Introduction to this Issue: the Betzavta Method and Democracy – On an Experimental Project in Academic Didactics of Philosophy

The article presents the background of the texts included in this issue of SGEGE that resulted from an experimental workshop on democracy. The didactic innovation implemented during the event consisted in enhancing the traditional forms of teaching philosophy (seminar and lecture) with a practical module based on the Betzavta methodology of democratic education. In the first part of the article, a general description of the project is provided. Then follows a presentation of its topic, the reasons for choosing it and the theoretical problems behind it. Next, the organization and methodology of the project are briefly described. In the end, the results of the project are presented together with a short summary of the texts of this volume of the journal.

Common Concepts of Immanuel Kant's "The Perpetual Peace" and The Charter of the United Nations

The essay compares selected Kantian ideas stated in The Perpetual Peace with the institutions established by the Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice. The concept of a nation and its position in international law in view of the Charter will be presented and linked with the Kantian theory of sovereignty of Nations. The core of the paper is an afterthought on the supremacy of three separate powers over the Nations, hence the question of the rules of procedure held by the International Court of Justice will be regarded as the consequence of the idea of sovereign equality. The Kantian concept: "Nations, as states, may be judged like individuals”: (Kant, 1917, p. 128) is observed from the perspective of state’s demand for independence. The institution of the International Court of Justice is presented as a universal supreme body. The key issue of the essay is the federative character of union as a guarantee of eternal peace seen as common point in both of the documents discussed.

Dwa oblicza republikanizmu? Wspólnota polityczna w filozofii Immanuela Kanta i Andrzeja Frycza Modrzewskiego

This article is an attempt at comparative analysis of works of two representatives of the republican tradition, that is Immanuel Kant and Andrzej FryczModrzewski. This analysis is based on the following works: Perpetual peace, Doctrine of Right and On the Reform of the Republic. I will compare how both of the authors understand the notion of the republic and other notions such as law, freedom and general will. At the end of this paper I will show how the two republican traditions influenced today’s political reality.

“Lack of interest in politics”: a result of non-democratic experiences or of the non-existence of the Kantian republican state in the 21st century?

This essay examines the appearance of distrust, disinterest and aversion to politics and political participation in today’s democracies by taking the Kantian concept of a republican state into account. The goal is to find out reasons for the lack of interest in politics by investigating certain aspects in today’s democracies that might be not in compliance with the Kantian understanding of republicanism. The essay will start with an examination of the republican state and why it is mostly referred to as being much as the parliamentary democracy we know today. Then, these results will be compared with modern democracies (USA, Switzerland and Germany) in order to find the underlying reasons for the lack of interest in politics and how it might be possible to overcome it.

Political participation, the Betzavta Method and the interpretation of Hegel’s concept of freedom in "Philosophy of Right"

The aim of this essay is to confront Hegel’s political philosophy regarding ethical community and civil society with the objective of betzavta, which is an educational method promoting democratic decision-making processes. The concepts of freedom and ethical community were strongly present in Hegel’s Philosophy of Right and later on discussed by Zbigniew Pelczynski (1971, 1984a, 1984b), ShlomoAvineri (1972), Charles Taylor (1979) and Marek Siemek (1995,1998). This article reconstructs these Hegelian conceptsbased on their liberalinterpretations andconfrontsthem with contemporary challenges related to minority rights, conflict of values, decision-making processes and political participationin relation to the experiences gained during thebetzavta workshops.The main problem defined is the question whether it’s possible to reach a consensus in a given society that would conclude with the establishment of ethical community. The general assumption of this article is that because of the impossibility to obtain a consensus on fundamental values (lack of compromise on same-sex marriage or abortion), an ethical community that would secure both particular and public freedom cannot be reached. The clash between subjective and objective freedom can be perceived through the lenses of the classical problem of a tyranny of majority, where minorities are pushed towards a submissive compromise with the rules set by the majority. An experience of theBetzavta Method will also be included in the general reflections on the essence of freedom in political participation and the silent presence of certain members in decision taking-processes. null

Kant and Confucius: On moral decision-making

The aim of this paper is to determine the patterns of moral decision-making in Kantian and Confucian thought and to assess the necessary preconditions of moral behavior for Kant and Confucius respectively. This paper focuses on comparing the way Kant is structuring constitutive elements of moral decision-making, such as will, reason, or moral autonomy to the way Confucius is structuring the relationship between elements such as duty, commands of Tian, or social relations.

Fundament globalnych zagrożeń

Modern threatshavebeams with humanactivity. Thisactivityisinspired and organized by values. In the valuationmethod one shouldlook for the foundation of globalthreats. Valuationisconditioned by the form of culture in whichmanrealizeshisexistence. In the 21st century, twotypes of culturefunctionside by side: culture of provisionality and ecologicalculture. Both are the answer to a worldcalled to exist by humanactivity. Thisanswercan be twofold: adaptation to the situationoritscreativemodification. The firsttypeis most visible in culture, whichhasabandonedcontinuity in time for temporariness and accentuates the present. The secondtypeisseen in a culturethatemphasizeslastingvalues and promotesunderstandingorganized by the metaphor of the ecosystem. Ecologicalcultureprovidesideaswhoseimplementationis to make the worldfriendly to people and support life. In the culture of provisionality, we find a source of globalthreats. Ecologicalcultureappreciatesuniversalvalues, emphasizes the continuity of time and enablessolidarity. The culture of immediateitydoes not needuniversalvalues, itatomizestime and inspiresgreed and competition. Universal valuesgive a chance for such a relationship with a realitythatdoes not close the activity in a specific system of being. Theyenable the life of activitysystems and overcoming modern threats.

Rationality, Moral Motivation and Psychopathology

Motivational internalism is a view according to which moral judgments are necessarily motivating. Rationalist internalism (RI) is the most popular version of this view; it limits internalism to people who are practically rational. Motivational internalism, including RI, has been criticized as being incompatible with research into certain personality disorder; in particular psychopathic personality and pathological personality which is the result of damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (shortened to VM damage). In this paper, I argue that many of the features of psychopathic personality and of VM damage, which some philosophers interpreted as direct proof against internalism, should be understood as having an effect on the practical rationality of the patients. This means that these personality disorders cannot be used as counter examples to RI and can, in fact, be seen as supporting RI to some extent . I begin by describing RI. I then turn to I describing the phenomenon of psychopathic personality and VM damage and their philosophically relevant features. Finally I discuss whether the features characterizing psychopathy and VM damage influence the degree to which these disorders can serve as counterexamples to internalism of the rationalist variety.

Problem z wdrażaniem rozwoju zrównoważonego w perspektywie rozwoju przyspieszonego

In this article I discuss two main types of development: sustainable and accelerated, which largely contradict each other. I highlight the differences between these two types of developments and describe the reasons behind the growing interest in accelerated development. I also speculate about conditions needed to achieve accelerated development in a democratic setting characterised by neoliberal economy. Moreover, I present arguments that are raised by both opponents and supporters of sustainable development.

Proces humanizacji pracy czy nowe ideologie?

The effects of radical innovations in the economy and the social sphere cause changes in socio-professional relationship and the transformation of a work man. The motto of work humanization, raising ethical aspects protecting the subjectivity of its producers – in global capitalism – carries many risks as well as raises justified doubts. The model of active life, the syndrome of well-being, the pressure on self-improvement, the ability of self-managing are the new ideologies that convert a human into a product put up for sale, ”a product” that will soon become outdated unless it is subjected to continuous updating. The acceptance of such a lifestyle and work is supposed to foster the personal human market value. The process of blurring the differences between life and work, the professional and private sphere appropriates and reduces the human personality and shifts the blame for the failure from the system onto the individual. In this way, the control system is transformed into a more sophisticated control and over-regulation in relation to the individual. Humanization becomes a contradiction and the effects of work and professional ethics lose their sense and philosophical-anthropological foundations.