Table of ContentsAndrzej KLAWITER, Krzystof #ASTOWSKI: Introduction: Originality, Courage and Responsibility List of Books by Leszek NowakSelected Bibliography of Leszek Nowak's WritingsScience and Idealization Theo A.F. KUIPERS: On Two ...

The edited collection Rorty and Beyond assesses and moves beyond Rorty’s legacy, bringing together leading international philosophers. The collection covers diverse territory, from his views about what we may hope for to his personal character, and everything in between.

The article concentrates on answering the main question to be addressed, as stated in its title: which psychology(ies) serves us best? In order to achieve this goal, we pursue possible answers in history of psychology of religion and its interdisciplinary relationships with its sister disciplines, anthropology of religion and religious studies, resulting with sketching a typology of the main attitudes towards conceptualising psycho-cultural interface, prevalent among psychologists: the Universalist, the Absolutist and the Relativist stances. Next chosen examples from the field (...) of applied psychology are presented, as the role of the cultural factor within the history of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’ ( DSM) development is discussed alongside presenting research on the phenomenon of ‘hearing voices’, in order to show the marked way for the future – the importance of including the cultural factor in psychological research on religion. (shrink)

The article concerns the problem of reference in general, and the controversy internalism - externalism in particular. The author presents and discusses John R. Searle's criticism of Hilary Putnam's famous arguments for causal theory of reference: the elms-beech example and the Twin Earth example. Instead of external theory of reference Searle proposes his own intentional theory of reference. According to that theory the reference of a name is determined by intentional content of that name. The name is used properly only (...) when used to indicate an object contained in its intentional content. On the ground of intentional theory of reference this feature of names is called casual self-referentiality. Searle underlines that intentional content is not necessarily verbal. In fact he allows non-conceptual, for example perceptual content. The problem of direct reference is closely connected to the question of de dicto and de re beliefs. In conclusion some drawbacks of Searle's theory are shown. Namely allowing object a name refers to to be a part of the intentional content of the name Searle seems to be very close external theory of reference he is fighting against. (shrink)

The proposal that probabilistic inference and unconscious hypothesis testing are central to information processing in the brain has been steadily gaining ground in cognitive neuroscience and associated fields. One popular version of this proposal is the new theoretical framework of predictive processing or prediction error minimization, which couples unconscious hypothesis testing with the idea of ‘active inference’ and claims to offer a unified account of perception and action. Here we will consider one outstanding issue that still looms large at the (...) core of the PEM framework: the lack of a clear criterion for distinguishing conscious states from unconscious ones. In order to fulfill the promise of becoming a unifying framework for describing and modeling cognition, PEM needs to be able to differentiate between conscious and unconscious mental states or processes. We will argue that one currently popular view, that the contents of conscious experience are determined by the ‘winning hypothesis’, falls short of fully accounting for conscious experience. It ignores the possibility that some states of a system can control that system’s behavior even though they are apparently not conscious. What follows from this is that the ‘winning hypothesis’ view does not provide a complete account of the difference between conscious and unconscious states in the probabilistic brain. We show how this problem for the received view can be resolved by augmenting PEM with Daniel Dennett’s multiple drafts model of consciousness. This move is warranted by the similar roles that attention and internal competition play in both the PEM framework and the multiple drafts model. (shrink)

This article discusses places and practices of young heterosexual Malaysian Muslims dating in non-private urban spaces. It is based on research conducted in Kuala Lumpur (KL) in two consecutive summers 2016 and 2017. Malaysian law (Khalwat law) does not allow for two unrelated people (where at least one of them is Muslim) of opposite sexes to be within ‘suspicious proximity’ of one another in public. This law significantly influences behaviors and activities in urban spaces in KL. In addition to the (...) legal framework, the beliefs of Malaysian muslims significantly influence the way they perceive space and how they behave in the city. The article discusses the empirical theme, beginning with the participants’ narratives of their engagement with the dominant sexual and gender order in non-private spaces of KL. Utilizing questionnaires, interviews and observations, this paper draws upon a qualitative research project and questions the analytical usefulness of the notion of public space (as a Western construct) in the context of an Islamic, postcolonial, tropical, global city. (shrink)

Several authors have investigated the question of whether canonical logic-based accounts of belief revision, and especially the theory of AGM revision operators, are compatible with the dynamics of Bayesian conditioning. Here we show that Leitgeb's stability rule for acceptance, which has been offered as a possible solution to the Lottery paradox, allows to bridge AGM revision and Bayesian update: using the stability rule, we prove that AGM revision operators emerge from Bayesian conditioning by an application of the principle of maximum (...) entropy. In situations of information loss, or whenever the agent relies on a qualitative description of her information state - such as a plausibility ranking over hypotheses, or a belief set - the dynamics of AGM belief revision are compatible with Bayesian conditioning; indeed, through the maximum entropy principle, conditioning naturally generated AGM revision operators. This mitigates an impossibility theorem of Lin and Kelly for tracking Bayesian conditioning with AGM revision, and suggests an approach to the compatibility problem that highlights the information loss incurred by acceptance rules in passing from probabilistic to qualitative representations of beliefs. (shrink)

Author: Warzonkowski Krzysztof Title: EDMUND BURKE’S AESTHETIC THEORY IN THE LIGHT OF THE AESTHETICS OF KANT (Koncepcja estetyczna Edmunda Burke’a w świetle Kantowskiej estetyki) Source: Filo-Sofija year: 2005, vol:.5, number: 2005/1, pages: 65-90 Keywords: BURKE, KANT, KANTIAN AESTHETIC Discipline: PHILOSOPHY Language: POLISH Document type: ARTICLE Publication order reference (Primary author’s office address): E-mail: www:The attempts to justify aesthetic judgments, searching the conditions of their validity as well as effords of grasping the essence of beauty have inspired the works of (...) many philosophers. In the present article two philosophical traditions are compared: empiricism of Edmund Burke and transcendental philosophy of Immanuel Kant. In this way different consequences of the basic presumptions underlying the aesthetic theories can be easily found. The aim of the article is to stress the differences. More specifically the different questions to which both philosophers sought proper answers are pointed: Burke’s question of the objective qualities causing the experience of beauty and sublimity and Kantian problem of possibility of the purely aesthetical judgment. Also the difference of the concept of taste is examined. Finally the Burke’s aesthetics is criticised on the grounds of Kant’s concept of the reflexive power of judgment. (shrink)

Celem artykułu jest przybliżenie powstania oddziału Towarzystwa „Dante Alighieri” we Lwowie w 1929 r., źródłowego. U podstaw zainicjowania działania towarzystwa leżały inspiracje kulturowe oparte na polsko-włoskich relacjach towarzyskich pomiędzy konsulem Włoch w Katowicach, Ferrucciem de Luppis, a rodziną Adama i Janiny de Lambert Ebenbergerów, które zostaną przybliżone w artykule. Istotną rolę w tym względzie odegrały także osoby związane z Uniwersytetem Jana Kazimierza we Lwowie, w którego murach – dzięki zaangażowaniu prof. Edmunda Bulandy – towarzystwo znalazło swoją siedzibę.

The Joint International Conference on Logic Programming, sponsored by the Association for Logic Programming, is a major forum for presentations of research, applications, and implementations in this important area of computer science. Logic programming is one of the most promising steps toward declarative programming and forms the theoretical basis of the programming language Prolog and its various extensions. Logic programming is also fundamental to work in artificial intelligence, where it has been used for nonmonotonic and commonsense reasoning, expert systems implementation, (...) deductive databases, and applications such as computer-aided manufacturing. Krzysztof R. Apt is project leader at the Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science in Amsterdam and part-time Professor in Computer Science at the University of Amsterdam. Topics covered: Theory Foundations. Programming Languages. Implementation. Programming Methodologies and Tools. Applications. Deductive Databases. Artificial Intelligence. Parallelism. (shrink)

The introspective devices framework proposed by Kammerer and Frankish (this issue) offers an attractive conceptual tool for evaluating and developing accounts of introspection. However, the framework assumes that different views about the nature of introspection can be easily evaluated against a set of common criteria. In this paper, I set out to test this assumption by analysing two formal models of introspection using the introspective device framework. The question I aim to answer is not only whether models developed outside of (...) philosophy can be successfully evaluated against the set of conceptual criteria proposed by Kammerer and Frankish, but also whether this kind of evaluation can reveal some limitations inherent to the framework. (shrink)

According to a prevailing view, conceptual engineering introduces a revolutionary philosophical methodology, challenging traditional conceptual analysis. However, in our paper, we argue that closer scrutiny reveals not only the falsity but also the inherent ambiguity of this narrative. We explore four interpretations of the "Anti-Novelty Claim", the claim that conceptual engineering is not a new way of doing philosophy. Discussing the Anti-Novelty Claim from the perspective of a text’s producer, the text’s consumers, and the exegetical potential of the text, we (...) examine each perspective’s metaphilosophical implications and demonstrate that taking each perspective requires different methods. Adopting these different methods, we argue that the different interpretations of the Anti-Novelty Claim range from nearly trivially true to unlikely but untested. Importantly, we emphasize that each interpretation offers unique philosophical insights, yet addressing them requires diverse types of evidence, preventing a singular, straightforward answer to whether conceptual engineering is new. (shrink)

The Flame of Eternity provides a reexamination and new interpretation of Nietzsche's philosophy and the central role that the concepts of eternity and time, as he understood them, played in it. According to Krzysztof Michalski, Nietzsche's reflections on human life are inextricably linked to time, which in turn cannot be conceived of without eternity. Eternity is a measure of time, but also, Michalski argues, something Nietzsche viewed first and foremost as a physiological concept having to do with the body. (...) The body ages and decays, involving us in a confrontation with our eventual death. It is in relation to this brute fact that we come to understand eternity and the finitude of time. Nietzsche argues that humanity has long regarded the impermanence of our life as an illness in need of curing. It is this "pathology" that Nietzsche called nihilism. Arguing that this insight lies at the core of Nietzsche's philosophy as a whole, Michalski seeks to explain and reinterpret Nietzsche's thought in light of it. Michalski maintains that many of Nietzsche's main ideas--including his views on love, morality (beyond good and evil), the will to power, overcoming, the suprahuman (or the overman, as it is infamously referred to), the Death of God, and the myth of the eternal return--take on new meaning and significance when viewed through the prism of eternity. (shrink)

"Working from newly available texts in Heidegger's Complete Works, Krzysztof Ziarek presents Heidegger at his most radical and demonstrates how the thinker's daring use of language is an integral part of his philosophical expression. Ziarek emphasizes the liberating potential of language as an event that discloses being and amplifies Heidegger's call for a transformative approach to poetry, power, and ultimately, philosophy."--Publisher's website.

Author: Nowak Krzysztof Title: THE STATUS OF THE CATEGORY OF WORK IN THE CRITICAL THEORY OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTION. THE CONTROVERSY OVER JÜRGEN HABERMAS’ INTERACTIVE CONCEPT OF WORK (Status kategorii pracy w krytycznej teorii działania komunikacyjnego. Kontrowersje wokół Jürgena Habermasa interakcyjnego pojęcia pracy) Source: Filo-Sofija year: 2005, vol:.5, number: 2005/1, pages: 221-242 Keywords: HABERMAS, CATEGORY OF WORK, CRITICAL THEORY OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTION Discipline: PHILOSOPHY Language: POLISH Document type: ARTICLE Publication order reference (Primary author’s office address): E-mail: www:In this article I (...) investigate the question of normative devaluation of the category of work, which took place in Jürgen Habermas’ critical theory of communicative action. As it turned out, his redefinition of the concept of work was only a part of a broader shift in the area of Critical Theory, that is, a shift from production paradigm (but not work paradigm) to the communication paradigm. In this context I want to show, that the reconceptualization of work was based on the thesis about the end of the work-based society. Next, I am going to present a new critical framework which enabled Jürgen Habermas to make a diagnosis of contemporary condition of the social category of work. Finally, I will argue that the category of work proposed by Jürgen Habermas – despite an opinion of the author of the Theory of communicative action – still possesses – unrealized emancipatory potential. (shrink)

Krzysztof Ziarek's essay, The Return to Philosophy? or: Heidegger and the Task of Thinking, constitutes a response to Russell. While Ziarek admits that there is some philological sense in the attempt to read Heidegger through a transcendental optics, he argues that philosophically this strategy risks covering-up the most significant developments of Heidegger's thinking. Whilst it might be said that the attempt to locate a transcendental reduction in Heidegger only ever applies to his early work, and in particular Being and (...) Time, to distinguish between an 'early transcendental Heidegger' in opposition to a 'late history-of-being Heidegger' makes the living development of his work invisible in that it reduces philosophical thought to systems of positive, affirmative judgements. Against such a reduction not only in, but also of Heidegger's work, Ziarek mobilizes the insights that develop explicitly during the 1930s, which constitute a radical break not only with transcendental ' phenomenology, but also with philosophical, metaphysical thought as such. (shrink)

One position on the interpretation of purposefulness adopted by Neo-Thomists says that the principle of purposefulness has universal significance, because it concerns every entity that can be defined by the term “action”: i.e. every entity which exists and can only be known through some form of action. Entities work to preserve their existence, and their pursuit of survival seems to be the purpose of their actions. So, if entities are already working, then they must also be working purposefully. We can (...) encounter philosophers who hold that every action is purposeful in the representatives of the Lublin School, such as M.A. Krąpiec OP, A. Maryniarczyk, S. Mazierski. All three of these have based their views about purposefulness on Aristotle’s teleological considerations. The present article will examine how the views of the abovementioned scholars on teleology, based on Aristotle’s philosophy of purposefulness from 2000 years ago, explain reality. (shrink)

Book review: Polska filozofia chrześcijańska XX wieku. Stanisław Kamiński, Kazimierz Marek Wolsza [Polish Christian Philosophy: Stanisław Kamiński and Kazimierz Marek Wolsza]. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Akademii Ignatianum w Krakowie, 2019, ss. 232.

In the article I focus on a few philosophical issues which are characteristic for Fukuyama’s theory, such as: historicalness, idea of common history, freedom, human nature and thymos, being the component of human mentality propelling the course of history, according to Fukuyama’s reading of Plato. We are also able to take a look at the role of natural science in the development of history process and specific mechanism propelling human actions. The mechanism is Hegelian attitude of the struggle for recognition (...) in which an individual goes beyond its biological needs and base motives of actions, at the same time heading for the accomplishment of higher objectives. Reporting Fukuyama’s ideas I also try to verify his hypothesis concerning the end of history which has been approaching since the establishment of liberal democracy; in the further part of the article I try to verify how different his views on human nature are from those of such philosophers as Hobbes, Rousseau, finally Kant and Hegel. (shrink)

The present paper is a response, of sorts, to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID) and lockdown that we all must face. We have an idea of what doctors, nurses, teachers, among many of the other professions, do for the general public, but one may ask whether there is something substantial that philosophers and ethicists can offer in these circumstances. The thesis of this paper is that the stoic attitude towards times of trouble and the pragmatist way of finding (...) out what is possible to elevate the quality of living against all odds, if skilfully interwoven, could be an important tool in keeping mental health in good shape and, additionally, could contribute to the cultural scene at large. If this is the case, stoic pragmatists can indeed offer an interesting example of practical philosophy for many audiences, especially during the pandemic lockdown and, perhaps, for other serious difficulties or problems. To be effective in delivering their message, stoic pragmatists, as most with philosophers today, should enrich their textual and oral modes of traditional transmission of knowledge and become digital-culture public intellectuals that can recognize and reach more general audiences by, among other things, visual modes of digital communication. (shrink)

The paper defends the view that that a significant part of metaphysics should be understood as conceptual engineering, and explores its epistemological advantages and metaphysical implications. It discusses the challenge raised by moderate modal skepticism, which points out the lack of reliable methods for verifying modal statements through thought experiments. As I argue, a normative stance on metaphysical methodology, understanding it as engaging in conceptual engineering project, justifies the use of this method. By adopting an approach where the method of (...) cases offers reasons for adopting specific normative constraints on concept usage, the method becomes justifiable. Consequently, it can be employed to justify the revision of conceptual schemes and, in turn, validate certain modal claims about entities falling under the scrutinized concepts. The paper explores how this approach can methodologically enrich conceptual engineering-focused perspectives in metaphysics and examines its metaphysical consequences. In particular, it demonstrates that despite the mind-dependency of the method of cases results, it still leaves room for a metaphysically realistic viewpoint. (shrink)

The discussion of the nature of consciousness seems to have stalled, with the “hard problem of consciousness” in its center, well-defined camps of realists and eliminativists at two opposing poles, and little to none room for agreement between. Recent attempts to move this debate forward by shifting them to a meta-level have heavily relied on the notion of “intuition”, understood in a rather liberal way. Against this backdrop, the goal of this paper is twofold. First, we want to highlight how (...) the ontological and epistemological status of intuitions restricts the arguments in the debate on consciousness that rely on them. Second, we want to demonstrate how the deadlock in those debates could be resolved through a study of a particular, “positive” kind of intuitions. We call this approach “The Canberrish Plan for Consciousness” as it adopts elements of the methodological “Canberra Plan”. (shrink)

Hobson & Friston (2014) outline a synthesis of Hobson's work on dreaming and consciousness with Friston’s work on the free energy principle and predictive coding. Whilst we are sympathetic with their claims about the function of dreaming and its relationship to consciousness, we argue that their endorsement of the Cartesian theatre metaphor is neither necessary nor desirable. Furthermore, if it were necessary then this endorsement would undermine their positive claims, as the Cartesian theatre metaphor is widely regarded as unsustainable. We (...) demonstrate this point and then develop an alternative formulation of their position that does not require the Cartesian theatre metaphor. Our positive goal is to clarify Hobson & Friston’s confusing usage of philosophical terminology, replacing it where possible with the more transparent language of the forward models framework. This will require some modifications to their account, which as it stands is philosophically and empirically unsustainable. (shrink)