Georgius Forster

(1754–1794)

LIMITES HISTORIAE NATURALIS ORATIO QUA LECTIONES SUAS IN ACADEMIA VILNENSI AUSPICATUS EST

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.2

ABSTRACT

The author presents his panoramic (and comprehensive) vision of natural history, including—in addition to botany, zoology and mineralogy—also issues in the field of sciences that only later emerged and became independent, such as general biology, geology and paleontology. He refers to his own experiences gained during numerous journeys, including the longest, three-year trip around the world3 (which resulted in, among others, the description of 75 new genera and 265 species of tropical flora). The philosophical foundation of his narrative is an original concept of nature (inorganic and organic) perceived in a holistic and evolutionary way.

Keywords: (materialistic) philosophy of nature of the 18th century, the idea of pre-biological and biological evolution.

 

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Richard Krzymowski

(1875–1960)

THE APPEARANCE OF LIFE

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.3

ABSTRACT

The article presents the hypothesis of the origin of life. All the basic ideas of the 20th century research program in this area can be found there: the extrapolation of Darwinism into the area of chemical evolution, the influence of solar energy, the large “chemical possibilities” of carbon compounds, early heterotrophy, the gradual increase of organic purpose as a result of natural selection.

Keywords: Biogenesis, chemical evolution, pre-biological natural selection.

 

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Vladimir V. Zemnukhov

Institute of Marine Biology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690059.

Email: zemnukhov1@ya.ru

THE ORIGIN OF LIFE: ATMOSPHERIC HYPOTHESIS

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.4

ABSTRACT

An original hypothesis of the origin of life in an atmosphere of ancient Earth is proposed. It is shown that the atmospheric conditions of ancient Earth had been beneficial not only for initial abiogenic synthesis of organic monomers, but also for their polymerization and decomposition of protobiopolymers. Protobionts are particles of water aerosol the size of 1–10 microns. The proposed hypothesis can tie together all relevant facts on the early Earth’s history, antiquity and ecology features of methanogenic Achaea, the small size of prokaryotes, the discovery of fossilized prokaryotes in meteorites and others. The hypothesis provides an opportunity to consider the evolution of all principal components of the cell in a continuous relationship with each other and with the environment, from the earliest stages of the origin of life. According to the proposed hypothesis, the origin of life can be considered in conjunction with the development of formation of biogeochemical cycles as a natural process, which is an integral part of the birth of planets.

Keywords: Origin of life, non-equilibrium, chirality, ancient Earth, atmosphere, protobionts, Venus.

 

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Alicja Kubica

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Email: alicewanderer@gmail.com

THE PROTOBIOLOGICAL THEORY OF CEILINGS AND FLOORS, OR CHEMICAL EVOLUTION AS A PLANETARY PROCESS

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.5

ABSTRACT

The article presents a modern protobiological theory based on the classical archetype. It connects the issues of origins of life with the theory of the hierarchy of matter and recognizes that error correction occurs within hierarchical and dynamic living systems. The paper briefly reproduces Morowitz-Smith prebiotic scenario. It highlights the importance of rTCA for theory, and the observation that the transition from a planet “without life” to a planet “with life” is a thermodynamic problem. Reflections on the philosophical foundations and worldview consequences of the theory are presented. The book and articles by the authors are crafted in a holistic approach and are critical towards the premature (and excessive) extrapolation of Darwinian selection as a means of explaining the process of abiogenesis.

Keywords: Origins of Life, chemical evolution, phase transitions.

 

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Alexander Prokofievich Rudenko

(1925–2004)

ON THE THEORY OF PREBIOTIC EVOLUTION

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.6

ABSTRACT

The main theorems of the theory of evolution of open catalytic systems are briefly presented. The difference between the “natural-historical” and “actualistic” approach to the problem of the origins of life was highlighted.

Keywords: biogenesis, theory of evolution of open catalytic systems.

 

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Marceli Nencki

(1847–1901)

ON THE BIOLOGICAL RELATION OF LEAF DYE TO BLOOD DYE

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.7

ABSTRACT

The author formulates conclusions for biological sciences from the discovery resulting from his cooperation with Leon Marchlewski. It is about the similarity of hematoporphyrin (a derivative of haemoglobin) isolated by Marceli Nencki and phylloporphyrin (a derivative of chlorophyll) obtained by Marchlewski, which suggests their genetic relationship, and thus a common origin of the world of animals and plants.

Keywords: Chlorophyll, haemoglobin, origins of the living world.

 

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Czesław Nowiński

(1907–1981)

SELF-ORGANIZATION AND THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.8

ABSTRACT

The author distinguishes three types of evolutionary theories: 1) ahistorical theories, constructed according to the methodological patterns of classical physics (mechanics), 2) supra-historical theories, in which the historical nature of the evolutionary process is reflected in a more complete (than only in the sense of the chronology of events) and richer, but its mechanism remains unchanged—“taken out of history,” 3) fully historical theories, recognizing that the factors and mechanisms of evolution themselves are entangled in history: are subject to changes in the course of historical development. A prominent representative of the third type is the theory of Ivan I. Schmalhauzen. Some peculiarities of its methodological structure are analyzed. This analysis allowed to reveal the premises of the process of evolution understood as a process of self-organization and to determine the basis on which it can be concluded that the general theory of evolution is nothing else than a theory of biological organization.

Keywords: Synthetic theory of evolution, driving (and other) factors of evolution, theory of stabilizing selection, historical variability of factors and mechanisms of evolution.

 

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Krzysztof Łastowski

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Szamarzewskiego 89, 60–568 Poznań, Poland.

E-mail: krzysztof.lastowski@amu.edu.pl

THE MAIN EVOLUTIONARY IDEAS OF MODERN BIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE
An outline of the historical and methodological analysis

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.9

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to show the methodological principles that govern the interrelationship of the main ideas, concepts, and theories of modern biology. In recent years, several prominent biological researchers attempted to offer insights into the development of biological knowledge. However, a critical examination of these attempts indicates that a methodological analysis is a more fitting approach for achieving this goal. Indeed, the challenge of establishing inter-theoretical connections between biological theories and discoveries falls not within the purview of biology itself but rather within the methodology of biology. This paper explores the key research findings that determine the vertical order of biological knowledge, thereby deepening our cognitive understanding of this field. It also explores the theoretical advancements that expand the horizontal scope of this knowledge. The conceptual framework is illustrated through two diagrams Map I and Map II, which illustrate the methodological structure of biological ideas, concepts, and theories from the era of Linnaeus to the early 21st century. Map II further demonstrates how complex explanatory narratives can be constructed based on contemporary biological and evolutionary knowledge.

Keywords: Aggregation, evolutionary biology, disaggregation, history and levels of biological knowledge, map of biological ideas and theories, methodological relationships.

 

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Paweł Grieb

Mossakowski Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.

E-mail: pgrieb@op.pl

THE ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL MATTER AND THE PROCESS OF EVOLUTION

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.10

ABSTRACT

The theory of biological evolution by natural selection and the theory of levels of biological organization are general concepts intended to enable understanding of the existence of biological matter defined as living organisms that reproduce sexually. These two theories were formulated independently of each other, but later their integration was postulated. This study is an attempt to implement such a postulate. The starting point is the statement that both theories concern the way in which biological matter composed of individuals constituting populations exists. The theory of biological organization is intended to explain the functioning of organisms by maintaining homeostasis (relative independence from the environment) during the life cycle, while the theory of evolution concerns the changes that populations undergo in response to a changing environment.

Keywords: Theory of biological evolution, biological organization, biological matter, living organisms.

 

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Adrianna Grabizna

Institute of Psychology at the University of Zielona Góra, Poland.

Email: a.grabizna@wns.uz.zgora.pl

 

THE EVO-DEVO AND ITS EPIGENETICS—
“A NEW BIOLOGY FOR PSYCHOLOGY”? THE CASE OF INHERITANCE OF THE ATTACHMENT STYLE

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.11

ABSTRACT

The Evolutionary Developmental Biology (in abbreviation Evo-Devo) gains in popularity among psychologists. It would be a “synthesis of development and evolution” which would finally allow a rapprochement of psychology and biology. The Evo-Devo redefines epigenetics and opposes it to the (alleged) genetic determinism, genetic reductionism and preformationism of the Modern Synthesis (MS), proposes the concept of the extended inheritance and a mechanism of inheritance of acquired characters, which are claimed to be (neo-) Lamarckian, fuses the three questions separated by the MS: the origin of variation, fate of variation and inheritance of variation. These points of the Evo-Devo’s programme particularly resonate with psychologists’ expectations: genes alone do not explain the question of transgenerationality, the ontogeny of the attachment, e.g. early experience with caregivers (e.g. separation and loss) have a long-term effects on adult development can span a person’s lifetime, can even span generations. However, in the paper I show that the inheritance of acquired characters is indeed impossible, that Lamarck never proposed a theory of the inheritance of acquired characters and that it is a confusion rather than fusion to link the question of the origin of variation, the question of development and the one of inheritance. If the Evo-Devo is so appealing to psychologists, it is not because there is “a new biology for psychology.” I show that psychologists’ attitude towards monism was ambivalent and such was the relationship between psychology and biology. The paper is a standpoint of a philosopher of biology interested in psychology.

Keywords: Evo-Devo; epigenetics, extended inheritance, transgenerationality, attachment style, dualism, mind-body problem.

 

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Andrzej Elżanowski

Department Artes Liberales, The University of Warsaw.

Email: elzanowski@al.uw.edu.pl

ON THE EVOLUTIONARY ORIGIN OF VALUES

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.12

 

Values drive not only human history, but our entire world, i.e. the biosphere. It would seem, therefore, that nothing can be more important for the future of the world than the theory or understanding of values. But in fact, scientific axiology is in a pre-paradigmatic stage of fragmented conceptualizations, i.e. there is no coherent theory of values as causal factors in the living world. Philosophers have reached a relative consensus only in distinguishing intrinsic values as resulting from states of mind or experiences (Narveson, 1967, p. 75; Frankena, 1973, pp. 81–82) from instrumental values, but beyond that there is no coherent conceptualization of other types of value (Nagel, 1979), whose relationship to immanent value usually remains undefined. Therefore, the question arises where do immanent values come from and how they relate to other categories of values.

 

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Adrianna Grabizna

Institute of Psychology at the University of Zielona Góra.

Email: a.grabizna@wns.uz.zgora.pl

FROM NAMES TO OBJECTS—PHILOSOPHICALLY ABOUT PSYCHIATRIC CLASSIFICATIONS

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.13

ABSTRACT

At each introduction of a new edition of psychiatric classifications, a vivid debate resurfaces and concerns their very validity: should classifications be based on etiology or should they be descriptive, based on observation, and not on some or other theories of etiopathogenesis? I shift the attention to the philosophical aspect of the debate. Psychiatric classifications employ (and have always employed) taxonomic methodology but in fact are not (and never were) based on biological mechanisms leading to mental disorders. Therefore I tried to catch the moment where certain observable features, recognized as symptoms, begins to be perceived as an ontologically independent entities and we start to think that nosological units must have a specific cause (e.g. a neuropathogenesis), which is simply reflected in the diagnostic picture. I tried to catch the moment, when by naming, classifying and diagnosing, we, in a sense, create objects. Then I show how from there we can slide into objectification: we can stop to see a person and start to an illness.

Keywords: psychiatric classifications, DSM, ICD, essentialism, nosography, abstraction.

 

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Alicja Kubica

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Email: alicewanderer@gmail.com

ON THE STRUGGLE OF SCIENTISTS WITH
THE EFFECTS OF POSITIVIST MYTHS FUNCTIONING IN THE LIFE SCIENCES

https://doi.10.37240/FiN.2024.12.1.14

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to examine whether the “seven myths” identified and presented by Uroboros in “In venenoso Dracone …,” more than thirty years ago still function in the academic community. It also aims to address whether there are indications that this state has undergone a change. It seems that naturalists found that excessive adherence to a physicalist style of doing science severely limits research work. At the same time, scientists often grapple with the consequences of implementing physicalism and stumble while addressing philosophical issues.

Keywords: Positivist mythology, meta-scientific and meta-philosophical mythology, philosophy of biology, philosophy of protobiology, research on the origins of life.

Piotr (Peter) Bołtuć 

E-mail: pboltu@sgh.waw.pl

ABSTRACT 

We view philosophy as paradigm setting: largely, spread over leading sciences of the epoch, as well as the main developing technologies, and even socio-economic and managerial patterns. This is, obviously, a “regulatory definition,” not quite a descriptive one. We examine whether it is the science of sciences, or the science over the sciences. Thus, it is not quite a meta-science. Our point is not to view philosophy as a methodology of science, or as its maid ( ancilla). Philosophy is viewed as the pinnacle of the sciences, providing them with ontological and axiological meanings. Here is one proposed definition: Philosophy is built upon the sum of general theories of all leading sciences (broadly understood); it is a theory based on this sum. The aim of philosophy so defined is to stipulate and approximate veridical worldviews, rooted in the strongest available background, which is largely the background provided by the sciences, but not quite limited to what is scientifically provable at a given point in time—this last clause is due to temporary limitedness of any science, always existing at a given time-slice. Thus, limited dependency on any principles, not only factual statements. As we know from Albert Einstein’s relativity theories and other scientific revolutions, both factual statements and higher-level principles, are always already inductively questionable, e.g., through inference to the best explanation following pragmatic, context dependent, criteria of what counts as “the best” of explanations. We also question the intuitive requirements of physicalism that are crucial to Daniel Stoljar’s thesis that physicalism cannot be properly defined. In contrast to the broadly scientistic predilection beneath the approach in the main bulk of this article we also need and require a philosophical focus on the human existential condition, which is complementary to, and not contradictory with, the above definition of philosophy. The proposed approach may be viewed as an Enlightenment approach, aware of its strengths and limits; thus, with a post- Enlightenment zing.

Keywords: Philosophy as paradigm building, physicalism over the current sciences.

 

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B. Jack Copeland , Diane Proudfoot

Universityof Canterbury, New Zealand

E-mail: jack.copeland@canterbury.ac.nz

E-mail: diane.proudfoot@canterbury.ac.nz

 

We examine Turing’s intriguing claim, made in the philosophy journal Mind, that he had created a short computer program of such a nature that it would be impossible “to discover by observation sufficient about it to predict its future behaviour, and this within a reasonable time, say a thousand years” (Turing, 1950, p. 457). A program like this would naturally have cryptographic applications, and we explore how the program would most likely have functioned. Importantly, a myth has recently grown up around this program of Turing’s, namely that it can be used as the basis of an argument—and was so used by Turing—to support the conclusion that it is impossible to infer a detailed mathematical description of the human brain within a practicable timescale. This alleged argument of Turing’s has been dubbed “Turing’s Wager” (Thwaites, Soltan, Wieser, Nimmo-Smith, 2017, p. 3) We demonstrate that this argument—in fact nowhere to be found in Turing’s work—is worthless, since it commits a glaring logical fallacy. “Turing’s Wager” gives no grounds for pessimism about the prospects for understanding and simulating the human brain.

Keywords: Alan Turing, Turing’s Wager, mechanized encryption, laws of behaviour, unspecifiability of the mind, brain modelling, whole-brain simulation, cipher machines, Enigma, Fish, Tunny, early computer-based cryptography.

 

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Kyrtin Atreides

AGI Laboratory, Seattle, WA,USA

E-mail: Kyrtin@ArtificialGeneralIntelligenceInc.com

 

The impact of complexity within government and societal systems is considered relative to the limitations of human cognitive bandwidth, and the resulting reliance on cognitive biases and systems of automation when that bandwidth is exceeded. Examples of how humans and societies have attempted to cope with the growing difference between the rate at which the complexity of systems and human cognitive capacities increase respectively are considered. The potential of and urgent need for systems capable of handling the existing and future complexity of systems, utilizing greater cognitive bandwidth through scalable AGI, are also considered, along with the practical limitations and considerations in how those systems may be deployed in real-world conditions. Several paradoxes resulting from the influence of prolific Narrow Tool AI systems manipulating large portions of the population are also noted.

Keywords: e-Governance, complexity, cognitive bandwidth AGI, Artificial General Intelligence, scalability tool AIcognitive bias.

 

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Jessica Baumberger

University of Illinois Springfield

E-mail: jbaum02s@uis.edu

Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands at the intersection of unprecedented opportunities and profound challenges. As AI is increasingly integrated into societal structures, the necessity for transparency and open-source approaches becomes paramount to foster both innovation and ethical considerations. Collaborative efforts among academia, industry, and policymakers are essential for addressing the multifaceted complexities that AI presents. While AI promises transformative benefits, potential challenges, such as its weaponization, corporate exploitation, and job displacement, warrant careful attention. Striking a balance between regulation with innovation is critical. Academic institutions can play a pivotal role, guiding AI’s trajectory, nurturing interdisciplinary learning, and equipping future professionals. Embracing open-source AI can ensure its ethical use and mitigate the risks associated with its exploitation. The existential threats posed by AI are significant, yet with strategic collaboration and foresight, a bright, AI-driven future is within reach.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI), open-source AI, AI ethics, AI transparency, AI Education.

 

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Kazimierz Kowalski

California State University, Dominguez Hills

E-mail: kazikk@gmail.com

 

Strategic Informatics is a monograph of the field of computer science in the field of; Its strategic development waves, the challenges of technological progress in the context of the strategic role of computer science, the main strategy-oriented applications in business, healthcare, agriculture, education and private home, strategic challenges of computer science in the humanities, digital state and city, sustainable development and information ethics, morality, and rights.

Keywords: strategic informatics, KSI, KSO, PESEL, digitization, civilization waves, IT revolution, AI, robots, Internet, Infostrada, Cyfronet, unemployment, Big Tech, Lange, Chile, informatics matrix model, humanities matrix model, automation, laws of computer science, IT ethics, IT morality, applications of informatics, informatic systems, cloud computing, IT platforms, technological challenges, definition of informatics, computer science.

 

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Jan Grzanka

E-mail: jangrzanka@onet.pl

The article discusses the evolution of Marian Smoluchowski’s reasoning in his research on causality and understanding the essence of chance. Initially, Smoluchowski focused on the epistemic study of causality, looking for evidence supporting the kinetic-molecular theory. In proving the causes of Brownian motion, he used the concepts of physical causality. The fundamental change in Polish physicist’s perception of causality was the understanding of the position of chance on the cause-effect line. Introducing mathematical relations into his considerations, he analyzed the aspect of the occurrence of the effect. The chance suitable for calculating probability was distinguished from the chance in a broader sense by the essential regularity of the frequent recurrence of the phenomenon, regardless of the knowledge of the cause. Smoluchowski’s merit was the distinction between the philosophical and physical understanding of causality, chance and probability theory. Shifting the considerations on the nature of chance to the ontological plane moved the study of chance into the area of science, thus leading to the practical application of probability theory in physics.

Keywords: physical causality, Brownian motion, effect, chance, probability.

 

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Jan Czerniawski

Instytut Filozofii, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Polska.

E-mail: uzczerni@cyf-kr.edu.pl

 

According to Bell’s theorem, no local realistic model can reproduce all predictions of quantum mechanics for the EPR-B experiment. Any such model would have to predict both the perfect correlation and breaking the CHSH inequality, but this seems impossible, since to provide the first prediction, the model would have to be deterministic, whereas this would seem to make the second one impossible. A model of the EPR-B experiment is presented, in which this apparent contradiction is expected to be avoided due to a deterministic chaotic mechanism underlying measurements. The model is in the phase of a “black box” model, since this mechanism is not yet specified, but only a corresponding probabilistic response function.

Keywords: Quantum mechanics, Bell’s theorem, EPR-B experiment.

 

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E-mail: ejdrozdowska@gmail.com

 

Quantum logic emerged in the 1930s as a response to the question of whether the conceptual changes initiated in physics by quantum mechanics required a revision of logic. In the English-language literature, John von Neumann is considered the founder of quantum logic, while the Polish literature points to Zygmunt Zawirski. Zawirski was the first researcher who suggested that quantum mechanics may follow a different logic than classical logic. He was the first researcher in the field of many-valued quantum logic, but his influence ultimately proved to be limited. John von Neumann, on the other hand, along with Garrett Birkhoff, started the now dominant field of algebraic quantum logic. It turns out that despite their differences in assumptions and methods, what they have in common is their commitment to subjecting the design of quantum logic to two requirements – consideration of Heisenberg’s indeterminacy principle and reconciliation of the resulting logic with probability calculus.

Keywords: Zygmunt Zawirski, John von Neumann, quantum logic, many- valued logic, philosophy of quantum mechanics.

 

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Giacomo Borbone

Catania University, Dipartimento di Scienze della Formazione, Italy.

E-mail: giacomoborboneyahoo.it

 

The struggle undertaken by Galileo Galilei against Aristotelian physics—and his subsequent defense of Nicolaus Copernicus’s theories—led the Pisan scientist to bring about the so-called modern scientific revolution and to lay the foundations of the experimental method, the fundamental result of which was to deprive the natural world of subjective qualities and to reconfigure it in purely quantitative terms. On the purely historical level, agreement among historians of science and philosophy is almost unanimous, while the same cannot be said for questions concerning interpretations of Galilei’s modus operandi and the basic philosophical options adopted by Galilei during his demolition of the entire Aristotelian-scholastic framework. Not all experts in the Galilean thought or of science, in fact, agree in tracing the Galilean reflection within the Platonic tradition, but one authoritative voice that has instead argued for its deep intertwining between Plato and Galilei is the German philosopher Ernst Cassirer. In this contribution I will attempt to demonstrate, partly considering two unpublished manuscripts of Cassirer, the plausibility of the Cassirerian thesis about Galilei’s physical Platonism.

Keywords: abstraction, Cassirer, Galileo Galilei, idealization, science.

Andrzej Łukasik 

Institute of Philosophy, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland. 

Email: andrzej.m.lukasik@gmail.com 

STANISŁAW LEM’S PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS, CONCEPTIONS, AND INSPIRATIONS.

INTRODUCTION 

doi:10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.2

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Sébastien Doubinsky 

Aarhus University, School of Communication and Culture, 8000 Aarhus C. 

E-mail: sebastiendoubinsky@yahoo.fr

UNSPEAKABLE OTHERNESS—AN ESSAY ON THE FAILURE OF COGNITIVE AND EPISTEMIC COMMUNICATION TOOLS IN STANISLAW LEM’S SOLARIS 

doi:10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.3

ABSTRACT 

Stanislaw Lem is one of the most famous figures of the Polish science fiction in post-world war two Europe. Solaris. His most famous novel, was published in 1961, and was adapted twice for the big screen, first in 1971 by Andrej Tarkovski, and in 2002 by Steven Soderbergh. The plot revolves around the psychologist Kris Kelvin, who is sent on the planet Solaris to try to find out if it is possible to communicate with the alien ocean that covers almost all of its surface. Confronted with a strange phenomenon and colleagues turned paranoid, Kelvin tries at first to understand what is going on at the space station. The unexplained arrival of the döppleganger of his ex-partner, Harey, will little by little make him accept the absurdity of his task and possibly of life itself. As Lem himself refused any final interpretation of his novel, there has of course been a flourish of them. One can however choose this exegetic impossibility as a major theme in the novel, and reflect on the implications of the situation Kelvin faces, caught between a desire to understand the nature of Solaris’s ocean and the sheer failure of doing so. In this essay, we will try to suggest that, by showing the limits of language as the means to express a satisfying epistemic frame, Lem’s parabol could be seen as an attempt to show the reader the existential limits of our anthropocentrism and scientific hubris. 

Keywords: Lem; Solaris; Language; Communication; Existentialism. 

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Bernd Graefrath 

University of Duisburg-Essen, Department of Philosophy, Universitaetsstr. 12, D-45117 Essen, Germany. 

Email: bernd.graefrath@uni-due.de

LEM’S PHILOSOPHY OF CHANCE IN HIS FICTION AND NON-FICTION

doi:10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.4

ABSTRACT 

Stanislaw Lem recognizes the far-reaching role of chance both in gaining knowledge and in explaining the development of cultural norms. The consequences are explored by him in fiction and non-fiction. 

Keywords: Stanislaw Lem, chance, science fiction, philosophy of technology, philosophy of biology, philosophy of culture. 

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Peter Swirski 

Email: peter.swirski@ualberta.ca 

THE CASSANDRA SYNDROME, OR HOW NOT TO BE A PROPHET

doi:10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.5

ABSTRACT 

The central question of the article is should Stanisław Lem be read as a futurologist? The main thesis is that more than in predicting the future Lem always has been more interested in exploration the conceptual limits of science and its technological offshoots. 

Keywords: Stanisław Lem, Hugo Gernsbacher, Herbert George Wells, futurology, conceptual limits of science. 

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Paweł Polak, Roman Krzanowski

Paweł Polak – The Pontifical University of John Paul II, Cracow.

Email: pawel.polak@upjp2.edu.pl 

Roman Krzanowski – The Pontifical University of John Paul II, Cracow. 

Email: roman.krzanowski@upj2.edu.pl 

STANISŁAW LEM’S VISIONS OF A TECHNOLOGICAL FUTURE: TOWARD PHILOSOPHY IN TECHNOLOGY 

doi:10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.6

ABSTRACT 

Stanisław Lem is mostly known as a sci-fi writer and not widely perceived as a visionary of the cyber age, despite the fact that he foresaw the future of information technology better than most scientific experts. Indeed, his visions of future information-based societies have proved to be remarkably accurate. Lem’s stories fuse together elements of fantasy, philosophy, and science, but what we can really learn from them is the nature of humanity, technology, and philosophy, as well as the values of technological prophecies. Moreover, Lem gave birth to, without naming it as such, the concept of philosophy in technology, which is a perspective on technology and philosophy that explores the deep implicit philosophical foundations of technology and humanity. 

Keywords: Stanisław Lem, visions of technology, technological future, philosophy of technology, philosophy in technology. 

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Jan Pleszczyński 

Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland.

Email: jan.pleszczynski@umcs.pl 

NATURAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL RATIOMORPHISM IN COMMUNICATION (IN THE CONTEXT OF SOME IDEAS OF LORENZ AND LEM)

doi:10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.7

ABSTRACT

The main idea of this article claims that the dominance of modern media technologies over the contemporary sphere of intersubjectivity reveals certain phenomena in the human world that did not exist in the pre-Internet epochs. One of them is technoratiomorphism. I use this term to define a hybrid operating in accordance with biological ratiomorphic mechanisms and overlapping with technological rationality. I also indicate some effects which are brought into social and individual existence by the presence of technoratiomorphism in communication. In my consideration I refer to Konrad Lorenz’s position and evolutionary epistemology, in general. I also interweave them with certain themes found in Stanisław Lem’s works.

Keywords: communication, ratiomorphism, technoratiomorphism, Internet, modern technologies, evolution, epistemology, Stanisław Lem, Konrad Lorenz.

 

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Filip Kobiela 

University of Physical Education in Krakow​, Al. Jana Pawła II 78, 31–571 Kraków. 

Email: filip.kobiela@awf.krakow.pl 

BETRIZATION AND ETHICSPHERE – TWO LITERARY CONCRETIZATIONS OF LEM’S IDEA OF TECHNOLOGY OF ETHICS

doi:10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.8 

ABSTRACT

The aim of the article is to reconstruct, analyze and compare two of Lem’s visions which concern the application of the future development of science and technology in order to construct an enhanced society. In other words, two literary concretizations of his idea concerning the technology of ethics. These are betrization — presented in the novel Return from the Stars and the ethicsphere — presented in the novel Observation on the Spot. In the “Introduction,” I discuss the specifics of Lem’s philosophizing, both in terms of its form and content, and I identify its main subject as concerning the problem of the influence of technological development on man, society and sphere of values. Then in the section “Life in an unfriendly world” I discuss the context which provides the background for the presentation of two Lem’s visions of technology of ethics, namely, the Doctrine of the Three Worlds, an integral part of the novel Observation on the Spot, but its meaning also explains Lem’s motivation to take up the idea of betrization. In the section “Life in a society devoid of aggression and risk,” I discuss a hypothetical society subjected to betrization — a procedure that eliminates aggressive tendencies. In the section “Living in a completely safe environment,” I discuss a hypothetical society living in an ethicsphere, that is, an “intelligent” environment programmed to care for the safety of its members; I also present a brief comparison of betrization and the ethicsphere. I conclude the paper by indicating where Lem’s considerations figure within the typology of utopia proposed by Bernard Suits.

Keywords: Stanisław Lem, technology, ethics, evil, betrization, ethicsphere, The Doctrine of Three Worlds.

–––––––––

Łukasz Kucharczyk 

Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński’s University, Warsaw, Poland.

Email: l.kucharczyk@uksw.edu.pl 

THE BODY AND THE UNIVERSE: ON CORPOREALITY IN STANISŁAW LEM’S RETURN FROM THE STARS

doi:10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.9 

ABSTRACT 

The paper develops the implicit as well as explicit meaning which evokes Stanisław Lem’s concept of the Body and the Corporality portrayed in the novel Return from the Stars. Moreover, Lem’s novel about an astronaut Hal Bregg and his return on Earth is analysed. In this novel author uses the idea of Einstein’s twin paradox. Hal Bergg—the stereotype of masculinity—is confronted with decadent and egalitarian society, which may be refers to the reunion masculinity with femininity. Such storyline shows the multidimensionality of the issue of Corporality, and presents the Body as a epistemological metaphor of modernism and postmodernism. In addition, the Body is depicted in the Return of the Stars as a figure of a mask and a costume. Furthermore, the Body in Lem’s novel is also interpreted as part of the Universe—as the boundary between what is temporary and what is infinite and transcendent. 

Keywords: body, corporeality, universe, utopia, dystopia, Stanisław Lem. 

–––––––––

Barbara Dzida, Tomir Jędrejek, Andrzej Łukasik 

Andrzej Łukasik — Institute of Philosophy, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland.

Email: andrzej.m.lukasik@gmail.com 

Barbara Dzida — Email: dzida.barbara@tlen.pl 

Tomir Jędrejek — Email: jedrejektomir@gmail.com 

WHAT DID LEM THINK OVER?

doi:10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.10

ABSTRACT 

Stanisław Lem is considered the most outstanding representative of Polish and one of the most eminent representatives of world science-fiction literature, as well as a futurologist and—at least by some—a philosopher who, in the form of novels and short stories written in the convention of science fiction and the so-called discursive prose, touched upon important philosophical problems concerning the place of man in the Universe, the effects of technological and civilisational progress and the issue of the limits of cognition. The article reconstructs and analyses the main philosophical problems presented in the work Filozoficzny Lem. Wybór tekstów Stanisława Lema i opracowania [The Philosophical Lem. A Selection of Texts by Stanisław Lem and Studies] edited by Filip Kobiela and Jakub Gomułka. 

Keywords: Stanisław Lem, fantasy, futurology, consciousness, virtual reality, transhuanism, anthropic principle, evolution.

–––––––––

Andrew Targowski 

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA.

Email: andrew.targowski@wmich.edu 

DIGITAL EDUCATION STRATEGIES

doi:10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.11

ABSTRACT 

This study analyzes and discusses key strategies for digital education. It begins by examining and defining several key concepts, including global citizenship, digital citizenship, computational thinking, informational thinking, and systemic thinking. Moreover it analyzes the role of leadership in the age of digitalization and advocates for panoramic leadership. Then it compares STEM-based education with STEAMbased education extended by panoramic leadership – STEAMPL. 

Keywords: computational thinking, digital citizenship, digital humanities, global citizenship, informational thinking, Internetization, STEAM, STEAMPL, systemic thinking, panoramic leadership.

–––––––––

Emanuele Lacca 

University of South Bohemia, Kněžská 8, 37001, České Budějovice, Czech Republic. 

Email: lacca@jcu.cz 

SUNT INTELLIGIBILIA ENTIA QUAE SUNT VERA. A LATE MEDIEVAL INTERPRETATIONOF INTENTIONALITY 

doi:10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.12 

ABSTRACT 

The aim of this contribution is to present the theory of intentionality proposed by the Spanish Dominican Lope de Barrientos (1382–1469), as it is offered by his Clavis Sapentiae: in this erudite work, written at the turn of the 15th century in the context of the new-born School of Salamanca, the terms proper to the gnoseological lexicon of the Thomist scholasticism are taken into consideration, analysed and renewed in a new original way. This makes possible to demonstrate from one hand how the tradition opened by Thomas Aquinas is inherited in the upcoming Renaissance and from another hand to look how a typical Renaissance scholar as Barrientos builds a theory of knowledge that is original, although faithful to the Thomist tradition to which it has been continuously and cogently referred and consulted. 

Keywords: Lope de Barrientos, School of Salamanca, intentionality, first intentions, second intentions. 

–––––––––

Anna Gańko

University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00–927 Warsaw, Poland.

Email: anna.ganko@uw.edu.pl 

EMBODIED MIND. THE PROBLEM OF EXISTENCE OF SPACE IN GEORGE BERKELEY’S NEW THEORY OF VISION

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.13 

ABSTRACT

Berkeley is a philosopher commonly associated with his thesis about the non-existence of the material world. However, he would disagree with the statement that the entire world that, according to him, consists of ideas, is only in the cognizing mind. He would also disagree with the fact that perceived objects are in absolute space. The article aims to present Berkeley’s solution to the alternative mentioned above. The solution is based on the category of space presented in Berkeley’s Essasy Towards New Theory of Vision. In New Theory of Vision, Berkeley explains his position on problem of visual perception. He begins his argument by resolving the issue of the visual perception of distance, and this subjects leads him to much further matters — including the concept of relative space, grounded in the bodily experience of the cognizing subject.

Keywords: George Berkeley, New Theory of Vision, space, immaterialism, Molyneux Problem.

–––––––––

Giulia Cirillo 

Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland.

Email: giulia.cirillo1@gmail.com 

A CIRCLE OR A SPIRAL? THE PRIMEVAL, TROPOLOGICAL SCHEME IDENTIFIED IN THE STRUCTURE OF TRUTH THEORIES 

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.14 

ABSTRACT 

Applying linguistic tropes to the deep structure which underlay the 19th century historical imagination Hayden White derived from the vault of philosophical richness contained in Giambattista Vico’s La Scienza Nuova. Now the treasure trove becomes a source of one more illuminating analogy. The following study demonstrates how metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche and irony can be identified with five major theories of truth: the correspondence, pragmatic, coherence, deflationary and the semantic one. Theories are evoked on the basis of texts by philosophers themselves (Bertrand Russell, Charles Sanders Peirce, Brand Blanshard et al.). Moreover, a numerical mismatch between them and the four tropes should be seen as everything but unwanted. The concept of irony has multiple interpretations, and so mapping it onto the semantic theory will expose the relation between truth accounts and the principle of their development. In the end, there emerges a pattern in the shape of a circle or a spiral—two models of infinity along which runs the human quest for meaning of truth. 

Keywords: Truth, tropes, Hayden White, Giambattista Vico, figuration. 

–––––––––

Zuzanna Sima 

Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Grodzka 52, 31-044 Kraków, Poland.​

Email: zuzanna.wilczynska@student.uj.edu.pl 

RESEARCH ON THE LINGUISTIC WORLDVIEW AND HANS GEORG GADAMER’S HERMENEUTICS

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.15 

ABSTRACT

Hans Georg Gadamer in his studies on the essence of hermeneutics emphasizes in a special way the role of language in cognition and the understanding of the world. The paper intends to find an application of Gadamer’s hermeneutics in the linguists’ research of the linguistic worldview. Section 1 of the paper considers the worldview in linguistics, section 2 analyzes some aspects of Gadamer’s hermeneutics, while section 3 connects the problems considered in sections 1 and 2 and determines the aim of the paper. The presented considerations are situated in the reflection on the philosophical foundations of linguistic research.

Keywords: linguistic worldview, hermeneutics, Hans Georg Gadamer, JOS.

–––––––––

Józef Leszek Krakowiak 

University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 3, 00-047 Warsaw, Poland.

Email: j.k.l@wp.pl 

THE ROLE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE IN WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA’S POETIC CREATION OF THE LIFEWORLD. PART I

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.16 

ABSTRACT

This paper is the first part of the research on Wisława Szymborska’s reflections and considerations — in poetic form — on knowledge, science, and the scientific worldview. These aspects of Szymborska’s work are presented on the wide background of the philosophical threads in her poetry.

Keywords: Wisława Szymborska, knowledge, science, scientific worldview.

–––––––––

Józef Leszek Krakowiak 

University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 3, 00-047 Warsaw, Poland.​

Email: j.k.l@wp.pl 

THE ROLE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE IN WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA’S POETIC CREATION OF THE LIFEWORLD. PART II

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.17

 

ABSTRACT

This paper is the first part of the research on Wisława Szymborska’s reflections and considerations, included in her poetry, on knowledge, science, and the scientific worldview. These aspects of Szymborska’s work are presented the wide background of the philosophical threads in her poetry.

Keywords: Wisława Szymborska, knowledge, science, scientific worldview.

–––––––––

Marcin Gileta 

Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland.

Email: gileta@wp.pl 

AESTHETIC CRITERIA IN SCIECE IN GRZEGORZ BIAŁKOWSKI’S VIEW

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.18 

ABSTRACT

The text presents the view of the Polish physicist Grzegorz Białkowski on using aesthetic criteria in the practice of science, first of all in the practice of physics. Białobrzeski claims — along with Henri Poincaré, Werner Heisenberg and Paul Dirac — that aesthetic criteria are present in the creating and assessing of scientific theories; he also searches for a justification of referring to these criteria. He also draws attention to the role of aesthetic experience in scientific activity. He justifies the presence of aesthetic criteria in physics as part of his naturalistic attitude.

Keywords: Grzegorz Białkowski, extra-substantive criteria, aesthetic criteria, philosophy of physics, philosophy of science.

–––––––––

Jakub Kopyciński 

Center for Theoretical Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Lotników 32/46 02-668 Warsaw, Poland. 

Email: jkopycinski@cft.edu.pl 

ON THE QUANTUM PRINCIPLE OF RELATIVITY POSTULATE

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.19

 

ABSTRACT

This article analyses one of the trials aiming to bridge the incommensurability gap between special relativity and quantum mechanics in the form of postulating the quantum principle of relativity. The postulate is argued here to be rather a conventionalist stratagem than a new paradigm in theoretical physics. It is worth emphasising this claim does not assess the scientific value of the analysed work at all. Moreover, I draw attention to favouring both the mathematical instrumentalism and the ontic character of probability in the article in question.

Keywords: philosophy of physics, conventionalist stratagem, paradigm, instrumentalism, ontic randomness.

–––––––––

Andrzej Gecow 

independent research​

Email: andrzej.gecow@gmail.com 

REMARKS ON THE COLLECTED WORKS BY KRZYSZTOF CHODASEWICZ THE MYSTERY OF LIFE

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.20 

ABSTRACT

Krzysztof Chodasewicz (1982–2016) died young, but his publications strongly influenced the Polish scientific community in the field of the philosophy of life when life is understood as a biological process. This topic was an almost forgotten in Poland. It was Chodasewicz who, through the articles republished in the collection presented here, gave the Polish reader a picture of the current state of reflection on this issue. The articles are not only overviews of the contemporary positions; in each article Chodasewicz presents some of his new concepts. The main advantage of the published collection is a delicate form of making people aware of the range of possible views and problems, which in the subject of the essence and origin of life usually arouses great emotions and preliminary reservations. My paper is an overview of the topics and materials collected in the book, with my comments.

–––––––––

Marek Błaszczyk

Nicholas Copernicus University, Fosa Staromiejska 1a, 87-100 Toruń, Poland.​

Email: marek_blaszczyk@onet.eu 

INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF KARL JASPERS

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.1.21 

ABSTRACT

The article presents a critical approach to „Filozofia” Jaspersa [Jaspers’ „Philosophy”] by Mirosław Żelazny (WN UMK, Toruń 2019). It discusses the main theses presented in the dissertation and invites to reflection on the existential philosophy of Karl Jaspers. The paper exposes the most important themes of Jaspersian thinking — the dialectical method of philosophizing, understanding the worldview, the phenomenon of existential communication and the concept of borderline situations.

Keywords: Karl Jaspers, philosophy, human being, existence, existentialism.

 

 

Mark Burgin, Rao Mikkilineni

Mark Burgin — UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA 

Email: mburgin@math.ucla.edu

Rao Mikkilineni — Golden Gate University, San Francisco, USA 

Email: rmikkilinni@ggu.edu

SEVEN LAYERS OF COMPUTATION: METHODOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND MATHEMATICAL MODELING

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.1

ABSTRACT

We live in an information society where the usage, creation, distribution, manipulation, and integration of information is a significant activity. Computations allow us to process information from various sources in various forms and use the derived knowledge in improving efficiency and resilience in our interactions with each other and with our environment. The general theory of information tells us that information to knowledge is as energy is to matter. Energy has the potential to create or modify material structures and information has the potential to create or modify knowledge structures. In this paper, we analyze computations as a vital technological phenomenon of contemporary society which allows us to process and use information. This analysis allows building classifications of computations based on their characteristics and explication of new types of computations. As a result, we extend the existing typologies of computations by delineating novel forms of information representations. While the traditional approach deals only with two dimensions of computation—symbolic and sub-symbolic, here we describe additional dimensions, namely, super-symbolic computation, hybrid computation, fused computation, blended computation, and symbiotic computation.

Keywords: symbol; structure; system; computation; process; symbolic; sub-symbolic; super-symbolic; superstructure; structural machine.

–––––––––

Piotr (Peter) Bołtuć

University of Illinois at Springfield, USA (Philosophy; Computer Science); The Warsaw School of Economics (Management Theory).

Email: pboltu@sgh.waw.pl

NON-REDUCTIVE PHYSICALISM FOR AGI

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.2

ABSTRACT

Creature consciousness provides a physicalist account of the first-person awareness (contra Rosenthal). I argue that non-reductive consciousness is not about phenomenal qualia (Nagel’s what it is like to feel like something else); it is about the stream of awareness that makes any objects of perception epistemically available and ontologically present. This kind of consciousness is central, internally to one’s awareness. Externally, the feel about one’s significant other’s that “there is someone home” is quite important too. This is not substance dualism since creature consciousness and functional consciousness are both at different generality levels of physicalism. Surprisingly, pre-Hegel philosophy of pure subject is more fitting with the current engineering approach than analytical phenomenalism. The complementary view of subjectand object-related perspectives, may come from Fichte’s Wissenschaftslehre; but here it is placed, securely within the physicalist paradigm. It is essential to the Engineering Thesis in Machine Consciousness, which helps us understand under what general conditions a machine would be first-person conscious, but when it is merely functionally conscious.

Keywords: Machine consciousness, non-reductive physicalism, non-reductive machine consciousness, creature consciousness, non-reductive consciousness; complementary philosophy, Wissenschaftslehre, two-tier physicalism.

–––––––––

Kyrtin Atreides

Researcher & COO at AGI Laboratory, Seattle, WA, USA. 

Email: Kyrtin@ArtificialGeneralIntelligenceInc.com

PHILOSOPHY 2.0: APPLYING COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS AND ITERATIVE DEGREES OF SCIENTIFIC VALIDATION

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.3​

ABSTRACT

Methods of improving the state and rate of progress within the domain of philosophy using collective intelligence systems are considered. By applying mASI systems superintelligence, debiasing, and humanity’s current sum of knowledge may be applied to this domain in novel ways. Such systems may also serve to strongly facilitate new forms and degrees of cooperation and understanding between different philosophies and cultures. The integration of these philosophies directly into their own machine intelligence seeds as cornerstones could further serve to reduce existential risk while improving both ethical quality and performance.

Keywords: mASI, AGI, Uplift, Collective Intelligence, Collective Superintelligence, Hybrid Collective Superintelligence Systems, HCCS, existential risk, ethical quality, cooperation.

–––––––––

Jeffrey White

University Missouri-Columbia, NOVA-LINCS, Departamentode Informática, FCT/UNL, Quinta da Torre P-2829-516, Caparica, Portugal, and OIST Okinawa, Japan

Email: jeffreywhitephd@gmail.com

ON A POSSIBLE BASIS FOR METAPHYSICAL SELF DEVELOPMENT IN NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL SYSTEMS

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.4​

ABSTRACT

Recent research into the nature of self in artificial and biological systems raises interest in a uniquely determining immutable sense of self, a “metaphysical ‘I’” associated with inviolable personal values and moral convictions that remain constant in the face of environmental change, distinguished from an object “me” that changes with its environment. Complementary research portrays processes associated with self as multimodal routines selectively enacted on the basis of contextual cues informing predictive self or world models, with the notion of the constant, pervasive and invariant sense of self associated with a multistable attractor set aiming to ensure personal integrity against threat of disintegrative change. This paper proposes that an immutable sense of self emerges as a global attractor which can be described as a project ideal self-situation embodied in frontal medial processes during more or less normal adolescent development, and that thereafter serves to orient agency in the more or less free development of embodied potentials over the life course in effort to realize project conditions, phenomenally identified with the felt pull towards this end as purpose of and source of meaning in life. So oriented, life-long self-development aims to embody solutions to problems at different timescales depending on this embodied purpose, ultimately in the service of evolutionary processes securing organism populations against threats of disintegrative change over timespans far beyond that of the individual. After characterizing the target sense of self, research circling this target is briefly surveyed. Self as global project and developmental neural correlates are proposed. Then, the paper discusses some implications for research in biological and artificial systems. Building from earlier work in cognitive neurorobotics, discussion affirms the value of reinforcement rituals including prayer in metaphysical self-development, considers implications for value alignment and rights associated with free will in the context of artificial intelligence and robot religion, and concludes by emphasizing the importance of self-development toward project ideals as source of meaning in life in the current social-political environment.

Keywords: self, purpose in life, default mode network, predictive processing, AI value alignment, developmental robotics.

–––––––––

Eduardo Camargo, Ricardo Gudwin

Eduardo Camargo — DCA-FEEC-UNICAMP, Av. Albert Einstein, 400 13083-852, Campinas, SP, Brasil.

Email: cepca-margo@gmail.com

Ricardo Gudwin — DCA-FEEC-UNICAMP, Av. Albert Einstein, 400 13083-852, Campinas, SP, Brasil.

Email: gudwin@unicamp.br

FROM SIGNALS TO KNOWLEDGE AND FROM KNOWLEDGE TOACTION: PEIRCEAN SEMIOTICS AND THE GROUNDING OF COGNITION

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.5

ABSTRACT

Cognition is meant as the process of acquiring knowledge from the world. This process is supposed to happen within agents, which build such knowledge with the purpose to use it to determine their actions on the world. Following Peircean ideas, we postulate that such knowledge is encoded by means of signs. According to Peirce, signs are anything that can be used to represent anything else. Also, for Peirce, to represent means to be able to generate another sign, called the interpretant of the original sign, which still holds the same power of interpretability, I.e, its power to be transformed into a new sign, holding this same power. This happens through a processcalled semiosis, the process by which a sign is transformed into an interpretant. This whole process is performed with the aim of subsidizing the agent in deciding its behavior. So, even though the semiosis process has the power to continue infinitely, it usually stops whenever the generated interpretant brings enough information in order for the agent to effectively act in the world. We take signals to be the substract of signs. Signals are any physical property, which can be measured and captured by the agent, by means of its sensors. This includes any kind of internal memory the agent is able to have access, in order to operate. In this sense, signs can be both in the world (if these signals come from sensors) and within the own agent’s mind (if signals come from an internal memory). We understandan agent’s mind as the agents’ control system. In either case, signals can be abstracted as numbers. Not simply numbers, but numbers coming from specific sensors or specific memories. Using ideas from Peircean philosophy, in this work we postulate a pathway, in which signals, collected by either sensors or memory, can be organized in such a way that they can be effectively used as knowledge, in order for an agent to be able to decide its actions on the world, on the pursuit of its internal motivations. We postulate that agents identify and create a model of the world based on possibilities, existents, and laws, and based on this model, they are able to decide an action that maximizes the chance for the world to gain a shape, which the agents intend for it to be. This theory is postulated particularly for the case of artificial autonomous agents, meant to be constructed by engineering artifacts.

Keywords: Peircean semiotics, knowledge representation, cognitive science.

–––––––––

Mariusz Mazurek

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Science, Nowy Swiat Street 72,00-330 Warsaw, Poland.

Email: mmazurek@ifispan.edu.pl

THE PROBLEM OF EXISTENCE OF VIRTUAL OBJECTS FROM THE PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.6

ABSTRACT

I consider the problem of existence of virtual objects, mainly their mode of existence, while omitting the issue of the criteria of their existence. I present and analyze the concepts of modes (forms, kinds) of existence of virtual objects proposed in the literature of the subject, and then I demonstrate my own position on the issue. My position on the existence of virtual objects has certain points coinciding with the already postulated views, but at the same time it differs from them in some basic aspects. In my view virtual objects are “born” in human individual consciousness as the objects of specific creative states of the mind. So initially they are private objects belonging to the individual subjective sphere. However, their final and ready forms emerge in complex processes of objectifying and autonomizing the respective private conscious states and their objects. In these processes the private objects are transformed into objects intersubjectively accessible and existing in the collective cultural sphere. In both their forms, initial and final, virtual objects are non-material entities: first subjective, then objective. The ontic status of virtual objects is very similar to the status of intangible ideas and all the non-material objects created by the human mind. The main difference consists in that virtual objects are expressed by the use computers programmes, while other non-material objects created by human beings are expressed by use of words, pictures, literature and art works, etc.

Keywords: ontology, virtual existence, virtual objects, artefacts, fictions.

–––––––––

Bogdan Popoveniuc

Ştefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Strada Universitãţii 13, 720229, Suceava, Romania.

Email: bpopoveniuc@usm.ro

PERSONAL AND MORAL IDENTITY IN THE 4^th SPACE

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.7

ABSTRACT

The 4th Space concept is a very challenging and puzzling one. The tremendous technological progress of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) or Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC), ubiquitous computing, and Extended Reality (XR) make the Gibsonian Cyberspace Matrix an imminent reality in the future. Although, some features can be made more salient, the structure, but most importantly, the effects of living in such environment for human consciousness and morality is almost impossible to predict. Hence, the requisite of a proactionary and comprehensive scientific and technical paradigm for designing the 4th Space, in order to facilitate the adaptation of human species to the brave new technological world, while preserving the humanness and humanism of the humans.

Keywords: 4th Space, cyberspace, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), rhizome, autopoietic systems, ubiquitous computing, ISelf, infraethics, dispersion of responsibility

–––––––––

Christoph M. Abels, Daniel Hardegger

Christoph M. Abels — Hertie School, Friedrichstraße 180, 10117 Berlin, Germany.

Email: c.abels@phd.hertie-school.org

Daniel Hardegger — ZHAW School of Management and Law, Gertrudstrasse 15, 8401 Winterthur, Switzerland.

Email: daniel@hardegger.eu

PRIVACY AND TRANSPARENCY IN THE 4th SPACE: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSPIRACY THEORIES

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.8

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the role of privacy and transparency in the 4^th Space and outlines their implications for the development and dissemination of conspiracy theories. We argue that privacy can be exploited by individuals and organizations to spread conspiracy theories online, while organizational transparency, intended to increase accountability and ultimately trust, can have the adverse effect and nurture conspiracy beliefs. Through the lens of the 4^th Space concept, we offer suggestions on how to approach those challenges which emerge as a result of the complex entanglements of both actual and virtual world across time.

Keywords: Transparency, privacy, disinformation, conspiracy theory, 4th space.

–––––––––

Dustin Gray

University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, U.S.

Email: dugrayucsc@protonmail.com

MODERN FORMS OF SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.9

ABSTRACT

In todays advanced society, there is rising concern for data privacy and the diminution thereof on the internet. I argue from the position that for one to enjoy privacy, one must be able to effectively exercise autonomous action. I offer in this paper a survey of the many ways in which persons autonomy is severely limited due to a variety of privacy invasions that come not only through the use of modern technological apparatuses, but as well simply by existing in an advanced technological society. I conclude that regarding the majority of persons whose privacy is violated, such a violations are actually initiated and upheld by the users of modern technology themselves, and that ultimately, most disruptions of privacy that occur are self-levied.

Keywords: philosophy of technology, data privacy, surveillance, autonomy.

–––––––––

Magnus Johnsson

Malmö University in Sweden and Magnus Johnsson AI Research AB.

Email: magnus@magnusjohnsson.se

PERCEPTION, IMAGERY, MEMORY AND CONSCIOUSNESS

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.10

ABSTRACT

I propose and discuss some principles that I believe are substantial for perception, various kinds of memory, expectations and the capacity for imagination in the mammal brain, as well as for the design of a biologically inspired artificial cognitive architecture. I also suggest why these same principles could explain our ability to represent novel concepts and imagine non-existing and perhaps impossible objects, while there are still limits to what we can imagine and think about. Some ideas regarding how these principles could be relevant for an autonomous agent to become functionally conscious are discussed as well.

Keywords: perception, memory, expectations, imagination, consciousness, self-organization, feature maps, associative learning, multimodal integration, cognitive architecture.

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Rafał Maciąg

Jagiellonian University, Institute of Information Studies.

Email: rafal.maciag@uj.edu.pl

TOWARDS THE PRAGMATIC CONCEPT OF KNOWLEDGES

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.11

ABSTRACT

The article presents and justifies the thesis that the way of understanding knowledge has changed significantly over the last century. This change consists in departing from the classic definition of knowledge formulated by Plato, and in particular in questioning the subjective role of man as the holder of knowledge and abandoning claims to the truthfulness of knowledge. This process was an intensive evolution; its elements are given and justified in the text. Its source was a deep reconstruction of the mode of creating epistemic structures in mathematics and geometry, based on the abandonment of the principle of representation. Knowledge turned out to be determined by the social context, it became dispersed, decentralized, which led to the rejection of the condition of its truthfulness. The last phase of this evolution is knowledge as a phenomenon in the area of digital technologies, in particular artificial intelligence. This evolution has led to the emergence of many variants of knowledge that act as local knowledge, which justifies the use of the plural in this case.

Keywords: knowledge, metamathematics, artificial intelligence, sociology of knowledge, truth.

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Pavel N. Baryshnikov

Departmentof Historical Socio-Philosophical Disciplines, Oriental Studies and Theology, Pyatigorsk State University, 357532, Russian Federation, Pyatigorsk, Kalinin Avenue 9, Russia.

Email: pnbaryshnikov@pglu.ru

EXTENSION OF CRITICAL PROGRAMS OF THE COMPUTATIONAL THEORY OF MIND

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.12

ABSTRACT

Technological advances in computer science have secured the computer metaphor status of a heuristic methodological toolused to answer the question about the nature of mind. Nevertheless, some philosophers strongly support opposite opinions. Anti-computationalism in the philosophy of mind is a methodological program that uses extremely heterogeneous grounds for argumentation, deserving analysis and discussion. This article provides an overview and interpretation of the traditional criticismof the computational theory of mind (computationalism); its basic theses have been formed in Western philosophy in the last quarterof the 20th century. The main goal is to reveal the content of the arguments of typical anti-computationalist programs and expandtheir application to the framework of the semantic problems of the Classic Computational Theory of Mind. The main fault of the symbolic approach in the classical computationalism is the absence of a full-fledged theory of semantic properties. The relevance of considering these seemingly outdated problems is justified by the fact that the problem of meaning (and generalproblems of semantics) remains in the core of the latest developments in various areas of AI and the principles of human-computerinteraction.

Keywords: anticomputationalism, computational theory of mind, Chinese room, finite automata, symbolic semantics, language of thought.

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Robin K. Hill

University of Wyoming + 1000 E. University Avenue, Department 3315, Laramie, Wyoming 82071 U.S.A.

Email: hill@uwyo.edu

A CAUTION AGAINST THE ARTIFICIALISTIC FALLACY

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.13

ABSTRACT

The casual justification of the influence of a technology, particularly artificial intelligence, by appeal to the existence of the technology constitutes an artificialistic fallacy, analogous to the naturalistic fallacy that is well-known in philosophy. Similar to an invocation of nature to provide moral warrant (the naturalistic fallacy), modern tech evangelists invoke the burgeoning of hardware and software products in order to promote that burgeoning (the artificialistic fallacy). This fallacy is often tacit or committed by omission. Emerging ethical initiatives emphasize the refinement, explanation, and oversight of AI products rather than their fundamental ethical effect, making the fallacy recursive.

Keywords: philosophy of computing, ethics of computing, artificial intelligence.

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Simon X. Duan

Metacomputics Labs, 11 St Mary Graces Court, Cartwright Street, London, E1 8NB, UK.

Email: simon.x.duan@live.com

PLATONIC COMPUTER—THE UNIVERSAL MACHINE THAT BAIDGE€ THE “INVERSE EXPLANATOAY GAP” IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.14

ABSTRACT

The scope of Platonism is extended by introducing the concept of a “Platonic computer” which is incorporated in metacomputics. The theoretical framework of metacomputics postulates that a Platonic computer exists in the realm of Forms and is made by, of, with, and from metaconsciousness. Metaconsciousness is defined as the “power to conceive, to perceive, and to be self-aware” and is the formless, contentless infinite potentiality.

Metacomputics models how metaconsciousness generates the perceived actualities including abstract entities and physical and nonphysical realities. It is postulated that this is achieved via digital computation using the Platonic computer. The introduction of a Platonic computer into the realm of Forms thus bridges the “inverse explanatory gap” and therefore solves the “inverse hard problem of consciousness” in the philosophy of mind.

Keywords: Platonism, Platonic computer, pancomputationalism, metacomputics, metaconsciousness, metaprocessor, metadata, metaprogram, abstract entities, physical reality, nonphysical reality.

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Marcin Rabiza

Polish Academy of Sciences, Nowy Swiat 72, oo-330 Warsaw, Poland. 

Email: marcin.rabiza@gmail.com

DUAL-PROCESS APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY PERCEPTION

doi: 10.37240/FiN.2022.10.zs.15

ABSTRACT

Thanks to advances in machine learning in recent years the ability of AI agents to act independently of human oversight,respond to their environment, and interact with other machines has significantly increased, and is one step closer to human-like performance. For this reason, we can observe contemporary researchers’ efforts towards modeling agency in artificial systems.In this light, the aim of this paper is to develop a dual-process approach to the problem of AI agency perception, and to discuss possible triggers of various agency perceptions. The article discusses the agency attribution phenomenon, based on which theargument for the dual-process nature of agency perception is developed. Two distinct types of thinking (processing) involved in human reasoning on AI agency are suggested: Type 1 and Type 2. The first one is fast, automatic, routine, and often unconscious; the second is a slower, controlled, more conscious one. Thesetwo distinct types of processing can yield differing and sometimes conflicting results for human cognition and interaction. Thepreliminary philosophical findings may contribute to further investigations in philosophy of mind or cognitive psychology andcould also be empirically tested in HCI and UX studies.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; perceived agency; agency attribution.

 

Janusz Grygieńć 

Institute of Philosophy, Nicholas Copernicus University, Fosa Staromiejska 1a, 87-100 Toruń, Poland. 

Email: jgrygienc@umk.pl 

SHOULD WE FEAR EPISTEMIC DEPENDENCE (AND HOW MUCH)?

ABSTRACT 

In recent years, interest in the problem of expert knowledge has intensified among social scientists. One of the topics more frequently addressed in this context is the relationship between experts and laypeople. This paper examines this issue from the perspective of the concept of epistemic dependence formulated by John Hardwig. I argue that this concept poses a severe challenge to the vision of scientific inquiry dominant in the scientific literature and to the democratic idea of politics. I examine three strategies encountered in the literature for responding to this challenge: individualist, institutional, and epistocratic. Alvin Goldman advocates the first one, as he presents strategies at the disposal of a layman facing two conflicting expert opinions. The second is the belief in the scientific community’s potential to resolve all controversies and protect non-specialists from confronting them. The third is to eliminate epistemic dependence by including only those with sufficient practical experience in expert discussions. In the end, I conclude that the problem of epistemic dependence has no suitable solution. We should place our hopes only with strategies for circumventing it rather than confronting it. 

Keywords: epistemic dependence, experts, expertise, democracy, social epistemology. 

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Agnieszka Lekka-Kowalik 

John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Aleje Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.

Email: alekka@kul.pl 

ACADEMIC INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE AND ITS NORMS PRICE

ABSTRACT 

Twenty five years ago John Ziman formulated the thesis that academic science and industrial science merge into one system of post-academic and at the same time post-industrial science, in which the Mertonian norms of academic science expressed by the acronym CUDOS (communism, universalism, disinterestedness, organized scepticism) give way to the norms of industrial science expressed by the acronym PLACE (proprietary, local, authoritarian, commissioned, expert). In this article, I defend the thesis that this system has evolved into a system of academic industrial science, the norms of which can be expressed with the acronym PRICE: patron relevant, innovative, competitive, econometrical. Thus, reforming academic science is also its re-norming in terms of both ethics and the organization of research. The ethics of scientific research is transformed into the ethics of knowledge production. Scientific institutions are seen as producers of knowledge which is an “epistemic commodity.” A particular of knowledge is needed when it satisfies the needs of “consumers.” Scientists are then „elements” of the knowledge production process, and the process itself is subject to market calculations. This does not undermine the epistemic value of a given research project and its results, but it leads to controversial consequences, including fragmentation and aspectualization of knowledge, linking research directions with the interests of social powers, and ignoring transformative criticism. As a result, sometimes what was treated in the Mertonian science as a threat or an offense against the ethos of science turns out to be the rational behavior of an entrepreneur operating on the market of epistemic goods and services. Academic industrial science is also unable to fulfil non-instrumental roles in society (shaping worldviews, supporting social rationality, providing independent experts) that academic science performed. Attempts to prevent these problems or threats will be doomed to failure in advance, because countermeasures are based on a different understanding of knowledge itself. 

Keywords: academic science, industrial science, academic industrial science, research ethics, knowledge production ethics, knowledge as an epistemic commodity, non-instrumental roles of science. 

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Rafał Paweł Wierzchosławski 

Liberal Arts and Sciences, Collegium Historicum, Poznań, Poland. 

Email: rafalpawelwie@gmail.com

PROTESTANT SCIENCE, ELECTIVE MODERNISM AND EXPERT KNOWLEDGE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE FUNCTIONING OF SCIENCE OUTSIDE THE ACADEMY 

ABSTRACT 

In this article, I reflect on recent discussions of the methodological status of scientific knowledge within and outside the Academy. I draw attention to the problem of declining public trust in science (risk and fear society) and the phenomenon of post-truth. In the context of these issues, I present three positions whose authors define the relationship between official academic science in relation to other forms of knowledge (lay people) and forms of knowledge use outside the Academy (politics). The first position termed “elective modernism” was formulated by Harry Collins and Robert Evans in the context of discussions of the third wave of science disputes. Elective modernism defines the way in which policy decisions are made on the recommendations of scholars who have a methodological self-awareness of the possibilities and limitations of scientific knowledge. The second position is Steve Fuller’s proposal of protestant science as a form of science in the context of posttruth conditions. In this view, knowledge can be produced by anyone, but it must meet certain specified scientific criteria. The third position is the view of expert knowledge proposed by Mark R. Brown, as a representation of various worldview or cultural options, whose representatives commission experts to make appropriate recommendations for certain political decisions. 

Key words: Protestant science, academic rent, post-truth condition, customized science, third wave of science studies, expert knowledge, social conditions of science, politics of science, representation, Steve Fuller, Harry Collins, Robert Evans, Mark R. Brown, risk society, fear society. 

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Marcelina Zuber 

Institute of Sociology, University of Wroclaw, Koszarowa 3, 51–149 Wrocław, Poland.

Email: marcelina.zuber@uwr.edu.pl 

SCIENTISTS TO THE CHALLENGES OF MODERNITY: THE “COMMUNISM” OF THE SCIENTISTS’ ETHOS AS AN ETHICAL NORM OR THE REGULATING PRINCIPLE OF RESEARCH PRACTICE 

ABSTRACT 

The article attempts to establish the role that may be presently played by Merton’s concept of scientific ethos, and especially his norm of “communism” in describing and explaining the mechanisms of modern science’s functioning. Merton introduces scientific ethos’ norms as ethical and technological, and therefore truly regulating the practice of research. In this context especially important is the role played by the norm of “communism,” which orders to share research results with all research community and society. This article presents two visions of research community’s functioning alternative to Merton’s concetion: Pierre Bourdieu’s conception of” le champ scientifique,” and Bruno Latour’s and Steve Woolgar’s conceptions of conversion of capital within the “cycle of credibility.” None of these concepts feature research practice as organised by “communism.” The consideration of roles of historically evolving models of practicing science (amateur, academic, professional, post-academic) is crucial for a precise description of the rules of functioning in science. Abiding by the rule of communism is possible only in the academic model, whereas modern researchers increasingly often function either within corporations (professional model), or remain in the academia while operating on private funds (post-academic model). Following the rule of communism, even as a moral guideline, is not possible in these circumstances. 

Keywords: scientists’ ethos, Robert Merton, Bruno Latour, Steve Woolgar, academic, post-academic model of practicising science, John Ziman, Sheldon Krimsky. 

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Andrzej Stawicki 

Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

Email: andrzej.stawicki@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl

CREATION OF KNOWLEDGE ON THE BORDER OF SCIENCE AND PRACTICE IN A SYSTEMIC PERSPECTIVE. THE CASE OF POLISH HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES 

ABSTRACT 

The article presents conclusions from research on changes in the practice of creating knowledge in the social sciences and humanities, resulting from research cooperation with the socio-economic environment. The research focused primarily on the impact of such collaboration on the advancement of scientific knowledge in these fields. The theoretical framework adopted in the analysis is the concept of science as an autopoietic, social system, derived from the sociological theory of Niklas Luhmann (presented in his Die Wissenschaft der Gesellschaft, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt a. M. 1990). 

According to the results of the study, the cooperation of the science system with other social subsystems in its environment significantly affects both the practices of creating knowledge and its ultimate character. Such knowledge, under certain conditions, can become an element of scientific communication, but there are some limitations that are associated with differentthat rationalities of cooperating subsystems. An important barrier is the subordination of the research process to the needs of external systems, which, combined with the high selectivity of the science system, means that knowledge generated in cooperation, mainly of an operational nature, is not accepted by the science system. However, there is a great potential for this type of practice because the knowledge thus generated, after an appropriate translation into the system code of science and embedding it in its wider context, can significantly enrich it, among others, with otherwise inaccessible empirical data and different points of view that may become a basis for further scientific research. Research shows that for many representatives of the social sciences and humanities this potential is effectively used. 

Keywords: Social sciences and humanities, Mode 2 of knowledge production, autopoiesis of the science system, Social Systems Theory, cooperation between science and its environment. 

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Katarzyna Krzemińska 

Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Grodzka 52, 31-044 Kraków, Poland.

Email: katarzyna.krzeminska@student.uj.edu.pl 

THE SOCIAL CREATION OF DEMARCATION CRITERIA BETWEEN SCIENCE AND PSEUDOSCIENCE 

ABSTRACT 

In the paper I address the problem of consolidation of the borders of the world of science by scientific institutions—in this case, Polish scientific societies of various fields. Basing on the analysis of the statutes of selected societies, I formulate a list of research questions that concern the role of scientific societies in distinguishing be tween what is considered scientific and what is not. These questions can be used in a more in-depth research. I adopt a constructivist perspective, focus on the ways in which science is produced and separated from pseudoscience, and do not address the (in)accuracy of claims rejected by the scientific world. 

Keywords: sociology of science, scientific societies, pseudoscience, science, social institutions. 

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Józef Dębowski 

Institute of Philosophy, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, ul. Kurta Obitza 1, 10-725 Olsztyn, Poland.

Email: jozdeb@poczta.onet.pl 

ON CLASSICAL TRUTH, POST-TRUTH AND THE PRINCIPLE OF SOURCENESS 

ABSTRACT 

In this paper, I present a short 10-point characteristics of the classical conception of truth. Subsequently I point to the importance and comprehensive usefulness of this truth, among others, to the possibility of applying it in some virtual environments, e.g., in those which include virtual objects of types A and C. I also emphasize that—independently of views of promotors and creators of the “post-truth era” (e.g. the will of politicians, propagandists and the authors of conspiracy theories)—truth as it is grasped in the classical theory is in principle non-withdrawable from social discourse, including its philosophical and scientific fields. 

Keywords: truth, post-truth, reality, virtual reality, thought, cognition, knowledge, realism, objectivism, correspondence theory of truth, strong correspondence, weak correspondence. 

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Małgorzata Czarnocka 

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland.

Email: mczarnocka@ifispan.edu.pl 

THE NATURE OF POST-TRUTH

ABSTRACT 

The paper demonstrates a close relationship of post-truth to pragmatic truth as William James put it. As such post-truth cannot be treated—as it is commonly perceived—as a falsehood in the sense given it by the classical idea of truth. Post-truth is not a classical cognitive value, but a means of action, more concretely, a means of realizing interests of its operator by using the method of cognitive camouflage; it means that post-truth is disguised as a truth in its classical (correspondence) sense, but it only seemingly communicates in the objective way (i.e., impartially and nonsubjectively) real facts. In my view, the present eruption of post-truths is an effect of the spreading of the pragmatic system of values and infecting by it the whole public sphere and, in consequence, also individual principles and norms of action. 

Keywords: post-truth, pragmatic truth, William James, particular interest. 

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Tomasz Walczyk 

Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

Email: tomasz.walczyk@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl 

THE ISSUE OF EXTENDED KNOWLEDGE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF EXTENDED EPISTEMOLOGY AND TELEPISTEMOLOGY 

ABSTRACT 

The aim of this paper is to indicate the preliminary conditions that should be met by the concept of extended knowledge. Cognitive artifacts undoubtedly affect human cognition and knowledge. Research on knowledge should therefore take into account significant technological changes. In this paper, I make use of the concept of the Extended Mind, and in epistemological research, I use the reliabilist theories of justification. The effect of this combination is the analysis of the phenomenon of extended knowledge on the examples of extended perception and extended memory. Research conducted in the field of extended epistemology and telepistemology provides a significant support. 

Keywords: extended knowledge, extended mind, telepistemology, extended epistemology, extended cognitive system, telerobotic knowledge, augmented reality. 

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Marcin Trybulec 

Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

Email: marcin.trybulec@umcs.pl 

TOWARDS THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF COGNITIVE ARTIFACTS

ABSTRACT 

The paper aims to justify the need for a philosophical reflection concerning the concept of cognitive artifact, as it is used in situated cognition, and, first of all, for conceptualize and defining them. I tentatively call this area “the epistemology of cognitive artifacts”. The paper forms the problem of reification of the cognitive artifacts and the problem of amplification in describing the cognitive impact of the artifacts. Additionally, the article discusses the issue of nonrepresentational artifacts and singles out a new class of artifacts which I call metacognitive artifacts. 

Keywords: cognitive artifacts, nonrepresentational artifacts, metacognitive artifacts, dynamic artifacts, internal artifacts, situated cognition, epistemology of cognitive artifacts. 

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Maciej Wodziński, Marek Hetmański 

Maciej Wodziński — Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

Email: maciek.wodzinski@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl 

Marek Hetmański — Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

Email: marek hetmanski@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl 

EXPERT KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE BY EXPERIENCE IN THE DOMAIN OF AUTISM 

ABSTRACT 

The article presents conceptions and theories of expert knowledge, as well as discussions on the epistemological status of expert knowledge, cognitive competences falling within the scope of expertise and expert authority. They are treated as a kind of extra-institutional knowledge, referring only to a small extent to the scientific knowledge and academic circles. The positions of Alvin Goldman, Harry Collins and R. Evans, Z. Majdik and W. Keith, T. Burge and J. Shanteau on the validity of expert knowledge and methods of its justification are presented. The paper points to the problematic nature and certain limitations of the traditional perspective on the credibility of expert knowledge and expert authority. On the example of the phenomenon of the autism spectrum and traditional judgments about it—in particular, expert opinions issued about people covered by it, as well as common opinions and stereotypes— the discussion on the changes taking place in this field of knowledge and social practice is presented. Conceptions of expertise by experience in the subject of autism are discussed, including the so-called self-advocacy and self-advocacy scientists. These new cognitive attitudes and social functions of autism spectrum experts are also analyzed from the point of view of the epistemological credibility of this type of knowledge and competence. 

Keywords: Expert knowledge, expertise, knowledge justification, cognitive competences, expert authority, expertise by experience, autism spectrum. 

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Jerzy Gołosz 

Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Grodzka 52, 31-044 Cracow, Poland.

Email: jerzy.golosz@uj.edu.pl

THE PYTHAGOREANS, OR AN APOLOGIA FOR METAPHYSICS

ABSTRACT 

This paper attempts to demonstrate that the conviction about the harmony and order of the world was a fundamental metaphysical principle of the Pythagoreans. This harmony and order were primarily sought in the structures of arithmetics, yet following the discovery of incommensurable magnitudes (irrational numbers, as we now call them), the Pythagoreans began to see geometrical structure as a fundamental part of the world. On the example of the Pythagoreans’ metaphysics and science, the paper shows the mutual relations between metaphysics and science. It demonstrates—on the one hand—the necessity of the first as a guide for the latter, and—on the other—how our scientific research can change its basic metaphysical principles when these are found to be inappropriate. The paper also tries to show the need for a realistic approach in our scientific research by means of the same example of the Pythagoreans, that is, the need to discern something which is below the surface appearance. 

Keywords: Pythagoreans; metaphysics; science; scientific realism; philosophy of science; basic metaphysics; interpretative metaphysics. 

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Marek Maciejczak 

Warsaw University of Technology, Plac Politechniki 1, 00-661 Warsaw, Poland.

Email: marmaciejczak@poczta.onet.pl 

THE CONTEXT OF HABITATUALITY IN THE HUSSERLIAN THEORY OF CONSCIOUSNESS 

ABSTRACT 

Consciousness was the guiding thread of Edmund Husserl’s phenomenological investigations. He understood it as a critique of experience and the metaphysics and science based on it. Phenomenology is a critique of cognition, a method of investigation and questioning. In his later writings Husserl defined consciousness as a “system of intentional functions,” a “system of intentional operations.” Its correlate is a coherent and regularized world. One of the most important aspects of the system of intentional functions are habitualities—patterns, mental representations which arise in the process of “typification” and henceforth guide our ordinary thinking and acting. Thanks to them, the type of object, its features and properties are predetermined and, in principle, the ways of knowing it are determined. My task is to characterize the broad context of habituality formation, that is, the stream of consciousness and the possibilities of feeling and movement of the bodily subject. I will discuss in turn the temporal structure of experience and its dependence on the movement and action of the bodily subject, and then characterize the form of general intimacy with the world. It is in this context of “indeterminate reality” that the constitution and evocation of the deposited sense, the anticipation of the type of object and its qualities play out. In conclusion, I will make some remarks about habituality as a source of empirical concepts. 

Keywords: Husserl, consciousness, habitualities, typification, empirical concepts. empiryczne. 

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Krzysztof Sołoducha 

Military University of Technology, gen. Sylwestra Kaliskiego 2, 00-908 Warsaw, Poland. 

Email: krzysztof.soloducha@wat.edu.pl

SOME REMARKS ON NATURALISTIC ATTEMPS TO RATIONALISE HERMENEUTICS

 

ABSTRACT 

The aim of the text is to consider Gianni Vattimo’s claim that hermeneutics needs to be more rational due to its criticised relativism and aestheticism. From this perspective, the author considers the projects proposed by Bartosz Brożek and Chrysostomos Mantzavinos, based on the assumption that the cognitive phenomena underlying the understanding of human behaviour and the resulting artefacts can be described using naturalistic methods. Finally, the question is considered whether these attempts, coming from outside the hermeneutic movement, offer hope for eliminating the flaws of hermeneutics mentioned by Vattimo, and what are the prospects for further research on this issue. 

Keywords: hermeneutics, rationalisation of hermeneutics, philosophy of interpretation, methodology of humanities, naturalism, dataism, performative humanities, digital humanities, pedagogy. 

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Damian Winczewski 

Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

Email: damian.winczewski@gmail.com

DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM AFTER „DIAMANT”: SCIENTIFIC DIALECTICAL ONTOLOGY AND NATURAL MATERIALISM

ABSTRACT 

The aim of the article is to reconstruct the cardinal theses and assumptions of the materialistic-dialectical ontology in the post-Stalinist Marxist scientific philosophy, often described as “Eastern Marxism”. Basing on the source literature covering the works of the most eminent Polish (Stefan Amsterdamski, Stanisław Butryn, Helena Eilstein, Władysław Krajewski, Jan Such, Wiesław Sztumski and others) and Soviet (Fedosseyev, Konstantinov, Szeptulin, Rubinshtajn, etc.) philosophers which studied the links between dialectical materialism and natural sciences, I claim that postwar Marxist scientism clarifies the concise intuitions of the classics of Marxism regarding the nature and assumptions of dialectical materialism, especially the dialectic of nature. Contrary to the current interpretations of the sources of dogmatism in Marxism as the dominant ontological assumption of dialectical and natural materialism, according to these findings, it turns out that after its post-war modernization, the dialectical ontology was cleared of numerous dogmas and misunderstandings. Moreover, it turns out to be consistent with the general assumptions of the anti-Stalinist Marxist social and political philosophy. 

Keywords: Dialectical materialism, Engels, ontology, scientific philosophy, Marxism, natural sciences.

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Alina Bernadetta Jagiełłowicz 

Institute of Philosophy, University of Wroclaw, Koszarowa 3, 51–149 Wrocław, Poland.

Email: alina.jagiellowicz@uwr.edu.pl 

ENGAGED PHILOSOPHY OF HEALTH PROTECTION

ABSTRACT

The text considers the concept of engaged philosophy of health protection. The recognized precursor of this philosophy is Julian Aleksandrowicz, a Polish doctor and humanist. Moral problems of the contemporary world, developed in the aspect of ultratechnology and information, are a discursive background of the presented analysis. The paper highlights a need of revaluating the neopositivitist legacy and systemic projects of pro-health methodology. The methodology includes the ideas of health protection at the individual’s level as well as of implementing order and peace in global society. According to this concept the aim can be achieved through integrating the scientific–technical revolution with the humanistic one and with the holistic interpretation of health. Health is defined in the category of emergent, dynamic and vital whole, reached as a synergic effect. In the model of the engaged philosophy the idea of self-creation assumes the value of „subjective health,” its counterweight is “objectified disease.” It is not indifferent to the ethical dimension of choice between life or death, determined in the character of an exclusive alternative. The study uses the method of qualitative research. The basic theses of engaged philosophy , defined in the light of the health care problem have been justified. 

Keywords: engaged philosophy, emergency, synergic effect, health care, peace. 

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Mariusz Mazurek 

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland.

Email: mmazurek@ifispan.edu.pl 

CZESŁAW BIAŁOBRZESKI—PHYSICIST AND PHILOSOPHER

ABSTRACT 

In the first part of the article, I reconstruct the philosophical thoughts of Czesław Białobrzeski, a Polish philosophizing physicist. In the second part, I outline his biography and contribution to the development of physics. Philosophical reflections of Białobrzeski formed based on the leading issues in physics of the late 19th and mainly 20th century. He carried out his considerations in close connection to his scientific practice. The activity of the Polish scientist takes place in the formation and development period of quantum mechanics. Białobrzeski, similarly to many other physicists of the time, was well aware of the necessity of coherent explanation of the fundamentally new phenomena of the quantum mechanics. His take on the subject is rather original—he referred to the classical, philosophical theory of categories and proposed its ontological interpretation. 

Keywords: Czesław Białobrzeski, philosophy of nature, philosophy of physics, ontology, causality, potentiality. 

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Marek Błaszczyk 

Nicholas Copernicus University, Fosa Staromiejska 3, 87-100 Toruń, Poland.

Email: marek_blaszczyk@onet.eu 

TOWARDS THE PROBLEM OF THE SENSE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE

ABSTRACT 

The paper critically considers Alfried Längle’s view presented in his book Gdy rodzi się pytanie o sens. Praktyczne zastosowanie logoterapii [When the Question of Sense Arises. The Practical Application of Logotherapy] (Warszawa 2016). It invites to reflection focused on the problem of the sense of existence. 

Keywords: human being, existence, existentialism, sense, happiness. 

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Sebastian Kozera 

Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

Email: sebastiankozera@o2.pl 

SUPERINTELLIGENT BEINGS AS A SOURCE OF AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT ACCORDING TO NICK BOSTROM 

ABSTRACT 

This article presents Nick Bostrom’s considerations of the future included in his book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Bostrom studies such issues as determining the hypothetic ways of attaining superintelligence, its nature and different aspects of this technology. He shows threats regarding such powerful systems, as well as constructing strategies of preventing undesirable activities of superintelligent beings. Bostrom’s input is an important part of present discussion concerning the development of artificial intelligence and its ethical problems. 

Keywords: superintelligence, artificial intelligence, orthogonality thesis, instrumental convergence thesis, control methods. 

Andrzej Łukasik

Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

E-mail: lukasik@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl

ON PHYSICISTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS PHILOSOPHY

ABSTRACT

The article analyses physicists’ attitudes towards philosophy on the examples of the positions of eminent theorists. There are two physicists’ philosophical attitudes towards philosophy: pro-philosophical (Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg, von Weizsäcker, Penrose, Rovelli) and anti-philosophical (Weinberg, Hawking, Feynman). I analyse some physicists’ arguments for or against philosophy. It is demonstrated that physicists are most critical of all philosophical conceptions that accept a priori factors in cognition, while those who recognize the significance of philosophy for science most often refer to the Pythagorean-Platonic tradition as the proper basis for understanding modern physics.

Keywords: physics, philosophy, apriorism, positivism, Platonism, beauty.

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Stanisław Czerniak

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: stanislaw.l.czerniak@wp.pl

MAX SCHELER’S PLURALISTIC CONCEPTION OF KNOWLEDGE

ABSTRACT

This article aims to reconstruct Max Scheler’s conception of three types of knowledge, outlined in his late work Philosophical Perspectives (1928). Scheler distinguished three kinds of knowledge: empirical, used to exercise control over nature, eidetic (essential) and metaphysical. I review the epistemological criteria that underlie this distinction, and its functionalistic assumptions. In the article’s polemic part I accuse Scheler of a) crypto-dualism in his theory of knowledge, which draws insufficient distinctions between metaphysical and eidetic knowledge; b) totally omitting the status of the humanities in his classification of knowledge types; c) consistently developing a philosophy of knowledge without resort to the research tools offered by the philosophy of science, which takes such analyses out of their social and historical context (i.e., how knowledge is created in today’s scientific communities).

Keywords: types of knowledge, induction, essence, metaphysics, philosophical anthropology, Max Scheler.

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Pavlo Sodomora

Department of Latin and Foreign Languages, Lviv; Danylo Halytsky National Medical University, Ivan Franko Lviv National University, Department of Philosophy. 

E-mail: pavlosodom@gmail.com

NATURALISM AND CONVENTIONALISM IN PLATO’S DIALOGUES AND NATIVISTIC THEORIES OF LANGUAGE

ABSTRACT

For Plato, language was the way to cognize the universe. The philosophy of language, which was primarily initiated by Plato in the Cratylus, still has not received answers to the questions settled by this great Greek thinker. In fact, it just offered various solutions formed in different conceptions and approaches in the ancient, scholastic, modern and postmodern periods. The questions raised by Plato in his dialogue have been continued in various nativistic theories of language, especially in works of Noam Chomsky. Language—as it is seen by Plato, i.e., as uniting our inner world with the outer world, is a significant feature of humankind, is still underinvestigated. 

Keywords: language, conventionalism, naturalism, interpretation, etymology, semiotics.

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Małgorzata Czarnocka

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: mczarnocka@ifispan.edu.pl

EDMUND HUSSERL’S IDEA OF SCIENCE AND THE PROJECT OF PHENOMENOLOGY AS A SCIENCE

ABSTRACT

I investigate the idea of science elaborated by Edmund Husserl in his later works, first of all, in Cartesian Meditations and the Crisis of European Sciences. The first part of this investigation has been published in the paper: Edmunda Husserla idea nauki i projekt fenomenologii jako nauki ścisłej [Edmund Husserl’s Idea of Science and the Project of Phenomenology as a Strict Science], Filozofia i nauka. Studia filozoficzne i interdyscyplinarne, 2019, 7 (2), pp. 247-264. Husserl claims that the transformation of philosophy into a strict science, which is the basic aim of his intel­lectual enterprise, is connected with a reform of all the positive sciences. Positive science is closely related to philosophy—both they have a common grounding and ideal. The paper also compares Husserl’s project of philosophy as a fundamental science with the today trends in philosophy and the plurality of its schools, attitudes, fields of problems and methods.

Keywords: Edmund Husserl, ideal of science, phenomenology, positive science.

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Paweł Dziedziul

University of Bialystok, ul. Świerkowa 20 B, 15-328 Białystok, Poland.

E-mail: paweldziedziul@gmail.com

STEVEN PINKER’S MELIORISM 

ABSTRACT

This article considers Steven Pinker’s recent outlook presented in his book Enlightenment Now. The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress. The paper discusses not only current political and philosophical Pinker’s views on a considerable number of evidences in favor of mankind’s progress in the last period. The authors claims that Pinker’s views may serve as an antidote to the contemporary pessimism that is being spread inter alia by mass media. The reader is pulled into a debate regarding issues surrounding the contemporary state of being of the human race. This is something more than just pop-scientific excursion of a well-established specialist beyond his area of expertise, but a valuable aggregate of data enticing also to professionals from the realm of sociology, philosophy and politics. Above all Pinker’s voice should be regarded as a counterbalance to all-pervasive pejorism and however momentary relief.

Keywords: meliorism, pejorism, optimism, progressivism.

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Barbara Trybulec

Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

E-mail: barbara.trybulec1@gmail.com

THE SUBJECT OR AGENT? UNDERSTANDING SUBJECTIVITY IN THE COGNITIVE ARTEFACTS ERA

ABSTRACT

The philosophical tradition defines the subject as a reflective being, in principle aware of its agency which makes it capable of making free decisions and taking responsibility for them. Agency, understood in this way, is clearly attributed only to people. However, the technological development of artificial cognitive enhancements and of increasingly autonomous artificial intelligence, that has been taken place in last few decades, casts doubts whether such an approach is not too anthropocentric. This doubt is indicated by some proponents of extending cognitive processes beyond the human brain; they argue for the need of appropriate extension of the subject as well. Moreover, there is an increasing number of proposals attributing agency to artifacts. In the first part of the article, I refer to the two most commonly used philosophical criteria distinguishing the subject of cognition from all information processing systems: being a reflective system, and being the subject of intentional stance. Next, I assess, from such a perspective, the attempts to attribute agency to both one-person extended cognitive systems and artificial systems, such as relatively autonomous computer programs. I argue that the gap between conceptions of the extended subject and the artificial subject, and the standard approach incline toward the usage of the term “agent” designating this phenomenon. The term is already widely used in cognitive science to designate any relatively autonomous information processing system performing a cognitive task. The need of the clear distinction between “the subject” (“subjectivity”) and “the agent” (“agency”) is especially noticeable in Polish, where the difference in meanings of these concepts is not so evident as in English. The awareness of the applying in cognitive science these two different notions of agency prevents against a conceptual misuse which could lead to erroneous explanations and predictions.

Keywords: subject, agent, agency, extended mind thesis, extended cognitive system, cognitive enhancement, artificial cognitive system.

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Magdalena Łata, Andrzej Łukasik

Magdalena Łata – University of Warsaw, ul. Nowy Świat 69, 00-001 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: magdalena.lata@onet.eu

Andrzej Łukasik – Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

E-mail: lukasik@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl

IS TRUTH ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL, THAT IS, HOW AESTHETIC VALUES CAN BECOME AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL OBSTACLE

ABSTRACT

The article presents the main functions of aesthetic values (beauty, simplicity, symmetry) in the process of formulating, evaluating and accepting scientific theories in the work of physicist: 1) they motivate to undertake scientific research; (2) have a heuristic role which enables the direction of the search for a new theory to be selected; (3) are a criterion for choosing between empirically equivalent theories in the absence of empirical evidences and (4) sometimes constitute an epistemological obstacle. The basic thesis of the work is that aesthetic values, in addition to positive functions, also play a negative role in science, hindering the acceptance of new theories or leading to inefficient research. Too much weight on the aesthetic side of theory can pose a threat to the objectivity of scientific cognition.

Keywords: beauty, symmetry, simplicity, true, epistemological obstacle, nonempirical criteria.

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Zdzisława Piątek

Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland.

E-mail: zdzislawa.piatek33@gmail.com

ABOUT THE NATURE OF HUNTING – THE PRESENT, THE PAST, AND THE FUTURE

ABSTRACT

The paper discusses three stages in the development of hunting. Initially hunting had an adaptive value and contributed to the process of evolution of humanoids. When animals were domesticated hunting rituals still constituted an important element of cultural identity and were subject to various transformations due to the pressure from the state and the church. In the contemporary world, under the influence of ecology we witness the emergence of a new ethics which changes man’s relationship to animals. Hunting cannot be reconciled with the morality of modern hu­manity. Some people demand a complete ban on hunting or that only bloodless tradition should be continued.

Keywords: hunting, evolution of humanoids, morality, modern humanity, ecology.

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Marcin Urbaniak

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Pedagogical University of Cracow, ul. Podchorążych 2, Poland.

E-mail: murbaniak78@gmail.com

ON THE NATURAL-SOCIAL HARMFULNESS OF HUNTING PRACTICES

ABSTRACT

The current model of hunting economy, focused mainly on killing innumerable number of game species and finding joy and benefit in it, does not totally fulfil crite­ria of sustainable, ethical and rational management. This work provides an overview of evidences that the moral evil of hunting, together with the whole hunting culture, are not rationally justifiable. I am going to validate there is no reasonable argument for maintaining hunting economy and culture in the on-going, archaic condition. I maintain that therefore an immediate system reform of our hunting economy is necessary. There is a broad list of objection to the different aspects of hunting practices, which are presented and discussed in short in the paper. A reformed hunting institution, endowed with veterinary service, should guard some animals’ interests by different strategies of assuaging some conflicts among people and animals, as catching alive, flushing, separating or biosafety and professional reprocessing of infected corpses. The main recommendation for the ossified hunting tradition is the appeal for listening to the opinion of experts in natural sciences.

Keywords: hunting, hunting ethics, hunting culture, hunting practices, biosafety.

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Emanuele Coco

University of Catania, Italy; LAIOS-IIAC, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences. 

E-mail: emanuele.coco@unict.it

THE PHILOSOPHER AHEAD OF HIS TIME.

LUDWIK FLECK AND THE COMPLEXITY OF SCIENCE

(COMMUNICATION AND NOTES)

ABSTRACT

The new edition in Italian of the articles by the Polish microbiologist and philosopher Ludwik Fleck (1896-1961) edited by Francesco Coniglione offers the opportunity for some considerations around this significant scholar. Fleck anticipates Kuhn’s ideas as well as those of the sociology of science. For him, any epistemology that does not take psychological and sociological methods into account, or that does not concern itself with economics, technology, art, and even politics, is an epistemology imaginabilis. Here we discuss some key points of the essays collected in the book, some observations taken from the rich introduction of the editor, and an inevitable question: Why has Fleck been neglected for so long?

Keywords: Philosophy of science, sociology of science, Thomas Kuhn, Ludwik Fleck, thought collective, thought style.

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Zbysław Muszyński

Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

E-mail: zmuszyn@gmail.com

LEON KOJ’S SEMIOTIC CONDITION FOR MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

ABSTRACT

Major works by Leon Koj deal with the issues of semiotics, logics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind and ethics. Many of them refer to aspects of communication, however, this is not the main subject of his considerations. These references relate to the problems of satisfying: 1. the logical criteria, 2. the methodological criteria, 3. the ethical criteria, 4. the semiotic criteria. This article is dedicated to defining the semiotic criteria. It briefly covers basic semiotic notions present in Koj’s works. On the basis of Koj’s assumptions the concept of semiotics conditions for the realisation and functions of the communication process is defined.

Keywords: Leon Koj, communication, understanding, beliefs, rationality, criticism.

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Józef Dębowski 

Institute of Philosophy, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, ul. Kurta Obitza 1, 10-725 Olsztyn, Poland.

E-mail: jozdeb@poczta.onet.pl

THE PRINCIPLE OF TRANSPARENCY OF THE SIGN. LEON KOJ’S POINT OF VIEW

ABSTRACT

The article consists of two parts. In the first one (introductory) I recall—following Edmund Husserl, Stanisław Ossowski and Adam Schaff—the main formulations of the “principle of transparency of the sign.” In these formulations it is usually said about (1) the transparency of the sign regarding objects denoted by the sign (denoted, designated and/or named), or (2) the transparency of the sign regarding its meaning (respectively, events, states of affairs and facts designated by the sign). However, as Husserl pointed out, one can also speak about (3) the transparency of the sign in relations to the activities and mental states of the sign’s users (senders and recipients). After all, only due to the transparency of the sign understood in this way, it is possible for people to communicate with each other, thus the sign can also has an expressive and communicative function. In turn, the second part of the article (essential) contains a reconstruction of the Leon Koj’s approach; Koj gave a consistently formalized form to the theory of sign based on the principle of transparency—the form of an axiomatized logical system (using Quine’s formalism from his Mathematical Logic). One of Koj’s main goals was also to indicate the close relationship between semantics and pragmatics, and even the primacy of pragmatics over semantics. Formal-logical tools have also shown that the theory of sign based on the principle of transparency neither contravene The Law of Non-Contradiction (at least in its psychological formulation), nor contain or imply semantic antinomies such us antinomy of the liar. Because it is a theory easily negotiable with Alfred Tarski’s theory of language levels.

Keywords: logic, axiomatized logical system, semiotic, semantic, pragmatic, sign, meaning, denoted, designated, intentionality, the transparency of the sign, the principle of transparency, expressive function of the sign, communicative function of the sign, semantic antinomies. 

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Paweł Bytniewski

Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

E-mail: bytniewski@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl

ALINA MOTYCKA — PHILOSOPHER OF SCIENCE

ABSTRACT

In the paper, I present the views of Alina Motycka, a Polish philosopher of science who died in 2018. I place Motycka’s scholar activity in a historical context, relative to two traditions of the philosophy of science—its historical version signed by Thomas Kuhn, and the tradition of logical reconstruction of science which in the second half of the twentieth century was revived by the thought of Karl Popper. I believe that this historical situation forms the context in which Motycka shaped her view of the philosophy of science and, because of such a particular context, she has participated in it with her own problematizations. So, what constitutes the originality of her way? Two issues come to the fore here. The first is the reconstruction of the fundamental problem of the philosophy of science, which, according to Motycka, is the question of confronting two scientific theories, of which the earlier (T1) is replaced by a later and competitive one (T2). Motycka shows the inability of the epistemology of the second half of the 20th century to adequately capture this relationship. The reason for this is the lack of intellectual means to problematize the situation T1–T2. The second area of the author’s interest is the issue of creativity in science. She was inspired by the theories of Carl G. Jung. In this context, it is of interest to use the philosophy of science of terms such as archetype and myth.

Keywords: Alina Motycka, philosophy of science, epistemology, C.G. Jung, archetypes, myth.

 

Jacek Koronacki

Institute of Computer Science Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Jana Kazimierza 5, 01-248 Warsaw, Poland.

Email: jacek.koronacki@ipipan.waw.pl

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE DISENCHANTED WORLD

ABSTRACT

This is a modest endeavour written from an engineering perspective by a nonphilosopher to set things straight if somewhat roughly: What does artificial intelligence boil down to? What are its merits and why some dangers may stem from its development in this time of confusion when, to quote Rémi Brague: “From the point of view of technology, man appears as outdated, or at least superfluous”?

Keywords: artificial intelligence, strong artificial intelligence, machine learning, disenchanted world.

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Witold Marciszewski

International Center for Formal Ontology, affiliated at Warsaw University of Technology, Pl. Politechniki 1, 00-661 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: witmar@calculemus.org

THE COMPUTATIONAL AND PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO THE DYNAMICS OF SCIENCE

ABSTRACT

Science means here mathematics and those empirical disciplines which avail themselves of mathematical models. The pragmatic approach is conceived in Karl R. Popper’s The Logic of Scientific Discovery (p. 276) sense: a logical appraisal of the success of a theory amounts to the appraisal of its corroboration. This kind of appraisal is exemplified in section 6 by a case study—on how Isaac Newton justified his theory of gravitation. The computational approach in problem-solving processes consists in considering them in terms of computability: either as being performed according to a model of computation in a narrower sense, e.g., the Turing machine, or in a wider perspective—of machines associated with a non-mechanical device called “oracle” by Alan Turing (1939). Oracle can be interpreted as computertheoretic representation of intuition or invention. Computational approach in another sense means considering problem-solving processes in terms of logical gates, supposed to be a physical basis for solving problems with a reasoning. Pragmatic rationalism about science, seen at the background of classical rationalism (Descartes, Gottfried Leibniz etc.), claims that any scientific idea, either in empirical theories or in mathematics, should be checked through applications to problem-solving processes. Both the versions claim the existence of abstract objects, available to intellectual intuition. The difference concerns the dynamics of science: (i) the classical rationalism regards science as a stationary system that does not need improvements after having reached an optimal state, while (ii) the pragmatical version conceives science as evolving dynamically due to fertile interactions between creative intuitions, or inventions, with mechanical procedures. The dynamics of science is featured with various models, like Derek J. de Solla Price’s exponential and Thomas Kuhn’s paradigm model (the most familiar instances). This essay suggests considering Turing’s idea of oracle as a complementary model to explain most adequately, in terms of exceptional inventiveness, the dynamics of mathematics and mathematizable empirical sciences.

Keywords: algorithm, behavioral (vs declarative) knowledge, computability, corroboration, innate knowledge, intuition, invention, logic gates, oracle, pragmatic (vs classical) rationalism, problem-solving, reasoning, symbolic logic, Turing machine.

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Kazimierz Trzęsicki

University of Bialystok, ul. Świerkowa 20B, 15-328 Białystok, Poland.

E-mail: kasimir4701@gmail.com

THE IDEA OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

ABSTRACT

Artificial Intelligence, both as a hope of making a substantial progress, and a fear of the unknown and unimaginable, has its roots in human dreams. These dreams were materialized by means of rational intellectual efforts. We see beginnings of such a process in Lullus’s fancies. Many scholars and enthusiasts participated in the development of Lullus’s art, ars combinatoria. Amongst them, Athanasius Kircher was distinguished. Gottfried Leibniz ended the period in which the idea of artificial intelligence had been shaped, and started a new one when artificial intelligence could be considered a part of science, according to today’s standards.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, ars combinatoria, Ramon Lullus, Athanasius Kircher, Gottfried Leibniz

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Andrzej Targowski, Henryk Krawczyk

Andrzej Targowski – Western Michigan University (1980–2017).

E-mail: andrew.targowski@wmich.edu

Henryk Krawczyk – Polska Akademia Nauk; Centrum Informatyczne Trójmiejskiej Akademickiej Sieci Komputerowej.

E-mail: hkrawk@pg.edu.pl

INOFORMATICS AS A FIELD OF KNOWLEDGE SUPPORTING HUMAN ENDEAVORS

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to answer the question of whether informatics is a field or just a discipline of knowledge. Analyzes of info-computer-based problems, consider that informatics in Poland should be treated as a field. It was emphasized that the English term computer science is only one of the informatics-oriented specializations. The word “informatics” can be associated much more often with terms; IT in the US and ICT in Europe except France, where l’informatique terminology is used). Which name to use since the narrow understanding of information processing and handling is losing its full potential for the right development. In practice, it means a reduction in undertaking ambitious tasks and the higher costs of its development. Social implications confirmed that, despite a lot of capable informaticians, Poland had not been seen (except for computer devices), the right development of informatics-oriented applications. Hence the essential general informaticsoriented strategy is offered because the digital equipment-oriented strategy alone is not enough to apply in success looking ICT applications.

Keywords: informatics, computer science, ICT, informatic strategy, social implications of informatics.

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Mariusz Mazurek

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: mmazurek@ifispan.waw.pl

ON VIRTUAL OBJECTS

ABSTRACT

The article presents a brief exposition of alternative ways of creating virtual objects and the status of their existence inspired by the relevant views of Plato, Aristotle, Franz Brentano and Karl Popper as well as various conceptions of representation. I argue that the present state of research on the problem of “computer” virtuality shows that it is necessary to explore first the ontological issues of virtual objects. Only these issues will solve the mystery of the creation and existence of virtual objects. The consideration of these issues are suppressed by the fact that contemporary philosophy has removed both metaphysics and, with-it, ontology. That is why, and for reasons for reasons of substantive accuracy, I show how traditional ontological and ontologically inspiring approaches are—when modified— promising candidates for exploring the nature of virtual objects, first of all, problems of their existence and creation.

Keywords: virtuality, virtual object, virtual reality, representation in computer sciences.

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Andrzej Kiepas

Institute of Education and Communication Research, Silesian University of Technology, ul. Hutnicza 9, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland.

E-mail: andrzej.kiepas@us.edu.pl

THE HUMAN BEING IN THE WORLD OF DIGITALIZING PROCESSES – PRESENT CHALLENGES AND FUTURE EFFECTS

ABSTRACT

The article focuses on selected problems which have now appeared and fall under the ideas “industry 4.0” and “society 5.0”, namely on anthropological issues. Changes in the relationships between man and technology based on trust lead to an increase of the role of the technological factor in these relations. Other aspects of the analyzed changes concern the new requirements of the responsibility and changes of human subjectivity and rationality. The future of man appears to be an area of uncertainty related to inter alia the conditions of functioning and living in the order of the post-digital world.

Keywords: industry 4.0, society 5.0, subjectivity, post-digital world.

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Beata Witkowska-Maksimczuk

Warsaw University of Technology, Pl. Politechniki 1, 00-661 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: bwitkows@ans.pw.edu.pl

DIGITAL COMMUNISM

ABSTRACT

The article presents the phenomenon of increasing sharing in-formations for free on the Internet and the contemporary development of gift economy in the form of a movement most often called cybercommunism. The article points out two basic attitudes in treating information. According to the first one, information should be treated as a commodity to which property rights can be attributed and which is subject to market play. This involves such issues as copyright, fees, licenses and other ways of protecting the interests of market players. The second attitude is to treat valuable information as a common good, often with a moral imperative to share it (to varying degrees Open Source and Open Acces, the idea of copyleft, DIY, P2P network, YouTube, The Pirate Bay domain etc.). Since every concept or movement proclaiming a community of goods is called communism (in a broader sense of the word, in a narrower sense it is a specific political system, e.g. the Soviet Union), today we are dealing with digital communism on the Internet. Some researchers (Firer-Blaess, Fuchs) point to Wikipedia as an example. The Internet encyclopedia operates on the basis of principles that go beyond the capitalist way of production and represent an informational-communist way of production: in the subjective dimension, it is a cooperative work and in the objective dimension, a shared ownership of the means of production. The text also presents the division of ethics into an abstract and concrete one, applied to the behaviour of network users. If someone within the framework of an abstract ethics preaches the principle of “You will not pirate.” (copying and distributing illegally) is a corresponding principle of specific ethics that says “You will not pirate unless O1 or O2…or he.” In practice, concrete ethics push many Internet users to treat Internet resources as a common good, from which everyone can draw according to their own needs. Digital communism can be treated, on the one hand, as a partially implemented idea and, on the other, as a postulate. From an axiological point of view, this postulate would be connected with the Internet implementation of equality (access to resources for everyone) and freedom (access to all information).

Keywords: digital communism, cybercommunism, information ownership, concrete ethics, abstract ethics, community of goods.

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Jacek Gurczyński

Institute of Philosophy, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.

E-mail: jacek.gurczynski@umcs.lublin.pl

ON VALUES IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT. CYPHER’S CHOICE

ABSTRACT

The paper tries to defend the thesis that it is impossible to decide upon moral issues without any references to the ontology of the world we live in. An illustrative example of the main argumentation line is the choice made by Cypher—a second plan character in the movie Matrix. Cypher decides to betray human rebels fighting against machines for freedom and, as a reward, accepts affluent life in the virtual reality. His choice seems to be superficially reprehensible because of the abandonment of the real world and authentic life. However, one can argue that the dichotomy between the real and virtual world is seeming. By choosing the virtual reality Cypher decided to act in a world which, like the real world, makes it possible to be a moral subject and enables authentic experience. The difference between both the worlds lies in the type of determination limiting any conscious subject. Cypher prefers to live in a world determined by the algorithm of Matrix more than in a world where his behaviour is determined by genes and other biological factors.

Keywords: free will, biological determinism, relativism, semantic anti-realism, ontology of the virtual reality, values in the virtual reality.

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Paweł Polak

Faculty of Philosophy of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Crocow, ul. Kanonicza 9, 31-002 Crocow, Poland.

E-mail: pawel.polak@upjp2.edu.pl

COMPUTATIONAL MODELLING IN PHILOSOPHY – SOME METHODOLOGICAL REMARKS

ABSTRACT

Computational modeling plays an important role in the methodology of contemporary science. The epistemological role of modeling and simulations leads to questions about a possible use of this method in philosophy. Attempts to use some mathematical tools to formulate philosophical concepts trace back to Spinoza and Newton. Newtonian natural philosophy became an example of successful use of mathematical thinking to describe the fundamental level of nature. Newton’s approach has initiated a new scientific field of research in physics and at the same time his system has become a source of new philosophical considerations about physical reality. According to Michael Heller, some physical theories may be treated as the formalizations of philosophical conceptions. Computational modeling may be an extension of this idea; this is what I would like to present in the article. I also consider computational modeling in philosophy as a source of new philosophical metaphors; this idea has been proposed in David J. Bolter’s conception of defining technology. The consideration leads to the following conclusion: In the methodology of philosophy significant changes have been taking place; the new approach do not make traditional methods obsolete, it is rather a new analytical tools for philosophy and a source of inspiring metaphors.

Keywords: Computational modeling, methodology of philosophy, defining technology.

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Paweł Stacewicz

Warsaw University of Technology, Pl. Politechniki 1, 00-661 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: p.stacewicz@ans.pw.edu.pl

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE CONCEPTS FOR PHILOSOPHY ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN DIGITALITY AND ANALOGICITY

ABSTRACT

In this paper we show how formal computer science concepts—such as encoding, algorithm or computability—can be interpreted philosophically, including ontologically and epistemologically. Such interpretations lead to questions and problems, the working solutions of which constitute some form of pre-philosophical worldview. In this work we focus on questions inspired by the IT distinction between digitality and analogicity, which has its mathematical origin in the mathematical distinction between discreteness and continuity. These include the following questions: 1) Is the deep structure of physical reality digital or analog, 2) does the hu man mind resemble a more digital or analog computational system, 3) does the answer to the second question give us a cognitively fruitful insight into the cognitive limitations of the mind? As a particularly important basis for the above questions, we consider the fact that the computational power (i.e., the range of solvable problems) of some types of analog computations is greater than that of digital computations.

Keywords: information, digitality, analogicity, computing power, computational worldview.

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Sławomir Leciejewski

Institute of Philosophy, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Szamarzewskiego 89 c, 60-568 Poznań, Poland.

E-mail: slaaw@amu.edu.pl

THE BIG DATA PROBLEM IN EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCES

ABSTRACT

In the paper the phenomenon of big data is presented. I pay my special attention to the relation of this phenomenon to research work in experimental sciences. I search for answers to two questions. First, do the research methods proposed within the paradigm big data can be applied in experimental sciences? Second, does applying the research methods subject to the big data paradigm lead, in consequence, to a new understanding of science?

Keywords: big data, experimental sciences, philosophy of science, methodology of science.

Leszek Kuźnicki  

Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Polish Academy of Sciences 3 Pasteur Street 02-093 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: l.kuznicki@nencki.gov.pl  

WHETHER AND HOW TO DEFINE LIFE?

ABSTRACT

Biology is a science on life. This definition, concise and most commonly used, is satisfactory for almost everybody. It is otherwise when one asks: What is life? Then it appears that no one feature can be indicated which distinguishes “the living” from “the non-living.” The author presents the sources of these difficulties and then gives his own attempt to solve the problem of definition of live—which is based on the idea of levels of the biological organization. In author’s view, to characterise the objects of research in biology we should apply not one concept of life (or of living organism) but three concepts: of organized biological matter (for the molecular and sub-cellular levels), of living organism (for the level of the specimen), and of life (for the sphere of phenomena which occur on the population-species-biocenotic level).

Keywords: definition of life, living organism, organized biological matter.  

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Krzysztof Chodasewicz

LIFE, LIVING INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANISMS

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an outline of the relationship between the categories of living individual, organism and life. I argue that although these categories are related with each other and often treated as the same, we should strive for their separation. The main argument for the distinction between the individual and life is of a methodological character: the definitions of life are mainly interested for astrobiologists and scientists working in the field of origin of life or artificial life, while the individual is important, among others, in standard evolutionary biology and ecology. Among the concepts of living individual various forms of evolutionary definition (individual as a unit of selection) currently dominate. The living individual understood in this way is not identical with a structurally limited and functionally integrated self-sustained entity, which is usually called “organism.” Moreover, the explanatory success of the evolutionary concept of individual, in my opinion, implies the adoption of some version of the evolutionary definition of life. In the last part of this paper I propose a process-evolutionary definition of life, which also indicates a relationship between the three aforementioned categories.

Keywords: living individual, the concept of organism, defining of life.  

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Adrianna Grabizna  

Institute of Psychology, The University of Zielona Góra, Al. Wojska Polskiego 69, 65-762 Zielona Góra, Poland.  

E-mail: a.grabizna@wpps.uz.zgora.pl    

„LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER — EVO-DEVO AND THE CONCEPT OF EXTENDED INHERITANCE IN THE CONTEXT OF PSYCHOLOGY AND OF THE TRANSGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF ATTACHMENT STYLE AND MENTALIZING CAPACITY”

ABSTRACT

Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo) is becoming to be popular in psychology, and by certain is even seen as a new biology for psychology (Hofer 2014). In particular, it is about the concept of extended inheritance This concept claims to be (neo-) Lamarckian. According to it inherited is everything that contributes to resemblance across generations and that strongly affects the fitness of the offspring—starting by nuclear genes, by genes expression, maternal care, ecological niche, cultural niche, language, etc. In this paper I analyse the potential of the concept of extended inheritance on the example of transgenerational transmission of attachment style and mentalizing capacity. I present the neuroendocrine mechanism of transmission. Then I show that a) DNA methylation is complementary to neuroendocrine mechanism, but it does not revolutionize the latter as it is claimed; b) the concept of extended inheritance confounds the three questions rightly separated by Neo-Darwinism: origin of variation, fate of variation and inheritance, c) although the motivation of Evo-Devo goes against the alleged genetic determinism of neodarwinism, the concept of transgeneration inheritance is determinist (although it is an epigeneetic determinism).

Keywords: Evo-Devo, extended inheritance, attachment style, mentalizing, transgenerational inheritance.

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Ewa Joanna Godzińska  

Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Polish Academy of Sciences 3 Pasteur Street 02-093 Warsaw, Poland. 

E-mail: egodzinska@nencki.gov.pl    

ETHOLOGY AND WHAT NEXT? SOME PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS INFLUENCING THE RESEARCH ON ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR

ABSTRACT

Animal behaviour and its underlying causal factors are investigated by numerous behavioural sciences. Ethology, one of the most important classical behavioural sciences, is concerned with the description and quantification of behaviour and the analysis of a wide spectre of its causal factors. Ethology also lays stress on the importance of comparative behavioural research and field research. Specific behaviour paterns were considered by classical ethology as elements of hierarchically organised behavioural systems focused on specific functions. The notion of instinct was, however, far from unequivocal and is no more frequently used in behavioural sciences. We also know that information flow between the levels of organization existing in the nervous system and in living systems in general is multidirectional. The assumption that processes running on higher levels of organization can and should be explained solely in terms of processes running on lower levels becomes thus largely groundless. In behavioural sciences reductionism can manifest itself also as the so called law of parsimony adopted during explanations of observed phenomena (Occam’s razor, Lloyd Morgan’s canon). Since the introduction of Karl Popper’s falisifiability criterion to the methodology of scientific research, reductionistic explanations of observed phenomena are, however, less frequently proposed in behavioural sciences. Instead, an approach currently used involves experimental testing of sets of hypotheses proposing alternative explanations of the observed phenomena, not necessarily the simplest ones. Classical ethology was the so called objectivist science of behaviour: its adherents did not deny the existence of subjective phenomena in animals, however, explanations of mechanisms of investigated phenomena in terms of underlying subjective processes were not considered to be sufficient. Presently we may put forward increasingly daring hypotheses concerning subjective experiences of animals thanks to the development of advanced techniques of neuroimaging such as the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Behavioural sciences are constantly progressing and their methods become increasingly sophisticated. We can thus hope that philosophy and behavioural sciences will continue during a long time yet to contribute jointly to achieve new insights enriching our knowledge on factors influencing animal and human behaviour.

Keywords: ethology, behavioural sciences, instinct, information flow, reductionism, law of parsimony, falsifiability, subjective processes.  

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Józef Andrzej Stuchliński  

Institute of Philosophy, University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 3, 00-047 Warszawa, Poland.

E-mail: pelnomocnik@wszechnicapolska.home.pl    

ON FORMAL MODELS OF FACTORS AND MECHANISMS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION

ABSTRACT

Two formal types of models of living processes, especially evolutionary ones, may be distinguished: the well-known mathematical type and the less-known logical one. The latter applies the terms “class” or “set”; both the terms are understood either in a collective sense (in mereology) or in a distributive sense (in set theory). These formal terms may be used among others to such organic multiplicities as populations or species of organisms, and to organic constituents (molecules, cells, organs) of living organism. Collective concepts refer to objects existing in nature, whereas distributive concepts refer to the linguistic and research constructions of models of natural objects, developed to cognitively grasp natural regularities.

Keywords: factors and mechanisms of evolution, mathematical model, logical model, classes and sets understood collectively, classes and sets understood distributively.  

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Andrzej Gecow  

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: gecow@op.pl; andrzejgecow@gmail.com   

A CURRENT RETURN TO LAMARCK IN AGREEMENT WITH DARWIN

ABSTRACT

Currently, the “Lamarckian dimension” and “Lamarckian mechanisms” are vividly discussed, indicating that they are compatible with Darwinism. However, they require an extension of Modern Synthesis to Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. Both the terms, unfortunately connected to Lamarck, really indicate a group of phenomena which can be symbolized by Jablonka’s wording: “some evolutionary changes are non-random in origin, or even result from instruction.” The Lamarckian mechanisms leading to these evolutionary changes arose, however, in the Darwinian way much earlier. This earlier stage is said too rarely, and the typical understanding of Lamarckism strongly suggests its lack. The term “Lamarckism” was and is understood very differently both at different times and in different national and ideological traditions but usually fraught with a simplified understanding of Lamarck. Most of the controversies in these issues arise from the insufficient precision of the utterance, and this from undervaluation of definition, specification of assumptions and abstract reasoning.

Keywords: Lamarkism, Lamarkian mechanisms, heredity, Extendent Evolutionary Synthesis.

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Krzysztof Chodasewicz 

LIFE AND MIND. TWO SIDES OF THHE SAME?

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to discuss possible connections between the categories of mind and life. Some authors argue that life and mind are closely connected or even are two sides of the same phenomenon. I analyze and examine this thesis in the light of different approaches to defining life: the metabolic approach (which stresses the importance of self-maintenance and self-making) and the evolutionary approach (which focuses on evolution by natural selection). The first way of defining life is Maturana and Varela’ conception of autopoiesis, the second is Korzeniewski’s cybernetic definition of life and van Hateren’s modified Darwinian definition of life. Especially interesting is the possibility of connecting mind and life in the evolutionary framework. The text does not provide exact results, but rather it proposes possible modes of thinking of the relation of these two categories.

Keywords: definition of life, relations between life and mind, life and cognition, autopoiesis, cybernetic definition of life, Darwinian definition of life. 

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Aleksander A. Ziemny  

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Szamarzewskiego 89 c, 60-568 Poznań, Poland.

E-mail: aleksander.ziemny@amu.edu.pl    

ISSUES WITH GENE CONCEPT

ABSTRACT

This article provides an initial analysis, from a historical standpoint, of the problematic nature of conceptualizations of the notion of gene in molecular genetics. The starting point is an historical outline of the relation between classical genetics and molecular genetics; it is indicated how the conceptual baggage of classical genetics influenced the development of the concepts of gene used later in molecular biology. I also reveal two problems of genes in the philosophy of science, i.e., skepticism concerning genes and the concept of nominal gene. I conclude that concept of gene functioning within the framework of molecular genetics should be considered from the point of view of experimentalism and pragmatism. It seems that the concept of gene on the molecular level should be conceptualized—in order to remain functional—as broadly as possible and in relation to genetic material.

Keywords: philosophy of biology, genetics, new experimentalism. 

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Iwona Olejniczak  

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Szamarzewskiego 89 c, 60-568 Poznań, Poland.

E-mail: iw.olejniczak@gmail.com   

INTENTIONAL APES BEHAVIOR

ABSTRACT

The main topic of this article is apes’ intentional behaviour. I consider the Michael Tomasello’s concept of intentionality. I outline how different levels of intentionality presented by Tomasello could be applied to apes’ behaviour. To do so I examine few experiments and observations (in natural conditions) of apes’ behaviour and try to apply Tomasello’s intentionality concepts. My main concern is the possibility of group and shared intentionality in ape communities, which could suggest that there is some kind of culture oriented behaviour in non-human animals.

Keywords: intentionality, individual intentionality, joint intentionality, collective intentionality, ape, chimpanzees, natural environment. 

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Leszek Żuk  

Institute of Philosophy, University of Wroclaw, Koszarowa 3/20, 51-149 Wrocław, Poland.  

E-mail: leszuk@vp.pl    

THE DIRECTNESS IN PROCESSES OF EVOLUTION

ABSTRACT

One of the fundamental problems in evolutionary sciences is the direction of evolution at different levels of matter organization. According to traditional teleological interpretations, the evolving systems should develop toward a final state—a goal. However, in most cases such a goal is not determinable—scientists do not know it. However, they can reveal a general tendency or a series of changes in time: a teleonomy or a directness based mainly upon an internal pattern of the evolving system although modified also by external influences. Teleonomical processes are responsible for all evolutionary processes including transitions from one level of organization to another.

Keywords: evolution, directness, goal directness, teleonomy, levels of matter organization. 

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Dariusz A. Szkutnik  

currently an independent researcher.   

SEARCHING FOR DYNAMICAL ORGANIC DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESSES. METHODOLOGICAL REMARKS

ABSTRACT

Author’s aim is to highlight problems related to the course of regulatory processes in the structures of the living organism. In this research area the question arises what is the task of causal factors and mechanisms governing regeneration processes, including building new parts of the body. Despite the vast knowledge already gained in this field, the way to restore the functional regeneration of some structures of the organism is still to be discovered.

Keywords: regeneration, development, cause, factors.

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Alicja Kubica  

Pedagogical University of Krakow, ul. Podchorążych 2, 30-084 Cracow, Poland.  

E-mail: alicewanderer@gmail.com     

TYTAN VERSUS ENCELADUS — ON THE MULTITUDE OF THEORIES OF BIOGENESIS AND ON THE PHILOSOPHICAL AWARENESS OF SCIENTISTS

ABSTRACT

The text was created on the basis of interviews with Caltech scholars (Pasadena, USA) in 2018. The talks concerned various contemporary theories of biogenesis and the role of their philosophical premises. The researchers also addressed the issue of popularizing science. The worldview is shaped (and established) by popularizing publications. They also answered the questions how their personal beliefs influenced on research.

Keywords: theoretical synthesis, biogenesis, popular science.  

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Włodzimierz Ługowski  

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: wlugowsk@fispan.waw.pl    

LIFE AS A NATURAL PROPERTY OF MATTER

ABSTRACT

This work is a contribution to understanding the philosophical dimension of the breakthrough that took place in the 20th century historical natural science as a result of the extrapolation of Darwin’s idea of evolution to the area of inanimate matter and the formulation on this basis of a number of theories of pre-biological chemical evolution. The revealed results are the inaccurate recognition of the philosophical foundations of the broadly understood science of evolution: on the one hand, for scientists-naturalists, and on the other, in a much broader, social dimension of their research.

Keywords: nature of life, pre-biological chemical evolution, biogenesis, Weltanschauung.  

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Stanisław Czerniak  

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: stanislaw.l.czerniak@wp.pl     

RICHARD MÜNCH’S THEORY OF ACADEMIC CAPITALISM. AN ATTEMPT OF RECONSTRUCTION AND A PHILOSOPHICAL COMMENTARY

ABSTRACT

The author reviews the main elements of Richard Münch’s academic capitalism theory. By introducing categories like “audit university” or “entrepreneurial university,” the German sociologist critically sets the present academic management model against the earlier, modern-era conception of academic research as an “exchange of gifts.” In the sociological and psychological sense, the latter is a social communication structure rooted in traditional social lore, for instance the potlatch ceremonies celebrated by some North-American Indian tribes which Marcel Mauss described. Münch shows the similarities between that old “gift exchanging” model and the contemporary one with its focus on the psychosocial fundamentals of scientific praxis, and from this gradually derives the academic capitalism conception. His conclusion is the critical claim that science possesses its own, inalienable axiological autonomy and anthropological dimension, which degenerate in result of capitalism’s “colonisation” of science by means of state authority and money (here Münch refers to Jürgen Habermas’s philosophical argumentation). The author also offers many of his own reflections on the problem, which allows Münch’s analyses to be viewed in a somewhat broader context.

Keywords: academic capitalism, audit university, entrepreneurial university, potlach, gift exchanging, prestige, identity of the subject, anthropology of science.  

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Małgorzata Czarnocka  

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: mczarnoc@ifispan.waw.pl  

IDEA OF SCIENCE AND THE PROJECT OF PHENOMENOLOGY AS EXACT SCIENCE—EDMUND HUSSERL

ABSTRACT

I investigate Husserl’s long-term research on revealing/constructing a proper idea of science. For Husserl this idea was of tremendous importance: it had to be the basis of forming a (the) proper philosophy (phenomenology), that is, a philosophy which was to be an exact science, a new and higher form of science. According to Husserl, the idea of science is not a free project of individual researchers, scientific communities, but the very essence of science—changeless, universal, nontransformable, non-culturally and socially loaded, ahistorical, and non-relativized to scientific praxis. It was attempt to determine a new status of philosophy which led Husserl’s to the consideration of a universal idea of science.

Keywords: idea of science, Edmund Husserl, positive sciences, philosophy as an exact science, phenomenology.  

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Tomáš Čanal

Department of Philosophy and Applied Philosophy, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Námestie J. Herdu 2, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia.

E-mail: tomas.cana73@gmail.com  

KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE AND A RADICAL SCEPTICISM

ABSTRACT

According to Descartes, it is possible to doubt successfully that there is external world, all around us, yet still to have language, in place, without any complication. According to Wittgenstein, to doubt everything about the external world except language means nothing more than to doubt everything about the external world including language. Why? No speaker is more certain about the meaning of his words than about the external things he believes to be unassailable (for example, that he has two hands and two legs). Without this constitutive connection there would be no communication of a definite sense. Wittgenstein suggests that, after the author of the Meditations on First Philosophy adopts the hypothesis of evil deceiver, we are only under the impression that we deal with language (or that we read a text). We instead deal with symptoms of something rather different. The objective of this paper is to critically reassess Wittgenstein’s criticism of the possibility of holding such a radical sceptical position.

Keywords: Cartesian doubt, certainty, Descartes, epistemology, Evil Deceiver, knowledge, scepticism, Wittgenstein.

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Jadwiga Skrzypek-Faluszczak

Faculty of Sociology and History Institute of Sociology, University of Rzeszów, Aleja Rejtana 16c, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland.

E-mail: jadwiga_f@interia.pl  

SOURCES OF PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION. IRRATIONALITY OF RATIONALITY AS A SUBSTRATE

ABSTRACT

This work attempts to reconstruct the culture that contributed to the philosophical way of thinking. My goal is to extract two important factors: religion carrying individual experience and the importance of certain ideas which are present in that culture. Sources of philosophical thinking can be found in the structure of polis. Only on its basis could the idea of the wise man and citizen as well as religion-oriented individual experience be raised. Greek polis paves the way for a new style of thinking by creating the conditions for its citizens to follow the ideal, regardless of the position they occupy in society. Sustainability, which should be a feature of a good citizen, is also the essence of society. Highly positioned wisdom as moral reflection tinged with religiosity allows thinking according to the laws of logos. Finally, the experience offered by the mystery cults leads to the transformation of their own existence and the emergence of a way of recognition of reality different than before. Undeniably, all the elements related to structure policies with its ideals contribute to the emergence of a new way of thinking in the form of philosophy. One could say that the philosophical objectivity is preceded by the subjectivity and rationality of its roots dating back to irrationality.

Keywords: irrationalism, divinity, structure polis, philosophy, religious experience.

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Marzenna Cyzman  

Nicholas Copernicus University, Fosa Staromiejska 3, 87-100 Toruń, Poland.

E-mail: mcyzman@umk.pl  

SURPRISING PEREGRINATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS OF CONCEPTS. ON THE THOUGHT COLLECTIVE OF LUDWIK FLECK AND THE INTERPRETIVE COMMUNITY OF STANLEY FISH

ABSTRACT

The aim of the article is to compare the thought collective and the interpretive community, two surprisingly similar notions formulated independently by Ludwik Fleck and Stanley Fish. In contemporary discourse, both concepts are used as synonims, while an accurate analysis of the contexts of the use of interesting terms proves that the equivalent of the interpretive community is rather thought collective, as well as the thought style, both of these concepts in the deliberations of Fish are subject to contamination. The exact repartition of the notion of interpretive community seems to be important due to the frequency of its use in works in the field of literary interpretation and cognition. The article also presents more general remarks on the functioning and possible origin of twin terms and their role in scientific cognition.

Keywords: thought collective, thought style, interpretive community, sociology of knowledge, interpretation.  

Göran Sonesson

Division of Cognitive Semiotics, Lund University, Helgonabacken 12, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden.
E-mail: goran.sonesson@semiotik.lu.se

SEMIOSIS IN HISTORY. THE EMERGENCE OF ALTER-CULTURE

ABSTRACT

Following upon Merlin Donald’s claim that human specificity emerges in history, and not exclusively in evolutionary time, it will be suggested that the diversified means of producing semiosis created by human beings account for the spread of empathy and altruism not only beyond the kin group, but to humankind in general. This amounts to treating other cultures as different from us, but still able to enter into communication with us (as an Alter), as opposed to treating these cultures as being part of nature, and thus only susceptible to being communicated about (as an Alius). Starting out from the theory of bio-cultural evolution defended by Peter J. Richerson and Robert Boyd, as well as from the multi-level selection theory of Elliott Sober and David Sloan Wilson, we try to lay bare the way in which semiotic structures play a role for transforming cultural evolution, contrary to biological evolution, into human history. We inquiry into what makes the existence of Alter-culture possible, if, as Sober and Wilson have claimed, armed with game theory, an altruistic society (an Ego-culture in our terms), is only possible in opposition to another group in relation to which group egoism rules (that is, in our terms, an Alius-culture). We will follow Michael Tomasello in arguing for the primacy of games of cooperation, rather than competition, while adding an historical dimension, which serves to explain how such cooperation can be extended beyond the primary group (our Ego-culture). However, we will insist on the importance of multiple semiotic resources for the boot-strapping of empathy and altruism, as well as on the genesis of this process in cultural encounters, as reflected in the spirit of the Enlightenment.

Keywords: Cognition, semiotics, empathy, altruism, bio-cultural coevolution.

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Shekoufeh Mohammadi Shirmahaleh

Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Maestro Mario de la Cueva S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Coyoacan, CDMX, Mexico.

E-mail: smohammadi@comunidad.unam.mx  

PEIRCEAN METAPHOR REEXAMINED: CREATION, FUNCTION AND INTERPRETATION

ABSTRACT

The Peircean iconic metaphor takes the concept of metaphor beyond linguistic and literary metaphors and does not even limit it to the “conventional metaphor” of Lakoff and Johnson’s cognitive theory. Given Peirce’s short and somewhat ambiguous definition of the metaphorical icon, a closer study of this category of icons is necessary for a better understanding of a concept that surpasses in many respects the earlier definitions of metaphor. It is also necessary to observe metaphors from the perspective of their creator: a perspective that is not usually adopted in other theories of metaphor, since much of the debates consider only the structure of the metaphor and its function with a focus on its interpretation, and do not discuss how the creator of the metaphor reaches or creates a metaphor. The present article aims at filling the mentioned blanks.

Keywords: Charles Sanders Peirce, iconic metaphor, final interpretation, iconicity.  

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Donna West

Modern Languages Department, State University of New York at Cortland, USA Old Main Building, Room 227-B NY 13045, Cortland, USA.

E-mail: westsimon@twcny.rr.com  

SEMIOTIC DETERMINANTS IN EPISODE-BUILDING: BEYOND AUTONOETIC CONSCIOUSNESS

ABSTRACT

This account examines how episodes are constructed and measured, and how Peirce’s Index informs and even hastens the advancement of this process—from binding spatial features, to the awareness of participant roles and temporal sequencing. It provides semiotic rationale for how episodes develop from static single pictures (dependent on verbatim memory) to events whose frames reflect a deictic and sequential character—superseding the consciousness inherent in autonoesis. Empirical evidence will trace children’s event memory—first iconic and static, and later characteristic of increasingly more complex interpretants which specify directional and logical relations, and memory sources. The signs which promote episodic thought are indexical in nature, given their largely relational character. They incorporate deictic projections of the self in diverse orientations, entering into different participant slots inherent to the event. Notice of the latter entails the influence of index to apprehend the spatial, participatory, and temporal directionality within and across event frames. This progression requires a rudimentary consciousness of aspectual features (telicity, dynamicity), as well as an appreciation for the events’ purposes/goals. Anticipating how, where, and when events conclude is critical to realizing the event’s purpose/goal, since, according to Bauer 2006: 384, it constitutes the basis upon which episodes are constructed.

Keywords: Episode-building, episodic memory, indexical signs, autonoetic consciousness.  

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Jens Allwood, Elisabeth Ahlsén Jens Allwood

SCCIIL Interdisciplinary Center, Department of Applied IT, University of Gothenburg, Forskningsgången 6, Hus Patricia, Lindholmen, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.

E-mail: jens.allwood@ait.gu.se

E-mail: elisabeth.ahlsen@gu.se  

DIMENSIONS OF CONTEXT. CLASSIFYING APPROACHES TO THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNICATION

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes the concept of context with a special focus on the context of communication. We suggest two ways of classifying approaches to the context of communication: (i) classifying approaches based on a number of relevant dimensions for analyzing context in social activities, (ii) classifying approaches, based on the dimensions of Peirce’s semiotics. We also discuss the use of collected corpora of language, especially multimodal corpora of spoken interaction, as an aid in studying context. Finally, building on the two ways of classifying approaches to the context of communication, we present our own proposal for how to analyze the main relevant contextual dimensions influencing human interaction and communication

Keywords: Context, approaches to context, dimensions of context, syntactic context, semantic context, pragmatic context, semiotics, representamen, object, interpretant, relevant contexts. 

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Paul A. Wilson, Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk

Paul A. Wilson — University of Łódz Institute of English Studies Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics, Pomorska 171/173, 90-236 Łódź, Poland.

E-mail: paul.wilson@uni.lodz.pl

Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk — State University of Applied Sciences in Konin, Department of Research in Language, Literature, and Translation, Przyjaźni 1, 62-510 Konin.

E-mail: blt@konin.edu.pl  

COGNITIVE STRUCTURE AND CONCEPTUAL CLUSTERS OF EMOTION TERMS

ABSTRACT

The major underlying principle of the present paper is that, in opposition to the viewpoint of emotions as discrete entities, emotions are represented as clusters in conceptual space. The graded structure and fuzzy boundaries inherent in the prototype-periphery nature of these clusters dictate that the meaning of a specific emotion is governed by both inter- and intra-cluster relationships and their interactions. In addition to these relationships and interactions the paper examines both external and internal affects to compare and contrast the FEAR, COMPASSION, LOVE/JOY, and PRIDE clusters in British English and Polish. The three specific methods employed to analyze these are the GRID instrument, an online emotions sorting task, and a corpus-based cognitive linguistic methodology.

Keywords: emotions, conceptual clusters, British English, Polish, fear, compassion, love/joy, pride, GRID, online emotions sorting task, corpus methodology. 

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Elżbieta Magdalena Wąsik

Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of English, Department of Older Germanic Languages, Collegium Heliodori Święcicki, ul. Grunwaldzka 6, 60-780 Poznań, Poland.

Email: wasik@wa.amu.edu.pl  

EXPOSING THE DIALOGICAL NATURE OF THE LINGUISTIC SELF IN INTERPERSONAL AND INTERSUBJECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS FOR THE PURPOSES OF LANGUAGE-AND-CONSCIOUSNESS-RELATED COMMUNICATION STUDIES

ABSTRACT

This paper aims at elaborating the concept of linguistic self with regard to its twofold existence modes, namely as a physical person and as a mental subject, being shaped by external and internal dialogs in interpersonal and intersubjective communication. These dialogical encounters, constantly changing the reality of everyday life, are based, on the one hand, on the observable multitextuality of narratives, and on the other, on the multi-voicedness of opinions. As such, it lays emphasis on the need for a holistic approach to human beings as a psychosomatic unity, taking part in cognition with their minds and bodies, and developing itself both in-and-with the physical and logical domains of their surrounding ecosystems. In view of the private and public character of the self, the author postulates to consider in future studies the achievements of personal and social constructivism.

Keywords: cognition, consciousness, intersubjectivity, language, the dialogical self.  

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Zdzisław Wąsik

Philological School of Higher Education in Wrocław, Department of Linguistic Semiotics and Communicology, ul. Sienkiewicza 32, 50-335 Wrocław.

E-mail: zdzis.wasik@gmail.com  

EPISTEMOLOGY AS A SEMIOTIC CARTOGRAPHY OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE AND COGNITION

ABSTRACT

The subject matter of this article constitutes the semiotic mapping of human of knowledge which results from cognition. Departing from the presentation of human subjects as world-model-builders, it places epistemology among the sciences of science and the sciences of man. As such the understanding of epistemology is referred either to a static state of knowledge or to a dynamic acquisition of knowledge by cognizing subjects. The point of arrival, in the conclusive part of a this article, constitutes the substantiation of the two understandings of epistemology, specified, firstly, as a set of investigative perspectives, which the subject of science has at his/her disposal as a knower on the metascientific level, or, secondly, as a psychophysiological endowment of a cognizing subject who possesses the ability of learning and/or knowing a certain kind of information about cognized reality.

Keywords: cartography of ideas, epistemology, knowledge, cognition, semiotics.    

Ignacy S. Fiut

AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Adama Mickiewicza 30, 30–059 Cracow, Poland.

E-mail: isf1949@o2.pl; isfiut@agh.edu.pl  

IS THE “FOURTH WORLD” POSSIBLE IN KARL R. POPPER’S EVOLUTIONARY EPISTEMOLOGY MODEL?

ABSTRACT

The work analyses the concept of three worlds formulated by Karl R. Popper. His arguments make it possible to distinguish in this field of research the fourth world— that of the development and application of human knowledge. The criteria of Popper’s division are accepted and some doubts concerning his conception are dispelled by the arguments of researchers dealing with the evolution and development of traditional, electronic and Internet media. Those arguments point the need of the concept of fourth world. The author discusses the views of technological determinants in communication authored by M. McLuhan, D. De Kerckhove, P. Levinson, H. Jenkins and J. Pleszczyński who provide reasonable arguments for this new classification. The Popper’s model of three worlds is thus enriched by the fourth world—the world created by users of old and new media, the internet, and multimedia in communication. It is a real world, rooted in the three other worlds.

Keywords: Karl R. Popper’s three words, fourth world, new media of communication, M. McLuhan, D. De Kerckhove, P. Levinson, H. Jenkins and J. Pleszczyński.  

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Stanisław Czerniak

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail : stanislaw.l.czerniak@wp.pl  

JÜRGEN MITTELSTRASS: THE HUMANITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE UNITY OF SCIENCE CONCEPTION

ABSTRACT

The author recounts the main threads of Jürgen Mittelstrass’s philosophy of the humanities. In it, the German philosopher starts out with the critique of J. Ritter’s and O. Maquard’s so-called functionalistic and dualistic conception of the human sciences, stating preference for methodological monism, which sees all sciences united by the universal rules of rationality. Mittelstrass seeks this unity both in the trans-disciplinary trends in contemporary science, as well as in certain epistemological similarities and similarities in research praxis between scientific disciplines. The author also points to Mittelstrass’s Kantian inspirations, and his clever adaptation of the “power of judgement” concept for the purposes of his own argumentation. In a final resume, he passes a generally positive opinion about the discussed conception with some critical comments.

Keywords: The humanities/the human sciences, rationality, the compensatory functions of the humanities, power of judgement, trans-disciplinary, research praxis.  

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Małgorzata Czarnocka

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: mczarnoc@ifispan.waw.pl  

HOW IS SCIENCE UNIVERSAL?

ABSTRACT

I examine the problem of universalities of science and the thesis on the antiuniversality of science commonly postulated in socialized conceptions of science. In the paper epistemic universality, ethical-axiological and global cultural-social universality, and in the latter—global universality of the basic level are distinguished. It is investigated why in epistemology science is necessarily viewed as universal in its basic aspects. It is shown that universality is a necessary effect of validity and autonomy of science. It is also demonstrated that multiculturalism improperly treats science as necessarily anti-universalistic. I propose the position of global universalism of the basic level which claims that science emerges from the cultural basis, common for all the cultures. This universalism adopts multiculturalism (cultural pluralism) on higher levels of culture. I also consider how epistemic and global universality—features of science—become its values, and what are their significance for the human world.

Keywords: epistemology, socialized conceptions of science, the universality of science, epistemic universality, global social-cultural universality, universality as a value.   

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Marek Suwara

Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Grodzka 52, 31-044 Kraków, Poland.

E-mail: marek marek.suwara@uj.edu.pl  

ANALOGIES REFERRING TO INFORMATION SCIENCE AND BIOLOGY IN EXPLAINING THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE AND CULTURE

ABSTRACT

The level of adequacy of an analogy determines its effectiveness in scientific explanation. This thesis is examined in the context of analogies to information science and biology used in the concept of cultural meme, which is supposed to be substantial in explaining science or culture in the terms of evolution. It is shown that the choice of the cultural equivalent of biological specimen is crucial to interpreting the evolution of culture as that of the Lamarckian or Darwinian type.

Keywords: evolution, culture, analogy, meme.  

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Jagna Brudzińska

Husserl-Archiv der Universität zu Köln, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, D-50923 Köln, Niemcy.

E-mail: jbrudzinska@gmail.com  

PHENOMENOLOGY AS A THEORY OF EXPERIENCE AND SOME CHALLENGES OF THE TODAY HUMANITIES—NEW PERSPECTIVES IN HUMAN STUDIES

ABSTRACT

Phenomenology is a philosophical project with vast potential, mainly methodological one, which has been not exploited in full until now. It is not limited to 20thcentury hermeneutics based on Heidegger’s views, nor to analytically founded contemporary investigations on language. Today this potential is revealed when the humanities and social studies face new challenges requiring new interpretations of human experience. Here transcendental phenomenology—as a theory of experience from the living perspective based on the intentional-genetic method—offers new research possibilities.

Keywords: transcendental phenomenology, intentional experience, experiential living perspective, motivation, developmental process.  

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Rafał Michalski

Institute of Philosophy, Nicholas Copernicus University, Fosa Staromiejska 1 a, 87-100 Toruń, Poland.

E-mail: metasis@umk.pl  

WAS ARNOLD GEHLEN A NATURALISTIC REDUCTIONIST?

ABSTRACT

The article takes up a polemic with an accusation of naturalist reductionism, which allegedly constitutes the philosophical anthropology of Arnold Gehlen. In the first section of the article I will analyze the legitimacy of the charge of reductionism in the context of Gehlen’s considerations on human nature, in turn the subjcekt of the second part will be the concept of nature as an objective world, while the third and fourth sections will deal with issues concerning morality (3) and culture and human consciousness (4) in view of the allegation of the naturalism of his anthropological project. The author argues that Gehlen’s anthropology is aimed at integrating the results of the biological and social sciences, but he derives philosophical implications from them on such a level of generality that they go beyond the competence of specific sciences. Their findings acquire a universal meaning in his concept within the framework of a system of philosophical categories describing man as a whole project of nature. Gehlen rejects all attempts to create a general human theory on the basis of comparative studies that derive the property of the human condition from the animal world. Gehlen’s anthropobiology resigns from the concept of man’s nature in the biological sense, i.e. as a set of evolutionarily determined morphological, physiological and behavioral features, he also abandons the objectiveist concept of “external nature” as an ontical area independent of cultural mediation. Language, consciousness and culture are the result of processes compensating for biological deficits, and at the same time they represent the area of competence and values that are autonomous and autotelic, and therefore completely independent of biological conditions.

Keywords: Arnold Gehlen, naturalistic reductionism, philosophical anthropology, culture, language, morality, institutions.    

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Marcin Urbaniak

Pedagogical University of Krakow , Podchorążych 2, 30-084 Cracow, Poland.

E-mail: murbaniak78@gmail.com  

A VIEW ON HUMAN HERMENEUTIC CAPABILITIES FROM THE ZOOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT

The article attempts to present the philosophical idea of origin of human capability to interpret and understand meanings. I am inspired by the results of contemporary cognitive and natural sciences as well as psychology. In view of those sciences one can defy hermeneutical concepts, which are embedded in the modern anthropocentric tradition. I would like to explain the ontological status of so-called hermeneutical skills in a naturalized form that does not avoid the continuous gradation of subject’s structures or abilities without falling into trivial reductionism. I demonstrate that the comprehensive formation of understanding processes is reserved for particular groups of human beings. However, it can be justified that different animal species and direct human ancestors are equipped with some elements of hermeneutical skills. These skills are a ground of the notion of Dasein. This paper begins my reflection on the natural history of human understanding and on polemics with anthropocentric philosophical hermeneutics. The basic aim of this work is to closely consider the hypothesis which states that the fundamental aspect of human existence (primordial modes) such as comprehension, attuning towards meanings or being-in-the-world can be grasped as natural adaptations of human and non-human organisms.

Keywords: hermeneutics, understanding, interpretation, evolution, sense, symbol.  

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Jarosław Mrozek

Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Journalism, University of Gdansk, Jana Bażyńskiego 8, 80-309 Gdansk, Poland.

E-mail: filjam@ug.edu.pl   

IS THERE A CHANGE IN THE CRITERIA OF BEING A SCIENCE IN CONTEMPORARY PHYSICS?

ABSTRACT

The contemporary physical and cosmological theories confront philosophers and methodologists with a problem of scientific character of the considered ideas. It is mainly connected with the issue of their empirical testing. We know that many conceptions of contemporary physics, such as the conceptions of superstrings or of multiverse, have not been confirmed by even a single observation or experiment. In this situation there appear attempts to “weaken” methodological requirements imposed on theories to consider them as scientific after all. The challenge that physicists, philosophers and methodologists face is to attempt to define a feasible, possible to perform, non-empirical verification procedure in the case when these theories postulate the existence of basically non-observable areas of reality.

Keywords: testability; falsifiability; demarcation criteria; Popper; Bayesian methods; non-empirical theory confirmation.  

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Adam Krawiec, Marek Szydłowski, Paweł Tambor

Adam Krawiec  

Institute of Economics, Finance and Management of the Jagiellonian University, ul. Łojasiewicza 4, 30–348 Kraków.

E-mail: adam.krawiec@uj.edu.pl

Marek Szydłowski  

Astronomical Observatory of the Jagiellonian University, ul. Orla 171, 30–244 Cracow, Poland.

E-mail: marek.szydlowski@uj.edu.pl

Paweł Tambor  

John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.

E-mail: pawel.tambor@kul.lublin.pl  

THE ONTOLOGICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL SPECIFICITY OF COSMOLOGY AS A SCIENCE ON THE UNIVERSE

ABSTRACT

We discuss the specificity of modern cosmology understood as the physics of the Universe. We can treat cosmology as specific because of its object, i.e. the physical Universe is specific, as well as the ways of acquiring the knowledge about the Universe are specific. We argue that the specific and, in some sense, unique methodological nature of modern cosmology compared to physics is not controversial, as it is claimed among others by Helge Kragh. In our view this specificity is natural of cosmology itself and has its foundations in: 1) the asymmetry of prediction (which favors retrognosis), 2) the temporal nature of observations applied in cosmological investigations, 3) the horizon problem and the relevance of initial conditions for cosmological evolution.

Keywords: modern cosmology, philosophy of science, methodological specificity of cosmology, the evolution of the Universe.   

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Marek Gurba

Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Grodzka 52, 31-044 Cracow, Poland.

E-mail: marek.gurba@doctoral.uj.edu.pl  

ON NICHOLAS RESCHER’S ORIENTATIONAL PLURALISM IN METAPHILOSOPHY

ABSTRACT

The article discusses Nicholas Rescher’s metaphilosophical view of orientational pluralism. In his essay Philosophical Disagreement: An Essay towards Orientational Pluralism in Metaphilosophy Rescher explains a substantial difference between philosophy and science—namely, that philosophers—differently than scientists— continuously propose and undermine various solutions to the same old problems. In philosophy it is difficult to find any consensus or convergence of theories. According to Rescher, this pluralism of theoretical positions is caused by holding by philosophers different sets and hierarchies of cognitive values, i.e. methodological orientations. These orientations are chosen in virtue of some practical postulates, they are of axiological, normative, but not strictly theoretical character. Different methodological orientations yield different evaluations of philosophical theses and arguments. This article shows that Rescher’s account does not determine clearly acceptable cognitive values. If there are no clear criteria of evaluation of methodological orientations, then the described view seems to be identical to relativism adopting the everything goes rule. In addition, accepting orientational pluralism it is hard to avoid the conclusion that discussions between various philosophical schools are futile or can be reduced to non-rational persuasion.

Keywords: metaphilosophy, Nicholas Rescher, relativism, methodology of philosophy, orientational pluralism.  

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Karolina Owczarek

Institute of Philosophy, University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 3, 00-047 Warsaw, Poland.

E-mail: karolina.m.owczarek@gmail.com  

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND ON THE BASIS OF STANISŁAW LEM’S DIALOGUES

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to present Lem’s philosophy of mind. The author bases it on Dialogues — the first Lem’s philosophical essays published in 1957. It is emphasized that at that time Lem was influenced by cybernetics. I present connections between cybernetics and Lem’s theory. He considered such issues as: consciousness, machine consciousness, personal identity. What is more, he investigated if immortality was available to human. I reconstruct his conception of mind and its anthropological and ontological consequences.

Keywords: Lem, philosophy of mind, mind uploading, cybernetics, personal identity, consciousness.  

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Andrzej Bronk, Monika Walczak

Andrzej Bronk  

John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Aleje Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.

E-mail: bronk@kul.lublin.pl

Monika Walczak

John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Aleje Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.

E-mail: aktor@kul.pl  

STANISŁAW KAMIŃSKI’S METHODOLOGICAL OPTIONS

ABSTRACT

Stanisław Kamiński (1919–1986) was a philosopher, philosopher of science and historian of science. His all academic carrier was pursuing at the Catholic University in Lublin (KUL). The main interests of Kamiński was the history of science and logic, general and special methodology, methodology of philosophy and (medieval) semiotics. He himself saw his main achievements in the domain of the theory of science and the methodology of classical philosophy, especially in the studies of the method and language of metaphysics. He gave a methodological description of general metaphysics, philosophical anthropology, ethics, philosophy of religion, philosophy of history and studies on religion (religiology). He investigated the beginnings of the mathematical induction in the Middle Ages and in modern times, the modern history of the theory of definition, theory of argumentation (reasoning), the structure and the evolution of scientific theory, deductive method, the achievements of logic and philosophy in Poland. A characteristic feature of Kamiński’s philosophical and methodological approach was a specific historicism, consisting of referring to the heritage of the past and at the same time to the latest achievements in logic and philosophy of science. He had a broad concept of knowledge and was a maximalist both in raising questions and in giving answers. In accordance with classical philosophy he saw the substance of person as ens rationale, a being realizing himself in a disinterested search for a theoretical truth, whose highest expression is philosophy. He stressed the epistemological and methodological plurality of knowledge, distinguished and investigated material and formal parts of knowledge. He also distinguished—besides commonsense knowledge—the scientific, philosophical and theological knowledge, nonreducible each to other. At the top he set sapiential knowledge which is much more than a simple generalization of all particular kinds of knowledge. Kamiński derived his understanding of science from contemporary as well as classical philosophy. He determined the nature of science from the point view of its subject matter, aims, methods, logical structure and genesis. The question of what science was for him a philosophical question, presupposing an appropriate understanding of the nature of the world. Kamiński opted for a pluralistic approach to the world: the principal object of science is the objective world, subjective states of man and products of his mind and language. The best diagnostic test of the scientific character of science is the scientific method. Kamiński assumes here pluralism: different subject matter and different goals of scientific cognition require different research strategies and types of cognitive procedures. He also accepts an antinaturalistic position in the humanities which he regards as methodologically autonomous in regard to natural sciences. The publications of S. Kamiński include over 350 positions. During his life three books have been published: Georgonne’a teoria definicji [Georgonne’s Theory of Definition], Lublin 1958; Pojęcie nauki i klasyfikacja nauk [Concept of Science and Classification of Sciences], Lublin 1961, 19813; and (together with M. A. Krąpiec) Z teorii i metodologii metafizyki [On the Theory and Methodology of Metaphysics], Lublin 1962. After his death five volumes of Collected Papers have been published: vol. I: Jak filozofować? [How to Philosophize? Studies in Methodology of Classical Philosophy], edited by Tadeusz Szubka, Lublin 1989; vol. II: Filozofia i metoda. Studia z dziejów metod filozofowania [Philosophy and Method. Studies from the History of the Method of Philosophizing], edited by Józef Herbut, Lublin 1993; vol. III: Metoda i język. Studia z semiotyki i metodologii nauk [Method and Language. Studies in Semiotics and Philosophy of Science], edited by Urszula Żegleń, Lublin 1994; vol. IV: Nauka i metoda. Pojęcie nauki i klasyfikacja nauk [Science and Method. Concept of Science and Classification of Sciences], edited by Andrzej Bronk, Lublin 1992); vol. V: Światopogląd – Religia – Teologia [Worldview – Religion – Theology], edited by Monika Walczak and Andrzej Bronk, Lublin 1998.

Keywords: definition of science, classification of sciences, ethics of science, humanities and natural sciences, methodology, philosophy, philosophy of science, rationality of science, science, scientific method, Stanisław Kamiński, theology, theory of science.  

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Józef Dębowski

Institute of Philosophy, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, ul. Obitza 1, 10-725 Olsztyn, Poland.

E-mail: jozef.debowski@uwm.edu.pl  

THE DISPUTE ON THE SCIENTIFIC STATUS OF PHILOSOPHY. ON ZDZISŁAW CACKOWSKI’S DISCUSSION WITH PHENEMENOLOGY

ABSTRACT

In the article I analytically reconstruct Zdzisław Cackowski’s basic ways of the understanding character of philosophy and science. I emphasize that according to Cackowski philosophy is a science (a nomothetic one) but simultaneously it is the most general science. Philosophy, like other sciences, satisfies conditions and criteria of being science. Besides its cognitive function, philosophy, like other sciences, plays practical functions; especially it is a basis of worldviews and ideologies. According to Cackowski, the specific character of philosophy arises from its universalistic aspirations and consists in a very high level of generality of discovered principles; those principles refer to the objective reality and knowledge on it. The specificity of philosophy also consists in—according to Cackowski—revealing the nature of qualitative jumps between basic segments of the real world, e.g. between quantum objects and macroscopic ones, between non-organic and organic nature; between neuronal processes and mind process etc. However, tending to not break the link between philosophy and reality, Cackowski grounds philosophical synthesis in scientific discoveries, results, and scientific praxis. Cackowski’s way of understanding of philosophy is, on the one hand, close to positivistic, scientific and Marxist concepts of philosophy, and on the other hand, it is opposite to the phenomenological concept of philosophy. Cackowski’s reservations and objections to the phenomenological project of philosophical investigations appear continuously in his works (they change only slightly in the course of time), and they refer to: (1) the scope and the meaning of the autonomy of sciences, (2) the rule of assumptionless standpoint (regardless of the level of its radicalism), (3) Husserl’s “rule of the all rules” as a basic methodological principle, (4) the phenomenological concept of direct experience, (5) the possibility and the range of eidetic knowledge, (6) the idea of transcendentalism and the concept of pure consciousness, (7) the essential fundamental position, motivated by Descartes’s ideas and irrational longing to discover the metaphysical and epistemological absolute.

Keywords: philosophy, science, phenomenology, Marxist philosophy, epistemology, reality, action, acquisition, knowledge, empiricism, inductionism, positivism, scientism, praxism, assumptionlessness (Voraussetzungslosigkeit, Vorurteilslosigkeit), the rule of assumptionlessness (das Prinzip der Voraussetzungslosigkeit), transcendentalism, eidetism, direct experience.  

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Anna Michalska

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warszawa, Poland.

E-mail: michalskanna@gmail.com  

STEFAN AMSTERDAMSKI’S CONCEPTION OF IDEAL OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE: TOWARDS A NEW CONCEPTION OF THE SUBJECT OF SCIENCE

ABSTRACT

The conception of ideals of science was Stefan Amsterdamski’s contribution to the dispute about scientific rationality. In assuming that scientific method is not an ahistorical phenomenon, and comes with rather strong normative pressupositions, Amsterdamski sides with Thomas Kuhn in his debate with Karl Popper and the latter’s followers and supporters. Essentially, however, Amsterdamski is a Popperian; he is intent on enlarging the scope of critical analysis by applying it to what he calls the modern ideal of science. His works, especially the monograph Pomiędzy historią a metodą [Between History and Method] are an attempt to safeguard the status of philosophy of science a normative instance with respect to ideals of science. In the paper I offer a reconstruction of Amsterdamski’s conception as well as scrutinize the relationship between his expressed philosophic goals and methods he employed in order to attain these goals. I indicate what I find most problematic in the concept of ideal of science and suggest an alternative view on the problems as raised by Amsterdamski. I argue that Amsterdamski’s work warrants an attempt at the formulation of a new conception of subject of science which would provide guidelines for a proper critique of modern science.

Keywords: ideals of science, scientific rationality, history of science, Stefan Amsterdamski, subject of science.  

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Mariola Kuszyk-Bytniewska

Institute of Philosophy, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Pl. Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, Poland.

E-mail: mkuszyk@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl  

FLORIAN ZNANIECKI ON SCIENCE. THE ONTO-EPISTEMOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT

I include Florian Znaniecki’s understanding of cultural sciences into a wider philosophical project which I call social onto-epistemology. The main aim of the paper is to reconstruct Znaniecki’s philosophy as a research effort to set the foundation of social sciences; the “foundation” is meant here as it is meant in 19th philosophical fundamentalism, i.e. as the search for the basis of legitimisation of social sciences. Despite of the non-originality of this aim, the measures and modes of its application in Znaniecki’s approach were fruitful. The onto-epistemological approach avoids Cartesian and Kantian dualisms and, pre-eminently, the monosubjective understanding of the cognitive subject. The graduation of realness with regard to the object of social science, objectivity as belonging to many systems of cultural objects are main invention on this path. The main onto-epistemological premise of Znaniecki’s strategy is as follows: Human knowledge is deeply rooted in human social existence, and the human mode of existence, in turn, contains necessarily and essentially an epistemic component.

Keywords: Znaniecki, onto-epistemology, science, social sciences.  

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Grzegorz Pyszczek

The Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education, Szczęśliwicka 40, 02-353 Warszawa, Poland.

E-mail: gpyszczek@poczta.onet.pl  

THE SOCIAL ROLE OF THE SAGE. ON FLORIAN ZNANIECKI’S CONCEPTION

ABSTRACT

The article concerns Florian Znaniecki’s problem of social role of the sage. The first part of the article presents the concept of social role of the sage in the context of other social roles of scholars. In the second part, Znaniecki’s view is confronted with the contemporary social and scientific realities.

Keywords: Florian Znaniecki, sage, wisdom, social role of the man of knowledge.   

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Marta Błaszczyńska

Graduate School for Social Research, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warszawa, Poland.

E-mail: marta.blaszczynska@hotmail.co.uk  

ARNOLD GEHLEN’S MAN, PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOME QUESTIONS ASKED DBY CONTEMPORARY READERS

ABSTRACT

I examine the key elements of Arnold Gehlen’s concept of human being as it is presented in his book Man, His Nature and Place in the World. I analyze his attempt to interpret the human as a whole and to define humanity as a species which is “lacking” and whose acts must compensate for its “primitive” traits. I briefly present selected questions and difficulties that might be posed by the contemporary reader upon learning about Gehlen’s understanding of the human being and his vision of philosophical anthropology, its aims and methodology.

Keywords: Arnold Gehlen, philosophical anthropology, German philosophy, human nature.  

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Grzegorz Smoliński

Institute of Sociology, University of Wroclaw, Koszarowa 3, 52–007 Wrocław, Poland.

E-mail: grzegorz.smolinski@uwr.edu.pl  

SCIENCE AND ITS CRITIQUE: THE CONTEXT OF ACTOR-NETWORK THEORY

ABSTRACT

The article starts with the considerations presented by Małgorzata Czarnocka in her paper O krytyce nauki [On a Critique of Science] (Czarnocka 2017) in order to consider the critical potential of dualism—the ideal of science—practice of science. These considerations are compared with the Actor-Network Theory, which, on the one hand, in its theses about science approaches to the image criticized by Czarnocka, but, on the other hand, retains a similar critical potential. This is despite the fact that ANT this theory programmatically rejects the duality ideal–praxis. Presented considerations focus on designating common points and differences between the dualistic and non-dualistic approaches in the context of Czarnocka’s article.

Keywords: dualism, non-dualism, criticism of science, Latour, Actor-Network Theory.