Zapoczątkowany w XX w. spór o człowieka wyraża się pytaniem o to, czy ma on własna rzeczywistość, czy raczej jest wytworem sił historycznych. W ostatnich dziesięcioleciach zdecydowana przewagę zdobyła ta druga opcja, wspierana zwłaszcza argumentami kulturowych i społecznych konstruktywistów. Niektórzy filozofowie XX stulecia, określając te sytuacje ubóstwieniem historii, wykazywali, iż nie cała rzeczywistość jest kulturowo konstruowanym, historycznie zmiennym sensem, i ze do tej nie podlegającej historycznej konstrukcji sfery należy także rzeczywistość ludzkiego bytu. Do tej grupy dołączył ostatnio m.in. J. Habermas, (...) jeden z wcześniejszych radykalnych zwolenników opcji konstruktywistyczno-historycystycznej, wykazując potrzebę odwołania się w dyskursie o człowieku do jeżyka metafizyczno-religijnego, wyrażając tym samym potrzebę odwołania się do czegoś, co w świecie i w człowieku nie-historyczne i co warunkuje ludzkie istnienie w świecie historycznym. Autor niniejszego artykułu proponuje zwrócenie się do wielkiej tradycji mistycznej, z której, w jego mniemaniu, płynie nauka o potrzebie szacunku dla rzeczywistości, w tym także dla rzeczywistości ludzkiej, której uznanie jest, według niego, podstawowym warunkiem ludzkiej autonomii i trwania w dziejach oraz panowania nad nimi. (shrink)

The immediate inspiration for this text is Tomasz Polak's book "System kościelny czyli przewagi pana K" (The Church System or the Advantages of Mr. K). The author analyses in detail how the "system" works, claiming that it has taken over the church from the very beginning of its existence, absorbing the original vitality of the community. The conclusion he reaches is that the "system" is unreformable. In this article I compare T. Polak's basic thought with what Tomasz Węcławski wrote years (...) ago about the church. I emphasize that this is the same person who changed his name due to life circumstances. I try to analyze how far the thinking, the way of argumentation, and finally the formulated conclusions have changed. The key word for these considerations is "phantasm." In this light, the question of God "with me, in me, and over me" dies in the face of the workings of the "church system." The phantasm prevails over man and his living relationship to God. "The Church System or the Advantages of Mr. K", is a very sad story about an individual, even though told in an expert and difficult language. Religion, faith, which someone makes the determinant and meaning of life, is something that from the beginning is doomed to drift towards an unshakeable phantasm, something that, in fact, will never come true, except in the most intimate and private dimension. (shrink)

Starting with the words that finish, or interrupt Master Wincenty’s Polish Chronicle, I interpret its historiographic content as characteristic of 12th century humanism, expression of love, of wisdom. The infallible condition of ethicalarete may be found to be formulated in the last words of the Chronicle concerning humanity which consists in tolerant indulgence of others’ vices and modesty about one’s virtues.

W artykule przedstawiono twórczość jako integralny składnik procesu poznania. Podział pola percepcyjnego na figurę i tło jest przejawem obecności twórczości w procesie poznania, podobnie jak jej efektem jest konstrukcja spostrzeżenia składającego się z: czucia i informacji (teoria J.Gibsona), czy z informacji przetwarzanych „od góry” i „od dołu” (teorie poznawcze). Konsekwencją ścisłego związku twórczości z poznaniem są odstępstwa twórców (in plus lub in minus ) od tzw. normy psychicznej.

This paper examines how the Polish communist intelligence service attempted to recruit professor Stefan Węgrzyn, who was a prominent specialist on automatic control and computer science in post-war Poland. Eventually, Węgrzyn’s refusal to cooperate with the Polish spy agency, together with his profound relationship with French scientist and servomechanism expert Jean Charles Gille, made them both targets of surveillance orchestrated by the communist security apparatus. In the broader context of human-intelligence studies, this case study involves the problem of moral ambiguity. (...) We experience informative examples of scientists, who often – not only during the Cold War – have had to choose between commitment to the rules of the academic world, along with its openness and transparency on the one hand, and patriotism including an ethos of secrecy for the sake of the homeland’s prosperity, on the other hand. (shrink)

This article regards the field of neuroscience and indicates on the proper or erroneous functioning of the human brain. Intellectual virtues, especially practical wisdom play a significant role in capturing the truth and implementing it in life. The agile formation of the cognitive function of man encompasses both his reason as well as the sensual judgment of utility with all the bodily backup. The brain possesses great plasticity in the production of neuronal connections. Habit as a permanent wont utilizes the (...) reactions being developed to the construction of often inappropriate mechanisms, that in turn are not easy or completely impossible to eliminate. When practical reason is introduced into a false ethos, the brain responds by forming “ruts” of neuronal connections which seem difficult to consider as something appropriate. The reparation of the existing situation and the removal of the wrong habit require relevant virtues so as to unblock the psychological resistance that is deeply rooted within the physiological neuronal substrate. The learning about the virtues of St. Thomas Aquinas is the best warranty not only for theoretical explanations, but also for the practical application of virtues in dealing with the arised situation. Only well-formed virtues give the opportunity to correct the false instinctive cognition and liberate from erroneous actions. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to analyse a particularly influential case of memory continuity in Portugal, that of _Padrão dos Descobrimentos_. Spaces of collective memory (such as public monuments) raise questions about what we celebrate, remember or rescue from oblivion, providing an opportunity to rethink the trauma. As such, care for public spaces is associated with ethical and cultural values. One of the difficulties with certain monuments has to do with the fact that they recall actions that today we (...) see as traumatic acts. Thus, it is important to reflect on a critical use of memory. On August 8, 2021, _Padrão dos Descobrimentos_ was the subject of a graffiti. One of the sides of the monument could read: “Blindly sailing for money, humanity is drowning in a scarlet sea”. A great controversy immediately arose around the meaning of this gesture, as well as the role played by a monument that, after being temporarily built in 1940 for the Portuguese World Exhibition, was, in its current version, inaugurated in 1960, on the occasion of the fifth centenary of the death of Infante D. Henrique. This episode reignited a deeper cleavage around the uses of history and memory, the Portuguese colonial past, and the role of the _Padrão dos Descobrimentos_ as an instrument for the reproduction of nationalism. In this sense, and with the authors proposing a new theoretical frame of reference based on the thought of Arendt and Ricoeur, its critical reading becomes relevant. (shrink)

Celem autora było udowodnienie, że kalwaria Mikołaja Zebrzydowskiego nie była (jak dotychczas twierdzono) wzniesiona na terenie pustostanu. Skopiowana na ziemiach pomiędzy Górą Żar a Górą Lanckorońską za traktatem Christiana Kruik van Adrichema Jerozolima obejmowała przede wszystkim królewszczyzny, głównie wsie Zakrzów, Stronie i Leśnicę. Nałożenie układu Miasta Świętego na tereny wiejskie spowodowało zabranie chłopom najbardziej urodzajnych pól znajdujących się na południowych stokach, a w konsekwencji m.in. głód i migrację. W związku z tym autor rozpatrzył fundację kompleksu jako powód zmian układów ruralistycznych (...) i przemieszczeń ludności chłopskiej. W tym celu zostały przeanalizowane odpisy z nieistniejących ksiąg kancelarii kościelnych, rzucające nowe światło na fundację polskiej Jerozolimy. Zawarte w nich wiadomości, uzupełnione informacjami ze źródeł Archiwum Głównego Akt Dawnych w Warszawie, Archiwum Kurii Metropolitalnej i Archiwum Prowincji Bernardynów w Krakowie oraz z wydanymi drukiem materiałami dały spójny obraz sytuacji tenuty zakrzowskiej w XVII wieku. Już w pierwszej połowie tego stulecia nastąpił niemal całkowity upadek wsi Leśnica i zmiany organizacji wsi Stronie, którą końcem XVII wieku starano się ratować zakładaniem nowego osiedla na wzgórzu Niespiennik. Na pozostałych w rękach chłopów kamienistych polach, położonych na północnych stokach, rósł tylko owies. Poza tym spustoszenie przynosiły wylewy rzeki Stryszówki. Zaprowadzona przez Zebrzydowskiego fundacja odcisnęła się także na wiejskiej parafii Stryszów, której proboszcz zaczął od początku XVII stulecia notować spadek liczby przychodzących do stryszowskiego kościoła parafian i wydawanego mu z obu wsi mesznego. (shrink)

This book elaborates a new framework for considering and understanding the relationship between law and memory. How can law influence collective memory? What are the mechanisms law employs to influence social perceptions of the past? And how successful is law in its attempts to rewrite narratives about the past? As the field of memory studies has grown, this book takes a step back from established transitional justice narratives, returning to the core sociological, philosophical and legal theoretical issues that underpin this (...) field. The book then goes on to propose a new approach to the relationship between law and collective memory based on a conception of 'legal institutions of memory'. It then elaborates the functioning of such institutions through a range of examples - taken from Japan, Iraq, Brazil, Portugal, Rwanda and Poland - that move from the work of international tribunals and truth commissions to more explicit memory legislation. The book concludes with a general assessment of the contemporary intersections of law and memory, and their legal institutionalisation. This book will be of interest to scholars with relevant interests in the sociology of law, legal theory and international law, as well as in sociology and politics. (shrink)

The book presents a collection of articles authored by several members of the Warsaw School of Political Theory, affiliated with the University of Warsaw. The team of scholars, first founded in the 1970s by professor Artur Bodnar, has been conducting research under the leadership of professor Miroslaw Karwat.

Obóz Kultury 2.0 Mirosław Filiciak, Alek Tarkowski, Agata Jałosińska, Andrzej Klimczuk, Maciej Rynarzewski, Jacek Seweryn, Stunża M., D. Grzegorz, Marcin Wilkowski & Anna Orlik .

The human world is in a state in statu nascendi. Man is emocionaly suspended between history, past, memory and the future. His activity is always the result of the four pillars supporting his existence. He draws his energy from the social imaginarium of which he is a part. The foundations dynamic social space are religion and politics as well as the past and memory.

In the present epoch of tensions between civilizations, challenges being brought by globalization processes and the necessity of the coexistence of various cultures and traditions, the subject of inter-religious dialogue seems to be particularly significant. Can religions remain isolated islands? Are their claims of being the only source of theological truth justified? Or should it rather be understood as an effect of interaction between different points of view and common effort of looking for the answers to the questions about God (...) and his relations to the world? What is the role of dialogue? Is it only a politically correct element or maybe something more essential - the basis of reasonable existence and development of religion? Should the direction traced by 20th century's partisans of ecumenical movements be widened in order to embrace also non Christian religions? What is the orthodoxy and where are its boundaries? The process philosophy creates a convenient and favorable atmosphere for this kind of considerations. The articles of this selection represent different points of view of the discussed topic. The book is addressed to all who deal with the inter-religious dialogue: both clergy and laymen as well as scholars and students interested in the subject. (shrink)