Volume 63 (2008), 4

The paper offers an argument against Kripke’s assertion, that it is valid for all names of natural species, that they have no connotations. The argumentation has is roots in the semantic conception of S. Kripke as articulated in his Naming and necessity, i.e., it is an "argument from inside" the conception itself. The argument consists of two parts… Read more

The paper deals with Wittgenstein’s conception of the status of scientific laws (in particular the laws of natural sciences), as presented in his Tractatus logico-philosophicus. The author finds Kantian motifs in the conception, namely conceiving scientific laws as an a priori contribution of reason. According to Wittgenstein, however, there could be many… Read more

The aim of the paper is to define the problems, which one has to handle in order to understand „meaning“ on the universal-systematic level. The starting point is the famous Searle’s thesis „Syntax cannot keep with semantics“. This thesis is confronted with Dennett’s homuncular functionalism, which underlines the fundamental role the evolutionary processes play in… Read more

The paper tries to explain an interesting shift in the philosophy of Richard Rorty, which took place after he started to pay attention to the renewal of the idea of American exceptionalism. Suddenly he stopped talking about destructing „the old ladders“ and focused on the reconstruction and revision on the basis of religion and American Enlightenment which are the… Read more

The article deals with the interdisciplinary character of evolutionary ontology. It shows the close interconnection between philosophy and special sciences (in particular contemporary cosmology, non-equilibrium thermodynamics and evolutionary biology). The author considers also the prospects of the applied philosophy in solving the global ecological crisis.

The contribution tries to shed light on one part of V. E. Frankl intellectual legacy and to give an interpretation of some of his ideas. The author focuses on the phenomenon of “encounter”, rooted in Martin Buber’s philosophy. Further it deals with the dialogical character and personal meaning of this event as developed in personalism and philosophy of dialogue.… Read more

The paper offers a discussion of the fundamental principles of the conception of good life as articulated in the classical pragmatist ethics. These principles can be found in Peirce’s „ethical cognitivism“, in James’s ideas of moral life as well as in Dewey’s comprehensive reconstruction of social ethics. Pragmatism provides flexible, imaginative, pluralistic,… Read more

The paper deals with the ever growing fragmentation of our self-determination, which is due to the atomizing of human activities. This leads to the difficulties in our being integrated into the continuum if life practices. The connections between psychological and sociological aspects of identity and a particular conception of values, especially that of the values… Read more

In their narcist and consumer approaches to life postmodern humans adorate the human body. Nevertheless, in contemporary world the cult of body has been replaced by body show. The ideals of good life disappeared, it is the show that counts. Healthy or beautiful bodies are no more important. What counts is presenting them as such. Under the pressure of the consumer… Read more