Keywords: Rok ognistego smoka; Ewa Sonnenberg; the newest Polish poetry; Bashō
Rok ognistego smoka [The Year of the Fire Dragon] by Ewa Sonnenberg is a tome original not only in comparison with her own poetry, but against the background of the newest Polish poetry as a whole. It has originated from the poetess’s inspiration by the Far East, particularly by Japan and the philosophy of Zen Buddhism, and focuses on the figure of Matsuo Bashō, a 17th-century Japanese poet, master of the poetic form of haiku. The tome has been built as a collection of Sonnenberg’s letters to Bashō and Bashō’s letters to Sonnenberg. It is a dialogue between the values of the European culture and the Far Eastern sensitivity and philosophy. The poetess puts herself in the position of a disciple learning from the master. She learns, above all, the attitude of sacrifice, as understood in many ways. In her tome, Sonnenberg often references Far Eastern, particularly Japanese, metaphors and symbolism, creating a colourful, almost fabulous poetic landscape, yet it is only a background for important considerations of existential and philosophic nature.
More...Keywords: Quality of life; subjectivity; intersubjectivity; qualitative methods
The concept of the quality of life (QoL) concerns evaluative judgment of people’s life. In the current literature this issue is treated with epistemological, mainly quantitative approach using subjective interpretation of the QoL assessment. In this article, it is argued that the innovative approach based on phenomenological and qualitative methodology is better suited to deal with. The application of the concept of intersubjectivity was presented as a mean to assess the complexity of the QoL.
More...Keywords: Theological method; Modernity; Postmodernity; Questioning; Jan Patočka
There are questions that are so important that it is a pity to spoil them with answers. No doubt, the question of God is one of them. Contrary to many presuppositions, theology is not capable of providing us with the final answers in this respect. On the contrary, theology professed as fides quaerens intellectum is an ongoing struggle with questions. Modernity interrupted this paradigm of theological questioning. Theology was withdrawn from the realm of understanding and shifted to the realm of explanation. Modernity brought the univocalization of God. Nonetheless, the attempts to tackle the question of God lead to hegemonic narratives about God. Such narratives are rightly criticized in a postmodern context for their totalizing pretensions. The problem of postmodern criticism is its one-sided emphasis on the apophatic dimension of theological discourse. I propose that theology can go a step further beyond postmodernity. In order to do so, I deal with the Czech philosopher Jan Patočka, who provides an opportunity to rethink God from the perspective of questioning in a new way. Patočka’s insistence on problematicity is the main reading key of his work. In this line of though, I interpret Patočka’s student Tomáš Halík and his thesis about the necessity to take the metaphor of an unknown God into account. I argue that theology must avoid the temptation to remove God from the question and make a well-known God of him. The time has come for theologians to turn their answers back into questions and dwell with them.
More...Lecture. Buddhism as an Interactive Message
More...Keywords: creativity; creative thinking; motivation
This article raises the following questions: whether social workers need creativity; whether the social workers, who organise socio-cultural activities, have the necessary competences and if they are able to use them; if the necessity of creativity and artistic abilities in social work is properly realized and whether there are good conditions for the development of the later? The objectives of the article is to analyse the view of social workers on creativity in social work, to reveal and compare different ways of creative expression of social workers; to explore what influence creativity has on the personality and quality of the work of the social workers. A partially structured interview method was applied and 10 social workers were interviewed. The empirical study has shown that creative thinking is characteristic of social workers. This kind of thinking is distinguished by the free creation of new ideas, flexibility of theur views, sensitivity to the problems, endurance and patience while reaching for the changes. Most social workers are driven by inner motivation. They can integrate different forms of creativity into their activity. However, there are certain factors which inhibit creativity and which are seen as unsatisfactory working conditions, i.e. the indifference of the managers, lack of support from their colleagues, and the absence of positive feedback.
More...Keywords: a mature personality; self-education; group therapy
Concepts like mature personality, self-education and group therapy are represented in this article, with reference to scientific literature. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the benefit of group therapy in the self-educational process of a personality. Scientists offer many definitions of self-education. Self-education (or self- help) is one of the most effective elements of self-training in individual growth. It consists not only of solving a person’s actual problems but it lays the foundation for forming the stable values and skills for higher maturity and a more responsible attitude toward continual self-training. An analysis of the scientific literature detects a significant advantage of the group therapy in the self-educational process of personality. The atmosphere of group therapy creates an environment to shape new models of behavior which can be adjusted in real life outside the group. The surveys show that group therapy and self-education are identical, which expands the importance to help individuals correct their behavior, thinking and sensibility in order to become a more mature person. Group therapy sets an opening for a more facilitated process of self-education of a person in such fields as self-knowledge, self-expression, forming a value-system, emotional intelligence, socialization, learning from the experience of others.
More...Keywords: Oedipus complex; controversies; XXI century psychoanalysis
After defining the original Freud’s concept the author briefly sketches important later metapsychological supplements: early oedipal problematics according to Melanie Klein, concept of primary femininity as a core of feminine development, and counter oedipal situation that additionally makes the phenomenon more complex. Actual controversies range from the complete marginalization of Oedipus complex, to suggestions of more or less profound modifications of the concept. This is the reason why the author presents the concept of Oedipus complex of several eminent authors from the end of the XX to the beginning of the XXI century: Hans Loewald as one of the most important reformers of psychoanalytic thought in the end of XX century, Andre Green as widely recognized expert in the French psychoanalysis in the end of XX and in the beginning of the XXI century, Thomas Ogden as the eminent contemporary object relations theorist, and Joseph Lichtenberg whose formulations about the Oedipus complex are important integral part of the actual attachment theory. In concluding this paper the author summarises the theoretical attidudes of classical and attachment theory that are related to Edipus complex suggesting that attachment theory by marginalizing the influences of dynamic unconscious and unconscious fantasy distances psychoanalysis from its metapsychological essence.
More...Keywords: public sphere; private sphere; interactions; values; attitudes; norms; communication patterns.
The human living space consists of numerous manifestations in either the private or the public sphere. The relationships and the interactions between people are based not only on values and attitudes, and on the adopted norms, but also on the multiple roles they play. These relationships and the interactions are maintained due to some well defined and interpreted behavioural and communication patterns, as the French sociologist Raymond Boudon claimed. Considered to be a specific obligation to their role, the norms constitute the rules that govern the individual and collective behaviours. Furthermore, Jean-Claude Kaufmann completes this picture, that is, the one in the social sphere: the norms of relationships that are continuously negotiated. Generally, we are tempted to conceptualize the public sphere as being fragmented, comprising a number of spaces and/ or formations that sometimes connect themselves, but other times, on the contrary, they close themselves and/ or find themselves in conflict or debatable relations.
More...Keywords: imagination; cognitive tools; embodied learning; oral language; literacy
Imagination is rarely acknowledged as one of the main workhorses of learning. Unfortunately, disregarding the imagination has some clearly negative pedagogical impacts: Learning is more ineffective than it should be and much schooling is more tedious than it need be. In this paper we outline a somewhat new way of thinking about the process of students' language education. We focus on the kinds of "cognitive tools" or learning "toolkits" human beings develop as they grow up, which connect emotion and imagination with knowledge in the learning process. We show how employing these tools --indeed how they central employment in all aspects pf planning - can make learning other languages engaging and meaningful.
More...Keywords: Foreigner; other; memory; Romanian identity; selves
The present article takes into consideration the identity of the foreigner who sets contact with a different culture and society, the changes that may occur at the level of identity and the way the foreign individual defines or re-defines his selves under the impact of the Other. The article is based on two accounts of the foreigner ( the Romanian foreigner, in particular), one pertaining to Paul Bailey, the novel Kitty and Virgil, and the second to Alan Brownjohn, the novel The Long Shadows. The foreign individual undertakes a journey with multiple meanings: to a new cultural space and a journey of discovery oriented towards himself. Among the issues implied by this journey, we will emphasize the relationship between the foreigner and his culture (the relationship with the past-the mechanism of memory) and the one set between the foreigner and the new cultural space (the relationship with the others, representatives of this space.)
More...Keywords: philosophical aesthetics; atmosphere aesthetics; philosophical anthropology; embodiment; sensuality
I intend to show how traditional aesthetics isolates sensuality and how its efforts are compensated by philosophical anthropology. I assume that philosophical aesthetics has an allergic reaction to sensuality. This means that its “immune system” opposes something not quite harmful. It could be said (metaphorically, of course) that it is wrongly oriented. I shall attempt to show that the allergy has its deeper causes in the inadequacy of the patient’s circumstances. They have to be slightly changed, and the allergen should be applied in the form of a vaccine. Both such actions, amounting to a research reorientation, have been offered by philosophical anthropology – to some extent in its classical period (i.a. by Arnold Gehlen, Helmuth Plessner), and most fruitfully in contemporary times (mainly by Gernot Böhme). Allergy may be also an excessive reaction to some external stimulus. With regard to aesthetics the situation is very similar. In its original meaning aesthetics – through aesthetic experience – is “a return to the body”, to sensuality. But at the same time there is a constant fear that sensuality would be equated with mere physical pleasure. Anthropological perspective does not depart form aesthetic discourse, but rather – as I believe – efficiently argues against some of its methods.
More...Keywords: dietary habits; health condition; significant changes;
One of the factors that enhance quality of life is nutritional behaviour. Food is an im-portant factor that influences physical, but also psychological human development. In this respect, researchers find necessary an interdisciplinary approach, which to emphasize the importance of people's dietary habits. The purpose of this systematic review is to provide a summary of the nutrition education interventions for participants aged between 15 and 65. Electronic databases such as CINAHL (EBSCOhost), ProQuest and Science Direct were used and explored for articles that were published between 2010 and 2016. There were included 23 studies, summing up a number of 10.318 participants. Interventions represent group and/or personalized approaches; a common one is that of nutrition education, de-livered through trainings; other studies have tailored approaches, such as motivational interview, individual cognitions, self-regulation processes, coaching sessions, or motiva-tional text messages. The interventions are based on theoretical models such as Health Belief Model, Social Cognitive Theory, Self-Determination Theory, Cognitive- Behavioural Theory, Self-Regulation Theory, Planned Behaviour Theory, Trans- theoretical Model, Pre-caution-Adoption Model. The outcome measures varied among the studies, being primarily based upon self-report (dietary consumption, health condition, nutrition knowledge, phys-ical activity and quality of life), and there were also objective measures, based on anthro-pometric measures or various health biomarkers. Generally speaking, the participants had significant changes as a result of the interventions.
More...Keywords: English subtitles; bilingual subtitles; acceptance theory; efficient English teaching; vocabulary acquisition;
With the advancement of global integration, cultural exchanges have deepened and English learning has become more extensive and diverse. The development of multimedia technology has made more and more English classes pay attention to the role of film and television teaching materials. In order to apply it better in classroom teaching, more and more scholars focus on the impact of different subtitles on English teaching. Based on the acceptance theory, we constructed an experimental method to learn the subject of English-student as the research object. We randomly selected 3 classes from the second-grade students in Shaanxi University of Science & Technology to conduct experiments to study the impact of different subtitles on students' English learning. Finally, based on the connotation of the acceptance theory, we conducted a questionnaire survey on the participating students. We will further analyze the results to confirm the positive effect of bilingual subtitles on English learning. The results prove that watching film and television works is conducive to cultivating the enthusiasm of college students. At the same time, the selection of subtitles can have a positive effect on English vocabulary acquisition. By watching subtitle videos, students are able to acquire a certain level of vocabulary, which is helpful for expanding the vocabulary of students. From the depth of vocabulary knowledge, watching bilingual subtitles in English drama is more conducive to vocabulary incidental acquisition than watching English subtitles in English.
More...Keywords: voluntary childlessness; agency; heteronomy; deliberation; netnography;
The current study inquires whether women’s narratives and prescriptive comments related to the burden of being a mother echo socialization practices typical for these corporate cultures that implicitly promote a counter-maternalistic discourse by demanding on-call availability and total commitment from employees. The study relies on grounded theory, meaning that it starts from examples of arguments and dwells on empirical evidence to connect it to the conceptual framework and larger-scale theoretical input. It strives to determine women’s vocabularies of motives on rejecting motherhood and to showcase how rational and affective language gravitates around the childfree rhetoric performativity. The netnographic analysis concerns 188 anti-motherhood comments posted on seven Romanian media (six blogs and one media article) with predominantly feminine readership. Informants’ arguments are immersed in a corporate culture that is time voracious and hostile to motherhood. Argumentative streams and deliberative threads belong to the following thematic categories: feminism, heteronomy, neoliberal free choice and rational choice, uncontrollable and unpredictable outcomes, ecological concerns and incompatibility with lifestyle, overwhelming responsibility, time voracity and maternal role spill-over, lack of maternal skills, in-built career penalty, downshifting options and hedonistic outlook. These thematic categories are customized according to contributors’ status (mother or non-mother) and biographical background. Due to work-family conflict, women face the dilemma of professional upskilling in the absence of children or professional deskilling subsequent to motherhood. Conclusions show the eclectic and multi-layered nature of discourse that combines (self) narratives with prescriptions, with a strong connotative dimension illustrated by a vivid vocabulary of emotional social imagery.
More...Keywords: self-determination theory; psychological distress; teachers for special education programs; teachers for general education programs;
Within the frame of the Self Determination Theory (SDT, Deci & Ryan, 2000), the primary purpose of this study was to identify if resources such as the experience of teaching and the extent to which basic psychological needs are satisfied at the workplace are predictors for teachers' psychological distress, among both general and special educators. A secondary purpose was to determine if there are differences regarding psychological resources between these categories of professionals. We performed two separate regression analysis for both categories of teachers followed by a comparison regarding the psychological needs' satisfaction. The fulfillment of basic psychological needs predicts negatively teachers ‘psychological distress. On the other hand, teachers for special education programs were found to be more dissatisfied regarding the fulfillment of the need for competence by comparison with teachers for general education. Additional analyses revealed that the years of experience were found to be associated with an increased need for competence but only for special education teachers. The implications of these findings for intervention and prevention programs are discussed further.
More...Keywords: aesthetics;everyday aesthetics;public space;Joanna Rajkowska
The main claim of the article is that everyday aesthetics conceived as a philosophical analysis of everyday objects and situations offers a theoretical perspective that may be applied to the aesthetics of public space. Analysed in aesthetic terms, the public space may be thought to be a space that offers an aesthetic experience to the widest possible public. I contend that the aesthetic quality of public space should be a quality that favours positive experiences of the everyday, banal practices taking place in it. Accordingly, designing public space should consist in making it “everyday experience-friendly.” My argument will be illustrated by the example of a site-specific installation, the "Oxygenator", created in Warsaw by Joanna Rajkowska, whose intention was to offer people an ordinary place where they could meet in a “healthy atmosphere.”
More...Keywords: Emotional intelligence; Mental ability; Sports Training;
This study examines the mental abilities of the student athletes and examining their emotional intelligence levels. The sample comprised 213 student athletes studying in the Bartın University. The data was collected with the Ottowa Mental Skills Assessment Tool (OMSAT-3’), Schuette emotional intelligence scale and personal data form. In conclusion, a significant difference was found in favor of the males in the stress reactions variable according to the gender (p<0.05). It was also showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the goal setting, commitment, imagery, mental practice, and self-confidence sub-dimensions of mental skills assessment tool for monthly income level of the participants (p<0.05) but no statistical significance was found according to the gender between the total scores and sub-dimensions of emotional intelligence (p>0.05). Additionally, a significant high correlation was reached between the monthly income level with the sub-dimensions of emotional intelligence and total scores, and between the mental skills assessment sub-dimension of the emotional intelligence and total scores (p<0.05). Lastly, when the mental skills assessment tool increase, the emotional intelligence score averages of the student athletes also increase.
More...Keywords: Motorola; corporate image; multiculturalism; humanistic approach; management
A growing competition on the global market makes its actors, especially multicultural corporations, become more and more innovative in creating their images by means of cultural devices. Consequently, there can be also observed their growing mindfulness and appreciation of soft components in the process, which, on the one hand corresponds to conspicuous changes in their external and internal environment and, on the other, to new demands put on them due to a shift in value orientation in post-modern societies with the stress on soft skills and people-oriented values. A new cultural paradigm with transculturalism as its sound foundations accounts for a different understanding of corporate culture. Besides, an inclusion in it of cultureoriented issues is somehow forced upon corporations by a new type of multicultural consciousness as well as the concept of modern citizenry which today also applies to business subjects. Usually realized in the form of Corporate Business Responsibility and Public Diplomacy, which have started functioning as benchmarking of a company social acceptance, they are translated into economic and market success building a company competitiveness. It should be stressed that the impact of society in general and of the corporation workers, in particular, on corporate policy and a public company Anna Lubecka 3image have significantly changed in the last decade. Such instruments of social control as various indices - e.g. Gay and Lesbian Index standing for the company recruitment policy - which serve to measure the corporation soft skills, policy of multiculturalism, quality of life and citizenry as well as its focus on the strategies creating the intangibles cannot be ignored any longer even. Modern companies, as shown by their management practice, emphasise their people-friendly policy applied to its stakeholders, its workers, business partners, potential customers etc. and all other actors from their environment. A humanistic approach tends to be seen by a constantly growing number of companies as their most important asset. However, despite their declarations found in the formulations of their missions or even their market activities the question remains still open for how many of them humanistic values are authentic and for how many it is just a new tool of competitiveness whose underlying values are treated instrumentally as the company neither fully identifies with them nor wants to spend money on their practical application. The aim of the present article is to examine how the changes in a corporation sociocultural context and social expectations about its social image been implemented in management practices by Motorola. The choice of Motorola is not chancy as it is an unquestionably successful multicultural corporation, a leader in the market and also a leader among the corporations which have undertaken a lot of actions to humanize their image and adjust their corporate culture to the soft values dominating in postmodernism. Humanizing
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