mainly at demonstrating the aletheic connection (based on unclosedness) between the experience of ‘originary source’ of a piece of art and ‘anxiety’, and also, in conclusion, he points to the ‘event of beyng’ as the essential, non-metaphysical origin of art. (shrink)

The author of this paper discusses the source experience defined in terms of the ancient Indian philosophy. She focuses on two out of six mainstream Hindu philosophical schools, Sāṃkhya and Yoga. While doing so the author refers to the oldest preserved texts of this classical tradition, namely Yogasūtra c. 3rd CE and Sāṃkhyakārikā 5th CE, together with their most authoritative commentaries. First, three major connotations of darśana, the Sanskrit equivalent of φιλοσοφια, are introduced and contextualised appropriately for the comparative study (...) of source experience. Then, three means of knowledge (pramāṇa-s) as well as the purpose of search for source experience are explained. Next, a specific understanding of source experience in the context of Sāṃkhya-Yoga is discussed to reveal both its contents and the reasons for apophatic formulation of the liberating insight. The self-knowledge and true knowledge both result from source experience based on distinguished discernment (vivekakhyāti) between “I”/ego and the self, gained during the multistage meditative absorption (samādhi). The analysis of discriminative cognition is followed by reconstruction of the arguments offered by the author of Sāṃkhyakārikā in favour of the existence of the self (puruṣa), immutable, inactive, and opposed to the domain of nature (prakṛti) characterised as spontaneously active and creative, which includes empirical consciousness, or “I”. The last section is devoted to the issue of the possible communication of achieved knowledge and its application in the everyday life practice. In conclusion, it is claimed that in Indian philosophy there has been no clear distinction between the practical value of subjective cognitive insight and theoretical ambitions of philosophy, which is why many authors of classical treatises are also recognised as eminent sapiential mentors. Often, especially in the texts of Yoga, Nyāyā and Buddhism philosophy is associated with therapy and philosophical exposition of the “cognitive ailments” is compared to medical treatment. -/- . (shrink)

MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE IN THE ALEPH AND THE WRITING OF THE GOD BY JORGE LUIS BORGES In my paper I undertake an analysis of chosen short stories of Jorge Luis Borges in which the problem of mysticism occupies an important place. I claim that Borges, whose works are known for covering philosophical issues of most fundamental importance, is a writer who describes the impossibility of reaching a mystical experience in the modern world. As far as philosophical background of Borges is concerned (...) there exists a well-spread opinion that Borges, who readily confessed his admiration for Berkeley and Hume, was an idealist himself. My point is that even though the Berkeleyan epistemology influenced Borges, there is a fundamental difference between those thinkers which consists of the fact that in the philosophy of Berkeley there is a place for God. As a result it can be claimed that the world as an object of God's experience has a stable existence. There is no place for such a privileged being neither in the ontology nor epistemology proposed by Borges. The world as described by him can be called a fiction because there is no privileged subject whose experience would not be accidental and private. For that reason the description of mystical experience is always a failure when it refers to modern times. I demonstrate it at length by the analysis of the short story entitled The Aleph, while taking into consideration other texts as well. (shrink)

PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE AND ITS COGNITIVE FUNCTION Among the features marking a mystical experience facilitated by certain kind of psychedelic substances researchers singled out the so-called noetic quality, which indicates that mystical experiences can have a cognitive significance. The main goal of my article is then to address the question, whether this cognitive capacity of mystical experience has only a subjective/psychological value, or it should be rather treated as a legitimate kind of cognition. The philosophical aspect of this issue enters the (...) domain of ontology and epistemology, since it concerns the question, whether an object of any cognitive experience has to belong to the physical reality, or a proper cognition can be realized in the reality of symbols. In order to deal with these questions I will refer to the philosophy of H.-G. Gadamer. Even though Gadamer did not investigate altered states of consciousness, I believe his hermeneutics can support a hypothesis that altered states of consciousness provide recognition of reality of symbols. (shrink)

Już od blisko 50 lat etyka medyczna realizowana jako odrębny przedmiot znajduje się w programach kształcenia studentów medycyny. W trakcie wieloletnich dyskusji o formach i treściach takiego nauczania wykształciły się dwa, alternatywne modele nauczania etyki medycznej. Pierwszy model – aplikacyjny traktuje nauczanie etyki, jako etyki stosowanej, w ramach tradycyjnego modelu akademickiego. Przybiera on formę wiedzy podawanej na wykładach i utrwalanej w trakcie seminariów. Drugi model nauczania etyki – transformacyjny ma na celu ukształtowanie moralnego lekarza. Metody stosowane w kształceniu etycznym lekarzy (...) nie są jednomyślnie zaakceptowane przez wszystkie uczelnie medyczne i wciąż trwają poszukiwania najskuteczniejszego sposobu nauczania etyki. Idealnym rozwiązaniem byłoby nauczania etyki zintegrowane z nauczaniem klinicznym, lecz nie jest to w praktyce nigdzie osiągalne. Postuluje się aby nauczanie to było skupione na zdefiniowanych wynikach nauczania i stosowało sprawdzone metody nauczania i zwalidowane metody oceny. Nauczanie etyki medycznej wciąż nie dopracowało się jednolitego powszechnie zaakceptowanego standardu. Wynika to zarówno z braku uniwersalnej teorii etyki medycznej, jak i braku dowodów na skuteczność jakiekolwiek modelu edukacji etycznej. (shrink)

Seeing of emptiness and mystical experience — the case of Madhyamaka: The problem of Buddhist religiosity is one of the most classic problems of Buddhist studies. A particular version of this issue is the search for mystical experience in Buddhism. This is due to the conviction that mystical experience is the essence of religious experience itself. The discovery of such an alleged experience fuels comparative speculations between Buddhism and the philosophical and religious traditions of the Mediterranean area. Madhyamaka is the (...) Buddhist tradition which many researchers saw as the fulfillment of such mystical aspirations in Buddhism. In this paper I specify the standard parameters of mystical experience (non‑conceptuality, ineffability, paradoxicality, silence, oneness, fullness) and I conclude that they either cannot be applied to Madhyamaka or that the application is only illusory. (shrink)

Miłosz’s volume Światło dzienne (Daylight, 1953) is conventionally read by critics as political poetry deeply engaged with history. The article offers a corrective to this traditional reading by interpreting the volume as interplay of European and American influences. As a European poet, Miłosz had experienced the violent demise of ideals at the foundation of the Old World. Światło dzienne is, therefore, at one level, an elegiac volume in which both persons and ideas are mourned. On the other hand, to the (...) extent that America continues for Miłosz the noble ideas abandoned in Europe, he cannot accept what he regards as their misguided or perverse incarnations. This explains the emotional climate of the whole volume, with its dominant mood of disappointment, anger and refusal of reconciliation. Światło dzienne is American in its outlook in taking seriously America’s status as a superpower and its influence on the future direction of global history. It is anti-American, however, in identifying America’s perceived failures to live up to the post-war challenge for human civilization in general and the consequent dangers. The article intends to assess Miłosz’s debt to English-language poetry in this volume in light of his personal notes from his reading and translation work at the time. (shrink)

The phenomenon of sport, especially its popularity and significance, strongly marks the contemporary world. This text is an attempt to describe sports experience (especially football) as a value for a fan experiencing it. It is not an analysis of sport in the philosophical perspective usually concentrating on its ethical or anthropological aspects. That is why the author analyses here, among other things, its identity, aesthetic and egalitarian character, touching upon such important phenomena as patriotic feelings in the context of sport, (...) its media dimension or the problems with stadium hooligans. Finally, to emphasize the research problem outlined in this way, the author discusses the thesis of striking similarities between sports experience and religious experience formulated repeatedly in the present debate over contemporary forms of global secularization. (shrink)