Metafizyka w ujęciu o. prof. Stanisława Ziemiańskiego SJ

In the article, the author presents the achievements of Fr. Stanisław Ziemiański, S.J., in metaphysics. The opportunity for this research was his 90th birthday. From such a perspective, one can more fully appreciate the Jubilarian’s contribution to the mentioned field of philosophy. The article begins with a presentation of the historical context of the development of Fr. Ziemiański’s philosophical thought, where the fundamental role was played by Thomistic philosophy, which was focused in the Polish realities of the time on discussion with Marxism. This discussion concerned not only discovering the limitations and critique of Marxism. The representatives of Thomism proposed their original interpretation of reality, marked by greater realism and more convincing rationality. The next point is devoted to the conception of Fr. Ziemiański’s metaphysics, which refers to the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition, enriched with elements taken from contemporary philosophical currents and natural sciences. The most characteristic features of this approach include basing on experience and orientation towards really existing beings, the abstractio totius method, cognitive realism and maximalism, as well as the cognition of the absolute being. In a further step the contribution of Fr. Ziemiański to the interpretation of crucial metaphysical issues is discussed, such as transcendentals, contingency, purposefulness and the structure of being. It is emphasized that he pointed out the existential nature of the transcendentals and their irreducibility to universal concepts. In addition, he presented the specificity of the relation linking a contingent being with a necessary being, as well as the justification of the existence of the final cause based on an analysis of the internal structure of being. His important contribution was also the elaboration of the problem of relations in terms of F. Suarez and the presentation of the functional aspects of the composition of being from essence and existence. In conclusion, the results are noted, focusing on the importance of metaphysics as the base field of philosophical research.W artykule autor przedstawia dorobek o. Ziemiańskiego SJ na polu metafizyki. Okazją do tego był jubileusz 90. urodzin, z którego perspektywy można pełniej docenić wkład Jubilata w tę dziedzinę filozofii. Prezentację rozpoczyna przybliżenie kontekstu historycznego kształtowania się myśli filozoficznej o. Ziemiańskiego, gdzie podstawową rolę odegrała filozofia tomistyczna, skoncentrowana w ówczesnych polskich realiach na dyskusji z marksizmem. Dyskusja ta nie sprowadzała się wyłącznie do odkrywania ograniczeń i krytyki marksizmu. Przedstawiciele tomizmu proponowali własną interpretację rzeczywistości, odznaczającą się większym realizmem i bardziej przekonującą racjonalnością. Kolejny punkt poświęcony został koncepcji metafizyki o. Ziemiańskiego, nawiązującej do tradycji arystotelesowsko-tomistycznej, wzbogaconej elementami zaczerpniętymi ze współczesnych kierunków filozoficznych oraz nauk szczegółowych. Pośród najbardziej charakterystycznych cech tego ujęcia wskazano oparcie na doświadczeniu i zorientowanie na byt realnie istniejący, metodę abstractio totius, poznawczy realizm i maksymalizm, jak też ukierunkowanie na poznanie bytu absolutnego. W dalszej kolejności omówiono wkład Ziemiańskiego w interpretację kluczowych zagadnień metafizycznych, takich jak transcendentalia, przygodność, celowość czy struktura bytu. Podkreślono, iż opowiadał się on za egzystencjalną naturą transcendentaliów, a przez to ich niesprowadzalnością do pojęć uniwersalnych. Ponadto, w ciekawy sposób przedstawił specyfikę relacji wiążącej byt przygodny z bytem koniecznym, jak również uzasadnienie konieczności istnienia przyczyny celowej oparte na analizie wewnętrznej struktury bytu. Ważnym jego wkładem do refleksji nad strukturą bytu było także opracowanie problematyki relacji w ujęciu F. Suareza oraz ukazanie funkcjonalnych aspektów złożenia bytu z istoty i istnienia. W zakończeniu odnotowano wnioski koncentrujące się na znaczeniu metafizyki jako bazowej dziedziny poznania filozoficznego

Reasons for delay in treatment of breast cancer detected due to breast self-examination in women from the Lubelskie Region

Objectives: A delay in diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer patients is observed despite access to modern diagnostic methods. The aim of the study was to evaluate time between the first symptoms of breast cancer and treatment commencement, as well as to analyze reasons for the delay. Materials and methods: The research was conducted on 260 breast cancer patients treated at the Oncology Center in Lublin between 2008 and 2011. ‘Patient delay’ was defined as the time gap of >3 months between first symptoms of cancer and the doctor’s appointment and ‘system delay’ as the time gap of >1 month between the first medical consultation and commencement of treatment. Results: Mean patient delay was 32.2 ± 63.8 weeks. The main reasons were: disregard of symptoms (51%) and fear of being diagnosed with cancer (48%). Factors which significantly influenced the length of patient delay included: age >65 years, non-regular gynecologic care, lack of prior cancer screening and lack of family history of breast cancer. Mean system delay was 3.1 ± 2.9 weeks. Tumors < 5cm in diameter and clinical presentation other than a tumor, significantly influenced the system delay. Conclusions: A significant delay in diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer remains to be noted. Delay in seeking medical help was observed in 20% of the patients, whereas the referral was delayed due to system fault in 38% of the cases. Contrary to popular belief, patient delay (mean 32.2 ± 63.8 weeks) is 10 times longer than system delay (3.1 ± 2.9 weeks), suggesting an urgent need for further education of the general public and creating more accessible medical care

Osteoporosis treatment with denosumab in routine clinical practice in Poland

Introduction: The receptor activator for nuclear factor k B ligand (RANKL) inhibitor denosumab is approved for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and men at increased fracture risk. The objectives were to describe the characteristics of patients with osteoporosis initiating denosumab in Polish clinical practice and their clinical management during the first 12 months of denosumab treatment. Material and methods: This prospective, observational study enrolled denosumab-naïve women and men in Poland with osteoporosis, who had received at least one denosumab injection in the 8 weeks prior to enrolment. Patients were enrolled from specialist osteoporosis treatment centres, and orthopaedic, rheumatological, and family doctor centres. Outcomes included patient characteristics, denosumab treatment patterns, bone mineral density (BMD), and fracture; all analyses were descriptive. Results: The study enrolled 463 patients; most (96%) were women, aged ≥ 65 years (84%), with prior fractures (88%). Approximately two-thirds of the women had received prior osteoporosis therapy, with the main reasons for discontinuation being adverse events (75%) and lack of effect (73%). Across all patients, the most common reasons for prescribing denosumab were low bone mineral density (BMD/T-score) (93%) and history of osteoporotic fracture (78%). Mean BMD at denosumab initiation ranged from T-score –3.00 (lumbar spine) to T-score –2.6 (total hip), and BMD increased by 2.8–6.2% at month 12. Most patients completed follow-up (86%) and were due to receive a third denosumab injection (81%). Conclusion: The article presents detailed sociodemographic and disease-related characteristics of patients who routinely implemented denosumab therapy. Most of them continued denosumab for at least 12 months, with increased BMD T-scores

INDIGO-DataCloud: A data and computing platform to facilitate seamless access to e-infrastructures

This paper describes the achievements of the H2020 project INDIGO-DataCloud. The project has provided e-infrastructures with tools, applications and cloud framework enhancements to manage the demanding requirements of scientific communities, either locally or through enhanced interfaces. The middleware developed allows to federate hybrid resources, to easily write, port and run scientific applications to the cloud. In particular, we have extended existing PaaS (Platform as a Service) solutions, allowing public and private e-infrastructures, including those provided by EGI, EUDAT, and Helix Nebula, to integrate their existing services and make them available through AAI services compliant with GEANT interfederation policies, thus guaranteeing transparency and trust in the provisioning of such services. Our middleware facilitates the execution of applications using containers on Cloud and Grid based infrastructures, as well as on HPC clusters. Our developments are freely downloadable as open source components, and are already being integrated into many scientific applications

The role of existence (of being) in the metaphysical explanation of reality

In the article, the author shows the le¬gitimacy of the maximalist approach in the philosophical explanation of reality. He refers to the existential aspect of be¬ing which, in his opinion, defines the right direction of searching for the ulti¬mate foundations of reality itself and hu¬man cognition. Of course, it is not about the ultimacy in the sense of unequivo¬cally pointing to the „substrate” of real¬ity, but more about the cognitive ap¬proach itself, which opens the philosopher to what reality is as fully as possible. He begins his considerations with an outline of a contemporary view of reality and then takes up the problem of the philosophical explanation of real¬ity, the philosophy of being, and the metaphysics of existence. In conclusion, he notes the main elements of a realistic interpretation of reality. The proposed elucidations are very general, but they point to those dimensions of reality, without which the understanding of the latter becomes a pure hypothesis

The Foundations of the Human Person’s Dynamism in Karol Wojtyła’s Anthropology. A Study in Light of “The Acting Person”

In traditional anthropology, the problem of the dynamism of the human being was explained by means of human faculties that were seen as distinct from one another on the basis of the activities of man. Having accepted that the traditional approach is well-known and thoroughly elaborated, Karol Wojtyła proposed a complementary approach,  enhancing the classical explanation of human dynamism by following the basic intuition of the person who reveals himself in action. In this article, through several steps, the author presents the framework of the basic thesis of Karol Wojtyła's anthropology, which claims that the action performed by man includes the truth about not only his personal dynamism, but also the very subject of that dynamism itself, that is, the human person. The author shows Wojtyła's stance beginning with the distinction of personal action made against the background of other forms of human dynamism. Then, he describes Wojtyła’s methods of explanation in reference to the Aristotelian theory of act and potency. Continuing, he analyzes the problem of causativeness of action, which will turn out to be crucial for understanding man as a person. Finally, he sketches Wojtyla's conception of the fulfillment of man through his action

The Problem of Truth in the Thought of Plato

The undertaken considerations seek for revealing that in the thought of Plato there are few different approaches to the problem of truth. They start with the epistemological aspect which was inherited by Plato from Parmenides according to which truth is a constitutive element of human cognition and knowledge, an element that is conditioned by precisely determined indicators such as universality, necessity and invariability. The important contribution of Plato in explaining the problem of truth is where he underlines its meaning in the accomplishment of human being. The natural ability for knowing truth is the most crucial expression of humanity that is why more he draws on truth more he exists

THE PROBLEM OF TRUTH IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF ARISTOTLE

The article deals with the problem of truth by Aristotle. The study begins a presentation of the main cognitive dispositions, mentioned in Book VI of Nicomachean Ethics, by which man achieve the truth. A next object of analysis is the truth in logical understanding. Its “place” is the intellect performing acts of judgment, standing at the basis of discursive knowledge. Having in mind that the determinants of so understood truth are things, further investigations are focused on except logical aspects of truth. Aristotle defines them, as in the case of logical truth, on the base of human cognitive dispositions, which–apart from discursive knowledge (episteme) — include theoretical wisdom (sophia), practical wisdom (phronesis), desire (orexis), and art (techne). The actions emerging from these dispositions are also a form of cognitive agreement with reality, and consequently can be considered as a kind of truth. Despite that here as well, the truth is connected with the cognitive functions, its determinants are also real things. This leads to a crucial question of the presented article which concerns the truth of things themselves. According to Author, Aristotle does not give a directly answer, although his certain remarks touch this problem. Their examination allows better to understand the later conceptions of truth.Artykuł poświęcony jest problemowi prawdy u Arystotelesa. Rozważania rozpoczyna przedstawienie najważniejszych dyspozycji poznawczych, za pomocą których człowiek ujmuje prawdę, wymienionych w VI ks. „Etyki Nikomachejskiej”. Kolejnym przedmiotem analiz jest prawda w rozumieniu logicznym, której „miejscem” jest intelekt, dokonujący czynności sądzenia, stojącej u podstaw poznania dyskursywnego. Mając na uwadze to, że wyznacznikiem tak pojętej prawdy są rzeczy, dalsze dociekania skupiają się na pozalogicznych aspektach prawdy. Arystoteles określa je, podobnie jak w przypadku prawdy logicznej, na podstawie dyspozycji poznawczych człowieka, do których – obok poznania dyskursywnego (episteme) – zalicza mądrość teoretyczną (sofia), mądrość praktyczną (phronesis), pragnienie (oreksis) oraz sztukę (techne). Wyłaniane przez te dyspozycje działania są także formą poznawczego uzgadniania się z rzeczywistością, wskutek czego mogą być uznane za pewien rodzaj prawdy. Mimo że i tu prawda związana jest z czynnościami poznawczymi, jej wyznacznikiem są również rzeczy. Prowadzi to do kluczowego pytania artykułu o prawdę samych rzeczy. Według Autora, Arystoteles wprost nie udziela na nie odpowiedzi, choć pewne jego stwierdzenia poruszają ten problem. Przyjrzenie się im pozwala lepiej zrozumieć późniejsze koncepcje prawdy

Personalism in the Lublin School of Philosophy (Card. Karol Wojtyła, Fr. Mieczysław A. Krąpiec)

The article presents the conception of personalism and the understanding of human person developed by two Polish philosophers: Karol Wojtyła and Mieczysław A. Krąpiec, the framers and the main representatives of the Lublin School of Philosophy. The author comes to the following conclusions: (1) Wojtyła’s and Krąpiec’s conception of personalism comes from experience and seeks verification in experience; it does not accept any a priori explanations or theses, though it does not shy away from drawing upon different branches of knowledge in its attempts to broaden experience, being aware that not everything is given to immediate experiential perception; (2) Wojtyła’s and Krąpiec’s personalism wants to draw on the whole philosophical tradition, taking into account, at the same time, the findings of different sciences of man or humanities which broaden the experience of man or contribute something to the interpretation of experience; (3) bringing together genetic empiricism and methodical rationalism, Wojtyła and Krąpiec are able to avoid radicalism in the explanation of man, making a successful attempt to join in a complementary way these aspects of personal human being which carry some opposition; (4) Wojtyła’s and Krąpiec’s conception of person does not bear any traces of antagonism since it is not directed against anyone; in the light of this conception every human person has a character of the honest good which is the unconditional good, that is the highest and the ultimate good not competing with the value of anything else; (5) Wojtyła and Krąpiec prove that the conception of human person lies at the basis of understanding society, culture, ethics, law, politics, economy, art, and even religion