Między światem dostępnym zmysłom a transcendencją. Kanta krytyka rozumu jako próba nowego ufundowania metafizyki

Zagadnienia główne tej pracy to: pojęcie metafizyki u Kanta, skutki przeprowadzonej przez niego krytyki metafizyki oraz projekt metafizyki po krytyce rozumu. W przeprowadzanych tu analizach i rekonstrukcjach Autor stara się każdorazowo możliwie najwierniej uchwycić wewnętrzną logikę Kantowskiej krytyki metafizyki, jej rzeczywiste intencje oraz następstwa.Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

Rozum i Pismo. Cud, objawienie i interpretacja Biblii w filozofii Christiana Wolffa

This analytical and reconstructive paper discusses the issues of a miracle and of revelation in Christian Wolff’s rationalistic philosophy. The article comprises three major parts: in the first one I introduce Wolff’s conception of nature, followed by the conception of the supernatural and the outline of Wolff’s conception of a miracle. In the second one I talk about the issue of the rationality of revelation based on seven signs of its genuineness put forward by Wolff. In the third one I discuss the principles of understanding and interpreting text, especially Scripture. Finally, I evaluate Wolff’s apologetic strategy and point out that his means of defending both revelation and religion founded in it, can be very well used against them

Transcendental Pedagogy. Kant’s Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Philosophy as an Educational Project

Filozofia umysłu, w tym przede wszystkim sama filozofia krytyczna (transcendentalna krytyka rozumu), oraz filozofia filozofii Kanta przedstawione tu zostają jako jedyne w swoim rodzaju przedsięwzięcie wychowawcze. Tytułowa pedagogika transcendentalna (termin zaproponowany przeze mnie na użytek tego tekstu) nie stanowi teorii wychowania, lecz jego praktykę. Realizuje się ona na dwu płaszczyznach — (samo)wychowanie i (samo)kształcenie rozumu w krytyce oraz (samo) wychowanie i (samo)kształcenie człowieka w filozofii. Jest ona transcendentalna, tzn. nieempiryczna, ponieważ stanowi pewien system przekształceń mentalnych dokonywanych in abstracto w, jeśli wolno tak się wyrazić, mentalnej przestrzeni ludzkiej samoświadomości za pomocą narzędzi najzupełniej dyskursywnych i spekulatywnych. Krytyka rozumu oraz Kantowska filozofia filozofii ujęte zostają tutaj nie tylko jako narzędzia i metody tego swoistego procesu wychowawczego, lecz także, a właściwie przede wszystkim, jako transformacyjna praktyka intelektualna. Pojęcia wychowania, wychowanka i wychowawcy z płaszczyzny stricte pedagogicznej zostaną tu przeniesione w dziedzinę interpretacji Kanta koncepcji filozofii (w tym transcendentalnej krytyki rozumu), która zaprezentowana zostanie jako narzędzie kształtowania umysłu najprzód własnego, w dalszej zaś kolejności cudzego. Tekst podzielony jest na dwie podstawowe części: pierwsza poświęcona jest krytyce rozumu ujętej jako tegoż rozumu dyscyplinowanie i kształcenie, druga traktuje o filozofii jako narzędziu wychowania człowieka.The philosophy of mind, and especially the critical philosophy (transcendental critique of reason) and philosophy of philosophy are presented here as a unique pedagogical endenavour. The work’s titular transcendental pedagogy (which is a term proposed by me solely for the use of the following paper) does not mean the theory of upbringing, but rather it’s practice. It works on two seperate levels: (self)upbringing and (self) education of reason in the critique, and (self)upbringing and (self)education of human in philosophy. It is transcendental, which means non-empirical, as it is a system of mental transformations made in abstracto in, so to speak, mental space of human selfconsciousness by means of entirely discursive and speculative tools. The critique of reason and Kant’s philosophy of philosophy are taken not only as tools and methods of this peculiar pedagogical process, but most of all as transformational intelectual practice. The concepts of upbringing, upbringee and upbringer are moved from the strictly pedagogical level into the field of the interpretation of Kant’s conception of philosophy (including the transcendental critique of reason). This philosophy is then shown as a tool for shaping both one’s own and the other’s minds. The paper is divided into two basic parts: the first one talks about the critique of reason as a discipline and education of reason, and the other one discusses philosophy as a tool for upbringing the human.Publikacja finansowana przez Wydział Nauk o Wychowaniu Uniwersytetu Łódzkieg

Ultrafiltration rate and diabetes as useful indicators of cardiovascular-related death in hemodialysis patients below 60 years of age

Background: The survival rate of elderly hemodialyzed (HD) patients is commonly thought to be poor. In a prospective, single center, non-interventional, observational study, the cause of all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) and heart failure (HF) mortality in this patient group were examined and compared with a younger cohort (below 60 years). Material/Methods: The study included 223 patients (90 women and 133 men) with age ranging from 34.5 to 75.0 years treated with HD. Median duration of HD was 70.0 months (24.0-120.0). Mortality data was collected over a period of six years. We divided patients into groups: <60 (n=123), ≥60 years (n=100), and with (n=33) and without DM type 2 (n=190). Results: During a six-year follow-up, 100 patients (44.8%) died, including 83 (37.2%) patients who died due to CV reasons. Median follow-up was 2015.0 days (946.0-2463.0) with the median time to death of 1166.0 days (654.5-1631.0). The factors negatively affecting patients’ survival in univariate Cox regression analysis included for all-cause mortality were: inter-dialytic weight gain (IDWG) (hazard ratio [HR]=1.60; p=0.01), ultrafiltration (UF) rate (HR=3.63; p=0.012) for group <60 years; for CV death: UF rate (HR=4.20; p=0.03), DM (HR=5.11; p=0.002) for group <60 years; for HF death: mellitus type 2 (DM) (HR=2.93; p=0.027) for group ≥60 years). In a multivariate Cox regression analysis for patients <60 years, the UF rate was the only independent predictor of all-cause mortality (HR 3.63 (1.34-9.67); p=0.011). Both DM (HR 4.91 (1.71-14.10); p=0.003) and UF rate (HR 3.62 (1.04-12.61); p=0.044) were independent predictors of CV-related mortality in patients <60 years. Conclusions: The UF rate can be a simple, useful indicator of higher long-term all-cause and CV mortality in HD patients <60 years of age. Also, DM may be a predictor of CV–related mortality in younger HD patients

Functional reorganization of the reading network in the course of foreign language acquisition

During foreign language acquisition neural representations of native language and foreign language assimilate. In the reading network, this assimilation leads to a shift from effortful processing to automated reading. Longitudinal studies can track this transition and reveal dynamics that might not become apparent in behavior. Here, we report results from a longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, which tracked functional changes in the reading network of beginning learners of Greek over one year. We deliberately chose Greek as foreign language that would have similar orthographic transparency but a different alphabet than the native language (Polish). fMRI scans with lexical and semantic decision tasks were performed at five different time points (every similar to 3 months). Classical language areas (the left inferior frontal gyrus, the left precentral gyrus, and the bilateral supplementary motor cortex), and cognitive control areas (left inferior parietal lobe and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex) showed stronger activation after the first months of instruction as compared to the activation before instruction. This pattern occured in both tasks. Task-related activity in the reading network remained constant throughout the remaining 6 months of learning and was also present in a follow-up scan 3 months after the end of the course. A similar pattern was demonstrated by the analysis of convergence between foreign and native languages occurring within the first months of learning. Additionally, in the lexical task, the extent of spatial overlap, between foreign and native language in Broca's area increased constantly from the beginning till the end of training. Our findings support the notion that reorganization of language networks is achieved after a relatively short time of foreign language instruction. We also demonstrate that cognitive control areas are recruited in foreign language reading at low proficiency levels. No apparent changes in the foreign or native reading network occur after the initial 3 months of learning. This suggests that task demand might be more important than proficiency in regulating the resources needed for efficient foreign language reading

Multimodal imaging of brain reorganization in hearing late learners of sign language

The neural plasticity underlying language learning is a process rather than a single event. However, the dynamics of training - induced brain reorganization have rarely been examined, especially using a multimodal magnetic resonance imaging approach, which allows us to study the relationship between functional and structural changes. We focus on sign language acquisition in hearing adults who underwent an 8‐month long course and five neuroimaging sessions. We assessed what neural changes occurred as participants learned a new language in a different modality - as reflected by task‐based activity, connectivity changes, and co‐occurring structural alterations. Major changes in the activity pattern appeared after just 3 months of learning, as indicated by increases in activation within the modality‐independent perisylvian language network, together with increased activation in modality‐dependent parieto‐occipital, visuospatial and motion‐sensitive regions. Despite further learning, no alterations in activation were detected during the following months. However, enhanced coupling between left‐lateralized occipital and inferior frontal regions was observed as the proficiency increased. Furthermore, an increase in gray matter volume was detected in the left inferior frontal gyrus which peaked at the end of learning. Overall, these results showed complexity and temporal distinctiveness of various aspects of brain reorganization associated with learning of new language in different sensory modality

Evaluating the relationship of GDF-15 with clinical characteristics, cardinal features, and survival in multiple myeloma

Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), a member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily, participates in processes associated with myeloma development and its end-organ complications. It plays a significant role in both physiological and abnormal erythropoiesis and regulates iron homeostasis through modulation of hepcidin. It is abnormally secreted in marrow stromal cells of patients with multiple myeloma (MM), which may reflect the tumor microenvironment. We analyzed the associations of serum GDF-15 with clinical characteristics of 73 MM patients (including asymptomatic MM) and the laboratory indices of renal function, anemia, and inflammation. Baseline serum GDF-15 was studied as the predictor of two-year survival. We defined five clinically relevant subgroups of patients (symptomatic MM only, patients with and without remission, patients on chemotherapy, and without treatment). Increased GDF-15 concentrations were associated with more advanced MM stage, anemia, renal impairment (lower glomerular filtration and higher markers of tubular injury), and inflammation. Most of the results were confirmed in the subgroup analysis. Serum cystatin C and urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin were associated with GDF-15 independently of other variables. In the studied MM patients, GDF-15 did not significantly predict survival (p=0.06). Our results suggest that serum GDF-15 reflects myeloma burden and shares a relationship with several markers of prognostic significance, as well as major manifestations

Zonulin-related peptides in the setting of multiple myeloma — evaluation of a candidate molecule with respect to anemia, chronic kidney disease, and tumor burden: a pilot study

Introduction: The zonulin-related family of peptides is implicated in the regulation of intestinal permeability, inciting chronic inflammation and potentially in the incidence of cancer due to increased antigen trafficking. Scarce data are available on the potential role of serum zonulin-related peptides (ZRP) as biomarkers of hematologic cancer and related organ involvement.Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate correlations between ZRP as assessed by the commercially — available Immunodiagnostik enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) assay, complete blood count, multiple myeloma (MM) stage, and renal impairment among MM patients.Materials and methods: We analyzed a population of 73 patients with MM and evaluated the relationship between disease characteristics and long-term outcomes. The control group included 21 healthy volunteers (11 women, 10 men) between 24 and 69 years old. Serum ZRP were assayed using a commercially available kit (Immundiagnostik, Bergen, Germany).Results: Twenty-six patients had eGFR &lt; 60 mL/min/1.73 m2. Median (IQR) serum concentration of ZRP in the studied group was 23.9 (19.9; 27.4) ng/mL. ZRP did not differ between subjects with and without anemia (defined as hemoglobin below the lower reference limit, p = 0.4). Significant correlations were detected with serum albumin (R = 0.30; p = 0.009), log (creatinine) (R = –0.28; p = 0.018), eGFR (R = 0.26; p = 0.025), ferritin (R = 0.34; p = 0.013), and log (NT-proBNP) (R = –0.32; p = 0.006). Moreover, in patients with symptomatic MM, ZRP correlated with monoclonal protein in serum (R = –0.29; p = 0.046), blood hemoglobin (R = 0.27; p = 0.027), and age (R = –0.24; p = 0.044). In multiple regression, serum concentrations of monoclonal protein and ferritin, as well as the International Staging System for multiple myeloma (ISS) stage 3, were identified as independent predictors of ZRP concentrations.Conclusions: Serum concentrations of zonulin-related peptides only weakly correlate with kidney failure (creatinine and eGFR) in MM patients and anemia (hemoglobin concentration) in symptomatic MM patients. Serum ZRP assay is of little benefit in the setting of MM, exhibiting only weak correlations with indices of organ involvement, and it cannot be used to assess prognosis in MM