Logic, language and information integration is one of areas broadly explored nowadays and at the same time promising. Authors use that approach in their 8 years long research into Structured Semantic Knowledge Base System. The aim of this paper is to present authors idea of system capable of generating synergy effect while storing various type of information. The key assumption, which has been adopted, is the thesis that the attempt to find universal way of the reality description is very inefficient (...) solution. Combination of several solutions into one system must be based on the principle of supporting rather than on redundancy, ambiguity or mutual antagonism areas of logic, language and information. Natural language processing in the context of logics or information processing is ineffective, not to say pointless in the means of certainty. It is simply caused by the fact that natural languages have been formed long time ago as the main communication channel, rather than for automatic information processing. It was one of the reasons that logic has been founded as the universal language of mathematics and formalized communication in more extensive sense. Information processing however brought more sophisticated problems that mathematics could not smoothly solve, what made computer science appear. Studies over artificial intelligence revealed even more complex issues to solve. The unity of those three areas: logics, language and information is a necessity to acquire complementarity and synergy. (shrink)

Crowdfunding has created new opportunities for poor microentrepreneurs. One crucial question is the impact that the purpose of a loan—either business investment or basic necessities—may have on the success of a campaign. Investigating a prosocial crowdfunding platform, we find that loans taken out to meet basic needs are funded faster than business-related loans, especially for small amounts, which can be explained by the prosocial motivation of microlenders. Moreover, female microborrowers are funded faster than men, especially for basic needs loans. Our (...) results therefore suggest an ethical blind spot, since prosocially motivated crowdlenders may unintentionally end up producing adverse effects, replicating gender role by supporting women to a lesser extent when they apply for business loans. This finding expands prosocial motivational theory in ethical finance. (shrink)

Recent developments in virtual reality technology raise a question about the experience of presence and immersion in virtual environments. What is immersion and what are the conditions for inducing the experience of virtual presence? In this paper, we argue that crucial determinants of presence are perception of affordances and sense of embodiment. In the first section of this paper, we define key concepts and introduce important distinctions such as immersion and presence. In the second and third sections, we respectively discuss (...) presence, immersion and their determinants in detail. In the fourth and fifth sections, we argue for the importance of perception of affordances and sense of embodiment in increasing the degree of presence. Finally, we show the consequences of our view and discuss possible future implications. (shrink)

The paper outlines ongoing research on logic-based tools for the analysis and representation of legal contracts, of the kind frequently encountered in large-scale engineering projects and complex, long-term trading agreements. We consider both contract formation and contract performance, in each case identifying the representational issues and the prospects for providing automated support tools.

The years in which Piłsudski headed the Polish state marked his “golden age” in Polish history, a period considered as the least controversial in his career despite the failure of his federation concept and troubles with Polish national leaders in the west, especially Upper Silesia. Piłsudski’s achievements in those years are numerous and important, they include among others: the definition of Poland’s borders after military victories over the Ukrainian, Bolshevik and Lithuanian armies and in result of insurgencies in Wielkopolska and (...) Silesia, the securement of international recognition for Poland, the construction of parliamentary democracy and local government, the promotion of a national service ethos through schools, the church, the armed forces and the media. (shrink)

Pediatric cancer can be considered an event potentially leading to posttraumatic stress symptoms as well as posttraumatic growth. While clinically significant levels of PTSS are rare in childhood cancer survivors, PTG is common in this population. However, the relationship of PTG to overall adaptation and quality of life in pediatric cancer patients is not clear. Therefore, our study aims to analyse the relationships of PTSS and PTG with QOL in childhood cancer survivors. In this study, 172 childhood cancer survivors completed (...) measures of quality of life, posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic growth. Correlation analyses were carried out separately for the child and adolescent groups and each QOL dimension. In the adolescent group, the relationship of PTSS and PTG with QOL was further verified by regression analyses while controlling for age, gender, and time off treatment. In children, negative relationships between PTSS and QOL were found, but the relationships between QOL and PTG were not significant. In adolescents, significant relationships were found for all dimensions of QOL and PTSS and also for several dimensions of QOL and PTG. The relationships between PTSS and QOL dimensions were negative in both groups, and the relationships between PTG and QOL in the adolescent group were weakly positive. In adolescents, regression analyses controlling for age, gender and time off treatment were performed and confirmed a negative relationship of PTSS with all QOL dimensions except for social functioning. For PTG, regression analyses revealed a significant positive relationship with QOL dimensions of social functioning, outlook on life and intimate relations. While the relationship between PTSS and QOL is negative for almost all QOL dimensions in children and adolescents, the nature of the relationship between PTG and QOL appears to be more complex and changing over time. PTG in children may reflect different processes with different outcomes than PTG in adolescents. (shrink)

The term ontology of cognition is introduced to promote a neo-Kantian approach to epistemological questions. Following the discussion of some aspects of philosophy of cognitive subject authors claim that the most appropriate approach requires turning attention to a whole human species as a governed by the evolution rules collective, cognitive subject rather than individual one.

Artykuł jest odpowiedzią na polemikę Stanisława Ruczaja z argumentem z Wcielenia, który został zaprezentowany w książce Ukrytość i Wcielenie. Teistyczna odpowiedź na argument Johna L. Schellenberga za nieistnieniem Boga. Ruczaj zarzuca tzw. obronie inkarnacyjnej, że nie rozważa ona możliwości, zgodnie z którą Bóg jest zarazem wcielony, jak i nieukryty. W niniejszym artykule koncentruję się na uzasadnieniu, dlaczego uważam, że jest możliwe, iż owa opcja jest dla Boga wykluczona. Według mnie istnieją racje przemawiające za tym, że jest ona (a) logicznie sprzeczna, (...) (b) niespójna z doskonałym moralnie charakterem Boga, (c) nie skutkowałaby wyeliminowaniem niewiary bez oporu we Wcielenie. (shrink)

W projekcie badawczym, który w zamyśle będzie składał się z dwóch merytorycznie i logicznie powiązanych artykułów, formułujemy taki schemat pojęciowy, w którym adekwatna staje się charakterystyka struktur fraktalnych w kategoriach filozoficznej koncepcji emergencji. W pracy pierwszej przedstawiamy główne idee filozofii emergencji oraz dokonujemy prób uchwycenia w procesie generowania fraktali jednostek emergentnych. Pozostajemy jednak w obrębie klasycznego rozumienia badanej relacji. W pracy drugiej, na podstawie zademonstrowanych słabości ujęć klasycznych, jako niewystarczających w specyficznym kontekście badanych struktur matematycznych, pokazujemy, że dyskurs nad emergencją (...) w matematyce staje się sensowny i uprawniony w ugruntowanym w filozofii nauk formalnych quasi-empirycznym podejściu do niektórych zagadnień w matematyce. (shrink)

The article concerns the situation of the judicial application of the law where the entity applying the law refers in a decision-making process to moral principles. The decision should be based on the directives of interpretation, which indicate the need for such a determination of the meaning of the applicable norms so that it remains in harmony with commonly accepted moral rules of the society. The equity has one more purpose; namely, it allows for the process of decision-making—and not just (...) for the process of unifying the decisions—since the mere rule does not specify the algorithm of undertaking them. This rule thus assumes that it will be further specified by phronesis judge who in a given situation will determine—for the purposes of a particular decision—a hierarchy between the criteria of substantive justice “embedded” in this rule. The reference to equity stands for the concretization of an unspecified general rule. We deal here with an indefinite general rule, the application of which is facilitated by a reference to rightness. (shrink)

Despite recent close attention to issues related to the reliability of psychological research (e.g., the replication crisis), issues of the validity of this research have not been considered to the same extent. This paper highlights an issue that calls into question the validity of the common research practice of studying samples of individuals, and using sample-based statistics to infer generalizations that are applied not only to the parent population, but to individuals. The lack of ergodicity in human data means that (...) such generalizations are not justified. This problem is illustrated with respect to two common scenarios in psychological research that raise questions for the sorts of theories that are typically proposed to explain human behavior and cognition. The paper presents a method of data analysis that requires closer attention to the range of behaviors exhibited by individuals in our research to determine the pervasiveness of effects observed in sample data. Such an approach to data analysis will produce results that are more in tune with the types of generalizations typical in reports of psychological research than mainstream analysis methods. (shrink)

The article analyzes and criticizes the assumptions of Peter Van Inwagen’s argument for the alleged contradiction of the foreknowledge of God and human freedom. The argument is based on the sine qua non condition of human freedom defined as access to possible worlds containing such a continuation of the present in which the agent implements a different action than will be realized de facto in the future. The condition also contains that in every possible continuation of the present state of (...) affairs, the same propositions about the ‘present past’ (the past before the present moment) are true as are true in the present state of affairs. The paper argues that Van Inwagen’s reasoning is inconclusive, it contains the type of mistake of confusing conditional impossibility with unconditional and presents a methodologically wrong method of solving a philosophical problem. It is because in the very construction of the problem determining the available solution. The article points to the possibility that the human freedom of some action is not excluded by the fact that specific past facts logically entail that this event will occur. (shrink)

Consistent application of dialectical materialism leads Marxism-Leninism to the assertion that matter is infinite in its properties. However, the history of physics shows that the various levels of matter possess geometric dimensions that originate at the lowest level and continue through the others. The search for absolute natural constants -- which Planck called the most pleasant task of physics -- shows the conviction of the physicists that there is a limit to the parameters, a limit beyond which matter is no (...) longer divisible. (shrink)

The present paper consists of two parts. In the first, some issues related to the character of biological experiments conducted under in vitro cultures are portrayed. The relevant aspects of these procedures are explicated from the viewpoint of the experimental botanist. It is a case study for the considerations in the second part, which presents selected philosophical and legal issues involved in biological experiments from the general perspective of philosophical investigations concerning the problem of plants’ axiology. Obviously, the nature of (...) the considerations is limited; not all important questions from the perspective of biology and philosophy have been raised. Nevertheless, the authors hope that the analyzed issues may be interesting for both biologists and philosophers. (shrink)

This study reviews the current information concerning the measurement of the situation awareness (SA) of the teleoperated drivers of remotely controlled cars. The teleoperated drivers who drive these cars are in a remote location, and they control the cars through a communication interface. The objective methods with probes are beneficial in measuring SA on a closed circuit without real traffic. Questions specifically should address the information provided on the road by haptic sensations, such as the slope of the road and (...) the vehicle's speed. Methods for measuring SA that involve probes and interruptions obviously are not suitable for use on public roads. A stable environment for the display and control of the communication interface is suitable for an eye tracker in measuring SA. These features also facilitate the use of subjective observer-rating methods. Both of these methods are suitable for driving on real roads because they are not intrusive. SA research in a real-road environment also should demonstrate how the SA of other drivers is affected by seeing a car without a driver. Given the remote character of driving, cultural differences in cognition may have a significant influence on the SA of the teleoperated driver. (shrink)

Proofs of two interpolation theorems for Sentential Calculus with Identity as well as some general comments on sentential interpolation are given.

While traditionally identified as a practice-based endeavour, the many dimensions of teacher education raise important philosophical issues that emphasise the centrality of ethics to questions of relationality and professional practice. This second volume of the Educational Philosophy and Theory reader series demonstrates the continuing relevance of philosophical approaches to the field of teacher education. The collection of texts focuses on a wide range of topics, including teacher education in a cross-cultural context, the notion of unsuccessful teaching, democratic teacher education, the (...) reflective teacher, the ethics and politics of teacher identity, and subjectivity and performance in teaching. Chapters also explore teacher education based on experiential learning as ‘experience’, demonstrating the continuing relevance of philosophical approaches to the field. In Search of Subjectivities will interest academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of philosophy of education, philosophy, education, educational theory, teacher education, experiential philosophy, ethics, policy and politics of education, and professional practice. (shrink)

Celem, jaki stawiamy sobie w drugiej części naszego filozoficznego dyptychu, jest próba podjęcia dyskusji nad usytuowaniem refleksji o charakterze metaprzedmiotowym dotyczącej struktur fraktalnych w klasycznej problematyce filozofii matematyki. Pokażemy, że struktury fraktalne prowadzą do istotnego poszerzenia wskazanej problematyki poza tradycyjne ramy wyznaczane przez pytania o naturę obiektów matematycznych (ontologia matematyki) czy status wiedzy matematycznej ( epistemologia matematyczna). Interesują nas specjalnie dwie kwestie: (1) czy, i w jakim sensie, proces generowania struktur fraktalnych świadczy o quasi-empirycznym charakterze tzw. nowej matematyki; (2) czy (...) rozwijana w filozofii koncepcja emergencji nadaje się jako narzędzie badawcze do charakterystyki własności wspomnianych struktur. (shrink)

The author proves that rejecting the existence of permissive norms and limitation of norms to prohibitions and commands alone is possible only with reducing the idea of a function. The essence of the function is then the ability of the expression to generate independently the universal norm formation. Such manipulation is easy on the level of logical analysis, but proves risky from other points of view. If we want the deontic logic, which we construct, to consider the fact that permission (...) is pragmatically necessary for the law-maker to convey his normative preferences, we must solve the consequences of the adopted structure of the function of norms, which originate on the socio-linguistic level. It appears, however, that due to a lack of a pragmatic theory useful for lawyers, there is no proof that the pragmatically strong permission can be expressed by means of a lot of prohibitions and commands (dos and don’ts). Besides, reducing permissions only to the language of legal rules is an obligation to accept the structure of an act of communication, which can find its full motivation in the Husserl’s structure of the direct cognition. (shrink)

This article presents Alvin Plantinga’s views on epistemic justification. The first part situates Plantinga’s epistemological views in the context of his epistemology of religion and debates of general epistemology. The second part discusses Plantinga’s argument that the internalism of 20th century epistemology stems from deontologism and that the views on the epistemic justification of analytic philosophers reflect the relationship between classical deontologism and classical internalism. The last part points to the objections with which the Plantinga’s conception met and tries to (...) balance the depth and weakness of its position. (shrink)

The paper deals with the state of the social sciences after the boom of internet services in the Czech Republic in the 1990s. The results of our survey, based on 512 responses from the economics and history departments of major Czech public universities, show that internet services are considered a quality factor for academic output; however, the issues of plagiarism, a lack of resource criticism, inadequacy of impact factor-based evaluations, poor academic training for the new generation of social scientists, the (...) failure of state academic policy, and the generation gap make further development in the Czech social sciences rather problematic. As a result we recommend creating a better communication link between policy makers and scholars, reforming the current state policy which encourages lower quality academic output, and improving academic training, which requires a more individual approach, and also placing higher demands on social scientists. (shrink)

This article was written on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt am Main, where the Frankfurt School was founded and continues to evolve. From philosophical and interdisciplinary perspectives, the article focuses on the trichotomic characteristics of critical theory, specifically: critique, explanation, and normativity. It looks first at the founding of the Institute for Social Research; second, at the emergence of critical theory at the Institute; and third, at how these ideas evolved. It (...) identifies trichotomy underpinning Horkheimer’s approach to critical theory. In the conclusion, the revisions made to critical theory in the later stages of development are considered. (shrink)

This paper uses a game-theoretic framework to formalize the Hayekian notion of equilibrium as the compatibility of plans. To do so, it imposes more structure on the conventional model of strategic games. For each player, it introduces goals, goal-oriented strategies, and the goals’ probabilities of success, from which players’ payoffs are derived. The differences between the compatibility of plans and Nash equilibrium are identified and discussed. Furthermore, it is shown that the notion of compatibility of plans, in general, differs from (...) the notion of Pareto efficiency. Since the compatibility of plans across all players can rarely be achieved in reality, a measurement is introduced to determine various degrees of plan compatibility. Several possible extensions and applications of the model are discussed. (shrink)

Prezentowana książka jest pierwszą monografią w sposób całościowy omawiającą Preambułę Konstytucji Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z 2.4.1997 r. Dużo miejsca poświęca genezie tekstu - czytelnik znajdzie zgłoszone projekty oraz szerokie omówienie prac Komisji Konstytucyjnej Zgromadzenia Narodowego. W centrum uwagi znalazły się aksjologiczne podstawy całego polskiego systemu prawa oraz refleksja nad wartościami fundującymi porządek prawny w ogóle. Autor omawia poszczególne wartości, uwzględniając ich oddziaływanie na orzecznictwo, zwracając uwagę również na przyjęte przez ustrojodawcę rozstrzygnięcia dotyczące pozaprawnego ugruntowania wartości konstytucyjnych. Podejmuje także problem normatywnego charakteru (...) Preambuły. Książka adresowana jest w sposób szczególny do wszystkich zainteresowanych prawem konstytucyjnym, przede wszystkim w kontekście zagadnień filozoficznoprawnych. Pogłębione rozumienie Preambuły Konstytucji jest istotne także dla wszystkich obywateli, gdyż wskazuje ona na podstawowe wartości leżące u podstaw wspólnoty politycznej. (shrink)

Porovnáním významu slovesa vykořisťovat v 19. a 20. století odhalíme jeho dramatickou proměnu: z pojmu neutrálního se stává pojem silně záporný a objevuje se v okolí nových slov jako kapitalista, měšťák, proletář. Tento průnik Marxova idiolektu do češtiny (a do jiných jazyků) s sebou nese několik otázek: proč vnímá Marx tyto pojmy tak vyhraněně? Z jaké pozice, když odmítá morálku jako buržoazní přežitek, odsuzuje vykořisťování? Jeho eschatologicko-dějinný rámec umožňuje čistě negativní polaritu slovesa vykořisťovat a také, bohužel, zakládá jeho autogenocidní potenciál. (...) When comparing the meaning of the verb to exploit between the nineteenth and twentieth century we discover a dramatic transformation: from a neutral term it becomes a purely negative one and collocates with new words such as capitalist, bourgeoisie, proletarian. This penetration of the idiolect of Marx into Czech (as well as other languages) raises several questions: why does Marx use these words in such a categorical way? From what position, having rejected morality as a bourgeois prejudice, does he condemn exploitation? We find that it is his apocalyptic historical frame which enables the purely negative polarity of the verb to exploit as well as its autogenocidal potential. (shrink)

In his life and work, Leszek Kołakowski traversed many paths, some more and some less well-known. The main focus here is on Kołakowski’s involvement in what one may call an anthropological variant of philosophy of culture. Anthropological philosophy of culture bases on the following assumptions:1. Human conduct is determined by culture. There is neither humanity without culture nor culture without humans.2. Human conduct is by nature referential, in other words, the factual alone is not enough for humans who tend to (...) reach beyond it in their search for the most elemental and ultimate truths.3. Culture is a dynamic phenomenon and a challenge on the path to self-awareness.4. Axiological sensitivity.5. The culture philosopher is immersed in the culture he studies and, by revealing that which it conceals, is a source of reflection on this culture. All these assumptions lie at the core of the philosophy of Leszek Kołakowski. (shrink)

Artykuł podejmuje polemikę z obiegowym rozumieniem tolerancji. Autor podkreśla znaczenie podziału na tolerancję jako postawę i na dyskursy o tolerancji. Następnie, w nawiązaniu i częściowo w dyskusji z koncepcją tolerancji zaproponowaną przez Iję Lazari Pawłowską, przedstawione jest rozróżnienie trzech odmian tolerancji, a także rozróżnienie odpowiednich trzech odmian nietolerancji. Rozważane są również niektóre paradoksy związane z tolerancją oraz ze zwalczaniem nietolerancji.

Kuala Lumpur is a diverse city representing many different religions and nationalities. Recent government policy has actively promoted unity and cohesion throughout the city; and the country of Malaysia, with the implementation of a programme called 1Malaysia. In this book, the authors investigate the aims of this programme – predominantly to unify the Malaysian society – and how these objectives resonate in the daily spatial practices of the city’s residents. -/- This book argues that elements of urban infrastructure could work (...) as an essential mediator ‘beyond community’, allowing inclusive social structures to be built, despite cultural and religious tensions existing within the city. It builds on the premise of an empirical study which explores the ways in which different communities use the same spaces, supported through the implementation of a theoretical framework which looks at both Western and Islamic conceptualisations of the notion of community. Through the analysis of Kuala Lumpur, this book contributes towards the creation of more inclusive places in multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious communities across the world. (shrink)

Can we see the expressiveness of other people's gestures, hear the intentions in their voice, see the emotions in their posture? Traditional theories of social cognition still say we cannot because intentions and emotions for them are hidden away inside and we do not have direct access to them. Enactive theories still have no idea because they have so far mainly focused on perception of our physical world. We surmise, however, that the latter hold promise since, in trying to understand (...) cognition, enactive theory focuses on the embodied engagements of a cognizer with his world. In this paper, we attempt an answer for the question What is social perception in an enactive account? In enaction, perception is conceived as a skill, crucially involving action, an ability to work successfully within the set of regularities, or contingencies that characterize a given domain. If this is the case, then social perception should be a social skill. Having thus transformed the question of what social perception is into that of what social skill is, we examine the concept of social contingencies and the manner in which social skills structure—both constrain and empower— social interaction. Some of the implications of our account for how social and physical perception differ, the role of embodiment in social interaction and the distinction between our approach and other social contingency theories are also addressed. (shrink)

Zaionc, M., λ-Definability on free algebras, Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 51 279-300. A λ-language over a simple type structure is considered. There is a natural isomorphism which identifies free algebras with nonempty second-order types. If A is a free algebra determined by the signature SA = [α1,...,αn], then by a type τA we mean τ1,...,τn→0 where τi=0αi→0. It can be seen that closed terms of the type τA reflex constructions in the algebra A. Therefore any term of the (...) type n→τA defines some n-ary mapping in algebra A. The problem is to characterize λ-definable mappings in any free algebra. It is proved that the set of λ-definable operations is the minimal set that contains constant functions and projections and is closed under composition and limited recursion. This result is a generalization of the result of Schwichtenberg and Statman which characterize the λ-definable functions over the natural number type →, i.e algebra [1, 0], as well as of the result of Zaionc for λ-definable word operations over type n→, i.e algebra [1,...,1,0], and of the results about λ-definable tree operations , i.e in algebra [2, 0]. Some of the examples in Section 5 are based on a publication of Zaionc. (shrink)

Public education is not just a way to organise and fund education. It is also the expression of a particular ideal about education and of a particular way to conceive of the relationship between education and society. The ideal of public education sees education as an important dimension of the common good and as an important institution in securing the common good. The common good is never what individuals or particular groups want or desire, but always reaches beyond such particular (...) desires towards that which societies as a whole should consider as desirable. This does, of course, put the common good in tension with the desires of individuals and groups. Neo-liberal modes of governance have, over the past decades, put this particular educational set up under pressure and have, according to some, eroded the very idea of the common good. This set of contributions reflects on this state of affairs, partly through an exploration of the idea of publicness itself – how it can be rearticulated and regained – and partly through reflections on the current state of education in the ‘north’ and the ‘south.’. (shrink)

Author: Jedliński Marek Title: WESTERN CULTURE THROUGH THE EYES OF RUSSIAN ROMANTICS. ON CAPITALISM AND RATIONALISM (Kultura Zachodu oczami romantyków rosyjskich. Rzecz o kapitalizmie i racjonalizmie) Source: Filo-Sofija year: 2011, vol:.12, number: 2011/1, pages: 373-383 Keywords: RUSSIAN ROMANTIC, WESTERN CULTURE, CAPITALISM, RATIONALISM Discipline: PHILOSOPHY Language: POLISH Document type: ARTICLE Publication order reference (Primary author’s office address): E-mail: www:The article presents Russian Romantics’ reflections on Western culture, highlighting their views on capitalism and rationalism. Russian thinkers regarded farewell with religious outlook (...) and the associated development of capitalism as unambiguously negative. According to them, capitalism led to egocentric perception of reality and finally to demise of culture. They called capitalism ‘a contemporary form of barbarism’ as it encouraged fighting and increased the desire to possess. They claimed it would precipitate an acute crisis resulting in regression of civilization. The capitalism-induced process of degradation of Western culture was accelerated by the affirmation of reason. Rationalism limited human freedom. The views were expressed in the oeuvre of the poet Alexei Khomakov and of the historians Stepan Shevyriov and Mikhail Pogodin, as well as, in a more structured manner, in Vladimir Odoyevsky’s novel titled ‘Russian Nights’ (1844). (shrink)