The Question “Who am I, so inconstant, that notwithstanding you count on me?” as the Focus of Ricœur’s Existential Philosophy

The question "Who am I, so inconstant, that notwithstanding you count on me?" makes reference not only to the "idem personal identity–ipse personal identity" relationship (Oneself as Another), but also such relationships as "the involuntary–the voluntary" (Freedom and Nature), and "limitation of openness to the world–transcending the limitation of openness to the world" (Fallible Man). In each of those relationships there is a strong correlation between the first and the second element. While the first part of the question is associated with the question of idem personal identity, the involuntary, and limitation of openness to the world, the second part of the question relates to the question of ipse personal identity, the voluntary, and transcending limitation of openness to the world. Taken as a whole, the question indicates that there is a possibility of keeping a promise (also the tacit promise mentioned in From Text to Action) that implies transcending “existential inconstancy”.The question "Who am I, so inconstant, that notwithstanding you count on me?" makes reference not only to the "idem personal identity–ipse personal identity" relationship (Oneself as Another), but also such relationships as "the involuntary–the voluntary" (Freedom and Nature), and "limitation of openness to the world–transcending the limitation of openness to the world" (Fallible Man). In each of those relationships there is a strong correlation between the first and the second element. While the first part of the question is associated with the question of idem personal identity, the involuntary, and limitation of openness to the world, the second part of the question relates to the question of ipse personal identity, the voluntary, and transcending limitation of openness to the world. Taken as a whole, the question indicates that there is a possibility of keeping a promise (also the tacit promise mentioned in From Text to Action) that implies transcending “existential inconstancy”

Skończoność a zło. W stronę Jeana Naberta

Nabert’s understanding of the finitude–evil relationship is somewhat puzzling in that it assumes – contrary to the view rooted in centuries-long tradition – that finitude is conditioned by evil, not vice versa. Nabert argues for his view by presenting an in-depth analysis of existential conditions for the possibility of doing evil. He underscores that although we have a sense of free will, it turns out to be illusory since we are unable to identify the underpinnings of our actions. Nabert claims that inability to capture them, however, does not constitute the most essential condition of the ability to do evil. This condition, as it seems, must be sought in the original dissonance, which constitutes our existence and occurs between “empirical self” and “pure self” – that is in “fundamental alienation”. All limitations that make us are secondary to the evil generated by this dissonance, and it is in this sense that evil precedes finitude. In order to challenge the said primacy of evil over finitude, one might have to expand the meaning of finitude, accepting that fundamental alienation can also qualify as finitude. But in this case, too, one would be left with the question of the specific type of evil (indicated by Nabert in his Le Désir de Dieu) consisting in refusing to make an effort to overcome fundamental alienation. It follows that this refusal can be seen as a factor not only escalating this alienation but, ultimately, as its constituent.Nabertowskie ujęcie relacji „skończoność-zło” jest o tyle intrygujące, że wbrew utrwalonemu w wielowiekowej tradycji poglądowi zakłada, że to skończoność jest uwarunkowana przez zło, a nie odwrotnie.  Uzasadniając swój pogląd Nabert prezentuje pogłębioną analizę egzystencjalnych warunków możliwości czynienia zła. Zwraca on uwagę, że pomimo iż mamy poczucie wolnej woli, to okazuje się ono iluzoryczne, gdyż nie jesteśmy w stanie uchwycić źródeł własnych działań. Zdaniem Naberta,  niezdolność do ich uchwycenia nie stanowi jednak najbardziej pierwotnego warunku możliwości czynienia zła. Warunku tego należy poszukiwać  bowiem w konstytuującym naszą egzystencję źródłowym rozdźwięku, zachodzącym między „Ja empirycznym” a „Ja czystym”, czyli w „alienacji fundamentalnej”  Wszelkie cechujące nas ograniczenia są wtórne wobec zła generowanego poprzez ten rozdźwięk, w tym  właśnie sensie   zło poprzedza skończoność. Aby podważyć wskazany wyżej prymat zła nad skończonością, trzeba by rozszerzyć znaczenie pojęcia skończoności uznając, że sama alienacja fundamentalna również może być kwalifikowana jako skończoność. Nawet jednak w takim przypadku pozostałaby do rozstrzygnięcia  kwestia specyficznego typu zła (wskazywanego przez Naberta w dziele Le Désir de Dieu) polegającego na odmowie podejmowania wysiłku przezwyciężenia alienacji fundamentalnej. Odmowa taka może być wszakże odczytywana  jako  czynnik nie tylko potęgujący tę alienację, ale w ostatecznym rozrachunku jako czynnik warunkujący ją.&nbsp

Production of medical Sc radioisotopes with an alpha particle beam

The internal α-particle beam of the Warsaw Heavy Ion Cyclotron was used to produce research quantities of the medically interesting Sc radioisotopes from natural Ca and K and isotopically enriched 42Ca targets. The targets were made of metallic calcium, calcium carbonate and potassium chloride. New data on the production yields and impurities generated during the target irradiations are presented for the positron emitters 43Sc, 44 gSc and 44 mSc. The different paths for the production of the long lived 44 mSc/44 gSc in vivo generator, proposed by the ARRONAX team, using proton and deuteron beams as well as alpha-particle beams are discussed. Due to the larger angular momentum transfer in the formation of the compound nucleus in the case of the alpha particle induced reactions, the isomeric ratio of 44 mSc/44 gSc at a bombarding energy of 29 MeV is five times larger than previously determined for a deuteron beam and twenty times larger than for proton induced reactions on enriched CaCO3 targets. Therefore, formation of this generator via the alpha-particle route seems a very attractive way to form these isotopes. The experimental data presented here are compared with theoretical predictions made using the EMPIRE evaporation code. Reasonable agreement is generally observed

Cyclotron production of 43Sc for PET imaging

Recently, significant interest in 44Sc as a tracer for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has been observed. Unfortunately, the co-emission by 44Sc of high-energy γ rays (Eγ = 1157, 1499 keV) causes a dangerous increase of the radiation dose to the patients and clinical staff. However, it is possible to produce another radionuclide of scandium—43Sc—having properties similar to 44Sc but is characterized by much lower energy of the concurrent gamma emissions. This work presents the production route of 43Sc by α irradiation of natural calcium, its separation and purification processes, and the labeling of [DOTA,Tyr3] octreotate (DOTATATE) bioconjugate. Methods: Natural CaCO3 and enriched [40Ca]CaCO3 were irradiated with alpha particles for 1 h in an energy range of 14.8–30 MeV at a beam current of 0.5 or 0.25 μA. In order to find the optimum method for the separation of 43Sc from irradiated calcium targets, three processes previously developed for 44Sc were tested. Radiolabeling experiments were performed with DOTATATE radiobioconjugate, and the stability of the obtained 43Sc-DOTATATE was tested in human serum. Results: Studies of natCaCO3 target irradiation by alpha particles show that the optimum alpha particle energies are in the range of 24–27 MeV, giving 102 MBq/μA/h of 43Sc radioactivity which creates the opportunity to produce several GBq of 43Sc. The separation experiments performed indicate that, as with 44Sc, due to the simplicity of the operations and because of the chemical purity of the 43Sc obtained, the best separation process is when UTEVA resin is used. The DOTATATE conjugate was labeled by the obtained 43Sc with a yield >98 % at elevated temperature. Conclusions: Tens of GBq activities of 43Sc of high radionuclidic purity can be obtainable for clinical applications by irradiation of natural calcium with an alpha beam

The question of Transcendence Testimony. Following Paul Ricoeur

What is the Transcendence Testimony? An attempt at answering this question on the basis of Paul Ricoeur’s texts runs into a distinction between “external” testimony, that is, an eyewitness’s account of the course of events, and “internal” testimony, that is, the confirmation of a person’s beliefs by the course of events. Ricoeur seeks to show that the religious meaning of testimony that emerges in biblical texts is determined by the interdependence and mutual conditioning of the two types of testimony. According to Ricoeur, this interdependence should be taken into account also when confronting the biblical concept of witness with the requirements of contemporary hermeneutical-phenomenological philosophy. Is it not the case, in particular, that the condition of possibility of recognizing the manifestation of the Absolute within history (in some “Here and Now”) is a reflexive movement, revealing the Absolute on the existential level defined by Jean Nabert as “originary affirmation”? However, Ricoeur, being conscious of the somehow aporetic nature of Nabert’s proposed solution, suggests that it can gain a significant expressive power if we read it in light of the concept of “substitution” presented in Lévinas’ work Otherwise than Being or Beyond Essence

Kwestia przedzałożeń teorii sprawiedliwości. John Rawls w interpretacji Paula Ricoeura

Paul Ricoeur claims that while John Rawls seeks to present his theory of justice as a purely procedural conception, which remains axiologically neutral, it is in fact entangled in certain presuppositions with ethical overtones. In order to bring those presuppositions out we need, according to Ricoeur, to consider that, contrary to appearances, its justification is not inherently linear but undesirably circular. This circularity of the justification of the theory of justice manifests itself in Rawls’s postulate to strive for a ‘reflective equilibrium’, which should reconcile accepted principles of justice with ‘our considered convictions’

Służba w dwóch formacjach mundurowych. Uwagi do biografii autorstwa Roberta Litwińskiego

The article presents a review of the publication of Robert Litwiński, Kordian Józef Zamorski „navy blue” general, which was published by the Publishing House of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in 2018. The book is a biography of the eponymous character, in which the author presents General Zamorski’s life on the basis of an extensive source material and focuses on the two most important stages of his existence: service in the Polish Army andactivity in the State Police. The article contains a critical analysis, with particular emphasis onthe substantive, linguistic and compositional layers