Antoni Kępiński, one of the most famous Polish psychiatrists, points to man as an ethical being. The philosopher is aware that particular moral norms have their different origins. According to his concept, their primary source is natural law. From it stem basic human decisions. In addition to this most important source, Kępiński also lists other sources that may also have an impact on human decisions. As one of the few professors, he points to genetic predispositions as one of the possible (...) sources of human morality. Social influences are also important to him. (shrink)

We will be concerned with intentionally misleading someone or hindering their ability to properly discern a situation. Thus, we mean communicative acts that are both verbal and non-verbal in nature; they are undertaken both by individuals and on larger human collectives, but also by organizations or institutions; the entities to which these actions are directed may also vary. Most often we stigmatize them as wrong, although in many specific cases we are ready to recognize their rightness. Our goal is to (...) make visible the need to organize these acts from the perspective of a philosophically defined person-society relationship. We will also draw attention to the conditions that such depictions should meet. (shrink)

Contemporary axiological research shows that what is intuitive, perceptible, and at the same time fundamental, is not clearly visualized, concrete and expressible for language. The problem of the definition of value is further complicated when the matter concerns the top of the axiological ladder, absolute value, what is sacred. In the article, the author relies mainly on the achievements of eminent phenomenologists, theologians and religious studies scholars who had a decisive influence on the European understanding of the term sacrum (including (...) R. Otto, M. Scheler, G. van der Leeuw, M. Eliade). It also refers to the achievements of Polish philosophers. The sacrum is presented as a factor ordering reality in an axiological and ontological sense. The very search for the highest value appears to be a matter of the utmost importance, a special task facing homo religiosus. (shrink)

Zbigniew Herbert studied philosophy at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń in the years 1949–1951 and attended seminars conducted by prof. Henryk Elzenberg, whose philosophical stance had a relevant impact on the poet’s oeuvre. This work analyses Stoic heritage present in the works of both the Philosopher and the Poet, as well as presents the axiological system of Elzenberg and its meaning for the attitude of “Mr. Cogito”. Elzenberg, following Seneca, divided values into the utilitarian and perfect ones, where the (...) latter possessed the quality of dignitas (“nobleness”). The perfect values referred to the Greek notion of kalokagathia and they were of primary importance in the creation of high culture that constituted the sphere of human dignity and freedom as opposed to the existential dread, indifference of nature or historical necessity. Herbert shared his Master’s stand on the meaning of culture and the table of values in human life, which is depicted, inter alia, in the poem dedicated to the Professor To Henryk Elzenberg on the Centenary of His Birth. Elzenberg claimed that axiologization the the world equals its substantialization. Finally, the acme of his axiology became natural mysticism and the source of perfect value the “transempirical” reality which Elzenberg used to call “the Undefined”. The Professor was distanced and sceptical towards the world and society. Herbert, on the other hand, remained faithful to the Christian heritage with its confirmation of the world as it is, as well as the everyday human reality, which he treated with sympathy and uderstanding, according to the idea of Christian agape. (shrink)

Plato gradually reaches the concept of the “Good itself” in the most extensive dialogue (apart from The Laws). The dramaturgy of Republic was included in the pedagogical idea. Plato’s own brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, representatives of the aristoia, want to hear from Socrates logically based instruction on what is really good and why, regardless of the prevailing public opinion in Athenian society. They both know that the most valued asset is the wealth and political influence that the use of force (...) provides. Thanks to this, you can effectively appear to be the fairest among citizens, despite the fact that you are extremely unjust. Appearances are highly valued in social life. Only minds exceptionally open to dialectics seek the truth, not content with appearances. Socrates introduces listeners to the knowledge of “the Good itself”, the “form of the Good”, as the most perfect object of knowledge and at the same time the highest principle. The Good, identical with the “One”, “is” above substance (509b). (shrink)

The paper presents the main idea of point-free theories of space based on Tarski's system of point-free geometry. First, the general idea of the so-called point-free ontology was discussed, as well as the epistemological and methodological reasons for its adoption. Next, Whitehead's method of extensive abstraction, which is the methodological basis for the construction of point-free theories of space, is presented, and the fundamental concepts of mereology are discussed. The main part of the paper is a discussion of Tarski’s geometry (...) of solids, its postulates and metatheoretical properties. The paper ends with a short description of the contribution of Polish researchers to the development of research on point-free theories of space. (shrink)

The article presents Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutics as an attempt to return to the classical ideal of the art of good speaking, in which the purpose of speech is seen as an intertwining of truth and goodness. Rhetoric understood in this way opposes its sophistic antithesis, which is directed at defending the speaker’s individual ratios and interests, ‘truth’ constructing, manipulating the audience’s beliefs and seductive qualities of style. The text analyzes selected issues of hermeneutics – truth taken as aletheia, the hermeneutic (...) circle and language, relating them to the classical stages of speech preparation – inventio, dispositio and elocutio. In this way, rhetoric and hermeneutics will be shown as disciplines founded on ethics. (shrink)

The article is an attempt to indicate the presence of the ethics of civic virtues in Polish ethics, both old and modern, which is worth in-depth attention. Problems of civic morality have constantly accompanied ethics and morality in Poland since the Renaissance. Its content was usually a reflection of critical reflection on the defects of civic morality, especially of the nobility, and over time of the bourgeoisie, and at the same time it was normatively constructive as historical and political changes (...) and the scope of civil society expanded, formulating “the ideal of the citizen in a democratic system”. The author of the article selects from the history of Polish ethics the most important figures who address the issue of virtue ethics, showing its constant presence in history, using the prism of civic ethos as a key element for the ethics of public life. It was difficult to prove the existence of a specialized section of civic ethics, but the normative civic ethos can be reconstructed from the perspective of the ethics of virtue and social ethics in a broader sense. From the historical perspective, this ethos appears both as a certain set of practices, which was only outlined in the context of the article, and as an ordered product of normative thought. (shrink)

An analysis of the causes of the crisis in the biological functioning of the human species caused by the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic has been attempted in the text. Five groups of reasons for this crisis have been identified and discussed. The reasons formulated from the perspective of the philosophy of biology have been found fundamental. A reference to the ideas of evolutionism and ecophilosophy have been made here. This was followed by a second group of reasons, presenting the theses of evolutionary (...) biology from the perspective of pandemic threats. Next, the reasons of the philosophy of life and existential reflection have been analysed, emphasising the validity of the naturalistic justification of the processes in question. In addition, arguments from the point of view of moral philosophy (the problem of man’s coexistence with nature) have been presented. In the last group of reasons, social philosophy and ideological reasons (e.g. the relationship between power and responsibility) have been indicated. (shrink)