Utopian thinking : a discourse on the culture of Leszek Kołakowski and Zygmunt Bauman

The main thesis of this article is that the utopian thinking of Bauman and Kołakowski represents a natural “hermeneutic orientation” for human beings. This, in turn, means that the human race almost instinctively attempts to discover the sense in each and every thing which it comes to experience. The concepts of culture found in Bauman and Kołakowski are anchored in the hermeneutic worldview - a perspective, which assumes that there is a sense and meaning existing beyond human intentions. What connects these two Polish philosophers in their ponderings on European culture is a nonorthodox model of structuralism rooted in the works of Claude Lévi-Strauss

Czy psychologia potrzebuje koncepcji ludzkiej natury?

Does psychology require a concept of human nature? The primary thesis of this article is in accord with the postulate that notions about mankind are rooted in the concept of human nature. From the perspective of the history of ideas, it is clearly evident that the essence of the human being is intertwined with history while the influence of this intrinsic understanding of man has been and continues to exceed that of history. The strongest evidence of this is found in the philosophy of the human individual constantly present in the psychological discourse despite the intervening, temporary dominance of the empirical paradigm. The belief that everything can be measured and counted stems from mythical thought. This text undertakes an attempt to categorize the conceptual apparatus of contemporary cognitive science. Concurrently, it indicates the definitions and relationships which encompass such concepts as the mind, consciousness, and thinking

Does psychology require a concept of human nature?

The primary thesis of this article is in accord with the postulate that notions about mankind are rooted in the concept of human nature. From the perspective of the history of ideas, it is clearly evident that the essence of the human being is interwined with history while the influence of this intrinsic understanding of man has been and continues to exceed that of history. The strongest evidence of this is found in the philosophy of the human individual constantly present in the psychological discourse despite the intervening, temporary dominance of the empirical paradigm. The belief that everything can be measured and counted stems from mythical thought. This text undertakes an attempt to categorize the conceptual apparatus of contemporary cognitive science

Kłopoty z kulturą. Kultura jako praktyki kulturowe

With reference to Manuel Castells, I agrue that the value of theory stems, above all, from its abilityprovoke and structure empirical research – in other words, theory is communicated via theanalysis of practices. In this book, The Information Age, Castells wrote that the bast chance forunderstanding socjety would be linked to a more patient approach to the gatherring of informationand the building of theories. The application of theory is of an iterative nature, and thus„sensitizing” concepta aries. I share a view which James Clifford ezpressed in his 1988 book, ThePredicament of Culture: the study of culture oscillates beteen the local and global perspective,constantly re-contextualizing its subject. Therefore, the main goal of cultural researchers shouldbe to create space for the future of cultures and to identify any threats thereto. I will attempt toshow that, in the realm of cultural dynamics, it is possible to „invent” a borader system of theoriesand concepts. The predicament with culture is actually immanent in the meaning of culture

Music as a form of communal coherence : how a work of music is characterized by social reality

Celem artykułu jest odpowiedź na pytanie o relacyjny wymiar muzyki w kontekście form uspołecznienia. Myślę, że muzyka jest jedną z nich. W tym celu za Stanisławem Ossowskim twierdzę, że konstytutywną cechą muzyki jest jej znaczeniowość, bowiem nie istnieje dzieło sztuki muzycznej pozbawione kontekstu społecznego, a jedynym dylematem prawomocności tego twierdzenia staje się rozstrzygnięcie kwestii, jaką jest kryterium dookreślenia przez badacza tego kontekstu. Dla badań socjologicznych istotne są dwa, nie zawsze z sobą tożsame: kontekst autorski (socjogeneza dzieła) i kontekst odbiorczy (socjogeneza recepcji dzieła). Oba są wytworem społecznym, istnieją w obiegu zamkniętym, systemie informacji zwrotnych przekazywanych w społecznych ramach jednostkowego, ale też uwarunkowanego kulturowo dzieła sztuki: komunikatu. Ten komunikat rozumiany jako wytwór, czyli skodyfikowane w owym artefakcie - dziele sztuki muzycznej -działanie symboliczne, w kontekście perspektywy badań socjologicznych staje się niepodważalnym materiałem empirycznym. Zatem muzyka jawi się jako istotny rodzaj praktyki kulturowej. Jest swoistą formą uspołecznienia, bo ma do wykonania zadania więziotwórcze; jest pewnego rodzaju językiem w przestrzeni komunikacji i w procesie symbolizacji.The aim herein is to respond to a question about the relational dimension of music in the context of forms of socialization. It appears that music is one such form. Furthermore, following the footsteps of Stanisław Ossowski, I claim that the constitutive feature of music is its meaningfulness because there is no work of music devoid of its social context. The only quandary in the validation of this assertion is the question of the criteria by which the researcher defines that context. In sociological research, two criteria (not always overlapping) are key: the author’s context vis-a-vis the sociogenesis of the work and the receiving context via-a-vis the sociogenesis of the work’s reception. Both of these sets is a social product; they exist in a closed system. Each is a feedback system conveyed in the social framework of individual, but is also a culturally conditioned work of art.: a communique. That communique is understood as a cultural product - i.e., the piece of music codified therein. This symbolic action, in the context of a sociological research perspective, is an indisputable piece of empirical material. Thus music manifests itself as a significant kind of cultural practice. It is a form of socialization because it has a bonding task to perform; it is a kind of language in the space of communication and in the process of symbolization

Comparing the performance of integration platforms

The article compares two modern integration platforms used in production and test environments. These are, a free integrity solution WSO2 data bus and OSB bus, called Oracle Service Bus, which is a commercial software. The tests that were carried out on the abovementioned buses and results were discussed. In addition, a comparison of results with conclusions that were drawn after the tests was attached

Porfiria skórna późna — opis przypadku ciężkiego przebiegu choroby u kobiety uzależnionej od alkoholu

Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) belongs to the group of diseases with an increased incidence in the population of alcohol addicted people. Ethanol consumption has an influence on porphiryn metabolism which leads to disturbance in regulation of heme synthesis enzymes as well as direct damage of hepatocytes. Porphyria is a disease which involves disturbance of hepatic heme synthesis enzymes. In the course of the PCT, porphyrines are accumulated in the skin and excreted with urine. The skin lesions occur during porphyrin disintegration caused by UV light. The clinical presentation of PCT is non-inflammatory blisters, occasionally accompanied by hemorrhage and eschar. Chronic skin damage may result in scarring and changes in pigmentation at the sites of blisters and milia. Other clinical symptoms include: arthritic pain of upper and lower extremities, dizziness, tinnitus, abdominal pain and sudden death. We present extremely severe case of PCT in female, which was induced by sun exposure, hormone replacement therapy and alcohol intake.  Porfiria skórna późna (PCT, porphyria cutanea tarda) należy do grupy chorób, których częstość występowania jest zwiększona u osób nadużywających alkoholu. Spożycie etanolu wpływa na metabolizm porfiryn, co prowadzi do zaburzeń regulacji enzymów biorących udział w syntezie hemu oraz bezpośrednio uszkadza hepatocyty. Porfiria jest chorobą związaną z zaburzeniem działania enzymów syntezy hemu w hepatocytach. W przebiegu PCT porfiryny są akumulowane w skórze, a także wydalane z moczem. Zmiany skórne pojawiają się podczas rozpadu porfiryn spowodowanego oddziaływaniem promieniowania UV. Do obrazu klinicznego PCT zalicza się: niezapalne pęcherze z towarzyszącym krwawieniem i strupami, bol stawów kończyn górnych i dolnych, zawroty głowy, szumy uszne, dolegliwości bólowe brzucha oraz nagłą śmierć. Przewlekłe uszkodzenie skory doprowadza do bliznowacenia oraz zaburzeń pigmentacji. W niniejszej pracy zaprezentowano niezwykle ciężki przypadek PCT indukowany ekspozycją słoneczną, stosowaniem hormonalnej terapii zastępczej oraz nadużywaniem alkoholu