FAQ

Volume 63

2016 Next

Publication date: 2016

Licence: None

Editorial team

Editor-in-Chief Krzysztof Guczalski

Volume Editors Krzysztof Guczalski, Steffen Huber, Jacek Rabus, Leszek Wroński

Issue content

Alexander Wilfing

Principia, Volume 63, 2016, pp. 5 - 35

https://doi.org/10.4467/20843887PI.16.001.7640

In this paper, I argue for an implicit version of ‘enhanced formalism’ in Eduard Hanslick´s  aesthetics, usually misread as ‘extreme’ formalism devoid of any positive account of emotion and music. I outline ‘enhanced formalism’ in its contemporary incarnations (Davies, Kivy), explore certain common features with Hanslick’s approach, and finally explain why the concept of expressive properties as intrinsic properties of musical structure was ultimately abandoned by Hanslick.

Read more Next

Andrzej Nowakowski

Principia, Volume 63, 2016, pp. 37 - 61

https://doi.org/10.4467/20843887PI.16.002.7641

There is a contradiction in our general picture of the world, brought about by the principle of causality and the metaphysical interpretation of the assertion that we are independent originators of our acts. In this paper, I consider various ways of removing that contradiction. The way that I regard as the best, however, requires the solving of a certain problem, namely, that it is necessary to account for the relationship between acts of thinking and the contents of thoughts, including between acts of deciding and the contents of reasons behind decisions. This is a difficult problem, but the problems generated by other ways of removing the contradiction are more difficult still.

Read more Next

Ewa Rosiak-Zięba

Principia, Volume 63, 2016, pp. 63 - 83

https://doi.org/10.4467/20843887PI.16.003.7642

During the twentieth century, the term ‘relativity’ enjoyed considerable popularity, not only in the field of physics, but also in the humanities (although not necessarily drawing on the same inspirations). In the domain of philosophy, relativism is not a new concept; its precursors can be found in ancient Greece. Yet during the twentieth century, new stimuli for its development appeared. At the same time, however, relativism was subjected to severe criticism. In this paper, I discuss some of the issues relating to this philosophical current. The essay consists of two parts. The first part provides a general characterisation of the concept of relativism – with particular emphasis on the question of what might constitute its principal thesis. The second part deals with selected difficulties related to relativism.

Read more Next

Olga Poller

Principia, Volume 63, 2016, pp. 85 - 108

https://doi.org/10.4467/20843887PI.16.004.7643
In this article, I defend a non-classical version of descriptive theory of reference-fixing for proper names against objections raised by Kripke. I consider that descriptive information associated by speakers with a proper name has semantic value and thus should be taken into account by any theory of proper names. I do not defend any one descriptive theory in particular, only general assumptions that can underpin different elaborations of a descriptive theory of names. In the first part of this paper, I will briefly explain the notion of descriptivism and how taking temporal parameters into account influences the formulation of the theses of descriptivism. Next I will explain why Kripke’s modal objection does not apply to a descriptive theory of reference-fixing, I formulate assumptions of the descriptive theory defended in this paper and respond to Kripke’s epistemic objection. In the second  part (to be published in the next issue), I respond to particular strands of Kripke’s semantic objection and show that the defended version has all the virtues traditionally associated with descriptive theories. 
Read more Next

Łukasz Kołoczek

Principia, Volume 63, 2016, pp. 109 - 130

https://doi.org/10.4467/20843887PI.16.005.7644

In the present article, I enter into a discussion with Wawrzyniec Rymkiewicz’s proposed translations included in his book Formy istnienia [Forms of existence]. They concern Martin Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit and depart from the Polish tradition of translating Heidegger. Rymkiewicz proposes translating Sein as ‘istnienie’ (rather than ‘bycie’), and Dasein as ‘przebywanie’. Although not justifying his decisions, the author does put forward an elaborate interpretation of Heidegger’s work in the new terminology. The present article explores the reading of Heidegger that Rymkiewicz propounds by means of these different translations. I argue that his interpretation is at odds with Heidegger’s conception. Rymkiewicz places great emphasis on the phenomenological side of Heidegger’s project, failing to appreciate its hermeneutical component. As a consequence, he treats existence as given, which, although perhaps justified in phenomenological terms, entirely misses the point of Heidegger’s idea of Sein. That is the fundamental accusation against the term ‘istnienie’. I also reveal inconsistencies in these propositions as they appear on other levels of Heidegger’s text.

Read more Next

Kamil Moroz

Principia, Volume 63, 2016, pp. 131 - 162

https://doi.org/10.4467/20843887PI.16.006.7645

The aim of this article is to analyse possible experience in Franz Brentano’s Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint. The analytical and integral study of possible mental experiences allows us to discern a transcendental premise in empirically orientated psychology. The ambiguity of Brentano’s project is most fully manifest in the problem of subjectivity: it is approached from an empirical (the subject as such and not some other intentional bundle or subjectivity as a point on the map of possible references) and transcendental perspective (the subject as a condition of every intentional bundle or subjectivity as enabling the map of experience to be drawn). We find neither a formulation nor a solution to this ambiguity on the pages of the young Brentano’s philosophical treatise: they remain in the hands of the reader drawing on the tools of his Psychology.

Read more Next

Paweł Dybel

Principia, Volume 63, 2016, pp. 163 - 200

https://doi.org/10.4467/20843887PI.16.009.7812

The problem of how to apprehend the relationship between the human body, its physiological basis and human mental life has been the object of fiery philosophical debate for centuries. In modern psychiatry and psychotherapy, it revolves around the question of the extent to which human mental life is autonomous or is determined by the physiological processes of the human body. This dispute is not confined to the strictly anthropological dimension; it concerns also the question of the psychiatrist’s choice of an appropriate method of therapy for a patient. In this article, I present the standpoint adopted on this issue by Roman Markuszewicz, a prominent psychoanalytically-oriented Polish psychiatrist in the period between the two world wars. He was critical both of traditional forms of therapy ‘through faith’ and also of modern forms of therapy based on psychosurgery and pharmacotherapy. I discuss his main objections to these two different forms of therapy and his arguments for the effectiveness of a Freudian model of therapy based on dialogue with the patient and on an attempt to transform his self-understanding.

Read more Next

Joanna Rak

Principia, Volume 63, 2016, pp. 201 - 224

https://doi.org/10.4467/20843887PI.16.007.7646

The typology of revitalisation movements is still an unresolved problem in the specialist literature. This paper presents a critical analysis of the different takes on irredentism and of its contradictory ideal types, as well as a description, interpretation and critique of each theoretical proposition. Those of proven weakness were replaced with new, original concepts. The new types of irredentism and counter-irredentism were formulated in accordance with an homogeneous set of criteria for the direction and degree of valorisation of the homeland. Together they make up a typology that is a useful tool for describing the political thought of populations influenced by globalisation with regard to their attitudes towards the homeland. The empirical verification of the effectiveness of this typology appears to be an interesting challenge for scholars studying contemporary political thought. However, it is worth criticising, modifying or supplementing that perspective, since the proposed types are not definitive. Critical discussion of their meanings could help expand our knowledge of political reality.

Read more Next

Mateusz Stępień

Principia, Volume 63, 2016, pp. 225 - 249

https://doi.org/10.4467/20843887PI.16.008.7647

The aim of this paper is to reconstruct Confucian reflections on law. Interestingly, even such a general aim has not previously been realised. Stereotypical, literal and oversimplified readings of Confucianism seem to dominate even in the professional literature. As a result, the thesis of the anti-legal character of Confucian teachings is widely reiterated. In this paper, a reconstruction of the Confucian approach to law takes account of the most basic assumptions organising Confucian thought. Only in this way can we identify the essential themes of Confucian reflection on law: (1) placing law within an ontology of the social world based on categories of ‘roots-foundations’ (ben) and ‘branches-manifestations’ (mo) and (2) considering the impact of law on the self-cultivation processes which are, according to Confucianists, the ‘root-foundation’.

Read more Next