This study focuses on the foundations of Slovak critical environmentalism laid by work of Juraj Kučírek, who is also the author of the first ever monograph focused on the philosophical reflection of the causes and possible consequences of the global environmental crisis in Slovakia. Kučírek pointed out the need to combine reflection on subsequent solution of the global environmental crisis with the problems of social inequality and oppression. This unconventional approach in the context of the Slovak public and academic (...) discourse of the 1990s he termed as environmental anthropocentrism. Thus, he had a critical approach to biocentric concepts, which gained a dominant position in the Slovak environmental discourse. His work was followed by Ivan Dubnička, who extended Kučírek´s position to include cultural, political, and religious aspects of the causes of environmental devastation. His research was focused on the relationships of sociobiological and sociocultural determinants that shape human behaviour as a result of biological and cultural evolution. Based on evolutionism and anthropocentrism, he developed the concept of environmental pragmatism. Concepts of both are characterized by the critique of biocentric egalitarianism principle and the emphasis on democratic and human rights aspects of environmental devastation, as well as social and political causes of these phenomena. (shrink)

This chapter argues that the extended mind approach to cognition can be distinguished from its alternatives, such as embedded cognition and distributed cognition, not only in terms of metaphysics, but also in terms of epistemology. In other words, it cannot be understood in terms of a mere verbal redefinition of cognitive processing. This is because the extended mind approach differs in its theoretical virtues compared to competing approaches to cognition. The extended mind approach is thus evaluated in terms of its (...) theoretical virtues, both essential to empirical adequacy and those that are ideal desiderata for scientific theories. While the extended mind approach may have similar internal consistency and empirical adequacy compared to other approaches, it may be more problematic in terms of its generality and simplicity as well as unificatory properties due to the cognitive bloat and the motley crew objections. (shrink)

Infant carrying provides an important context for cognitive development and social learning in the first year of life. It enables children to perceive the world from a perspective similar to that of their parents. Lateral carrying provides children with new experiences because it gives them access to a broader range of objects. It also gives them better access to socially significant stimuli and aspects of the environment that are relevant to their parents. Thus, it can significantly contribute to learning about (...) objects and their affordances as well as agents, their actions, and mental states. The paper argues that lateral carrying not only contributes to the development of skills related to the emergr̥ence of shared intentionality but may also play an important role in the development of the understanding of the we-mode and perhaps also in the formation of associations in the mirror neuron system. The final sections of the article offer suggestions for further research. (shrink)

Background Trust is an essential phenomenon of relationship between patients and healthcare professionals and can be described as an accepted vulnerability to the power of another person over something that one cares about in virtue of goodwill toward the trustor. This characterization of interpersonal trust appears to be adequate for patients suffering from chronic illness. Trust is especially important in the context of chronic cardiovascular diseases as one of the main global health problems. Research Aim The purpose of the qualitative (...) study was to gain a deeper understanding of how people with chronic cardiovascular disease experience and make sense of trust in healthcare professionals. Research Design Eleven semi-structured interviews with participants analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore in detail their lived experience of trust as a relational phenomenon. Participants and Research Context Participants with chronic cardiovascular disease were purposively recruited from inpatients on the cardiology ward of the university hospital located in central Slovakia. Ethical Considerations The study was approved by the faculty ethics committee. Participants gave their written informed consent. Findings Four Interrelated Group Experiential Themes Sense of co-existence; Belief in competence; Will to help; Ontological security with eight subthemes were identified. The findings describe the participants' experience with trust in healthcare professionals as a phenomenon of close co-existence, which is rooted in the participants’ vulnerability and dependence on the goodwill and competence of health professionals to help with the consequence of (re)establishing a sense of ontological security in the situation of chronic illness. Conclusion Findings will contribute to an in-depth understanding of trust as an existential dimension of human co-existence and an ethical requirement of healthcare practice, inspire patient empowerment interventions, support adherence to treatment, and person-centred care. (shrink)

The relationship between human and cosmos is still quite a mystery. The ancient intuition about interconnectedness of human and cosmos was replaced by a worldview in which human is part of nature primarily through the continuity of the body with the outer nature. The mind is seen as a unique phenomenon mysteriously emerging from matter. To this mystery responds philosopher Bernardo Kastrup by proposing an ontology that turns the mind-matter relationship on its head: the matter is part of the mind, (...) and not vice versa. This article briefly examines the historical evolution of understanding of the relationship between human and cosmos, introduces the ontology called analytical idealism by B. Kastrup and discusses how idealistic ontology can help us understand our relationship with the cosmos on a deeper level. (shrink)

Heidegger nennt das Er-eignis, welches seinerseits nichts anderes ist als das Sein, den Sach-Verhalt. Er nennt das Sein, welches nichts anderes sein soll als Differenz, den Sachverhalt. Diese Aussage fordert dazu heraus, sich auf Sachverhalte als solche zu besinnen, um durch die systematische Betrachtung von Sachverhalten die Grundlage für eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit Heideggers Sein als Sach-Verhalt bzw. Sachverhalt zu schaffen. Die Schaffung dieser Grundlage ist das Ziel der vorliegenden Untersuchung. Dies erfordert einerseits nichts Geringeres als eine Darstellung dessen, was (...) das Selbst oder die »Selbigkeit« von Heideggers Sein selbst, was m.a.W. die ontologische Differenz des Seins und was die Seinsverlassenheit sein soll. Andererseits aber ist es unabhängig von Heideggers Sach-Verhalt vor allem nötig, das Sein von Sachverhalten, d.h. ihr »Sosein« und »Dasein« einer Untersuchung zu unterziehen, und diese Untersuchung als die zentrale Aufgabe dieser Arbeit durchzuführen. Die Anwendung der Untersuchungsergebnisse auf Heideggers Sein als Sach- Verhalt/Sachverhalt zeigt: Heideggers Sein selbst, welches Sach-Verhalt sein soll, vermag Sachverhalte nicht zu erreichen und muß an Sachverhalten seine äußerste Fragwürdigkeit kundtun. (shrink)

The article offers an alternative story about the structuralism in science, philosophy, and semiotics based on the exposition of Ch. S. Peirce’s philosophical project – pragmatism. Contemporary tendency to consider structuralism as naïve and dead, is put in contrast with the reassessment of the potential of structuralism in natural scien- ces and linguistic anthropology.

A model of gestural sequencing in speech is proposed that aspires to producing biologically plausible fluent and efficient movement in generating an utterance. We have previously proposed a modification of the well-known task dynamic implementation of articulatory phonology such that any given articulatory movement can be associated with a quantification of effort (Simko & Cummins, 2010). To this we add a quantitative cost that decreases as speech gestures become more precise, and hence intelligible, and a third cost component that places (...) a premium on the duration of an utterance. Together, these three cost elements allow us to derive algorithmically optimal sequences of gestures and dynamical parameters for generating articulator movement. We show that the optimized movement displays many timing characteristics that are representative of real speech movement, capturing subtle details of relative timing between gestures. Optimal movement sequences also display invariances in timing that suggest syllable-level coordination for CV sequences. We explore the behavior of the model as prosodic context is manipulated in two dimensions: clarity of articulation and speech rate. Smooth, fluid, and efficient movements result. (shrink)

How should we study religion? Must we be religious ourselves to truly understand it? Do we study religion to advance our knowledge, or should the study of religions help to reintroduce the sacred into our increasingly secularized world? Juraj Franek argues that the study of religion has long been split into two competing paradigms: reductive (naturalist) and non-reductive (protectionist). While the naturalistic approach seems to run the risk of explaining religious phenomena away, the protectionist approach appears to risk falling (...) short of the methodological standards of modern science. Franek uses primary source material from Greek and Latin sources to show that both competing paradigms are traceable to Presocratic philosophy and early Christian literature. He presents the idea that naturalists are distant heirs, not only of the French Enlightenment, but also of the Ionian one. Likewise, he argues that protectionists owe much of their arguments and strategies, not only to Luther and the Reformation, but to the earliest Christian literature. This book analyses the conflict between reductive and non-reductive approach in the modern study of religions, and positions the Cognitive Science of Religion against a background of previous theories - ancient and modern - to demonstrate its importance for the revindication of the naturalist paradigm. (shrink)

Due to COVID-19 pandemic caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, in the spring of 2020 Republic of Croatia imposed a lockdown, which included a measure of transferring the educational process on all educational levels from classroom to distance education. Characteristics of learning in higher education during the lockdown were identical to those pertaining to online learning. Aiming to determine the attitudes of students of Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek towards online learning and the factors affecting their attitudes, we have (...) conducted a quantitative research. In so doing, we have collected the data using the surveying method on a convenient sample via Internet. The results have shown that students have a slightly negative attitude towards online learning, provided that students who have used online learning tools more frequently before the pandemic have a more positive attitude towards it. By applying the technology acceptance model, we have confirmed the indirect correlation between the perceived ease of use of online learning tools and the attitude towards online learning with a strong mediation effect of perceived usefulness of online learning. (shrink)

RADOSŁAW ZENDEROWSKI, MIELIŚMY SWÓJ DOM, W KTÓRYM BYLIŚMY SZCZĘŚLIWI… KONFLIKTY ETNICZNE NA TERYTORIUM BYŁEJ JUGOSŁAWII W NARRACJACH MIGRANTÓW Z PAŃSTW POSTJUGOSŁOWIAŃSKICH MIESZKAJĄCYCH W AUSTRII, WYDAWNICTWO NAUKOWE UKSW, WARSZAWA, 2019. Juraj Marušiak.

Transhumanistická koncepcia lásky obecne predpokladá, že by sme mali romantickú lásku transformovať prostredníctvom súčasných možností vedy a techniky. Zástancovia transhumanistickej koncepcie lásky zvyčajne tvrdia, že správna technologická transformácia biologických základov lásky môže vyriešiť niektoré naše súčasné problémy s láskou. Proponenti transhumanistickej koncepcie lásky sa preto zvyčajne domnievajú, že korektná realizácia ich návrhu by taktiež viedla k vylepšeniu romantickej lásky. Hlavný zámer tejto štúdie spočíva v kritickej analýze niektorých filozofických a konceptuálnych nedostatkov, ktoré sú spojené s predstavou, že je vhodné aby (...) pokročilé technológie transformovali lásku. Prvá časť štúdie je venovaná deskripcii filozofie transhumanistickej koncepcie lásky. Druhá časť štúdie je zameraná na analýzu predpokladov transhumanistickej koncepcie lásky. Tretia časť článku je sústredená na problémy prípadného zneužitia transhumanistickej lásky. V poslednej časti štúdie sa pokúsim ukázať, že aj korektná realizácia transhumanistickej lásky môže viesť k dôsledkom, ktoré sú problematické z hľadiska filozofických domnienok o výhodách transhumanistickej lásky. (shrink)

Článok porovnáva chápanie metód dedukcie a indukcie, s ktorým pracujú vybrané texty zo spoločenskovednej metodológie, s poňatím týchto metód, o ktoré sa opiera moderná logika. Ukazuje, že viaceré príručky spoločenskovedného výskumu vychádzajú zo zastaranej koncepcie, podľa ktorej dedukcia predstavuje „postup od všeobecného k jednotlivému" a indukcia „postup od jednotlivého k všeobecnému". V niektorých prípadoch sa tiež obe metódy chybne stotožňujú s metódami výstavby teórie, prípadne sa dvojica dedukcia - indukcia mylne spája s dvojicou kvantitatívny - kvalitatívny výskum. Článok upozorňuje na (...) niektoré problematické dôsledky takého postupu a navrhuje jednoduché riešenia. (shrink)

The paper offers a reconstruction of the development of Karl Marx’s thought in 1842 – 1844 proceeding from the philosophy of law and social philosophy to political economy and its critique. It puts forward a new interpretation of the categories “bürgerliche Gesellschaft“, “alienation“ and “alienated labor“. This interpretation shows that the development of Marx’s thought did not proceed from „philosophy“ to “political economy“ or from “humanism“ to “scientism“, but from an “external“ to an “internal“ critique of political economy.

The method of “abstraction” had been the centerpiece of earlier attempts at founding a Marxist philosophy of science – from Engels to Soviet Marxism. This paper confronts Marx’s writings on abstraction with contemporary views of the method, stemming mostly from the analytic and (post-)empiricist traditions. In Section 2, I reconstruct the roles that abstraction was to play, according to Marx, in the construction of a scientific theory, focusing exclusively on his own writings. The analysis reveals certain rules, left mostly implicit (...) in Marx, for the correct application of the method of abstraction. These are discussed in Section 3. The first rule states that concepts of the historically specific aspects of target systems (e.g., the capitalist economy) cannot be defined simply by means of transhistorical concepts. The second rule prohibits abstraction from the explanatorily relevant aspects which pertain, in Marx’s vocabulary, to the “essence” of the target system. In Section 3, I confront Marx’s notion of “abstraction” with contemporary statements on the method. It is shown that it covers both abstraction and idealization as understood in some modern accounts (notably, that of M. R. Jones). Under this approach, abstraction involves the tacit omission of properties, which are simply left unspecified. In contrast, idealization consists in the explicit counterfactual ascription of properties (and values of magnitudes). Finally, the representational goals pertaining to Marx’s “abstraction” are discussed, using distinctions due to M. Weisberg. It is shown that Marx was a proponent of “minimalist idealization”, focusing on the identification of causally relevant mechanisms that characterize all capitalist societies. I conclude with a suggestion for further research. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to show that Karl Marx’s critique of political economy can be interpreted as a critique of what philosophers have termed “category-mistakes”. Therefore, I first turn to the origins of this term in Gilbert Ryle’s “Categories”, to further developments in “Philosophical Arguments” and in P. F. Strawson, as well as to W. H. Walsh’s approach to categories, to establish a workable meaning of the term “category-mistake”. In the second part, I briefly discuss some of the (...) previous uses of this term in exegeses of Marx. Based on Marx’s writings and D. Sayer’s work on Marx’s methodology, I then explicate the meaning of Marx’s term “economic category”. Finally, I arrive at an interpretation of Marx’s critique of economic theories as an analysis concerned with the improper use of theoretical concepts. By way of conclusion, I offer some general remarks on one important aspect of critique in Marx and in social science in general. (shrink)

The article presents a critique of the commonly held assumption about the practical advantage of endurantism over perdurantism regarding the problem of future-directed self-concern of a person. The future-directed self-concern of a person crucially depends on the possibility of the right differentiation of diverging futures of distinct persons, therefore any theory of persistence that does not entail a special nonbranching relation of a person to only their future self seems to be counterintuitive or unrealistic for practical purposes of personal persistence. (...) I argue that this pragmatic rationale about future-directed self-concern is equally challenging for both theories of persistence. Moreover, I indicate, that both of these theories fall and stand on the practical feasibility of hidden ontological presuppositions about specific second-order notions of concerns of persons for their future. (shrink)

Derivatives and the real economy The paper describes the development of the derivatives market and compares it with the development of the real economy. Based on official data the paper describes how the derivatives market has significantly increased its volume of trading, mainly after the abolishment of the Glass-Steagal Act. The growing volume of the derivatives market also significantly contributed to the global financial crisis. This paper also compares the growth of the global nominal and real gross domestic product with (...) the pace of growth of the overall derivatives market, but mainly the over-the-counter market. Based on preliminary findings, the paper came to the conclusion that it is critical to implement all the requisite measures in order to eliminate non-transparent transactions with certain derivatives products in order to put the global economy on a sustainable, solid and balanced economic growth path. (shrink)

The paper describes the main features of financial stability and the preparation of the reform of the global financial system. The mortgage crisis in the USA brought about the global financial crisis. This crisis was the result of the failure of financial regulation, including supervision, and the failure of the management of the banking industry. Therefore, the international community, including Group 20, urged the appropriate institutions to introduce a comprehensive reform of the financial sector. To avoid a potential financial crisis, (...) the creation of the framework for financial stability would be needed. In line with this, the paper examines the interaction between both monetary and fiscal policies, including micro-and macroprudential policies and their instruments. Although still is going on discussion on definition of macroprudential policy, there is a generally accepted opinion that macroprudential policy should limit systemic risk. In addition, this policy should focus on interaction between the financial system and the real economy. Furthermore, micro- andmacroprudential policy should use appropriate instruments in dealing with the systemic risk. In this regard, the article undescores that put in a place the frameworkfor financial stability will create favorable conditions for decision-makers how they should to respond to financial imbalances. The paper also pointed out some potential economic costs related to the implementation of the overall international reform of the financial sector. Based on comprehensive literature study, the author came to the conclusion that despite the fact that there will be some economic costs related to implementing the overall regulatory reform of the financial sector, the main benefit from the long-term perspective will be avoiding the potential financial crisis in the future. To fulfill all the requirements for global financial reform, international cooperation will be needed. (shrink)

Purpose of the article The aim of the paper is to analyze the global economic imbalances and factors that contributed to their deterioration in developed and emerging countries, primarily in the United States and China. The article assesses the main inevitable factors of the global economic imbalances that have driven the recent evolution of current account balances. In addition, the paper describes the theoretical framework of global imbalances and the relevant fundamental theories for better understanding in theoretical aspect of international (...) economics and finance. Furthermore, provides overview of the fundamental causes and drivers of global imbalances, namely current account. Methodology/methods In relation to the subject and purpose of this paper have been used the logical methods of examination which mainly include analysis, correlation and regression analysis, abstraction, synthesis, induction and deduction, the methods of descriptive and mathematical statistics, comparative and empirical methods and the selected forecasting methods. Scientific aim The global imbalances are considered as the most disputable and well known of the global current economic problem, which possibly explain the causes of the global financial crisis. The global financial imbalances were quite massive even before the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008. Therefore, the main scientific goal of this paper to analyse what is behind the current account imbalances in both countries, e.i. the USA and China. Findings The persistent current account imbalances reflected the imbalances in the world investment and savings ratios. Whereas the U.S. national savings rate kept falling, the Chinese savings rate rose. Current account imbalances will keep on growing due to a problem of insufficient global saving. Conclusions The size of global imbalances has become narrow compared to the prior crisis’s level, but it did not vanish due to the implementation of global rebalancing process. Putting the current account imbalance to cooperation of all participating countries is strongly necessary. The policy response will need to involve many more countries, even G20 process, and coordinating this response will require considerable efforts of every party members. (shrink)

Reasons for the rapid appearance and growth of SWFs is contributed by increase in oil prices and the accumulation of large balance-of-payments surpluses. Purpose of the article is to investigate size of observed Sovereign Wealth Funds in 2013. Moreover, to describe what explain differences in the size of SWFs, on the other hand what determines the amount of foreign exchange reserves. Is the size of observed funds closely related to rate of growth of the countries? Is return of observed funds (...) is closely related to fund value bn USD, GDP growth and inflation rate of the country? Methodology/methods deployed in this paper has been done illustrations by using available data from official websites of funds, Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, International Monetary Fund, CIA The World Factbook and author’s calculations due the fact that most of funds do not provide data to the public. In addition to this, we present the estimations by using regression analysis, transferring observed data using the least squares method, The two-sample t-test for mean value, ANOVA, TINV. Scientific aim is to examine whether AUM of SWFs, moreover the size of 14 observed funds is closely related to rate of growth of the countries at 90 percent of probability. Second, if return of 14 observed funds is closely related to fund value bn USD, GDP growth and inflation rate of the country at 95 percent of probability. Third, if there are significant differences between return in 2010 and 2013. Findings indicates that paper came to the conclusion that the return of 14 observed funds is closely related to fund value bn USD, GDP growth and inflation rate of the country at 95 percent of probability. Furthermore, there are significant differences between return in 2010 and 2013. Conclusions pointed out that the influence of SWFs has become undeniable, with total assets topping 6,585tn USD in June 2014, these investors have reached a size comparable to that of the entire alternative assets industry. (shrink)

Behind the Limes: On the Quest for an Eastern Dimension of European Identity Although the integration processes in Western Europe have been studied for decades, the idea of European identity as a specific area of scholarship is relatively new. This interest coincides with fundamental changes that have occurred in Europe since 1989 and that may impact the internal coherence of the enlarged European Union. Over the past decades, the East-West dichotomy has been magnified due to the impact of Communism in (...) the East, which exacerbated an already existent sense in the West of Eastern Europe's primordial otherness. Since four decades of Communism in East Central and Southern Europe produced only two, or at most, three generations that were raised and lived under a totalitarian regime, a long-term historical perspective is essential for a better understanding of the mutual estrangement. The paper examines the origins and key moments in the alienation of Eastern and Western Europe as reflected in ancient, medieval and modern history. It focuses on the present stage of perception of East Central Europe in the West. In the final part, it identifies societal values that may re-generate socio-cultural cohesiveness aimed at filling the gap between the two parts of Europe. (shrink)

The paper criticizes the novel approach of Miščević to apriority and analyticity. In a nutshell, it aims to show that Miščević has failed to appreciate the power and impact of semantic atomism in the theory of concepts. He simply assurnes a clean distinction between concept-analyzing propositions and those that do not analyze concepts, misconstrue the way atomists understand concept-analyzing propositions, namely epistemically and not semantically, and fails to provide an answer to atomistic considerations. Finally, I analyze his examples of alleged (...) a posteriori concept analyzing propositions and I argue that they fail to support his theory. (shrink)