Inspired by, and in close relation with, the contributions of this special issue, Kuperberg elegantly links event comprehension, production, and learning. She proposes an overarching hierarchical generative framework of processing events enabling us to make sense of the world around us and to interact with it in a competent manner.

[…] redaktorom udała się rzecz dość rzadka w tego typu publikacjach, mianowicie stworzyli imponujących rozmiarów księgę pamiątkową, która jednak, poza walorami okolicznościowymi, charakteryzuje się wysokim poziomem naukowym i zawiera sporo oryginalnych, wartościowych treści, z konieczności prezentowanych w krótkich formach, co jednak nie obniża ich rangi teoretycznej. Ponadto […] udało się w tej publikacji zgromadzić bardzo liczne, a jednocześnie reprezentatywne grono najwybitniejszych polskich filozofów, którzy ofiarowali profesorowi Tyburskiemu swoje cenne teksty, co czyni tę książkę tym bardziej wartościową i spowoduje, jak można (...) przypuszczać, że jeszcze po wielu latach będzie się do niej sięgało jako o źródła oryginalnych i bardzo ciekawych przemyśleń. Prof. dr hab. Jarosław Rolewski. (shrink)

Clinical ethics consultants occasionally encounter unethical and/or unprofessional behavior as part of their normal job functions. In this article, we explore whether resigning (i.e., threatening resignation or resigning) and whistleblowing are acceptable methods ethics consultants can use to address these situations. Per our analysis, whether one considers ethics consultants private or public employees, loyal to their employer or to patients, families, and the public, resigning and whistleblowing are all acceptable, if not obligatory, actions of ethics consultants in certain circumstances. In (...) this article, we analyze salient characteristics of ethics consultation as a profession as they pertain to resignation and whistleblowing in the context of ethics consultation. We also present tentative criteria for when ethics consultants are justified, if not obligated, to resign or blow the whistle. (shrink)

Clinical ethics consultants occasionally encounter unethical and/or unprofessional behavior as part of their normal job functions. In this article, we explore whether resigning (i.e., threatening resignation or resigning) and whistleblowing are acceptable methods ethics consultants can use to address these situations. Per our analysis, whether one considers ethics consultants private or public employees, loyal to their employer or to patients, families, and the public, resigning and whistleblowing are all acceptable, if not obligatory, actions of ethics consultants in certain circumstances. In (...) this article, we analyze salient characteristics of ethics consultation as a profession as they pertain to resignation and whistleblowing in the context of ethics consultation. We also present tentative criteria for when ethics consultants are justified, if not obligated, to resign or blow the whistle. (shrink)

The subject of this article are the definitional and regulatory aspects of experimental (or innovative) therapies, understood either as new and unproven treatment methods that can be tested – and for this purpose used – also in clinical trials, or as applications of these new and unproven procedures in medical practice. After a short introduction, recalling one of the important sources of the concept of experimental or innovative therapy, which was the Belmont Report, I first discuss the problems related to (...) the definition of experimental therapy (as a new and nonvalidated medical procedure used to improve the patient's health), and then the controversial issues related to its regulation (including in particular the required control to which each such therapeutic intervention should be subject). Finally, I point out the importance of the discussions on experimental therapy reported in this article, conducted in other countries or in international contacts, for the necessary revision or reinterpretation of Polish regulations regarding therapeutic experiments. (shrink)

The text is a commentary to the phenomena in Polish modern art in the final years of the 20th century. It constitutes a “first-hand” account by a participant of the events and the host of the location. The location was the author’s private workshop in the attic of a Łódź tenement house in the very centre of the city, in the circles of artists creating situations, meetings, events and objects, which established Kultura Zrzuty [the Whip-round Culture], a phenomenon which described (...) the activities of artists independent of state institutions and officials patrons in the 1980s. The analysis of the events within the area of independent Okolice Sztuki inspired the author to discuss the form of other artists and his own, who created art in Strych [literally: attic] in an unchanging conflict between physical and social existence and freedom in art. (shrink)

Due to the Internet, the traditional media monopoly has been irretrievably broken. Available technologies have created unavailable earlier conditions for personalization and manipulation of information that is generating to the Internet users. It is sharply noticeable with reference to the computer games, media and the potential of Web 2.0, social networking. The freedom of information concerning the social networking seem to be a temporary phenomenon—effectively dominated by the commercialization.

Refining big data is a new multipurpose way to find, collect, and analyze information obtained from the web and off-line information sources about any research subject. It gives the opportunity to investigate (with an assumed level of statistical significance) the past and current status of information on a subject, and it can even predict the future. The refining of big data makes it possible to quantitatively investigate a wide spectrum of raw information on significant human issues—social, scientific, political, business, and (...) others. Refining creates a space for new, rich sources of information and opens innovative ways for research. The article describes a procedure for refining big data and gives examples of its use. (shrink)

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between temperament and social support and the level of quantitatively rated PTSD symptoms in a sample of HIV+ and HIV/aids men and women. A total of 310 men and women, including 182 HIV+ and 128 HIV/aids, were studied. Social support was assessed with the Berlin Social Support Scales. Temperament was assessed with the Formal Characteristics of Behaviour - Temperament Inventory. Intensity of PTSD symptoms was assessed with the PTSDF. The best (...) predictors of intensity of PTSD symptoms in HIV+ participants were support seeking and sensory sensitivity. Support seeking was positively associated, and sensory sensitivity was negatively associated with intensity of PTSD symptoms. (shrink)

BL With a new preface by the authors This is an important work of original scholarship by two of the most distinguished East European economists now working in the West. The authors, both of whom were involved in the Planning Office of the Polish economy in the 1950s and 1960s, present here the results of their efforts to develop theoretically a system of economic management which could in practice avoid the worst excesses of both market capitalism and central planning. The (...) conclusions derived from this analysis are shown to open up a new dimension to the `socialism versus capitalism' controversy which has dominated much of the world throughout the twentieth century and which is especially significant as the countries of East and Central Europe re-structure their economies. (shrink)

An option available to an agent is stable if it maximizes expected utility on the hypothetical assumption that the agent is going to choose it. As is well known, some decision problems lack a stable solution. Paul Weirich (1986 and 1988) has recently proposed a decision principle which prescribes that the option chosen should be at least weakly stable--or "weakly ratifiable", to use his terminology. According to him, full stability is an excessively strong demand. I shall argue that Weirich's proposal (...) conflicts with the familiar condition of dominance. But I shall also prove that this difficulty can be avoided if we replace weak stability by "moderate" stability--where the latter property is somewhat stronger than the former. It will be seen, however, that this modification does not help against other ailments connected with stability. In particular, to heed the demand of stability (of any kind) is to engage in a form of "wishful acting". Also, the different stability demands all conflict with a close relative of the dominance condition: the condition of "indifference". According to this condition, two actions are equally choiceworthy if they would always lead to the same outcomes--whatever state the world is in. On the other hand, the conditions of dominance and indifference would both be satisfied if we replaced a demand for stability (of some kind) by a related but distinct principle of "retrievability". Retrievability and (full) stability are mutually independent properties of options, but each of them entails moderate stability. The paper ends with a discussion of the relevance of retrievability to theories of choiceworthiness and practical reason. (shrink)

Author: Lorenc Włodzimierz Title: HABERMAS’ PHILOSOPHY AS AN EXPRESSION OF FORGETTING ABOUT ONESELF AND COMMUNITY. CONSEQUENCES OF EXCESSIVE UNIVERSALITY OF PHILOSOPHY (Filozofia Jürgena Habermasa jako wyraz zapominania o sobie i wspólnocie. Konsekwencje nadmiernego uniwersalizowania filozofii) Source: Filo-Sofija year: 2006, vol:.6, number: 2006/1, pages:153-170 Keywords: HABERMAS, COMMUNITY, HUMAN EXISTENCE, UNDERSTANDING Discipline: PHILOSOPHY Language: POLISH Document type: ARTICLE Publication order reference (Primary author’s office address): E-mail:The task of the article is to show the consequences of the understanding of philosophy by Jürgen (...) Habermas, one of the most outstanding philosophers of our time. Some limitations in his philosophy appear in his utterances on the problems of man related to the possibilities offered by the recent achievements in genetics. As a philosopher he seems to be very distant from the reality of human existence. He proposes to cultivate a pure philosophy, striving first of all to ensure a universality for its solutions. This way he narrows the tasks confronting modern philosophy; besides, he wants to answer the questions concerning the humankind in a way valid for all times, making absolute the legal and constitutional frame being now in force. (shrink)

Innovation is fundamental to the pharmaceutical industry and a key to improvements in healthcare. Its effectiveness depends on huge, constant investments in research. This innovative industry directly affects the course of studies in healthcare and medicine. Its efforts translate directly into the length and quality of our lives. For several years now, the progress underway in pharmaceutical industry has produced measurable benefits. Doctors have new pharmaceuticals at their disposal, including many types of antibiotics and anti-viral drugs, vaccines and a wide (...) range of drugs which save lives or make them more comfortable. In the near future, ever more efficient cures for neoplastic, rheumatic, neurological, psychic, metabolic, circulatory or respiratory diseases can be expected. (shrink)

Der Autor des Artikels sucht die Kategorie der literarischen, Moderne in ihrer Abhängigkeit von der gesellschaftlichen Moderne zu analysieren. Nach der Feststellung, daß sich diese umstrittene Kategorie jedem definitorischen Zugriff entzieht, werden verschiedene Deutungsmöglichkeiten dieses Begriffs variiert, die Moderne als das Modische, das jeweils Moderne, das Neue und die Gegenwärtige wird der Moderne im Sinne Friedrich Schlegels, die sich vom Klassischen absetzt, gegenübergestellt. Die Verstehensmöglichkeiten des Begriffs „Moderne” werden am Beispiel der „Freien literarischen Vereinigung” „Durch” diskutiert. Passagen aus den Aufsätzen (...) von Heinrich Hart und Hermann Bahr werden zitiert. Die Entstehung der literarischen Moderne wird als Folge jener Entwicklung auf dem Feld der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik betrachtet, die den Menschen zum Beherrscher und Hersteller der Welt werden ließen. Technik und Ergebnisse der. Naturwissenschaften werden im Naturalismus dargestellt. Dieser zeigte aber den Menschen als Produkt der sozialen und psychischen Bedingungen und entspricht nicht den Forderungen, die Hermann Bahr an die Moderne stellte. Im letzten Teil des Artikels werden zahlreiche Beispiele aus der neusten Literatur angegeben, die die These unterstützen sollen, daß die Hauptmerkmale der Moderne die geschlossenen Weltbilder aufheben und sich in den „offenen Kunstwerken” in der semiotischen Form der freien Produktivität manifestieren. (shrink)

Przemysł farmaceutyczny oferuje coraz to nowe leki, które mają przedłużać życie osób cierpiących na nieuleczalne choroby. Innowacyjne terapie są często w jakimś stopniu skuteczniejsze, ale też (w co najmniej takim samym stopniu) droższe. Upoważnieni decydenci reprezentujący społeczeństwo muszą zatem rozstrzygać, które z nich będą finansowane ze środków publicznych. Jednym z głównych kryteriów, na których podstawie podejmuje się takie decyzje, jest stosunek dodatkowych kosztów, związanych z nową terapią, do czerpanych z niej dodatkowych korzyści. Dodatkowe korzyści, wynikające z nowych leków dla osób (...) śmiertelnie chorych, wydają się jednak często niezbyt wielkie w porównaniu do ich zawrotnych dodatkowych kosztów. Rodzi się zatem wątpliwość, czy refundacja tych leków, do której opinia społeczna skądinąd na ogół się skłania, daje się pogodzić z równie powszechnie akceptowaną zasadą ekonomicznej efektywności. Pewną próbą uzgodnienia tych postaw byłoby przyjęcie, że z pozoru niewielkie korzyści, przysparzane osobom zbliżającym się do śmierci — jak marginalne zwiększenie długości ich życia lub nieznaczne podniesienie jego jakości — w rzeczywistości mają większą wartość, ponieważ życie tych osób trzeba cenić wyżej. W przedstawianym artykule zastanawiam się nad tym, czy ta koncepcja jest do utrzymania — czy wartość życia wzrasta wobec bliskiej śmierci. (shrink)

Through a content analysis of print media and a comparison of media images with trends in women's behavior, the authors explore the rhetoric and reality surrounding the exit of college-educated women from the workforce to become full-time mothers, a phenomenon that has been dubbed “opting out.” The major imagery surrounding opting out emphasizes motherhood and family, elites, and choice. A close reading reveals some inconsistencies that counter the prevailing positive depiction. The authors also find that media coverage of opting out (...) appears in leading publications reaching large and diverse audiences. A comparison of articles' themes against actual trends in women's opting-out behavior shows that there is a disjuncture between the two. The authors discuss the implications of these results for the dissemination of a new feminine mystique. (shrink)

"Traum des Seins, Todt des Seiendes" sketches centuries-old history, transformations, and consequences of the baroque identification of dream and reality. The first part of the essay demonstrates that, despite commonly accepted opinion this identification originates with Descartes. In the second part of the essay, the main theme – the claim that ontological positions are dependent on the grammar of ethic languages – is introduced within the context of Schopenhauer's remarks on life and dreams. The third part of the essay further (...) develops the main theme in the course of an analysis of Descartes' "Meditation II". From a linguistic point of view, there are two following consequences for ego and cogito: either the subject (ego) does not exist, or its existence is temporarily non-continuous; either it does not exist as consciousness; or it is an unconscious being. Obviously, Descartes would accept neither. In the last analysis, ego exists merely grammatically, while (conscious) being differs from being in that it happens but is not. Since conscious being, only occurs in speech directed to somebody, death touches merely being, while being either dreams or remains silent. (shrink)