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1. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
John Vattanky Proof for the Existence of God in Classical Indian Philosophy
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Both in the East and in the West, there is, apart from the religious approach to God, also a purely rational one. Although in India philosophical speculationon God was mostly inextricably bound to religion, there have also been purely rational developments in Indian Theodicy. This is the case above all in theNyāyavaiśeṣika system, where we find a purely rational and logical approach to the question of the existence and nature of God. It is the specific contribution of the Nyāyavaiśeṣika system to have developed a purely logical and rational argument for the existence of God. My purpose here is to take this proof in its developed form, as it is found in Gaşgeśa, and investigate its philosophical and logical implications.
2. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Miłosz Pawłowski Traversing the Infinite and Proving the Existence of God
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The aim of this paper is to present a proof to the conclusion that is impossible to traverse an infinite series (in particular, an infinite series of past moments).This may also show (given additional assumptions) that the series of past moments cannot be infinite. In the first section I formulate five theses concemingtraversing, successive addition and successive subtraction and I present the idea of the argument: if it were possible to traverse an infinite past, it should be in principle possible to go back, which is, however, impossible. The main body of the paper is concemed with working out a simple mathematical representation of some structural features of processes like traversing and successive addition. I also make a crucial distinction between completion of a process at a particular time and its timeless „completion" in infinite time. In section V, I present the formal proof and defend it against a possible objection of question-begging. Finally, I suggest that my argument can contribute to constructing arguments for God's existence, and to solving the problem of the asymmetry of our attitudes towards death and prenatal non-existence.
3. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Dariusz Łukasiewicz Logical and Metaphysical Assumptions of Bernard Bolzano's Theodicy
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Bolzano's theodicy is a very good example of Platonism in the philosophy of religion. Above all, Bolzano believes that there obtains an ideal realm of truths inthemselves and mathematical objects, which are independent of God. Therefore, we are allowed to conclude that God is only a contractor; true, more powerful than Plato's demiurge because He created substances (and matter) and sustains them in existence, but God must follow a project which is independent of Him. Since the world is determined, by the program and God follows the program, then in fact the program is a god, or better, there is no God (at least in the sense of the classical Christian tradition). Bolzano's project is not related to God's essence, since it is extemal to God, and is not made by God. Thus, Bolzano's theodicy is also the absolute opposite of the Cartesian theodicy. God in the Cartesian theodicy can change all rules, all scientific laws and, in consequence. He can create any world He wants. Bolzano's God cannot change anything and cannot create a different world than the world determined by the project, a world different than the one He has created. The responsibility of Bolzano's God for the evil in the world is limited by the project of the world.
4. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Alexander J.B. Hampton The Conquest of Mythos by Logos: Countering Religion without Faith in Irenaeus, Coleridge and Gadamer
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Irenaeus, Coleridge and Gadamer all wrote about religion in distinct historical periods, however the work that each produced reflects the anthropologicalcondition of the middle position. Furthermore, each thinker provides an opportunity for self-reflection about the motivations of faith without requiring the individualto abandon their religious belief in order to do so. In this manner they present a productive altemative to the required external views of the social sciences. Theindividual's position in mid-creation, his moral freedom and his historical contingence all require the acceptance, commitment and trust of faith. Gnosticism, Empiricist thought and the desire to overcome historical contingency all reveal intellectual impatience in riposte to this condition. This intellectual impatience seeks the absolute without the need for faith. For Irenaeus, Coleridge and Gadamer such absolute, logocentric, complete systems end up alienating man from the reality of the incomplete condition that permeates his existence and the faith-requiring my-thos that ultimate realities necessitate in order to be communicated.
5. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Anna Abram The Philosophy of Moral Development
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This article presents a view of moral development based on the interdisciplinary study of moral psychology and virtue ethics. It suggests that a successfulaccount of moral development has to go beyond what the developmental psychology and virtue ethics advocate and find ways of incorporating ideas, suchas 'moral failure' and 'unpredictability of life'. It proposes to recognize the concept of moral development as an essential concept for ethics, moral philosophy andphilosophy of education, and as a useful tool for anyone who wants to engage constructively in dialogues of religions, cultures and personal interaction.
6. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Piotr K. Szałek The Notion of Conceptualized Experience in John McDowell's
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In this paper I would like to asses critically McDowell's argument to the effect that all experience is conceptualized and explain the role that this thesis playswithin his general philosophical project. It has been argued that McDowell's conception of experience leads to idealism. I will demonstrate why this charge couldbe made and whether it is a charge which McDowell can adequately respond to. The paper will clarify McDowell's conception of conceptualized experience, andevaluate its efficacy for his philosophical aim. In order to accomplish these goals, the paper will contain the following two components: (1) a reconstruction ofMcDowell's position, and (2) its critical analysis. To reconstruct the position of McDowell, I will try (i) to establish his motives (i.e. avoiding the collapse into theMyth of the Given or coherentism), and (ii) the sources of inspiration for his thought and its and context (the Kantian categories of receptivity and spontaneity; the thought of D. Davidson, W. Sellars, G. Evans and Ch. Peacocke); (iii) and to explain his arguments (i.e. the general idea of the unboundedness of the conceptual, and the arguments against existence of non-conceptual content) and his defence against the charge of idealism. In order to critically analyse his position, I will try to evaluate it in terms of whether his defence against the objections to his proposal, in particular the charge of idealism, is successful.
7. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Jakob Zigouras Spinoza and the Possibility of Error
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If we consider certain features of Spinoza's metaphysics, it can seem very difficult to see how error, or the having of false ideas, is possible. In this paperI want to give the metaphysical background to the problem, before turning to a more detailed consideration of how Spinoza in fact accounts for error, or the having of false ideas. I will show the importance of the notions of adequacy and inadequacy in Spinoza's account. Having done this I will return to the central problem of accounting for the ontological status of false ideas vis a vis both the Infinite Intellect, and finite minds.
8. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Marek Rosiak Existential Analysis in Roman Ingarden's Ontology
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Ingarden conceives ontology as a philosophia prima, which deals with being as purely possible (it complies with the essentialistic tradition of Duns Scotusand Wolff). It is an intuitive (anschaulich) and a priori analysis of the content of the relevant ideas (rein apriorische Analyse der Ideengehalte). It consists of three parts: existential, formal and material ontology. Existential ontology deals with the possible modes of existence (Seinsweise). Problems of factual existence pertain to metaphysics, which is a separate branch of theoretical philosophy, based on ontology.
9. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Piotr Janik Transcendent Action in the Light of C.S. Peirce's Architectonic System
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The article presents the key problems relevant to the issue of 'transcendent action', as Peirce calls it. The author focuses on the relation between 'beliefand the 'transcendentals': unity, truth, goodness, and beauty, in their peculiar Peirceian context. He considers firstly 'belief in the sense of „an original impulse toact consistently, to have a definite intention" and, secondly, „Normative Science, which investigates the universal and necessary laws of the relation of Phenomena to Ends, that is, perhaps, to Truth, Right, and Beauty". Finally, he considers Peirce's defense again two popular accusations: one on the part of the logicians which „confounds psychical truths with psychological truths", and the second one regarding hedonism.
10. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Janusz Sytnik-Czetwertyński The Philosophical Foundations of the Kinematic Atomism of Ruder Josip Boscovich
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Ruder Josip Boscovich (1711 - 1787), a philosopher, mathematician, physicist and astronomer. The greatest of the forgotten - as Barrow says. The author of the Theory of Everything, based on the presumption that the whole substance of this world is reducible to simple, homogeneous, discontinuous and invariablephysical points. These points being the centers of forces of repulsion and attraction. His system of kinematic atomism constitutes a crucial stage in the development of physics and philosophy. The physical points combine both material and psychological features, therefore among commentators the prevailing view is that they possess rather a quasi-material nature. The following presentation, however, emphasizes their psychological aspect, especially in the light of Boscovich's fairly original attempt to reduce mental states and physical facts to one, common definition. This reduction is based on the presumption that the mles which govern both kinds of substance (bodies and minds) can be reduced to the one (and only one) Rule of All Forces. Hence, this rule concems everything in the Universe.
11. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Grzegorz Hołub Personhood in Bioethics
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The concept of personhood has been recently strongly criticized by some bioethicists. The present article aims at refuting these criticisms. In order to showhow the notion of personhood operates in bioethics, two understandings of it proposed by an Italian bioethicist Maurizio Mori are sketched: a person as a part of the cosmological order and a person as an autonomous-like entity. It is argued that none of the proposed understandings is adequate. The cosmological concept perceives the person as a derivative of the empirical processes. The autonomous-like, in turn, conceives the person as a freely acting subject. This paper endeavours to prove that both conceptions are one-sided. In order to do that, the thought of German philosopher Robert Spaemann is deployed. He convincingly points out that the person must be considered from a so-called 'modus existendi' stance. It means that to be a person is to possess a unique way of being. That being encompasses the material content (body) not as a casual factor but as an indispensable mean of expressing itself The final thesis is that the person's being is man's life. Drawing upon such a conclusion, it is taken up a critical discussion with the views rejecting the usefulness of the concept.
12. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Plamen Damianov The Accumulation of Change Depending on the Time Factor
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Each phenomenon contains variable components, which are conservative. Because of their conservation, they accumulate. Present phenomena containconstituents of phenomena, belonging to the past which form the present and the future, and their dependence on time is an exponential one - S = Sₒe^t-tᵖ (S is avariable component, is a moment in the past). We assume that before and after tₒ = t-tᵖ = 0 the change pertains to phenomena of one type. The dependency is foreach defined phenomenon of one and the same type (for its characteristics). The concrete aspect of the change S will depend on the type of the phenomenon. We show in our study how in some cosmological phenomena, the exponential dependence on time is present. The processes of radioactive disintegration of atomic nuclei, are also phenomena of this type. We present the real phenomena as a sum of exponents. Each phenomenon originates, develops and is destroyed. In reality most phenomena are formed as a composition of exponential dependencies of the change (of its characteristics).
book reviews and notices
13. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Ryszard Mordarski Daniel C. Dennett, Breaking the Spell. Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Ryszard Mordarski
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14. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Marek Pepliński Erik J. Wielenberg, Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe by Marek Pepliński
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15. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Jarosław Paszyński Sebastian Tomasz Kołodziejczyk, Granice pojęciowe metafizyki [Begriffsgrenzen der Metaphysik] by Jarosław Paszyński
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16. Forum Philosophicum: Volume > 12 > Issue: 1
Grzegorz Hołub Tadeusz Biesaga, Elementy etyki lekarskiej [Issues in Medical Ethics] by Grzegorz Hołub
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