In this paper the importance of the history of the philosophy of nature for this field of philosophy is examined. It is also shown why the history of philosophy in science (philosophy of nature) is important for Polish philosophy. Next, some selected issues of the historiography of this field are examined. It is suggested, that an interesting perspective of investigations is the one, which shows the development of the Polish philosophy of nature from the point of view of the development of philosophical reflections on the issue of time in the period 1900–1939.
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W artykule poddano analizie znaczenie filozoficznej refleksji nad dziejami filozofii przyrody dla rozwoju współczesnej filozofii przyrody. Wskazuje się również, dlaczego historia filozofii przyrody jest ważna dla polskiej filozofii. Następnie analizom poddano wybrane zagadnienia związane z historiografią dziejów filozofii przyrody. Zaproponowano również interesującą perspektywę badań, jaką jest ujęcie dziejów polskiej filozofii przyrody w latach 1900–1939 z punktu wiedzenia rozważań nad zagadnieniem czasu.
The objective of this article is to provide an answer to the question as to how to philosophize within the context of science, which constitutes a more specific version of one of the essential metaphilosophical questions: how should one philosophize? A compelling answer to such inquiries was proposed at the end of the 20th century by the Cracow philosophers of nature and went under the name of „philosophy in science” research program. In this elaboration, on the basis of findings originating in the cosmological domain, I analyze to what extent this is indeed an innovative answer to the metaphilosophical question stated above – that is how to philosophize within the context of science.
This is a review of research conducted by the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies and the Copernicus Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in the field of the history of philosophy of nature and the history of philosophy of science in Poland in the inter-war period. In spite of the domination of positivistic philosophy that tended to ignore philosophy of nature, this kind of philosophizing was quite popular in Poland. The review begins with a summary of works related to the history of science, and then deals, in some detail, with works on the theory of evolution and the theory of relativity, especially with their philosophical aspects. The remaining part of the review is devoted to the principal personalities of that period, namely: Władysław Heinrich, Władysław Natanson, Tadeusz Grabowski, Marian Smoluchowski, Zygmunt Zawirski and Joachim Metallmann.
This paper is a short preface to the anniversary issue of our periodical. The author refers to some of the important events in its history as well as to the figures behind the journal.
The aim of this paper is to show some aspects of the interplay between technology and philosophy in the context of western culture. In the first section the author considers the possibility of applying M. Heller's strategy called 'philosophy in science' to technology. 'Philosophy in technology' should not be seen as a competitor for philosophy of technology but rather as a complementary philosophical account. The second section introduces the concept of 'defining technology' drawn primarily on some considerations of J.D. Bolter. In the third one the author tries to discuss four 'defining technologies': craft technology of antiquity, mechanical clock, steam engine, computer, and their metaphorical influence on the ways of viewing the world and the man. In the final section it is argued that besides science, religion, philosophy, arts etc., technology also has its significant contribution to the image of the world throughout the history.
This review article discusses the book of Roman Krzanowski, Ontological Information: Information in the Physical World, which is published by World Scientific. Krzanowski’s book makes a very important contribution to the contemporary discussion about the nature of information. The author analyzes the concept of ontological information and its uses in the works of scientists from various disciplines, resulting in an innovative and inspiring analysis that every philosopher involved in the philosophy of information should read.
The aim of tis article is to present the selected Marian Smoluchowski's manuscripts to be published in this volume. At the beginning, a history and current state of research of his manusript legacy was showed. Next there were characterized a philosophical significance of his unpublished manuscripts and a short analysis of the manuscripts published in this volume. At the end of the article the details about the current edition of Smoluchowski's manuscripts were described.
The analysis carried out in this article allows one to draw important conclusions from the point of view of the philosopher of nature. There is an interaction between philosophyand science that takes the form of a mutual permeation in a circle that does not close. Although it is hard to characterize such a circle, one can point to some of its accompanyingideas: (1) Understanding the philosophical implications of a scientific theory improves its explanatory power and reveals the information it contains on the fundamental structureof the Universe. The expression “philosophy in science” characterizes the contemporary approach to the relations between philosophy and science. It must be emphasized thatthe traditional approach of philosophy and science leads to interesting results, important for the understanding of the external world. (2) The mutual permeation of philosophy andscience is a dynamic and creative process. Both science and philosophy change constantly, which substantially influence the development of this permeation. It is hard to predict, however, in which direction the process will evolve. -------------- Received: 12/09/2020. Reviewed: 10/10/2020. Accepted: 29/10/2020
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Analizy przeprowadzone w artykule pozwalają na wyciągnięcie wniosków, ważnych dla filozofa przyrody. Między filozofią a naukami przyrodniczymi istnieje interakcja, którą można określić jako współprzenikanie się obu tych dziedzin wiedzy. To współoddziaływanie filozofii z nauką podobne jest do niedomykającego się koła. Trudno jest owo współprzenikanie jednoznacznie scharakteryzować, ale można wskazać pewne idee towarzyszące mu. (1) Uświadomienie sobie filozoficznego uwikłania teorii naukowej powoduje często rozszerzenie jej rozumienia oraz ujawnia, jak wiele informacji zawartych jest w teorii naukowej na temat głębokiej struktury świata. Sformułowanie „filozofia w nauce” można by uznać za charakterystyczne dla współczesnego ujmowania związku filozofii z naukami przyrodniczymi. Należy pamiętać, że wspólna droga filozofii i nauk przyrodniczych pozwala osiągać interesujące poznawczo wyniki, ważne dla rozumienia świata zewnętrznego. (2) Współprzenikanie się filozofii z nauk jest procesem dynamicznym i twórczym. Tak filozofia, jak i nauka, ulegają ciągłym zmianom, które w istotny sposób wpływają na rozwijanie się procesu współprzenikania. Trudno jest przewidywać, w którą stronę ten proces będzie ewoluował. Ważne jest jednak, jak twierdzi M. Heller, aby w tym twórczym procesie dostrzec, że największym sukcesem nauk empirycznych, trwającym do dziś, jest coraz lepsze ugruntowanie się przekonania, że Wszechświat stopniowo, choć tylko w przybliżeniu, ujawnia nam tajemnice swojej struktury. -------------- Zgłoszono: 12/09/2020. Zrecenzowano: 10/10/2020. Zaakceptowano do publikacji: 29/10/2020
The article is a review of Kamil Trombik’s book, in which he presents particular concepts of the philosophy of nature at the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Kraków in the years 1978 to 1993. It was the first and decisive period in the formation of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Academy. The goal of the monograph was to demonstrate the factors that contributed to philosophy of nature becoming one of the most prominent and representative trends in this academic center, as well as to attempt to answer the question of why “philosophy in science,” developed initially by Michał Heller and Józef Życiski, became the main style of doing philosophy of nature there. In the reporting part of the review main problems that the author raises are presented. They are collected in three chapters of his work, which corresponds to three initial phases of the formation of the philosophical department at the Pontifical Academy of Theology. Then, in the critical part, some aspects of Trombik’s work are assessed. First of all, the attention is paid to the part concerning the determination of the sources of “philosophy in science” which-although it seems to be the most interesting-is also the least original part of the work. Next, the contribution of Karol Wojtyła and many other lesser-known scientists and philosophers to the formation of an interdisciplinary atmosphere and the promotion of “philosophy in science” in the structures of The Pontifical Academy of Theology and the Krakow intellectual milieu is also appreciated. Many hypotheses and research perspectives in Trombik’s book are highlighted in the review, demonstrating the importance of this Krakow research center (Philosophy Department at the Pontifical Academy of Theology) for the history of Polish science and philosophy.
The Center of Interdisciplinary Studies in Cracow has a very rich tradition that has been studied by many and recently by Kamil Trombik. The very difficult period for the Church and for philosophy during the materialistic Marxist ideology was an opportunity for card. K. Wojtyła to outline a new mode of dialog between science and religion. The future Center, organized by Michał Heller and Józef Życiński not only captured this idea but transformed it into an academic institution centered on the idea of philosophy in science, which was also developed at the Vatican Observatory by W.G. Stoeger et al. Trombik’s book is an excellent study of the historical context and initial years of activity of the Center and its development.
This review article discusses Andrzej Bielecki’s book Models of Neurons and Perceptrons: Selected Problems and Challenges, as published by Springer International Publishing. This work exemplifies “philosophy in science” by adopting a broad, multidisciplinary perspective for the issues related to the simulation of neurons and neural networks, and the author has addressed many of the important philosophical assumptions that are entangled in this area of modeling. Bielecki also raises several important methodological issues about modeling. This book is recommended for any philosophers who wish to learn more about the current state of neural modeling and find inspiration for a deeper philosophical reflection on the subject.
The paper concerns the origin and early stage of development of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Kraków. Center for Interdisciplinary Studies was founded by Michał Heller and Józef Życiński in the late 1970s. It was an informal institution which focused on conducting scientific activity in the area of philosophy of nature, relationship between mathematical & natural sciences and philosophy, history of science, as well as relationships between science and religion. In this paper I would like to present how this institution developed, I will discuss various forms of its activity and discuss-very generally-what kind of philosophy was promoted by M. Heller, J. Życiński as well as their pupils and close associates. An important part of the paper will also concern the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies as a unique institution, which has developed-in difficult historical period in Poland-philosophical research in the spirit of freedom and respect for the new achievements of science, and also promoted interdisciplinary dialogue between scientists and philosophers.
This paper presents Michael Heller’s notion of “philosophy in science” and re-introduces Michael Heller’s classical text that first presented this concept of philosophy entitled How is “philosophy in science” possible?. The paper discusses the historical context of Heller’s idea as it emerged from the discussions and works of the Krakow philosophical scene and discusses the basic tenants of this philosophy, its analytic character, the role of intellectual tradition in the development of this philosophy, and the critical role played by an interdisciplinary dialogue between philosophy, science, and theology. Despite the idea of philosophy in science having emerged about 40 years ago, this concept still inspires and fuels innovative research. The notion of “philosophy in science” lies at the foundations of the philosophy published in two journals: Philosophical Problems in Science (Zagadnienia Filozoficzne w Nauce) and Philosophy in Science.
The Michael Heller’s article entitled “How is philosophy in science possible?” was originally published in Polish in 1986 (see Heller, 1986) and then translated into English by Bartosz Brożek and Aeddan Shaw and published in 2011 in the collection of essays entitled Philosophy in Science. Methods and Applications (Heller, 2011). This seminal paper has founded further growth of the ‘philosophy in science’ and become the reference point in the methodological discussions, especially in Poland. On the 40th anniversary of Philosophical Problems in Science we wanted to make this paper freely available to the international public by reprinting its English version. In this issue it is followed by two additional articles-commentaries (by Paweł Polak and Kamil Trombik).
This paper analyzes selected issues related to the philosophy of the Krakow physicist Andrzej Fuliński. Since the 1970s, Fuliński has been strongly associated with the interdisciplinary milieu gathered around Heller and Życiński. His activity can therefore be considered within the context of the broader phenomenon known as the Krakow School of Philosophy in Science, which was founded by Heller and Życiński. This paper proposes the thesis that Fuliński’s style of philosophy is connected with the concept of philosophy in science and tries to justify the thesis that Fuliński, due to his cooperation with the interdisciplinary milieu in Krakow and the specificity of his philosophical works, deserves to be regarded as a representative of the Krakow School of Philosophy in Science.
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W artykule przedstawiam sylwetkę i omawiam wybrane poglądy filozoficzne krakowskiego fizyka – Andrzeja Fulińskiego, który od lat 70. XX wieku jest związany z lokalnym środowiskiem interdyscyplinarnym. W artykule stawiam tezę, że publikacje Fulińskiego dobrze wpisują się w styl uprawiania filozofii przyrody, zainicjowany przez Hellera i Życińskiego („filozofia w nauce”), a sam Fuliński – poprzez współpracę ze środowiskiem interdyscyplinarnym oraz specyfikę prac filozoficznych – zasługuje na miano jednego z przedstawicieli Krakowskiej Szkoły Filozofii w Nauce.
We set several aims for this paper: first, we wanted to attempt to show that from the perspective of historical and philosophical research, it is legitimate to accept the thesis for the existence of the Kraków School of Philosophy in Science, which was rooted in the activities of Michał Heller and Józef Życiński. We also wanted to make a comparative analysis of the basic specific determinants of the Lvov-Warsaw School (as a model for a philosophical school) and their correspondence in the Kraków School. Further, we wished to show how the Kraków School of Philosophy in Science is actually an adaptation of Kazimierz Twardowski’s model, of course taking into account the differences between them. Finally, we wanted to illustrate the nature of the philosophy in the Kraków School and discuss the current efforts to develop it further.
Philosophy in technology is a research program that studies the philosophical roots of engineering and technology. Technologists, by virtue of their education, believe that the limits, goals, possibilities, and effects of technology on society and humankind are exclusively technological problems, hence their solutions must lie exclusively in technology. In contrast, philosophy in technology asserts that the resolutions to these problems need to be rooted in an understanding of their philosophical origins. This program paper defines the objectives of philosophy in technology, the kinds of questions it explores, the methods it uses, and how it differs from the philosophy of technology.