Rorty's Elective Affinities. The New Pragmatism and Postmodern Thought

The present book is devoted to "European connections of Richard Rorty's neopragmatism". The theme, chosen carefully and intentionally, is supposed to show the motivation behind the writing of the present work, as well as to show its intended extent. Let us consider briefly the first three parts of the theme, to enlighten a little our intentions. "European" is perhaps the most important description for it was precisely that thread that was most important to me, being the only context seriously taken into account, as I assumed right from the start that I would not be writing about rather more widely unknown to me - and much less fascinating (even to Rorty, the hero of the story) from my own, traditional, Continental philosophical perspective - American analytic philosophy. So accordingly I have almost totally skipped "American" connections (to use the distinction I need here) of Rorty's philosophy, that is to say, firstly, a years-long work within analytic philosophy, secondly struggles with it on its own grounds, and finally attempts to use classical American, mainly Deweyan, pragmatism for his own needs and numerous polemics associated with it - the questions that are far away from my interests and that arise limited interest among reading and writing philosophical audience in Poland, and perhaps also among Continental philosophers. It did not seem possible to me to write a book on Rorty in his American connections for they are insufficiently known to me, demanding knowledge of both post-war American analytic philosophy as well as pragmatism of its father-founders. I could see, setting to work on Richard Rorty, that a book on his American connections (leaving aside the issue that it would not be a philosophical problem but rather, let us say, the one of writing a monograph) written by a Polish philosopher in Poland and then in the USA was not a stimulating intellectual challenge but rather a thankless working task. Besides, having spent much time on Rorty's philosophy, writing extensively about him and translating his works, I already knew that the "Continental" context was extremely important to his neopragmatism, and that thinking about it could be relatively prolific (as opposed to the context potentially given by American philosophy).

Reżyserki na indeksie. Historia kina kobiet w Europie Środkowej w Wschodniej

Autorka dokonuje krytycznej rekapitulacji wskazówek metodologicznych dotyczących pisania historii kina kobiet w anglojęzycznej literaturze przedmiotu, odnosząc je do specyfiki kinematografii środkowo- i wschodnioeuropejskiej. Projekt dyskursu historii kina kobiet wpisuje w postulaty ponowoczesnej historiografii i nowej humanistyki, poszukującej tradycji grup mniejszościowych oraz krytycznie odnoszącej się do historii tradycyjnej. Problematyka kina kobiet w dyskursie historii kina powinna, zdaniem autorki, objąć także doświadczenia edukacyjne i zawodowe kobiet, związki biografii zawodowej i prywatnej oraz publiczne i wyobrażone wizerunki reżyserek.

Holocaust w powieści Wasilija Grossmana "Życie i los"

Tematem artykułu jest książka bezpośrednio nie zaliczana do literatury Holocaustu, wybitna powieść Życie i los, rosyjskiego pisarza i dziennikarza Wasilija Grossmana, który dziś uznawany jest za jednego z najważniejszych twórców rosyjskich XX wieku. Życie i los okazuje się przykładem ujęcia dramatu Shoah na tle wojny jako części wielkiej Historii poddanej szaleństwom ideologii i polityki nazistów oraz terroru i rosnącego z drugiej strony antysemityzmu w państwie bolszewickim. Jednocześnie Zagłada pozostaje w tym utworze przede wszystkim tragedią konkretnych osób, widziana w porządku pojedynczej ludzkiej egzystencji, która nie daje się nigdy całkowicie sprowadzić do tego, co bezosobowe i masowe. Indywidualna perspektywa humanizuje obraz historii, ale też i go podważa w jego ogólnych strukturach i narracjach. Artykuł opisuje elementy, które składają się na żydowski wątek utworu. Dla jego odczytania ważny okazuje się szerszy kontekst biografii Grossmana i historia powstania oraz wydania powieści Życie i los. Jak widać – rosyjski pisarz dokonał dwóch znaczących gestów w odniesieniu do problemu reprezentacji Zagłady: z jednej strony zwrócił się ku konwencjom literackim, wykorzystał epicki rozmach, kompozycję wielowątkową i panoramiczne ujęcia wraz z ich koncepcją realizmu, wehikularności słowa, a jednocześnie wyszedł poza estetyczne ramy tekstu literackiego, wprowadził elementy lirycznych opisów i autobiograficzne akcenty oraz podkreślił etyczny wymiar całości – jako formy pamięci o tych niezliczonych ofiarach nie tylko Zagłady, ale i każdego XX wiecznego totalitaryzmu.

Constructivist Character of the Technique of Role-Playing Games and its Autonomizing Values in the Glottodidactic Process

To Augustyn Surdyk numerous assumptions of constructivism and constructionism in the educational context seem to correspond with the idea of autonomisation in foreign language didactics. He presents a comparison of selected aspects of the three theories in question on the example of an innovative communicative technique of Role-Playing Games applied in the process of teaching foreign languages at an advanced level. The conventions of the technique with its simplified rules have been borrowed from popular parlour games and adapted by the author to the conditions of language didactics. The elements of play and simulation incorporated in the technique allow it to be rated among techniques of ludic strategy. (from Preface to the book)

Na krawędzi obrazu. O po-malarskich pracach w polskiej sztuce lat sześćdziesiątych

Wydział Historyczny: Instytut Historii Sztuki

The Iranian Foreign Policy in the Persian Gulf Region under the Rule of President Hassan Rouhani: Continuity of Change

Although Iran borders with many states and has direct access to the Caspian Sea as well as the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf region seems to be the most vital area to its security and prosperity. Yet since the 70’s Iran’s relations with the Arab states in the region have been rather strained and complex. The main reason for that had been the success of the Islamic revolution in 1979 which later resulted in a new dimension of Sunni-Shia rivalry. Moreover, post-revolutionary Iranian authorities also intended to maintain the regional hegemony from the Imperial State of Iran period. As a result, successive Iranian governments competed for hegemony in the Persian Gulf with the littoral Arab states which consolidated their regional positions due to close links and intensive cooperation with the West especially with the United States. Despite some political and economic initiatives which were undertaken by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, this rivalry was also evident between 2005–2013. The main aim of this article is to find out whether Iranian foreign policy towards the Arab states in the Persian Gulf region has undergone any significant changes since Hassan Rouhani became the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran in August 2013. According to Mohammad Reza Deshiri, the Iranian foreign policy after 1979 can be divided into so-called waves of idealism and realism. During dominance of idealism values and spirituality are more important than pragmatism while during the realistic waves political as well as economic interests prevail over spirituality. Iranian idealism is connected with export of revolutionary ideas, Shia dominance as well as the restoration of unity among all muslims (ummah). On this basis both presidential terms of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can be classified as ‘waves of idealism’, albeit some of his ideas were very pragmatic. The question is if Hassan Rouhani’s foreign policy represents a continuity or a change. Is the current Iran’s foreign policy towards the Persian Gulf region idealistic or rather realistic? The main assumption is that there will be no Arab-Iranian rapprochement in the Persian Gulf without a prior normalization of political relations between Iran and the West especially the United States.

Zasada racji dostatecznej w kontekście semantycznej kontrowersji realizm–antyrealizm

"Principle of sufficient reason in the context of the realism-antirealism semantic controversy". The topic of this article is the cognitive and semantic status of Michael Dummett’s principle C. According to the principle, if a statement is true, there must be something in virtue of which it is true. The author suggests the interpretation of principle C in terms of the sufficient reason principle as a contemporary, weaker and semantic counterpart of the classical version of the principle. Considerations include such problems as: the distinction between the reason-consequence relationship and cause-effect relationship; the reductionism and justificationism in the context of the realism-antirealism semantic controversy; the reversibility of reason-consequence relationship and the question of a search for ultimate reasons. The author also distinguishes three forms of the sufficient reason principle: metaphysical, ontological and propositional.

Podmiotowość a zmiana społeczna w pismach teoretycznych Margaret S. Archer. Analiza, porównania, rekonceptualizacja pojęć

Wydział Nauk Społecznych: Instytut Socjologii