Roczniki Kulturoznawcze

Cultural Fact and the Problem of Criteria for its Evaluation

Henryk Kiereś — 2022-03-30

The article deals with the problem of the evaluation of cultural facts. The issue is embedded in a philosophical perspective, but the history of philosophy is a history of disputes, the first of which takes place within the tradition of idealism between rationalism and irrationalism, and the second between idealism – its two strands – and the tradition of cognitive realism.

The difference between cultural and culture-forming facts justifies the existence of acts of evaluation, and thanks to the theory of good and the theory of human life, it leads to the conclusion that human life is the measure of evaluation of these acts. It is an absolute good, while living it, we perfect it, we actualize the potentialities it contains, but it confronts us with the necessity of deciding what is its ultimate goal, that is, the goal to which we should strive. This decision influences the nature of our activity, determines the selection of particular goods (useful and pleasurable), the value of which allows us to achieve this goal. It is not a simple and easy task, but this is the drama of our existence in the world.

Why Do We Need Anthropology? On the Mutual Penetration of Discourses on Culture/Spiritual Culture

Adam A. Szafrański — 2022-03-30

The modern world is a multicultural world and we have probably got used to it—at least most of us have. Hence, every day, for example at work, we try to overcome the differences that divide us, seeking to communicate with someone about whom we really know very little. Although we understand the person, we are unable to „empathise” with his or her world. Cultural/interpretive anthropology, whose natural context is the „global village”, helps us to domesticate the „Other”. Referring to selected coryphaeuses of anthropology, I tried to build step by step the thread of understanding with „someone” who does not belong to my world and never will. In this proposal, I do not sugar-coat the differences, and it is precisely in spite of these differences that I seek agreement with the „someone” behind whom stands a different, unique tradition. Agreement is possible because we are all human, but ‘tailored’ to our own culture. Interpretive anthropology is a peculiar proposal that meets most often with philosophy of culture and with literature.

The Body-Organism Difference as a Bridge between Particular Sciences and Philosophy in Understanding Human Person

Zbigniew Pańpuch — 2022-03-30

The article copes with a plurality of sciences in general and focuses in the human-related sciences, which present different cognitive results. There is difficult to co-ordinate them because of the difference in methods, aims and formal objects of sciences, whereas the material object of various sciences - the real man exists as the only subject, with a definite and clearly determined substance. In a consequence, they produce different concepts of man. Is it possible to co-ordinate or to reconcile these various information about human being, especially these from particular sciences with the philosophical anthropology?

A general understanding of the biological organism is of this kind that it is an object of science, but the notion of organism has been present in philosophy quite a long time—from the ancient times. Thus, an outline of the problem appears, namely the distinction between the organism, as an object of possible experience (fundamentally internal, but also external) and the body in the metaphysical sense, as an sub-ontic element of the human being. From the metaphysical point of view it seems (and that is my proposition or may be only a point mentioned anywhere by some authors, which I would like especially stress), that this whole—consisting of its organic parts, all unified in systemic reciprocal dependencies and various relations—is only accidental to human substance. This human substance—is a person. This specific “set of accidentals” constituting the human organism is subordinated (subjected) to the substance and exists in it and by it.

Such an understanding of the organism and more precisely described distinction between it and the body can determine the field of interest of philosophy and other sciences, and simultaneously create a bridge between them. Human organism could be a good object of various research in the field of particular sciences. But the scientists should not forget about metaphysic and existential background of the human organism. From the other hand, the philosophers looking for the necessary causes of the human being have to take in consideration this necessary and specific set of accidentals (a human organism) and the particular knowledge of it provided by the scientists.

Epistemic and Ethical Aspects of Theory of Personal Relations in The Primer of Metaphysics of Mieczysław Gogacz

Artur Andrzejuk — 2022-03-30

Professor Mieczysław Gogacz says that transcendental properties, through which we observe act of existence of being, serve as a fundament of the sole real relations which a personal being initiates towards other beings. Hence, we may conclude that—following the famous Leibniz’s formula—that transcendentals are the windows and door of being, while as „windows” we understand cognition and activities as „door”. This pattern is, as Gogacz claims, accomplished through existential relations, which are indicated by, in other words derive from, transcendental properties such as: love which is built on reality (res), faith built on property of truth (verum) and hope whose fundament we find in transcendental property of good (bonum). Presented approach has its consequences, for the most part in anthropological philosophy understood by Gogacz as metaphysics of man and in theory of knowledge and ethics, to what issue we would like to turn attention in this paper.

The Visuality of Contemporary Culture

Witold Kawecki — 2022-03-30

Contemporary culture is heavily influenced by Communication and visual culture. The iconic revolution, or the so-called „pictoral turn”, led to the domination of the image social and cultural reality. On the one hand, it has a positive effect, allowing you to see and get to know areas that were unnoticeable to humans. On the other hand, the expansion of visuality marginalizes the functions of the word and the cognition of reality out of the cloak. The article tries to show what is the essence of visual culture, and what are its close links with media culture, and also how strongly it influences the shaping of a new model of theology called visual. Taking up theological themes in visual culture is of great importance both for cultural studies and for theology leading to joint interdisciplinary research on the phenomenon of the image.

Why American Education Today Ought to be Counter-Cultural

Curtis L. Hancock — 2022-03-30

In his article, the author points out the gradual domination of leftists in universities, which eventually affected all American institutions. This is very evident today in the leftist attitudes of the media, the legal profession, the bureaucracy, the government, and even the clergy. The author argues that because of this transformation, if one wants to assess the state of American society, one must address what has happened in the universities. As universities have normalized Marxist cultural principles and attitudes, the critic of higher education must expose these Marxist tendencies in schools. Because this Marxist tendency now dominates university culture, it must be demanded that higher education reform today be countercultural.

From the Field Research in Szczytno District (On the Disintegration of the Mazurian Cultural Grup)

Piotr Biliński — 2022-03-30

The article pertain to the researches a group of contemporary Mazurians in the discrict Szczytno. The community add up to the example of regional group, that is landscaped on the Prussian, Teuton, and Slavic areas- in conditions that are between these cultures. There is a very important, not surveyed problem with evaluation of perspective the further fates this group. Dominance of factors of the historical and civilizational nature caused that over the centuries Mazurian population gave in processes of acculturation, assimilation, adaptation and unification or even globalization. Media and implementation of IT solutions of the social life favor the globalization and the social individuals take patterns and behaviors.