Leszek Kołakowski on rationalism. Critical analysis

Leszek Kołakowski o racjonalizmie. Analiza krytyczna

Author(s): Ryszard Kleszcz / Language(s): Polish / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Leszek Kołakowski;anthropocentrism;anti-absolutism;criticism of positivism;Christianity;rationalism;justification of rationalism

Leszek Kołakowski (1927-2009) was a thinker whose reflection was at the beginning associated with Marxism, anthropocentrism, anti - absolutism and a radically secular attitude. At the same time, from the very beginning Kołakowski, as a philosopher, was highly critical of the positivist version of rationalism. The paper presents and analyses the philosopher’s views on rationalism. This requires appropriate methodological analyses and the distinction between different types of rationalism. The presented analysis shows that the evolution of Kołakowski's views means resignation from radical anthropocentrism and the slogans of fighting secularism. A thinker, retaining some elements of anti – absolutism and the related skepticism, positively valorises the content related to European culture and Christianity.

Free will and week weel in Donald Davidson

Wolność i słabość woli u Donalda Davidsona

Author(s): Janusz Maciaszek / Language(s): Polish / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: action;anomaly;freedom;intention;practical syllogism;propositional attitude;reason to act;theory of truth;weak will

In the paper I present Donald Davidson’s solution of the problem of freedom against the background of his complex philosophical system. In spite of the fact that freedom understood as anomality was justified by Davidson by means of his philosophy of language I argue that it can be fully appreciated against the background of his philosophy of action. I argue also that the phenomenon of will explained by Davidson in terms of prima facie judgements and sans-phrase judgement is a necessary condition of freedom conceived as anomality. In the end I indicate that in spite of superficial analogies suggested by Davidson his solution of the problem of freedom is incomparable with the Kantian one.

Ethics and passion in research work

Etyka i pasja w pracy naukowca

Author(s): Joanna Madalińska-Michalak / Language(s): Polish / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: scientific ethics;scientific work;emotional involvement;passion;sense of meaningful work

The paper focuses on the issues of ethics and passion in the work of a scientist. The growing interest in ethical issues within science is linked to the changes we are currently experiencing and the increasing sensitivity to the need to develop and adhere to ethical standards of research. At the heart of the highest standards in scientific work is the accepted way of working and living of scientists involved in the creation of scientific knowledge. The presented analyses direct our attention towards questions about the possible relationship between science and the scientist's valuable life, about the development of science in the context of changes and challenges currently occurring in science, and finally about the ethos of science and the scientist, for whom passion is one of the sources of freedom and power to construct one's own identity

Concepts by Koneczny and Giertych and their contribution to the durability of national mythology

Koneczny i Giertych, czyli przyczynek do trwałości mitologii narodowej

Author(s): Marek Nikodem Jakubowski / Language(s): Polish / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: historiosophy;Feliks Koneczny;theory of civilizations;catastrophism;latin civilization;Maciej Giertych

This paper does not aim to pesent an outline of Feliks Koneczny’s (undoubtly interesting) theory of civilizations but rather tries to show the dangers of an attempt to update it while ignoring the historical context In which it arose. This attempt to popularize Koneczny’s thought throughout the world must have proved counterproductive.

Altrusim and morals

Altruismus und Moral

Author(s): Winfried Franzen / Language(s): German / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: morals;altruism;nature and culture

Concerning the relation between altruism and morals there are not only disputes about how to conceptualize altruism, but even arguments that something like genuine altruism does not exist at all. Questions and arguments of this type will be analyzed. Furthermore it is argued that all moral reasoning has to be based on the prerequite of a certain – at least partly natural – protoaltruism. At the same time, however, it has to be taken into accont that there are more things involved in morals than mere altruism. Included are some aspects from evolutionary psychology and anthropology.

Philosophy – ethnology – translation. On dealing with cultural differences

Philosophie ‒ Ethnologie ‒ Translation. Über den Umgang mit kultureller Differenz

Author(s): Matthias Kaufmann / Language(s): German / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Social anthropology;philosophy;Claude Lévi-Strauss;Ludwig Wittgenstein;translation as the migration of objectified ideas

There has been a long-standing connection between social anthropology and philosophy, not only because Claude Lévi-Strauss named Rousseau as the “father” of his discipline. This connection had essentially critical components insofar as the epistemological and moral premises of social anthropology were called into doubt by philosophers raising questions concerning the understanding of other cultures and their denunciation as “primitive”. On the other hand, this ongoing debate also revealed the Eurocentrism of large parts of “Western” philosophical tradition. Wittgenstein and thinkers inspired by him played an important role in revealing hidden premises and presuppositions in dealing with non-European traditions in authors such as James Frazer, but also in anthropological “classics” such as Evans-Pritchard. “Corrections” made in the anthropological discussion, which led to conceptions such as “multiple ontologies”, could have benefited from partly parallel philosophical reflections - and vice versa. Through the concept of translation, understood as the migration of objectified ideas, common elements and differences between cultures can be grasped on the basis of their integration into the various webs of belief and, among other things, the possibilities and limits of science can be evaluated in comparison to other methods of dealing with the world.

Diversity mandatory. Medicine in a pluralistic society

Diversität verpflichtet. Medizin in einer pluralistischen Gesellschaft

Author(s): Florian Steger,Marcin Orzechowski / Language(s): German / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: social and cultural diversity;medicine;ethics;religious motivated circumcision;transsexuality

The increasing social and cultural diversity of modern society leads to important ethical challenges. A special area of tension arises when the concepts of individual freedom of choice and pluralistic social order have to be reconciled with the obligations of medicine in the sense of responsible and caring action. Based on the examples of religious motivated circumcision and transsexuality, the authors analyze the confrontations between the needs of the patients and the ethical principles of modern medicine. In this, apparent becomes the special role that doctors play in weighing the values of a pluralistic social order on the one hand and the principles of self- determination, non-harm, benevolence and social justice on the other hand. Doctors and healthcare professionals should have the appropriate skills to be able to perceive existing religious or gender-specific differences and individual circumstances and to integrate these into their decisions and actions.

Kafkaesque guilt – existential guilt and the law of hospitality on the basis of Kafka’s novel das schloss

Kafkaeske Schuld – Existentielle Schuld und Gastrecht im Ausgang von Kafkas Roman „Das Schloss"

Author(s): Stephan Grätzel / Language(s): German / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Paul Ricoeur;Franz Kafka;existential guilt

Based on Paul Ricoeur’s ideas, the paper presents the “Kafkaesque guilt” as a modern, unconscious and diffused form of existential guilt, in which we owe our existence to others and therefore we are guilty of it. Existential guilt as mutual indebtedness manifests itself fundamentally in the right to hospitality. One can deal with it only in a narrative. The guilt for breaking the law of hospitality becomes clear in Kafka’s novel Das Schloss.

Are we Sisyphi? Reflections on the meaning of life

Sind Wir Sisyphi? Überlegungen zum Sinn des Lebens

Author(s): Aldona Pobojewska / Language(s): German / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: The meaning of life;absolute; immortality;existence;pleasure;the myth of Sisyphus

We are now more often than ever contemplating existential problems. In this text I present some reflections related to the issue in the title. I do it in two steps. First, I consider from which perspective one can reasonably and effectively adjudicate about the meaning of an individual's life. Next, I illustrate this problem by presenting several concepts that refer to the mythological fate of Sisyphus. I precede the text with an introduction and close with an ending.

Adversus calumniatores medii aevi. How the Middle Ages Paved Way for Modern Age

Adversus calumniatores medii aevi. How the Middle Ages Paved Way for Modern Age

Author(s): Marek Gensler / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: medieval history;medieval philosophy;medieval science;medieval universities

The popular opinion sees Middle Ages as a “bad” period holding that it was a time of regress in civilisation and that it was characterized by exaggerated interest in religious or theological issues leading to a neglect of all other aspects of human existence. The two claims are refuted with arguments taken from history of civilisation and science, as well as from history of political doctrines and history of universities.

God and Religion of the Enlightened Man According to Kant

God and Religion of the Enlightened Man According to Kant

Author(s): Ryszard Panasiuk / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Enlightenment;God;Kant;metaphysics;religion

Having revealed an illusion of man’s cognitive efforts, Kant sealed the progress of enlightenment inscribed into a historical process, with a deep conviction that an ancient Greek prescription to „know thyself” was finally fulfilled. A man became aware of being equipped with a mind, and accordingly, with freedom as well as the ability to act morally, still of remaining a finite natural being with cognitive skills limited. This critical self-knowledge of an enlightened man relieved him of his nonage to open his eyes for a new vision of both the world and a man himself regarded as a self-conscious subject and active creator of his fate. The character and ontological status of religious beliefs the enlightened man confesses are in fact defined by the famous Kantian formula: as if (als ob.) Driven by moral reasons, they are distinguished with a rationality for which a fundamental value is the Highest Good, purely rationalistic construction, a kind of God thought to be an essential being and a ration for existence of the phenomenal world.

The Antinomies of Practical Reason

The Antinomies of Practical Reason

Author(s): Paul Guyer / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Kant;antinomy;practical reason;determinism;freedom;fact of reason;highest good;apperception;transcendental idealism

The official antinomy in the Transcendental Dialectic of the Critique of Practical Reason concerns the highest good. But the entire Transcendental Analytic of the first half of the Critique also concerns an antinomy, namely the antinomy between freedom and determinism that was the topic of the third antinomy of the Critique of Pure Reason. These facts raise two questions: what does the treatment of freedom and determinism in the second Critique add to that of the first? And how does transcendental idealism, which is supposed to be the key to the resolution of all antinomies for Kant, play into his solution to the question of the highest good? I argue that we need to look to Kant’s previous works, especially Section III of the Groundwork, to answer the first question, and to his subsequent works, especially the Critique of the Power of Judgment, to answer the second: the second Critique clarifies that we do have a certain kind of insight through pure reason into our noumenal will, and clarifies that the postulate of pure practical reason of the existence of God as the ground of the possibility of the highest good has to be understood through transcendental idealism.

A Civic Ethics in Kant?

A Civic Ethics in Kant?

Author(s): Alessandro Pinzani / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Doctrine of method;schematism;republicanism;civic virtues

The paper analyzes the “Doctrine of the method” of the Critique of Practical Reason, and uses the findings to investigate the possibility of juridical morality and political virtues in Kant. With respect to the first task, we shall discuss the pages that precede the “Doctrine of the method” and introduce the notion of a moral schematism analogous to the transcendental one in the Critique of Pure Reason. To discuss the possibility of civic ethics in Kant, we shall consider differences and similarities between his doctrine of law and his ethics.

The Application of Metaphysical Principles to the Empirical World. A Brief Reconstruction of the Core of Kant’s Doctrine of Right

The Application of Metaphysical Principles to the Empirical World. A Brief Reconstruction of the Core of Kant’s Doctrine of Right

Author(s): Ewa Wyrębska-Ðermanović / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Kant’s political philosophy;Kant’s legal philosophy;innate right;private right;public right

The rediscovery of Kant’s Doctrine of Right resulted in many attempts to apply Kant’s position to current affairs. This research often faces the problem of defining clear borders of what in Kant’s texts needs to be considered as rational core of his theory and what is merely a theoretically less significant consequence of particular political situation of 18th century. My claim is that in order to be able to adequately apply Kant’s ideas and concepts to the 21st century problems, the process of application of his rational principles to the world of experience must be reconstructed. This will not only bring about the core structure of right but may also determine which elements of Kant’s legal theory are contingent to changing empirical data. I recognise two levels of Kant’s application of the rational principles to human condition, which consecutively determine the rational core of right and secondary structural divisions that emerge from contingent data about political history of mankind. The aim of the article is to investigate the fundamental steps of Kant’s application on the first level, in order to reconstruct the rational core of his legal theory. In the first step I analyse the universal principle of right in order to clarify Kant’s concept of a right. Further, I investigate the axiom of external freedom, which, in conjunction with human condition generates the necessity of using external objects of choice and therefore grounds the emergence of acquired rights. Nevertheless, these rights, as particular legal titles that limit the freedom of others, cannot be reconciled with universal freedom in the state of nature. Therefore, from the establishment of innate and acquired right, there arises the necessity of public right and entering the civil condition.

Some Problematic Philosophical Implications of the Thomas Theorem

Some Problematic Philosophical Implications of the Thomas Theorem

Author(s): Dariusz Aleksandrowicz / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: Thomas theorem;situation;environment;behavior;interactions

Despite of its wide recognition in the social sciences, the Thomas theorem lacks clarity and finds its expression in diverging statements. A sound core of the theorem is blurred by notions these statements consist of. They include untenable ontology and episte¬mology along with a flawed claim concerning the peculiarity of the human world.

The Idea of a Global History of Philosophy

The Idea of a Global History of Philosophy

Author(s): Gunnar Skirbekk / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: philosophy;history of philosophy;a global history of philosophy;situated and argumentative;a history of global modernizati

In this paper I assume, by definition, that philosophers are arguing, first and foremost concerning their own validity claims, but now and then also concerning claims or presuppositions presented by other thinkers, and also concerning validity claims raised by scientists and scholars in different fields, or concerning political ideologies or religious claims, or concerning major events and challenges in societies. Hence, a history of philosophy should be situated and argumentative: both socio-historically situated, and argumentative, taking various validity claims seriously. Hence, we could learn something from these thinkers, and not merely about them. Moreover, for a history of philosophy global, in our time, it should be brought up to our present situation, epistemically and otherwise. If so, the idea of a global history of philosophy, conceived in this way, tends to become a history of global modernization – certainly, each time with its short-comings and special selections.

Challenging Habermas’ Practical Discourse to Justify the Rights of Animals

Challenging Habermas’ Practical Discourse to Justify the Rights of Animals

Author(s): Ewa Nowak,Kinga Ciereszko,Alicja Dłużewicz,Karolina Napiwodzka / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: animal rights;justifying the animal rights;challenging discourse ethics;practical discourse revised;animals and humans;J. Habermas

Using Portfolio Brand Strategy - Case Study of Łódzki Dom Kultury

Using Portfolio Brand Strategy - Case Study of Łódzki Dom Kultury

Author(s): Kamila Szymańska / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: brand management;brand portfolio;cultural institution

The purpose of this paper is to indicate the usefulness of a brand portfolio management strategy for organizations operating locally in the cultural services market. Brand portfolio strategy is standardly considered useful for international manufacturing companies, which have numerous product lines in their assortment. However, the specificity of the institution such as community center also allows for running in one place many services with separate brands, each of which has its own image and its own group of buyers. The study indicates not only the way of implementing this brand management strategy in the Łódzki Dom Kultury, but also the potential strengths and weaknesses of such a strategic solution in the field of contemporary marketing.

Use of Digital Marketing Tools in Companies from the Financial Sector in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic

Use of Digital Marketing Tools in Companies from the Financial Sector in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic

Author(s): Jacek Dąbrowski / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: digital communication tools;internet;marketing communication;banking sector

The purpose of the paper is to present the possibilities of using modern technologies in the promotional activities of banks in Poland. This issue has gained particular importance during the development of the COVID-19 pandemic. Already earlier, we could observe an increased openness of consumers to marketing communication involving the use of modern technologies and the Internet, but the pandemic caused the need to reduce direct contact with customers, and thus - to intensify such activities in the Internet sphere. The paper cites examples of digital marketing communication tools that are used by banks operating in Poland.

CSR as an Element of a Marketing Strategy – The Example of IKEA

CSR as an Element of a Marketing Strategy – The Example of IKEA

Author(s): Wioletta Fabicka / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

Keywords: corporate social responsibility (CSR);social marketing;cause related marketing;image;marketing communication

The purpose of this paper is to explain the essence of the CSR concept and the validity of its practical implementation by large companies, the essence of corporate social responsibility in building the company's image and in the procurement process, and to present practical solutions for applying CSR in the marketing space. IKEA not only cares about its image through various CSR activities, but also uses CRM strategies in the context of marketing. These strategies are used not only to acquire new customers but also to build lasting business relationships based on mutual trust and shared values.