Faith, Cult and Culture as Essential Elements in the Missionary Activity of Sts. Cyril and Methodius

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the Apostles of the Slavs, for many centuries have been in the interest of the whole Christian world. This article is an attempt of presenting the vital connection between Christian faith, liturgical cult, and culture on the basis of the Byzantine mission addressed to the Slavs, which was led in the second half of 9th century. Starting from the comparison of the missionary methods used by the Christian East and West in the Middle Ages, then we will turn our attention to Sts. Cyril’s and Methodius’ unique contribution to the proclamation of Christ among the Slavs. In this missionary work, of the great importance was the creation of a new alphabet, and the use of the Slavic language in the proclamation of the Good News, as well as translations of the Bible and liturgical books into Slavonic. The rootedness in the Byzantine liturgical tradition, and drawing from the treasury of the Eastern Roman Empire contributed in a creative and very original way to the formation of the native Slavic culture. In the final part of article there is posed the problem of the effective proclamation of the Good News in the contemporary world in relation to the Cyrillo-Methodian model of [email protected] Uniwersytet Lubelski, Lubli

An optimal sliding mode congestion controller for connection-oriented communication networks with lossy links

A new discrete-time sliding-mode congestion controller for connection-oriented networks is proposed. Packet losses which may occur during the transmission process are explicitly taken into account. Two control laws are presented, each obtained by minimizing a different cost functional. The first one concentrates on the output variable, whereas in the second one the whole state vector is considered. Weighting factors for adjusting the influence of the control signal and appropriate (state or output) errors are incorporated in both the functionals. The asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system is proved, and the conditions for 100% bottleneck node bandwidth utilization are derived. The performance of the proposed algorithm is verified by computer simulations

The Culture of Memory: The Approach of Reyes Mate

The aim of the article is to present Reyes Mate’s project for a culture of memory. Western culture/tradition tends to erase and blur the traces of crimes (even genocides) in order to achieve/restore peace; however, at the same time, this leads to ignoring the victim’s suffering and, in consequence, helps the wrongdoer. Following Reyes Mate, we argue that a memory of past injustices must constitute an integral part of the present and is the only means to prevent the hermeneutic death of victims. Any project for justice must put victims at the center of reflection. Memory is the beginning of the process that leads to reconciliation, for it makes it possible to redress both the victim and society. Moreover, it enables us to reclaim both the victim and wrongdoer as members of society. A culture of memory would also be a response to the failure of knowledge. Cases of extreme violence elude and transcend cognition; they are not only unthought but also unthinkable. Therefore, memory is a consequence not of discovering but of revealing the past: it follows from the fact that unthought exists and the unthinkable happened, which proves that our knowledge is limited and that we are able [and eager] to “invisibilize” victims’ suffering and depriving injustices of meaning. This is why memory should be the starting point for reflection on a new philosophical program against lassitude and oblivion, as well as on idealistic/anti-realistic and Enlightenment ideas. Memory reveals hidden aspects/dimensions of our reality and becomes at the same time an epistemic imperative and fundamental philosophical category

On Reyes Mate’s Theory of the Victim: Metaethical Sketches on Injustice

The aim of our paper is twofold. Firstly, very original approach to the question of victims elaborated very thoroughly by Reyes Mate is presented. Unfortunately, his conceptualization of victimology is relatively little known outside Spanish and Latin American culture. It is meant as a basis for adequate theory of injustice and justice. Secondly, comprehensive and detailed metaethical analyses of fundamental concepts used by Reyes Mate are developed here by means of standard methods, i.e. triangle, hexagon, and octagon of logical oppositions

Introduction. The School: Its Genesis, Development and Significance

The Introduction outlines, in a concise way, the history of the Lvov-Warsaw School – a most unique Polish school of worldwide renown, which pioneered trends combining philosophy, logic, mathematics and language. The author accepts that the beginnings of the School fall on the year 1895, when its founder Kazimierz Twardowski, a disciple of Franz Brentano, came to Lvov on his mission to organize a scientific circle. Soon, among the characteristic features of the School was its serious approach towards philosophical studies and teaching of philosophy, dealing with philosophy and propagation of it as an intellectual and moral mission, passion for clarity and precision, as well as exchange of thoughts, and cooperation with representatives of other disciplines.The genesis is followed by a chronological presentation of the development of the School in the successive years. The author mentions all the key representatives of the School (among others, Ajdukiewicz, Lesniewski, Łukasiewicz,Tarski), accompanying the names with short descriptions of their achievements. The development of the School after Poland’s regaining independence in 1918 meant part of the members moving from Lvov to Warsaw, thus providing the other segment to the name – Warsaw School of Logic. The author dwells longer on the activity of the School during the Interwar period – the time of its greatest prosperity, which ended along with the outbreak of World War 2. Attempts made after the War to recreate the spirit of the School are also outlined and the names of followers are listed accordingly. The presentation ends with some concluding remarks on the contribution of the School to contemporary developments in the fields of philosophy, mathematical logic or computer science in Poland