The Quest for Psychiatric Advancement through Theory, Beyond Serendipity

Over the past century, advancements in psychiatric treatments have freed countless individuals from the burden of life-long, incapacitating mental illness. These treatments have largely been discovered by chance. Theory has driven advancement in the natural sciences and other branches of medicine, but psychiatry remains a field in its “infancy”. The targets for healing in psychiatry lie within the realm of the mind’s subjective experience and thought, which we cannot yet describe in terms of their biological underpinnings in the brain. Our technology is sufficiently advanced to study brain neurons and their interactions on an electrophysiological and molecular level, but we cannot say how these form a single feeling or thought. While psychiatry waits for its “Copernican Revolution”, we continue the work in developing theories and associated experiments based on our existing diagnostic systems, for example, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), International Classification of Diseases (ICD), or the more newly introduced Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework. Understanding the subjective reality of the mind in biological terms would doubtless lead to huge advances in psychiatry, as well as to ethical dilemmas, from which we are spared for the time being.

Employer’s Information Requirements: A Case Study Implementation of BIM on the Example of Selected Construction Projects in Poland

Case studies available in the literature clearly point to the numerous benefits of BIM (Building Information Modeling), in addition to the barriers that participants of such projects may face. This paper is a case study of Employer’s Information Requirements (EIR) for preparing and managing BIM models in the design and construction of selected large public construction projects: the Cogiteon Lesser Poland Science Center (LPSC Cogiteon), the Krakow Music Center (KMC) and the Copernican Revolution Studio (CRS). The paper presents the main aspects included in EIRs. It discusses the technical (e.g., requirements for the Common Data Environment platform—CDE), management (including the scopes of responsibility of staff in charge of BIM) and strategic sections (primary expectations concerning Data Drops) of the EIR. Projects executed using BIM by public institutions allow for the application of insight gained as a result of their completion and the creation of a knowledge base or checklist for future projects. The projects discussed here, carried out using advanced BIM solutions, could potentially be developed further by the proposed content extension concerning levels of detail (this paper cites potential guidelines that can be applied), component elements concerning price and qualifications, so as to easily generate bills of costs, and information used in facility management which can also encourage facility manager cooperation. Examples of EIR provisions are presented based on an analysis of three completed construction projects carried out using advanced BIM solutions. BIM is still a new form of management and this paper expands the range of available EIR standards, in addition to presenting guidelines for their practical application in the construction industry.

KEPLER – NEWTON – LEIBNIZ – HEGEL

Kepler’s Laws of planetary motion (following the Copernican revolution in cosmology), according to Leibniz and his follower Hegel, for the first-time in history discovered the keys to what Hegel called the absolute mechanics mediated by dialectical laws, which drives the celestial bodies, in opposition to finite mechanics in terrestrial Nature developed by mathematical and empirical sciences, but that are of very limited scope. Newton wrongly extended and imposed finite mechanics on the absolute mechanics of the cosmic bodies in the form of his Law of one-sided Universal Gravitational Attraction, by distorting and misrepresenting Kepler’s profound laws and in opposition to Leibniz’s more appropriate “Radial Planetary Orbital Equation”. The still-prevailing error by Newton (notwithstanding his well known manipulation of science for selfish ends), not only shows the limitation of mathematical idealism and prejudice driven modern cosmology in the form of Einstein’s theories of relativity; but also, have made gaining positive knowledge of the cosmos an impossibility and has impaired social/historical development of humanity by reinforcing decadent ruling ideas. Hegel’s Naturphilosophie is not only a protest against the misrepresentation of Kepler’s Laws in particular; his Enzyklopädie der Philosophischem Wissenschaften is the negation and the direct rebuttal of Newtonian physics and Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, in general. Modern natural science ignores Leibniz and Hegel at its own peril! Kepler’s phenomenological laws of planetary motion and the dialectical insights of Leibnitz and Hegel opens the way for gaining positive knowledge of the dynamics, structure and the evolution of the cosmic bodies and other cosmic phenomena; without invoking mysteries and dark/black cosmic entities, which has been the pabulum of official astrophysics and cosmology so far.

Heritable human genome editing: our moral responsibilities towards future generations

The uncharted territory of genome editing technology, which can be described as the Copernican revolution of our age, presents the challenge of the trade-offs between the benefits to people now and the known unknowns concerning future dangers and risks. It is for this reason that critics of human germline modification argue that it is unethical to harvest benefits in the immediate future while causing a whirlwind in the far-distant future! The current generation has, therefore, to make sensible decisions about the research and clinical application of human gene editing technologies to prevent far-reaching deleterious impact on an indefinite number of generations yet to come. Certainly, techniques of heritable human genome editing could increase vulnerability, discrimination and division among and between generations without the guidance of social justice which is inseparable from solidarity. Since the descendants of edited human embryos may be exposed to unknown, possibly negative long-term effects, without consenting to having these risks imposed on them, the thorny issues of harm, safety and precaution are crucial to address the knowledge-gaps and uncertainties implied the clinical application of human genome editing. Thus, the intergenerational moral consciousness and conscientiousness on the benefits and risks of human genome editing have to remain vigilant and alert!

Commemorative and Anniversary Philosophical Medals as a Visual Aid and Philosophical Source

The paper demonstrates the significance of commemorative and anniversary philosophical medals that are seen as a special visual aid for problematic issues in the history of philosophy specification. The author puts forward the thesis that such medals can clarify the perception of philosophical doctrine and the context of philosophical doctrine consideration at a particular time. So, they greatly assist as an additional historical and philosophical source, but they can hardly be helpful with the interpretation of either various aspects of a philosophical doctrine or a particular statement of a particular philosopher. The rationale for the thesis presents the analysis of four philosophical medals: the medal commemorating the foundation of the alethophile society (1740), A. Abramsonʼs medal in honor of I. Kantʼs sixtieth anniversary (1784), A. Abramsonʼs medal for the death of I. Kant (1804), A.L. Heldʼs medals in honor of the sixtieth anniversary of G.W.F. Hegel (1830). If the first three medals contribute to a better understanding of the philosophical traits of the German Enlightenment, the reasons for appealing to Horace's words “sapere aude”, Kant's peculiarity as an Enlightenmentist, philosophical meaning of the Kantian Copernican Revolution and the transformation of the perception of the “Critique of Pure Reason” in the late 18th century, expectations regarding the fourth medal has proved misplaced. It cannot clarify the Hegelian phrase about reason as a rose on the cross of modernity and reconciliation with reality. In addition, in the course of clarifying the meaning of the four aforementioned medals, the author also turns to the commemorative medal of Chr. Wolff by J. Dassier (c. 1733), the medal for the return of Chr. Wolff to Halle by J.Chr. Koch (1740) and the medal for Kantʼs death by F.W. Loos (1804).

Freedom in Kant’s Revolution

This chapter turns to the philosophical revolution of Kant. Starting from what he described as his ‘Copernican’ revolution in epistemology, it examines what he took to be its implications, negative and positive, for metaphysics, ethics, and religion. It examines Kant’s account of freedom as autonomy; his moral theory and its basis in the categorical imperative; his conception of the relation between morality and practical reason; and his ethical views and ideals. His political views are examined in relation to the ideas identified in Chapter I, particularly those of the revolutionary thinker Sieyès. In the concluding section Kant’s critical and hermeneutic stance in metaphysics and ethics is defended. It is argued, however, that while transcendental idealism is a powerful response to the problem of knowledge, it is not required for a full account of freedom, will, and reason.

Mediation as an Anthroposociocultural Value

The article examines the phenomenon of mediation as a value of a developed civil society from the ideological and methodological positions of the anthroposociocultural approach. The general historical conditions of the emergence of mediation and its anthroposociocultural code, paradigmatic types of mediation and the most important properties of each of them are analyzed. The article reveals the value nature of mediation as a Copernican revolution in ideology and methods of constructive resolution of conflicts between individuals and their communities. The conclusions are substantiated that: mediation belongs to the genus of anthroposociocultural values as their qualitatively distinguished type; mediation is functionally related to fundamental universal human values - human rights, the rule of law and pluralistic democracy - as a tool for their protection by human beings themselves in the form of a joint solution of interpersonal conflicts by their own carriers with the help of professional mediators; modern science distinguishes at least two paradigmatically different types of mediation - traditional mediation and narrative mediation; mediation of the first type as a value is applied mainly to the solution of interpersonal conflicts, and mediation of the second type is mainly applied to the solution of conflicts between human communities in polyidentical societies.