"PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE"
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The content of No 4, 1997
Marian Przelecki
Belief as an object of moral valuation
An answer to the question whether belief is a proper object of moral
appraisal is shown to depend on some assumptions concerning the notion
of moral judgement and belief. Different categories of morally appraisable
objects are discussed and two concepts of belief are distinguished:
a feeling of confidence and an act of assertion. It is claimed
that an appraisal of beliefs with regard to their rationality
has a moral aspect and that moral beliefs are liable to a moral
valuation with respect to their moral content. Both kinds of moral valuation
are illustrated by the case of the racist view.
Weronika Chanska
Can fiction be true?
The subject of this article is the problem of truth in works of literature.
The purpose of presenting the polemic between Roman Ingarden and Jerzy
Pelc concerning the issue of verity of statements in literary fiction
is to show the difficulties that inevitably arise while analyzing literary
fiction. The major theses and solutions proposed by both authors
are, in my opinion, still relevant - in the sense that they give
a picture of the magnitude of logical problems with which everyone
who wants to build a thorough theory of literary fiction must cope.
Eugeniusz Zabski
Some remarks on the principle of bivalence, the principle of
contradiction and the principle of excluded middle
In the article some known arguments against the principle of
bivalence and the principle of excluded middle are recalled and
examined. New arguments against the principle of contradiction are also
presented.
Robert Poczobut
Empirical interpretations of logical laws
The article deals with the problem of the relationship between logic
and experience. Conceptions of K. Ajdukiewicz and W.V.O. Quine are
briefly presented. Then the problem of falsifiability of logic is considered.
Jaroslaw Mrozek
Mathematics and the world
The author presents Einstein's viewpoint on the issue of the relation
between mathematics and the world. Mathematics, as Einstein seems to suggest,
cannot model the structure of the world in an absolutely adequate way since,
if mathematical theorems are certain, they don't apply to the reality.
However from the fact that something cannot be done in an adequate way, it doesn't
follow that it can't be done at all. Mathematics can and should be applied
to desrcibe the reality, but in such a case its theorems are not
certain. Mathematics is a formal science. To be able to state something about
the world it must be filled with real meaning - which for Einstein
means that mathematical asertions, after a suitable interpretation, must be linked
through a network of experimental procedures with the world of nature. Einstein,
as it appears, applied these general suggestions to approach the problem of
geometry of real space.
Tadeusz Sierotowicz
On cosmological research traditions. Part II
The paper presents some methodological and meta-methodological
aspects of modern cosmology. Particular attention is given to the "fine"
structure of the cosmological research tradition, interpreted here
as a methodological model of cosmology.
Stefan Zabieglik
Computer - a tool for a philosopher
The paper contains some general information on use a computer
in philosopher's work. The main Internet resources in philosophy,
including Polish sites, have been presented, too.
Archives:
Leon Chwistek, The foundation of logic
The text is based on the unpublished notes from the lectures given
by Chwistek in 1931 in Lvov.
