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Prawda czy dialog? Rozważania nad odpowiedzią Richarda Rorty’ego

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Kilanowski M.
Kultura i Edukacja
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2014
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issue 3(103)
7-22
EN
Richard Rorty postulates that we relinquish relying on the “Platonic” idea of something common to us all, something uniting us with others, and cease the search for both universal justifications and truths. Rorty fears, and backs his fears with examples from history, that referring to something uniting us may serve those who shall state that there is some right, true model of living, of collective cooperation, and that only one form of social and political organization is right for us. Because if there is a truth about human beings, about relations with others, then in accordance with the traditional way of thinking, we should act on it, and any opposing action, freethinking, should not take place. Each and every human being should act according to fixed – uncovered – standards, and those who disobey should be directed onto the right path. In short, one of Rorty’s firm beliefs is that the idea of human being, of truth, particular perspectives determine our choices – perhaps this is how Rorty’s intuition may be expressed within one sentence. But is such an opinion justified? In the hereby article I shall say it is not; whether we are universalists or constructivists, our choices may be of the same kind. At the same time, having the same metaphysical or constructivist beliefs, we may arrive at quite different choices.
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What Kind of Politics Do We Need? Toward Freedom as Responsibility in Habermas’s and Rorty’s Visions of Democracy

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Kilanowski M.
Kultura i Edukacja
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2017
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issue 2(116)
50-68
EN
Isaiah Berlin said that it is part of the human condition to make choices between absolute values. Obviously, this choice cannot be easy. To be well informed, it has to be made in full awareness of the contingency of our criteria. This ability to make choices between absolute values in the light of contingencies is what distinguishes a civilized man from a barbarian, says Berlin, following Joseph Schumpeter. Similar ideas can be found in the philosophy of Richard Rorty, who believes that our liberal societies create more people who understand the contingencies of their vocabularies, but at the same time are still faithful to them. He calls this “freedom as acknowledgement of contingency.” This freedom is bound by the existence of a plurality of voices, which does not mean that it is bound by the existence of chaos. In such a spirit, Jürgen Habermas emphasizes the fact that in spite of the plurality of contingent views, we can find a unity of reason. In spite of plurality of views, we can still come to an agreement thanks to dialogue. The close analysis of Rorty’s and Habermas’s philosophy allows us to see that they share a common stance: thanks to disenchantment of the world, as Rorty says, or thanks to decentralization of the world, as Habermas says. Both are seeing such stance as a precondition to use our freedom in a way to be more tolerant, more open to dialogue and responsible for it. Further analysis allows us to see that there is a possibility to present a new understanding of the notion of freedom – freedom conceived as responsibility.
3
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Ku społeczeństwu obywatelskiemu. Czego dziś może nas nauczyć pragmatyzm?

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Kilanowski M.
Kultura i Edukacja
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2017
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issue 1(115)
50-62
EN
It can be striking for us today that when so little divides us there is still so much that separates us from each other. We observe the fragility of social cohesion and witness the degradation of social capital even though some say that our religious belief as well as material conditions or differences in political rights no longer divide us. In the light of critical observations, one can say that there is a need to reconcile people with each other, to establish bonds between us, that we need to establish civil society. When trying to establish a well-functioning civil society we have to ask ourselves a few crucial questions. These questions include: How can Western individualism be combined with the values of community and social solidarity? What are the necessary conditions for freedom and solidarity among people? To answer these questions it is worth reaching the philosophical thought of John Dewey and Roberto Unger. In his text Roberto Unger points out that today’s social and political order is not something solid and stable. Even our democratic order that I was referring to in this paper faces challenges that may undermine its base. Without the right preparation to face these challenges-through responsible and critical public participation and deliberation-it is possible that instead of us having some sort of possibility of steering the growth of our societies and having an impact on political and economic evolution, the evolving situations will steer us. If this happens, we will be left behind, being unable to grasp and handle the different new situations.
4
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Between Epistemology and Metaphysics in William James’s Philosophy

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Kilanowski M.
Kultura i Edukacja
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2015
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issue 2(108)
30-38
EN
William James’s philosophy has been treated as relativistic and sceptical, as a distortion of truth and rationality. In that way a lot of important elements crucial for understanding his philosophy have been overlooked. However, according to James, our cognition is not relativistic, because there is no room in his philosophy for a traditionally understood dichotomy between a knowing subject and a perceived object. We are all plunged into the stream of experience, and it is in it that we can find an overall picture of our world and our reality. We participate in the plurality of phenomena; we are surrounded by the plurality of things. Our world is continuous, and therefore it is continuously in the process of creation. In short, for James, the world is not a subjective construct created by human beings and his epistemology is closely related to his metaphysics to the point at which it is difficult to consider the distinction between the two. To present these crucial aspects of William James’s philosophy in the most meticulous way possible, this essay, will try to clear up doubts concerning James’s concept of Radical Empiricism, truth, and his understanding of pluralism, as well as the categories of synechism and tychism.
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Przeciw pewności Karla Poppera : Zmagania z koniecznością

100%
Kilanowski M.
Kultura i Edukacja
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2016
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issue 1(111)
53-67
EN
All the time, we encounter social, political, or economic crises. Those crises were not and are not a sheer result of poorly designed and malfunctioning state institutions, supposed to control (or not) the sphere of individual activities. This is what we are presented with as their cause. This, however, is not a complete picture of the situation. Crises occur also due to inadequate stressing of the categories which have become central for our societies, as Karl Popper pinpoints. In The Open Society and Its Enemies, he claims that it is our attachment to thinking that there is a one history, progress, pursuit of power and glory, as measures of individual success in the hostile world, that contributes to the reoccurrence of crises and the violence that accompanies them. We live focused on abstract categories and interpretations detached from the everyday life experience. In consequence, we still have to struggle with the phenomenon of exploiting individuals, we still do not create opportunities for satisfying their needs and space for working out solutions which would aid us in tackling the emerging problems. As Popper preaches, if we want to break free from the limitations of our minds so as to act differently, as fully free, selfrealized and responsible, we have to try to verify our beliefs, even if it turns out that we should abandon them. This essay is another attempt at presenting the crucial aspects of Popper’s thought that are particularly difficult to comprehend and accept: namely, that there is no history independent of our doing, there are only our descriptions; there is no progress; it is us that create history without even being aware of that.
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Pomiędzy lewicą a prawicą lub czy bać się prawdy i wychwalać postmodernizm?

100%
Kilanowski M.
Kultura i Edukacja
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2013
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issue 1(94)
127-144
EN
Should we be afraid of the truth? This question is important not only for the world of philosophy, but also politics. Reluctance to fixed and immutable foundation used to characterize the left . This right has traditionally appealed to what is permanent, unchanging, universal, in what social order should be rooted. And for that it is criticized. It has been suggested that we should reject the right-wing chains, reject universalism, to become free and head toward postmodernism. Postmodernism today seems to give hope for further development, including policy based on new narratives – particularly left-wing. Postmodernism, as it is seen by Grzegorz Lewicki, seems to be close to the critical theory that can help us in the liberation and emancipation. Closer analysis, however, allows us to see that also in critical theory there is a desire to discover the truth about what is reality. It also allows to see that the category of truth is not as bad as it is painted. It is not necessary to get rid of the reference to the category of truth, because truth is not the problem in itself. We can still keep it without sacrificing what was the best in postmodernism. If we are successful, then there might be the chance to reconcile the left with the right.
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