Notwithstanding the opportunities it provides, the implementation of some measures of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (EU CAP), including agri-environment-climate measures (AECMs), also generates threats. The study identifies an extremely disturbing process that can be referred to as “internal neo-colonialism”, which has been driven by the technocratic agrarian policy of the EU and transformations in Poland at the turn of the twenty-first century. The associated disadvantageous practices mainly affect areas under threat of marginalisation and peripheralisation, including Poland with its post-Socialist (...) heritage, which has shaped the attitudes and behaviour of society and has consolidated linkages between politics and business. In order to retrace such activities, the study analyses EU funds granted in support of farmers implementing AECMs, with a focus on analysing the place of residence of the “farmer” and the location of the farm. As the research shows, the attractiveness of CAP support causes Polish agriculture and Poland’s countryside, including its natural and financial resources, to be drained by so-called “suitcase farmers”, i.e. people/entities not tied to the place where the agricultural activity is pursued, many of whom live in cities. One common practice is to take over land located in legally protected areas noted for their high quality of natural environment. Not only does the practice of land grabbing strengthen the social exclusion of rural communities and the peripheralisation and pauperisation of these areas, but it also hinders discussion about environmental justice and the ecological integrity of rural areas. (shrink)

The impact of background category information on the creation of social cliques: The role of need for cognitive closure and decisiveness This article focuses on the role of need for cognitive closure in the process of mental model creation about social relations. We assumed that high need for closure participants tend to rely on background category information when forming social cliques. We predicted that this tendency to employ categorical information as a mental aid, used in order to form social cliques, (...) would be efficient in simple task structures but would lead to increased error rates in complex task structures. The results confirmed our predictions, showing especially strong effects for the decisiveness component of need for closure. The importance of individual differences in need for closure and decisiveness in social reasoning is discussed. (shrink)

Volume 27, Issue 3, September 2020, Page 266-268.

An Introduction to the Special Issue on Question Processing.

This paper offers an Aristotelian-Thomistic response to the question whether AI is capable of developing virtue. On the one hand, it could be argued that this is possible on the assumption of the minimalist (thin) definition of virtue as a stable (permanent) and reliable disposition toward an actualization of a given power in the agent (in various circumstances), which effects that agent’s growth in perfection. On the other hand, a closer inquiry into Aquinas’s understanding of both moral and intellectual virtues, (...) and a more detailed analysis of the ontological status of AI, show that it is highly unlikely to envision the design of specifically human-like reason-based and/or behavioral-based (“strong”) AI that would possess properly human virtues. Still, virtuous “weak AI” might be possible, although a question ought to be asked whether we should classify artifacts’ virtues using categories developed in reference to specifically human dispositions and actions. (shrink)

Making more accurate marketing decisions by managers requires building effective predictive models. Typically, these models specify the probability of customer belonging to a particular category, group or segment. The analytical CRM categories refer to customers interested in starting cooperation with the company, customers who purchase additional products or customers intending to resign from the cooperation. During building predictive models researchers use analytical tools from various disciplines with an emphasis on their best performance. This article attempts to build a hybrid predictive (...) model combining decision trees and cluster analysis. During experiments five different cluster validity indices and eight datasets were used. The performance of models was evaluated by using popular measures such as: accuracy, precision, recall, G-mean, F-measure and lift in the first and in the second decile. The authors tried to find a connection between the number of clusters and models' quality. (shrink)

Artykuł stanowi krytyczne omówienie książki Kevina Duttona zatytułowanej Mądrość psychopatów. Lekcja życia pobrana od świętych, szpiegów i seryjnych morderców. Celem pracy jest przybliżenie zasadniczych tez stawianych przez autora oraz zaproszenie do namysłu nad psychopatią – zarówno jako fenomenem naukowym, jak i egzystencjalnym.

Dialectical contradictions influence organizational processes in distinct ways and create a unique dynamics in terms of leadership process in entrepreneurialorganizations. We integrate research from charismatic, transformational, and organizational literature, as well as entrepreneurship literature, to create a generalized model of entrepreneurial leadership that is descriptively robust and conceptually distinct from existing concepts. We focus specifically on visionary, transformational, and motivational contradictions of entrepreneurial leadership and conclude by discussing the implications of organizational reconciliation of these three contradictions for leadership research and (...) practice. (shrink)

The author’s firm belief is that transitional humanity is not yet humanity proper but pre-humanity. He is especially intrigued by the essence and purpose of today’s contradiction between humanity’s immense advancement in micro-electronics, digital technology and social lore and its shocking moral shortcomings, best visible in its stagnant unchangeability—especially regarding the passionate quest for ever-better weaponry. Will our transience turn out to be nothing more but a phase on the road to human perfection, or will it petrify into an “inborn” (...) scar? These are the main questions the author attempts to answer.As a species we are praehomine, pre-humans, a natural phase of ethical and esthetic imperfection. Typical for transitional humanity is the coexistence of progress. Nonetheless transitional humanity also carries the potential necessary to attain Wisdom, Good, Completeness and Perfection. (shrink)

A survey of the main approaches in a mind study -oriented part of Artificial Intelligence is made focusing on controversial issues and extreme hypotheses. Various meanings of terms: "intelligence" and "artificial intelligence" are discussed. Limitations for constructing intelligent systems resulting from the lack of formalized models of cognitive activity are shown. The approaches surveyed are then recapitulated in the light of these limitations.

Mereologcal essentialism is a metaphysical doctrine formulated and defended originally by Roderick M. Chisholm. The main principle of mereological essentialism states, that for any objects x and y - if x is ever a part of y, then y is necessarily such that x is a part of y, i.e. that all parts of y are essential to it (y has them at any time that y exists). The principle may also be put by saying, that every object has the (...) parts that it has necessarily. In the paper the above mentioned doctrine is reconstructed and analysed. Some consequences of the theory in question as well as many variants of it are examined. The main purpose of the text is to provide a critical analysis of mereological essentialism in order to make this radical doctrine more acceptable. (shrink)

Based on case studies prepared at the Harvard Business School, the article analyses the content of university courses on business history. Its aim is to answer the question whether or not business history courses are used for discussing the problems of CSR or moral dilemmas behind strategic decisions made by managers. The article argues that the chance of enhancing the understanding of social problems on the part of the managers and shaping their responsiveness to them, created by the presence of (...) courses on history in the academic curriculum, remains, to a large extent, unrealised. Teaching materials are still influenced by the Chandlerian paradigm and thus focus on changes in organisational structures and strategies of large multinational companies. They pay little attention to the social environment of business, rarely pose questions on the motivations of human actions or value hierarchies and avoid discussions on the social consequences of management decisions. (shrink)

Problem reprezentacji w nauce jest intensywnie badany tylko w odniesieniu do nauk empirycznych, przy czym – co ograniczające i wadliwe – w wynikach tych badań dominuje jeden typ identyfikacji relacji reprezentacji, a mianowicie odwołujący się do podobieństwa, w szczególności do izomorfizmu. W tym tekście pokazuję, że zagadnienie reprezentacji w nauce ma trzy braki i wady, które należy usunąć, odkrywając nowe pola rozważań i w związku z tym inicjując nowe badania. Zagadnienie reprezentacji jest ograniczone do wątpliwego identyfikowania reprezentacji jako podobieństwa, nie (...) obejmuje problemu reprezentacji w naukach technicznych i komputerowych, nie rozróżnia nauk opisowo-eksplanacyjnych od nauk stosowanych. Różnice w relacjach reprezentowania, w tym w typach obiektów reprezentowanych i reprezentujących, pokazują najgłębszą różnicę w naturach tych nauk. Wniknięcie w problem reprezentowania otwiera całe obszary dociekań, które mogą prowadzić do bogatszej i szerszej koncepcji nauk niż te dotychczasowe. Ewenementem jest, że obszary te są w niewielkim obecnie stopniu badane w dzisiejszej filozofii. (shrink)

In order to achieve a desired effect of tax legal interpretation, its linguistic mechanisms are frequently insufficient. Elements of paralinguistic interpretation are more and more often indispensable. It applies inter alia when domestic tax law regulations must be verified in the light of the EU tax law. However, the study depict interpretative problems regarding the institution of remuneration of excess payments, which is regulated in Polish tax law. Considerations presented in this article confirm that legal interpretation of tax law is (...) a complicated process. It is important to establish correct system connection between the analyzed legal regulations and other provisions, often contained in other legal acts. Moreover, it seems necessary to refer to the purpose-oriented interpretation of the law. Only then a chance for a satisfactory final result of the provision’s legal interpretation can be guaranteed. What is more, such an effect will create an element being a part of a logically composed and arranged unity. (shrink)

Recently, it has become a custom to treat questions as a game between two subjects. Unfortunately, one rarely goesbeyond the scheme of Questioner-Scientist and Answerer-Nature, althoughthe Interlocutor so conceived displays some undesirable features. This paperargues for the idea that logic of questions can be build as a logic of the gamebetween “knowledge resources” persons or theories, rather than errant Scientist and omniscient Nature. To this end the concept of epistemically-possibleworlds is discussed, which is conceived as analogous to that of possible (...) worldsin modal logic. And, furthermore, the concepts of relation of epistemic alternativeness and of epistemically-alternative worlds are introduced. On thisbasis a version of semantics for propositional, three-valued logic of questionsis offered and semantic proofs of some theses are given. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Evolution and Creation—A Response to Michael Chaberek's Critique of Theistic EvolutionMariusz Tabaczek O.P.Translated by Monika Metlerska-ColerickIntroductionMichael Chaberek's critique of my "Afterword" to the Polish edition of Thomistic Evolution: A Catholic Approach to Understanding Evolution in the Light of Faith is essentially focused on three points. First of all, Chaberek questions my thesis supporting the compatibility of evolutionary theory with the Christian faith in creation. Secondly he discounts the possibility (...) of reconciling evolution with the Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophical tradition. Finally he provides arguments undermining the theory of evolution as the best scientific explanation for the diversity of species observable in the world.1 Because I do not undertake an analysis [End Page 255] of strictly biological problems in the "Afterword," in the present response I will concentrate on the first two points only.2 I trust that engaging in a discussion with Chaberek's views in this respect provides an opportunity to broaden and clarify my position regarding the issue which is the subject of our dispute. To begin with, I would like to stress that, in exploring the topic from the perspective of the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition of philosophy and theology, I am moving in the sphere of possible interpretations and new approaches. Therefore, I do not treat the aforementioned tradition in an inflexible and dogmatic manner.3 [End Page 256]The Definition of CreationI should start my response to Chaberek's critique by invoking the definition of creation as elaborated by Aquinas. After all, it seems that the disagreement referred to in the present article focuses, to a large extent, on the comprehension of the divine act of creation. My views on this matter are not, in my estimation, a significant alteration of the teaching of St. Thomas. Rather, they are an attempt at drawing conclusions from some of his intuitions regarding creation, which appear in various sections of the body of his work.4According to St. Thomas, the word "creation" (creatio) has two crucial and inextricably linked meanings: (I) creation in an active sense (divine action) and (II) creation in a passive sense (receiving divine action). Within the scope of the first meaning, St. Thomas distinguishes between: (Ia) the primary act of creation, defined as bringing the entirety of being into existence out of nothing (ex nihilo), without any prior existing matter, and (Ib) maintaining contingent beings in their existence and essence. The consequence of (Ia) and (Ib) is contingent beings' full dependence on God regarding what they are and the fact that they are (exist), which determines the essence of creation in the passive sense (II).Regarding (Ia), St. Thomas—in a neo-Platonic vein, in support of the claim that nothingness cannot be the object of God's action in the act of creation—states that "we must consider not only the emanation of a particular being from a particular agent, but also the emanation of all being from the universal cause, which is God; and this emanation we designate by the name of creation" (ST I, q 45, a. 1, corp.). It is worth adding here that, according to St. Thomas, the matter, which is the result of the act of creation, is not indefinite, as is assumed by Chaberek when he refers to creation as the bringing out of nothing "of a certain primordial matter of an indefinite form."5 On the contrary, Aquinas states explicitly that "primary matter was not created altogether formless, nor under any one common form, but under [End Page 257] distinct forms" (ST I, q. 66, a. 1, corp., ad 2), enumerating, at this point, the forms of the four elements: earth, water, air, and fire.In reference to (Ib), St. Thomas defines the divine act of maintaining contingent beings in existence and essence (in the fact that they are, as well as in what they are) as conservatio rerum. What is more, even though he emphasizes that "the preservation of things by God is a continuation of that action whereby He gives existence" (ST I, q. 104, a. 1, ad 4), Aquinas does not employ the currently popular concept of continual creation (creatio continua). It seems that... (shrink)

Approximately one in six top economic research papers draws an explicitly causal conclusion. But what do economists mean when they conclude that A 'causes' B? Does 'cause' say that we can influence B by intervening on A, or is it only a label for the correlation of variables? Do quantitative analyses of observational data followed by such causal inferences constitute sufficient grounds for guiding economic policymaking? The Philosophy of Causality in Economics addresses these questions by analyzing the meaning of causal (...) claims made by economists and the philosophical presuppositions underlying the research methods used. The book considers five key causal approaches: the regularity approach, probabilistic theories, counterfactual theories, mechanisms, and interventions and manipulability. Each chapter opens with a summary of literature on the relevant approach and discusses its reception amongst economists. The text details case studies, and goes on to examine papers which have adopted the approach in order to highlight the methods of causal inference used in contemporary economics. It analyses the meaning of the causal claim put forward, and finally reconstructs the philosophical presuppositions accepted implicitly by economists. The strengths and limitations of each method of causal inference are also considered in the context of using the results as evidence for policymaking. This book is essential reading to those interested in literature on the philosophy of economics, as well as the philosophy of causality and economic methodology in general. (shrink)

One of the main challenges of the nonreductionist approach to complex structures and phenomena in philosophy of biology is its defense of the plausibility of the theory of emergence and downward causation. The tension between remaining faithful to the rules of physicalism and physical causal closure, while defending the novelty and distinctiveness of emergents from their basal constituents, makes the argumentation of many proponents of emergentism lacking in coherency and precision. In this article I aim at answering the suggestion of (...) several thinkers to redefine emergence and downward causation in terms of the broader Aristotelian view of causation. In addition, I further develop this interdisciplinary conversation to include theological implications of emergentism, analyzed in reference to Aquinas’ understanding of divine action in terms of the same fourfold division of causes—bringing thus natural science, philosophy, and theology into creative and fruitful dialogue. (shrink)

Joseph Ratzinger has never produced one theological opus that would encompass his whole theological vision and its corollaries in particular matters. However, despite this, during his long and prolific theological career, in his many publications and interventions he has touched upon nearly every conceivable theological topic. Although these topics are often very diverse, they are also interrelated by the general intellectual framework on which Ratzinger operates. By analysing his insights about particular issues that, at first glance, may appear to have (...) little relationship with each other, it is possible to find some interesting connections that point to the existence of a greater vision. This article will examine the questions of power, authority and truth in Ratzinger's theology and will link the notions of politics and liturgy to demonstrate the existence of such a single, holistic approach. Questions that will be asked in this short study include: How does Ratzinger understand authority and power in general? What are some limits of power that, according to him, both secular and ecclesiastical authorities must recognise and respect? What are some threats to the correct understanding of legitimate authority in the church and in politics today? How do all these issues relate to the main principles of his theology as a whole? (shrink)

Peter Singer is one of the most famous bioethicists in the world. His controversial opinions disseminated in his countless publications and his undoubtedly good erudition made him very popular. Using logical arguments he always tries to prove that only a conscious being, a person, has the right to live. No wonder that his opponents call him "the famous death messenger". Australian philosopher is an ethic relativist in the way that he resigns from objective values in his conception. Moreover, he doesn't (...) approve unchangeable moral principles. According to him such moral values as 'good' and 'bad' are relative, depending on consequences which decide what is right in particular situation. He is polemical to traditional ethic adherents who value every human life. There is no objective life category in his conception. Life can be only considered according to its quality and, therefore, only beings possessing feelings and consciousness are subjects of morality. They only have the right to live. (shrink)

This article examines the dynamics that allowed the derogatory term “Ostjuden” to reappear in academic writing in post-Holocaust Germany. This article focuses on the period between 1980’s and 2000’s, complementing earlier studies that focused on the emergence of the term “Ostjuden” and on the complex representations of Eastern European Jews in Imperial and later Weimar Germany. It shows that, despite its well-evidenced discriminatory history, the term “Ostjuden” re-appeared in the scholarly writing in German and has also found its way into (...) German-speaking public history and journalism. This article calls for applying the adjectival term “osteuropäische Juden”, using a term that neither essentializes Eastern European Jews nor presents them in an oversimplified and uniform manner. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to point to the unsolved research problems connected to causation in the philosophy of economics. First, the paper defines causation and discusses two notable approaches, i.e. the realist theory of causation and the instrumentalist theory of causation. Second, it offers a review the current research activity focusing on the problem of causation in economics. Third, it discusses several case studies. On the grounds of comparison of the research practice of economists and the current issues (...) undertaken by the philosophers of economics, the paper concludes that there is a gap between the research practice and the normative methodological analyses and indicate the research questions that need to be addressed. (shrink)

Pod pewnymi względami niezaawansowany stan badań wirtualności w naukach informatycznych wskazuje na konieczność zgłębienia podstawowych kwestii jej dotyczących, tj. kwestii ontologicznych. Dopiero ich rozstrzygnięcie pozwoli rozwiązać zagadkę tworzenia i istnienia obiektów wirtualnych. Rozpatrzenie tych kwestii utrudnia fakt usuwania z dziedziny zainteresowań współczesnej filozofii metafizyki, a wraz z nią ontologii. Dlatego z powodów merytorycznej trafności odwołuję się do koncepcji ontologicznych oraz epistemologicznych, które mogą być wykorzystane do konstrukcji ontologicznych, wypracowanych dawniej w filozofii, które przez analogie lub inspiracje – jak wykazuję – (...) są obiecującymi kandydatami do zgłębienia zagadnień powstawania i istnienia obiektów wirtualnych. W artykule przedstawiam w skrótowej ekspozycji alternatywne rozstrzygnięcia tych dwóch problemów oraz status istnienia obiektów wirtualnych. Ujęcia te są inspirowane głównie przez relewantne poglądy Platona, Arystotelesa, Franza Brentano i Karla Poppera oraz zbiór koncepcji reprezentacji. (shrink)

W oparciu o koncepcję Richarda Rorty’ego oraz Hansa-Georga Gadamera poddano analizie hermeneutyczną ideę integracji estetycznej, oraz autokreacji a także omówiono ich znaczenie dla transformacji paradygmatycznej, której efektem jest społeczeństwo ponowoczesne. Przedstawiono relację pomiędzy poznawczą i integrującą funkcją doświadczenia sztuki. Wykorzystując argumentację Stanisława Ignacego Witkiewicza omówiono związki pomiędzy doświadczeniem katastrofy historycznej a możliwością transformacji paradygmatycznej. Przedstawiono powody, dla których integracja estetyczna nie może stać się narzędziem powstrzymującym katastrofę. On experiencing catastrophe, art and postmodern society Basing on the concept by Richard Rorty (...) and Hans George Gadamer a hermeneutic idea of aesthetic integration and self-creation is analysed and their significance for paradigmatic transformation, which results in postmodern society, is discussed. The relation between cognitive and integrating function of experiencing the art is presented. Relations between experiencing historical catastrophes and the opportunity of paradigmatic transformation are discussed with the use of the argumentation of Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. The reasons why aesthetic integration cannot become the tool to stop the catastrophe are presented. (shrink)

The current strategy of searching for an effective treatment for COVID-19 relies mainly on repurposing existing therapies developed to target other diseases. Conflicting results have emerged in regard to the efficacy of several tested compounds but later results were negative. The number of conducted and ongoing trials and the urgent need for a treatment pose the risk that false-positive results will be incorrectly interpreted as evidence for treatments’ efficacy and a ground for drug approval. Our purpose is twofold. First, we (...) show that the number of drug-repurposing trials can explain the false-positive results. Second, we assess the evidence for treatments’ efficacy from the perspective of evidential pluralism and argue that considering mechanistic evidence is particularly needed in cases when the evidence from clinical trials is conflicting or of low quality. Our analysis is an application of the program of Evidence Based Medicine Plus to the drug repurposing trials for COVID. Our study shows that if decision-makers applied EBM+, authorizing the use of ineffective treatments would be less likely. We analyze the example of trials assessing the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 and mechanistic evidence in favor of and against its therapeutic power to draw a lesson for decision-makers and drug agencies on how excessive hypothesis testing can lead to spurious findings and how studying negative mechanistic evidence can be helpful in discriminating genuine from spurious results. (shrink)

Conflicting results undermine making inferences from the empirical literature. So far, the replication crisis is mainly seen as resulting from honest errors and questionable research practices such as p-hacking or the base-rate fallacy. I discuss the malleability (researcher degrees of freedom) of quantitative research and argue that conflicting results can emerge from two studies using different but plausible designs (e.g., eligibility criteria, operationalization of concepts, outcome measures) and statistical methods. I also explore how the choices regarding study design and statistical (...) techniques bias results in a way that makes them more or less relevant for a given policy or clinical question. (shrink)

The results of econometric modeling are fragile in the sense that minor changes in estimation techniques or sample can lead to statistical models that support inconsistent causal hypotheses. The fragility of econometric results undermines making conclusive inferences from the empirical literature. I argue that the program of evidential pluralism, which originated in the context of medicine and encapsulates to the normative reading of the Russo-Williamson Thesis that causal claims need the support of both difference-making and mechanistic evidence, offers a ground (...) for resolving empirical disagreements. I analyze a recent econometric controversy regarding the tax elasticity of cigarette consumption and smoking intensity. Both studies apply plausible estimation techniques but report inconsistent results. I show that mechanistic evidence allows for discriminating econometric models representing genuine causal relations from accidental dependencies in data. Furthermore, I discuss the differences between biological and social mechanisms and mechanistic evidence across the disciplines. I show that economists mainly rely on mathematical models to represent possible mechanisms. Still, claiming the actuality of the represented mechanisms requires establishing that crucial assumptions of these models are descriptively adequate. I exemplify my approach to assessing the quality of mechanistic evidence in economics with an analysis of two models of rational addiction. (shrink)

A considerable group of contemporary philosophers and theologians—including those engaged in the science-theology dialogue, such as Barbour, Clayton, Davies, and Peacocke—supports panentheism, i.e., a theistic position which assumes that the world is in God, who is yet greater than everything he created. They see it as a balanced middle ground between the positions of classical theism and pantheism. In this article, I offer a presentation and a critical evaluation of the most fundamental principles of panentheism from the point of view (...) of classical theism. First, I list six main species of panentheism and the motivations of those who support it. In the second part, I analyze the three main difficulties concerning its ontological and theological principles, i.e., (1) the meaning of the preposition ‘in’ (_en_) in ‘pan_en_theism’; (2) the accuracy of panentheistic definition of divine immanence, and (3) the question of whether panentheism is successful in protecting God’s transcendence. I conclude that panentheism fails as a Christian theistic position. Nevertheless, it might still be valuable and play an important role in addressing the cognitive drama of the modern human beings, often seduced by secular (scientific) or spiritual naturalism, or pantheism. (shrink)

In this paper two concepts of psychologism in logic are outlined: the one which Frege and Husserl fought against and the new psychologism, or cognitivism, which underlies a cognitive turn in contemporary logic. Four issues such cognitively oriented logic should be interested in are indicated. They concern: new fields opened for logical analysis, new methods and tools needed to address these fields, neural basis of logical reasoning, and an educational problem: how to teach such logic? Several challenging questions, which arise (...) in the context of these issues, are listed. (shrink)

[The paper is in Polish, an English abstract is given only for information.] This article is intended for philosophers and logicians as a short partial introduction to category theory and its peculiar connection with logic. First, we consider CT itself. We give a brief insight into its history, introduce some basic definitions and present examples. In the second part, we focus on categorical topos semantics for propositional logic. We give some properties of logic in toposes, which, in general, is an (...) intuitionistic logic. We next present two families of toposes whose tautologies are identical with those of classical propositional logic. The relatively extensive bibliography is given in order to support further studies. (shrink)

Awareness of mortality is one of the key aspects of human existence. Death goes beyond the boundary of knowledge, mortality. However, it is actually experienced by man as something inevitable. Death is a fact – the end of life, and the experience of mortality is one of the borderline situations. In the essay, the author puts forward the thesis that the experience of mortality has a significant impact on the human understanding of values. Attitudes towards death be it fear, resignation, (...) indifference, fascination, mourning, sadness, despair after the loss of a loved one, or the desire for death, indicate the wealth of the world of value of axiological experience. The attitude of the person towards death, in some sense, is a test of our humanity, the principal value to which we refer most often. The author of the essay adopts the position of axiological relationalism, it implies that values are independent of the subject, they form a network of relational connections, but they are in a significant way connected with culture. The study of these connections: 1) with the world of people, 2) world of things, 3) internal relations that take place between values, allows us to get to know the complex structure of the world of values. In the article, the author analyzes in what sense mortality influences human understanding of values. (shrink)