Państwo bez Boga : dlaczego religia szkodzi państwu

The article discusses the main arguments of the adherents of secularization, which emphasize the necessity of the separation of the public and religious institutions. Religion is universally understood as a personal matter, concerning only the spiritual life of its believers. There are arguments for public marginalization of Religion that refer to the absence of biblical legitimization for the existence of Church as an institution as well as the possible negative consequences connected with religious ethics. Another issue is the weltanschaulich neutrality of a state. The adherents of this neutrality view emphasize the importance of cultural and religious pluralism and the specific character of the "positive religions", which are not intersubjective

Education for life in the state within Marian Morawski's philosophy of education

Marian Morawski pesymistycznie oceniał tendencje rozwojowe drugiej połowy XIX wieku. Krytykował socjalizm i liberalizm. Ostrzegał przed idealizmem i materializmem. Wskazywał na kult techniki i ciężkiej pracy. Przewidywał, że taka cywilizacja musi doprowadzić do wojny. Zdaniem Morawskiego odpowiedzialność za ten niewłaściwy rozwój ponosi filozofia, która odrzuciła realizm i zdrowy rozsądek. Wychowanie do życia w państwie wymaga właśnie filozofii realistycznej, która umożliwi ukształtowanie moralności i krytyczny stosunek do rzeczywistości.Marian Morawski pessimistically evaluated the development seen within the second half of the 19th century. He criticized socialism and liberalism, idealism and materialism. He drew attention to the cult of technology and hard work. He predicted that this kind of civilization would lead to war. Philosophy was responsible for this dangerous turn because of its rejection of realism and common sense. Education for life in the state requires a realistic philosophy, which develops morality and a critical approach to reality

A critique of the moral optimism of Sam Harris : polemical comments

Sam Harris, one of the new atheists, believes that science is an authority in moral issues. Science can help us understand what our moral duties are, and what is right and wrong in a moral sense. However, the cultural and historical diversity of human behaviors, especially history of wars and conflicts, suggests that it is difficult to show one, common and universal kind of morality. Here we show that Harris’s moral theory is a particular project which could not be "scientifically" justifiable

The final frontier: what is distinctive about the bioethics of space missions? The cases of human enhancement and human reproduction

We examine the bioethical issues that arise from long-duration space missions, asking what there is that is distinctive about such issues. We pay particular attention to the possibility that such space missions, certainly if they lead to self-sustaining space settlements, may require human enhancement, and examine the significance of reproduction in space for bioethics. We conclude that while space bioethics raises important issues to do with human survival and reproduction in very hazardous environments, it raises no issues that are distinct from those in terrestrial bioethics. Rather, space bioethics raises extreme versions of bioethical issues that are already found in the military, when working in extreme environments (such as Antarctica), or when living in circumstances (such as in prison) where one’s autonomy is severely curtailed

Why atheism is more natural than religion

Cognitive science of religion (CSR) suggests the naturalness of religion. Religious beliefs are viewed as natural because they are intuitive and cognitively effortless. They are also inevitable and more obvious than atheism. In consequence, atheism is an unnatural phenomenon which requires special cultural and social support. However, this naturalness of religion hypothesis seems overestimated. Here we show that atheism is more natural than religion and religious beliefs in the cognitive sense because it meets the criteria appropriate for natural selection in the sense of ultimate explanation. Religion and religious beliefs require cultural inputs. Without cultural support, they seem unnatural

Ergonomic constraints for astronauts : challenges and opportunities today and for the future

Manned spaceflight is ergonomically constrained by living and working in a confined space in microgravity where astronauts on both short and long duration missions are exposed to daily radiation levels well above those received on Earth. Living in microgravity, especially on long duration missions aboard the International Space Station has deleterious physiological and psychological effects on astronaut health and astronauts may receive on one mission exposure to a cumulative radiation dose normally received in a lifetime on Earth. It is unrealistic at present to contemplate continuous missions of greater than 1 yr and to mitigate against current ergonomic constraints, space agencies have outlined roadmaps to introduce artificial gravity and develop strategies for conferring human resistance to radiation. In parallel, the concept of whole brain emulation (WBE) and ‘uploading’ of human consciousness on to a platform within the rapidly growing field of artificial intelligence is one scenario which may remove the future requirement for a physical crew. This paper highlights incidents and accidents which have resulted in astronaut injury because of ergonomics in space, considers the timing of deployment of technology roadmaps and draws together multi-disciplinary fields to project a future whereby deep space travel may be manned by an e-crew, devoid of many of the established ergonomic boundaries that apply to human astronauts

Ateistyczne nurty filozofii Oświecenia. Wpływ skrajnego materializmu i racjonalizmu

This paper presents the development of the basic ideas of the European enlightenment. The philosophy of the enlightenment focused on rationalism and empirical materialism. These concepts had emerged from philosophical atheism. Human reason was brought to the fore, as a new basis for ethical, ontological and epistemological authority. We can find sources for these ideas in the philosophy of Cartesian and Spinozistic rationalism, and in the empiricism and mechanism of English and French philosophy.Przyjęcie racjonalizmu, połączonego ze skrajnym materializmem i sensualizmem, umożliwiło rozwój oświeceniowego ateizmu, który jednak był jednym z nurtów funkcjonujących w tym, krytycznym wobec dotychczasowej kultury europejskiej, okresie. Artykuł zwraca uwagę na kilka czołowych idei oświeceniowego racjonalizmu, które na zawsze zmieniły europejską filozofię. Uczynienie ludzkiego rozumu nową podstawą autorytetu oraz krytyka wszystkich teorii opierających się jedynie na autorytecie i tradycji, przede wszystkim religijnych, stały się nowym punktem wyjścia

A Critique of the Moral Optimism of Sam Harris. Polemical Comments

Sam Harris, one of the new atheists, believes that science is an authority in moral issues. Science can help us understand what our moral duties are, and what is right and wrong in a moral sense. However, the cultural and historical diversity of human behaviors, especially history of wars and conflicts, suggests that it is difficult to show one, common and universal kind of morality. Here we show that Harris’s moral theory is a particular project which could not be “scientifically” justifiable