Advocates of moral enhancement through pharmacological, genetic, or other direct interventions sometimes explicitly argue, or assume without argument, that traditional moral education and development is insufficient to bring about moral enhancement. Traditional moral education grounded in a Kohlbergian theory of moral development is indeed unsuitable for that task; however, the psychology of moral development and education has come a long way since then. Recent studies support the view that moral cognition is a higher-order process, unified at a functional level, and (...) that a specific moral faculty does not exist. It is more likely that moral cognition involves a number of different mechanisms, each connected to other cognitive and affective processes. Taking this evidence into account, we propose a novel, empirically informed approach to moral development and education, in children and adults, which is based on a cognitive-affective approach to moral dispositions. This is an interpretative approach that derives from the cognitive-affective personality system (Mischel and Shoda, 1995). This conception individuates moral dispositions by reference to the cognitive and affective processes that realise them. Conceived of in this way, moral dispositions influence an agent's behaviour when they interact with situational factors, such as mood or social context. Understanding moral dispositions in this way lays the groundwork for proposing a range of indirect methods of moral enhancement, techniques that promise similar results as direct interventions whilst posing fewer risks. (shrink)

'The infinite! No other question has ever moved so profoundly the spirit of man; no other idea has so fruitfully stimulated his intellect; yet no other concept stands in greater need of clarification than that of the infinite.' David Hilbert (1862-1943). This interdisciplinary study of infinity explores the concept through the prism of mathematics and then offers more expansive investigations in areas beyond mathematical boundaries to reflect the broader, deeper implications of infinity for human intellectual thought. More than a dozen (...) world-renowned researchers in the fields of mathematics, physics, cosmology, philosophy, and theology offer a rich intellectual exchange among various current viewpoints, rather than a static picture of accepted views on infinity. The book starts with a historical examination of the transformation of infinity from a philosophical and theological study to one dominated by mathematics. It then offers technical discussions on the understanding of mathematical infinity. Following this, the book considers the perspectives of physics and cosmology: Can infinity be found in the real universe? Finally, the book returns to questions of philosophical and theological aspects of infinity"--Provided by publisher. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Schopenhauer's argument against suicide has served as a punching bag for many modern-day commentators. Dale Jacquette, Sandra Shapshay, and David Hamlyn all argue that the premises of this argument or its conclusion are inconsistent with Schopenhauer's wider metaphysical and ethical project. This paper defends Schopenhauer from these charges. Along the way, it examines the relations between suicide, death by voluntary starvation, negation of the will, compassion, and Schopenhauer's critiques of cynicism and stoicism. The paper concludes that there may be (...) gaps in Schopenhauer's system, but not where the aforementioned commentators tried to locate them. (shrink)

In recent decades, societal perceptions about sexuality have undergone immense changes, which in turn led to substantial reform of states’ criminal regulation of sexual misconduct. Traditional Angl...

This paper reviews some reasons for us believing that dreams are phenomenally conscious experiences. I point out that if dreams would be such then one should be able to draw analogies between them and waking conscious experiences at the level of folk psychology, behavior, and neuroanatomy. Instead, we find disanalogies at all these levels, so while we may have no strong reason to accept that dreams are unconscious, we have good reason to think they are different from conscious experiences. A (...) safer bet is to think that they form a distinct sui generis psychological category. Sleep science should wait for consciousness science and until then treat its subject matter as distinct. (shrink)

Our present knowledge in the field of dynamical systems, information theory, probability theory and other similar domains indicates that the human brain is a complex dynamical system working in a strong chaotic regime in which random processes play important roles. In this environment our mental life develops. To choose a logically ordered sequence from a random or almost random stream of thoughts is a difficult and energy consuming task. The only domain in which we are able to do this with (...) a full success is mathematics. Leibniz’s life ambition was to extend this success, with the help of what he called _characteristica universalis_, to other areas of human activity. The belief that this is possible lies at the basis of Leibniz’s rationalist system. Reasoning within his system, Leibniz claimed that also fundamental laws of physics can be deduced from the “first principles”. Just as linguistic or conceptual units are at the basis of the _charactersistica universalis_, his monads are responsible for physical activity of material bodies. When this rationalistic strategy is applied to the philosophy of space and time, it leads to their radically relational conception. Leibniz’s rationalistic approach to philosophy and science arouses out sympathy but it was Newton’s mathematical-empirical method that turned out to be effective in human endeavour to understand the functioning of the physical world. Successes of the Newtonian method compel us to revise our concept of rationality. (shrink)

Comparison of economic growth in mixed economy and socialist economic systems - reviews economic theories thereon, provides a framework for the economic analysis of acceleration of growth under different initial conditions and for introducing political choice into the economic planning process, includes work on the selection of investment projects in a planning context, as implemented in Poland, and emphasizes political aspects of economic problems.

The phenomenon of immersion mainly appears and relates to human existence in the interactive electronic environment. Immersion can produce an experience of electronically generated reality, which consists of feelings similar to those known from the experience of the physical world and can influence our sensuous and intentional attitude. A person enters the electronic world, frequently finding there the value of being and a sphere for her/his own activity, which can release personality and produce the kind of emotional attitude which sometimes (...) possibly does not appear in the physical world. Immersion was also described in electronic interactive art as a phenomenon which operates on the basis of aesthetic experience, where it is connected with feelings of being surrounded by outside influences, or with the “absorption” of perceiver by the work of art. The description of immersion on the basis of interactive artbecame the foundation for treating it as a general feature of art and also makes it possible to treat art as an immersive environment, where immersion becomes a historical notion, shaped by the historical development. (shrink)

In the first part of the article the concept of associative duties and their justification as distinctive from general moral duties are analyzed. The second part considers associative duties to fellow citizens and distinguishing features of those duties such as reciprocity, mutuality and equal status. In the final part the author deals with specific cases concerning refugees and stresses arguments as to why the associative duties of cocitizens should overcome duties to refugees, as well as the failures of those arguments. (...) It is argued that the status of refugees is different from the status of other non-citizens, such as immigrants, due to the lack of institutional representation and protection. (shrink)

The aim of the two studies (N = 245 and N = 199) was to investigate the predictors of environmental guilt and analyze its mediating role between human-nature relationship and pro-environmental behavior intentions. In the first study, the connectedness to nature and social dominance orientation emerged as predictors of environmental guilt. In addition, guilt was an important mediator of the relationship between the connectedness and individual pro- environmental behavior. In the second study, guilt was predicted by gender, by locating the (...) causes of the climate crisis in human activities rather than in the Earth's natural cycles, and by environmental nostalgia. In addition, guilt mediated the relationship between environmental nostalgia and willingness to engage in collective action and support systemic changes. Thus, environmental guilt seems to be an important factor in predicting a wide range of environmentally friendly activities: individual behavioral intentions, willingness to engage in collective actions, and support for systemic changes. (shrink)

The subject of responsibility has lately become very important in the context of the economic crisis. In economy, it took the form of social responsibility. It concerns activities additionally undertaken by organizations in order to establish correct relations with their employees and society, as well as with regard to the natural environment. Therefore, a very important role is played by the ethos of the undertaken socially responsible actions. To a large extent it is reflected in the ethical dimension. Thus, in (...) enterprises, codes of ethics have become a base of axiology in building of the organization cultures. Unfortunately, Polish companies – as shown in the paper – still attach a minor role to the ethical dimension of business. (shrink)

This paper provides an analysis of the way in which two foundational principles of medical ethics–the trusted doctor and patient autonomy–can be undermined by the use of machine learning (ML) algorithms and addresses its legal significance. This paper can be a guide to both health care providers and other stakeholders about how to anticipate and in some cases mitigate ethical conflicts caused by the use of ML in healthcare. It can also be read as a road map as to what (...) needs to be done to achieve an acceptable level of explainability in an ML algorithm when it is used in a healthcare context. (shrink)

This ground-breaking collection of essays tackles the philosophical issues at play in cosmology, physics, mathematics, and neuroscience. The book considers topics such as the presence of ontology in cosmological theory and physics. It also weighs the philosophical issues connected with mathematical method, the neuroscience of emotions, and evolutionary anthropology. The contributions look at structuralism in the Platonic philosophy of science and the issue of knowledge and faith. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the philosophy of science (...) and the increasingly blurred borders between the two. (shrink)

The paper contains a comment on the criticism of the author's book Początek jest wszędzie (Prószynski i S-ka, 2002) by Marek Lagosz ("Przegląd Filozoficzny - Nowa Seria, 14, 2005, 121-133). The comment focuses on the following issues: (1) the conception of philosophy of physics; (2) some methodological questions, especially the role of models in physics; (3) some explanations concerning the model proposed by the present author and his coworkers. A few "ideological remarks" are also made.

In the previous paper (Filozofia Nauki No 3-4, 1994, pp. 7-17) we have shown how the initial and final singularities in the closed Friedman world model can be analysed in terms of the structured spaces in spite of the fact that these singularities constitute the single point in the b-boundary of space-time. In the present paper we generalize our approach by using methods of noncommutative geometry. We construct a noncommutative algebra in terms of which geometry of space-time with singularities can (...) be developed. This algebra admits a representation in the space of operators on a Hilbert space, and the initial and final singularities in the closed Friedman model are given by its two distinct representations. The striking feature of this approach is its analogy with the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics. (shrink)

In this book - which is written by the 2008 Templeton Prize laureate Michael Heller - the problems of chance and probability are seen in light of the advancements of physics and biology. Heller's claim is that chance finds its place within the structure of the universe and cosmic evolution. His insightful remarks may be considered a critique of both Dawkins' 'blind watchmaker' approach and Dembski's 'intelligent design' perspective. Heller is a cosmologist, a philosopher, the director of the Copernicus Center (...) for Interdisciplinary Studies in Krakow, a professor at the John Paul II University in Krakow, and an adjunct member of the Vatican Observatory. (shrink)

This paper provides an analysis of Martin Buber’s not very well-known essay “Distance and Relation”, which is his most relevant contribution to philosophical anthropology. In the essay, which was published almost thirty years after the publication of his most famous book, I and Thou, Buber elaborated on the anthropological foundations of his cosmic vision of dialogical life. The central question is “How is man possible?” Buber’s answer is very important to the further development of his principle of dialogue in psychology (...) (primarily his notion of confirmation) and philosophy of art, but it is not quite clear how compatible it is with some of his earlier theses from I and Thou. In particular, the relation between “distance” and the I-It relation is unclear. There are two seemingly contradictory statements: “In the beginning is the relation” and “The primal distance is a presupposition of the relation”. The aim of this paper is to examine these anthropological foundations and to elucidate this apparent contradiction. (shrink)

We provide a new proof of the following Pałasińska's theorem: Every finitely generated protoalgebraic relation distributive equality free quasivariety is finitely axiomatizable. The main tool we use are ${\mathcal{Q}}$ Q -relation formulas for a protoalgebraic equality free quasivariety ${\mathcal{Q}}$ Q . They are the counterparts of the congruence formulas used for describing the generation of congruences in algebras. Having this tool in hand, we prove a finite axiomatization theorem for ${\mathcal{Q}}$ Q when it has definable principal ${\mathcal{Q}}$ Q -subrelations. This (...) is a property obtained by carrying over the definability of principal subcongruences, invented by Baker and Wang for varieties, and which holds for finitely generated protoalgebraic relation distributive equality free quasivarieties. (shrink)

Norway is perceived as a country with a clear international identity. The aim of the article is to investigate the sports diplomacy of Norway and to examine its influence on the international brand of this country. The author will define the term “sports diplomacy” and attempt to outline the strategy of Norway’s public diplomacy; an analysis of the methods used in Norwegian sports diplomacy will follow. The main hypothesis of this paper is that sports diplomacy only plays a subsidiary role (...) in Norwegian nation branding. (shrink)

This article presents a new model aimed at predicting behavior in games involving a randomized allocation procedure. It is designed to capture the relative importance and interaction between procedural justice (defined crudely in terms of the difference between one’s expected payoff and average expected payoff in the group) and distributive justice (difference between own and average actual payoffs). The model is applied to experimental games, including “randomized” variations of simple sequential bargaining games, and delivers qualitatively correct predictions. In view of (...) the model redistribution of income can be seen as a substitute for vertical social mobility. This contributes to the explanation of greater demand for redistribution in European countries vis-a-vis the United States. I conclude with suggestions for further verification of the model and possible extensions. (shrink)