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41. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 65 > Issue: 3
Agnieszka Kijewska Agnieszka Kijewska
Eriugena’s De Praedestinatione: The Project of Rationalisation of Faith and Its Critics
Eriugeny De Praedestinatione

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The De praedestinatione of John Scottus Eriugena was intended as a contribution to a controversy sparked off by Gottschalk of Orbais concerning predestination. This work met with trenchant criticism and condemnation even though it firmly rejected Gottschalk’s views on double predestination. One of the reasons for this hostile reception was undoubtedly Eriugena’s singular conception of the freedom of will, a subject I intend to discuss elsewhere. In the present text, however, I would like to focus on another important cause of the rejection of Eriugena’s treatise. In my opinion, this second reason was a pre-scholastic project of rationalization of the faith in the spirit of St. Augustine and using the method of Boethius and Martianus Capella. It would appear that Eriugena’s contemporaries were not ready for the favorable reception of his idea of the vera philosophia that was the same as the vera religio. Yet, as Goulven Madec once rightly observed, the vera ratio of Scotus was closely bound up with the lux mentium which is nothing else than God revealing himself in the human language of the Scriptures. Eriugena’s masters and models were the Church Fathers and his intention was to continue their efforts to achieve an understanding of the faith in his own, personal way.
42. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 65 > Issue: 3
Andrzej P. Stefańczyk Andrzej P. Stefańczyk
Doctrinal Controversies of the Carolingian Renaissance: Gottschalk of Orbais’ Teachings on Predestination
Kontrowersje Doktrynalne Renesansu Karolińskiego

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The article attempts to characterize three key doctrinal controversies in the Carolingian Renaissance, namely: the disputes over the Eucharist, the so-called trina deitas, and predestination. The core of the article is an exposition of the controversy concerning predestination, whose main protagonist is Gottschalk of Orbais. The article discusses four crucial issues related to the problem: (i) the concept of God, (ii) the understanding of grace, nature and free will, (iii) the relation of foreknowledge to predestination, and (iv) the doctrine of redemption, i.e., specifically the relationship betweenjustice and mercy. The article is largely an attempt at an interpretation of the texts of the epoch, mainly those of Gottschalk of Orbais and his adversary, Hincmar of Reims. The conclusions point to difficulties in the issues discussed and outline what attempts at solving this problem have taken place in the coming centuries.
43. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 65 > Issue: 2
Przemysław Gut Przemysław Gut
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: An Intellectual Portrait
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

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The aim of this paper is to set out the following: firstly, the most important facts from Leibniz’s biography; secondly, the position of Leibniz’s philosophy within the philosophical thought of the 17th century; thirdly, the diverse ways to explicate Leibniz’s philosophical thought that are still in use in literature today; fourthly, basic features which define the general spirit as well as the methods ofLeibniz’s philosophizing.
44. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 65 > Issue: 2
Krystyna Krauze-Błachowicz Krystyna Krauze-Błachowicz
Content Analysis of the Demonstration of the Existence of God Proposed by Leibniz in 1666
Analiza Treściowa „Dowodu Na Istnienie Boga” Zaproponowanego Przez Leibniza W 1666 Roku

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Leibniz’s juvenile work De arte combinatoria of 1666 included the “Proof for the Existence of God.” This proof bears a mathematical character and is constructed in line with Euclid’s pattern. I attempted to logically formalize it in 1982. In this text, on the basis of then analysis and the contents of the proof, I seek to show what concept of substance Leibniz used on behalf of the proof. Besides, Leibnizian conception of the whole and part as well as Leibniz’s definitional method have been reconstructed here.
45. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 65 > Issue: 2
Martyna Koszkało Martyna Koszkało
Scholastic Sources of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s Treatise Disputatio metaphysica deprincipio individui
Scholastyczne Źródła Traktatu Gottfryda Wilhelma Leibniza Disputatio Metaphysica Deprincipioindividui

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The object of this article is the scholastic inspirations found in the metaphysical disputation De principio individui by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. The purpose ofthis study was, on one hand, a reconstruction of Leibniz’s theory concerning the principle of individuation, and on the other hand, a presentation of some texts by medieval scholastic authors (Henry of Ghent, Peter of Falco, Thomas Aquinas, Aegidius of Rome, Robert Kilwardby, William of Ockham) to whose ideas Leibniz refers in the named work, even though he had, for the most part, only second-hand information concerning them. In his juvenile treatise, Leibniz states that the individuating principle has to be universal, which means relevant to all kinds of being; it has to be metaphysical in character and not merely epistemological. He regards individuality as synonymous with unity combined with difference. He resolutely takes sides with nominalism and rejects the reality of all kinds of universal beings and beings whose unity is weaker than numerical unity. As a consequence of this assumption, he rejects the conceptions in which the principle of individuation is formed by: double negation, existence or the haecceity. By contrast, he embraces the solution (close to the tradition originated by Ockham and also related to Suarez), according to which the whole entity (tota entitas) of an individual thing is the principle of individuation. In effect, for Leibniz, any real thing is simply singular, which comes down to the thesis that a thing is singular owing to its own metaphysical subcomponents, which are singular by themselves.
46. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 65 > Issue: 2
Przemysław Gut Przemysław Gut
Leibniz: Personal Identity and Sameness of Substance
Leibniz — Osobowa Identyczność I Tożsamość Substancji

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Leibniz’s theory of personal identity has been the object of numerous discussions and various interpretations. In the paper I contrast my view on Leibniz’s solution to the problem of personal identity with the view of Margaret Wilson and Samuel Scheffler. They both claimed that Leibniz failed to formulate a coherent, uniform and tenable theory of personal identity. His stance - as they state - contains so many inconsistencies that it cannot be adopted as a satisfactory solution to this problem. I disagree with this opinion. It is my conviction that a more inquisitive analysis of Leibniz’s texts leads to the conclusion that such severe criticism of the results of Leibniz’s studies of personal identity is ill-founded. My paper consists of two parts. In the first part— drawing on suggestions made by Vailati, Thiel, Noonan, and Bobro—I attempt to present the essential arguments against the interpretation offered by M. Wilson and S. Scheffler. In the second part I address two issues. First, I try to discuss the reasons which Leibniz listed to support his thesis that personal identity requires both the continuity of substance and the continuity of some psychological phenomena. Then, I turn to identifying Leibniz’s arguments which support the thesis that what ultimately provides a person with identity is their substantial principle, i.e. the soul or “I.”
47. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 65 > Issue: 2
Marek Piwowarczyk Marek Piwowarczyk
The Leibnizian Doctrine of vinculum substantiate and the Problem of Composite Substances
Leibnizjańska Koncepcja Vinculum Substantiale A Problem Substancji Złożonych

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This paper is devoted to the late Leibnizian doctrine of vinculum substantiale. In the first section I sketch the old problem of possibility of composite substances. This possibility is refuted on the ground of Monadism (presented in section two). However Leibniz’s correspondence with Des Bosses contains new thoughts concerning composite substances. A vinculum enters the stage as a real unifier, transforming aggregates of monads into genuine substances (section three). In the last section I give a systematic interpretation of a vinculum.I start with the thesis that every composed thing, which is not a pure plurality of objects, must have two structures: the whole-parts structure and the subject-properties structure. In the case of substances the latter is ontologically prior over the former. A vinculum is a subject-of-properties (accidents) determining such a way of composition which makes a compound entity a true substance. Since Leibniz still thought a vinculum unifies independent (existentially and with regard to activity) substances he was inclined to separate a vinculum from the integrated monads and finally conceived it as an additional relatively independent monad-like substance.
48. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 65 > Issue: 2
Bogusław Paź Bogusław Paź
The Principle of Reason according to Leibniz: The Origins, Main Assumptions and Forms
Zasada Racji W Interpretacji G.W. Leibniza

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The subject of this article is Leibnizian interpretation of the principle of reason. Although the German philosopher called it principium grande of his philosophy, we do not find its systematic exposition in Leibniz’s works. The main aim of my paper is to present a short exposition of the principle. The article consists of three parts: in the first I present systematic exposition of the principle of reason with particular emphasis on explication of terms “principle” and “reason,” in the second, I show the origins of the principle, finally, in the third part, I discuss in detail three forms of it: the principle of sufficient reason, the principle of determining reason and the principle of rendering reason. I accept two main theses: firstly, a proper interpretation of this principle requires taking into account the whole context of Leibnizian philosophy, i.e. one cannot limit oneself (as it is usually happens among researchers) to only one discipline, e.g. logic. Secondly, the ultimate methodological and heuristical foundation of the principle of reason is Leibnizian metaphysics, especially natural theology.
49. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 65 > Issue: 2
Adam Grzeliński Adam Grzeliński
Locke and Leibniz on Perception
Locke I Leibniz O Percepcji

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In his critique of the Lockean concept of perception as presented in Nouveaux essais, Leibniz reproaches Locke for neglecting the role of minute perceptions in experience and reducing all mental operations to the sphere of consciousness. However, the critique seems to be the result of the differences of their philosophical standpoints: Leibniz’s idealistic metaphysics, and Locke’s commonsensical empiricism rather than of the different understanding of perception itself. The descriptions of the process of perceiving provided by them seem to be surprisingly similar, whilst the difference between their stances is for the most part no more than terminological. The dispute is rooted in their different approaches to the role of psychological investigations, which for Locke are autonomous and quite independent from the claims of metaphysics.
50. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 65 > Issue: 2
Jerzy Kopania Jerzy Kopania
The Best of All Possible Worlds and the Christian Thesis of the Corruption of the World
Świat Najlepszy Z Możliwych A Chrześcijańska Teza O Skażeniu Świata

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Leibniz’s claim that we live is the best of all possible worlds is in contradiction with our experience, which is why we tend to maintain that the world would become better if at least some of its properties and characteristics were different. Leibniz criticized such an approach and argued that every attempt at changing the world would make it worse, or even impossible. His claim seems to be in contradiction with the Christian belief that our world is contaminated with sin, but it will be renewed in the end to become the reality of salvation, i.e. the best of all possible realities. This article puts forward two arguments: (1) Leibniz’s claim is not in contradiction with the Christian belief in salvation; (2) Leibniz’s claim is in contradiction with the human experience of the world because it is a result of an intellectual speculation based on the false assumption that the structure of the human mind adequately corresponds to the mind of God.
51. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 65 > Issue: 2
Aleksandra Horowska Aleksandra Horowska
Iustitia ut caritas sapientis: The Relationship between Love and Justice in G.W. Leibniz’s Philosophy of Right
Iustitia ut caritas sapientis

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The purpose of this paper is an attempt to present and analyse one of the most intriguing and unique elements of Leibniz’s philosophy of right—the relationship between love (amor, dilectio, caritas) and justice (iustitia)—mainly based on selected excerpts from the Elementa Iuris Naturalis (1669-1671) and the preface to the Codex Iuris Gentium Diplomaticus (1693). The author presents the characteristics of this close connection (particularly noticeable in definitions of justice as habitus amandi omnes and caritas sapientis) and she tries to answer the question about the reasons for this relationship referring to the metaphysical assumptions and principles of Leibniz’s philosophy. With respect to the latter the author also explains significance of the connection between love and justice in Leibniz’s philosophy of right as a part of his whole philosophical system.
52. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 65 > Issue: 2
Bogdan Lisiak Bogdan Lisiak
Leibniz’s Scientific Collaboration with Adam Kochański, S.J.
Współpraca Naukowa Leibniza Z Adamem Kochańskim, S.J.

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The exchange of thoughts between Adam Kochański and Leibniz presented in this paper points to a very large spectrum of scientific interests shared by both scientists. The scope of their research included, above all, mathematics, philosophy, linguistics, the construction of a calculating device, a perpetuum mobile, other mechanics, and alchemy. Both men became close to each other through their passion for mathematics in which they searched for a universal method of scientific investigation, a method that would be of use not only in solving typically mathematical puzzles, but would also serve to solve problems in physics and other technical sciences. The ideas they exchanged, in particular those concerning the calculating machine, a perpetuum mobile and the universal cure, the panaceum, indicate a very special aspect of their scientific activity, namely their openness to the technical problems discussed in their time. Both Kochański and Leibniz regarded seriously the practical dimension of human life as it manifested itself in the technical problems that occupied the minds of their contemporaries. They both treated the scientific treatment of these problems as an important area of scientific and technical activity. Kochański, like Leibniz, firmly believed that science should be concerned with practical activity, the attitude captured by one of the principles of his philosophy, Theoria cum praxi. This principle, shared by both learned men, forms one of their principal philosophical ideas.Adam Kochański and Leibniz were scientists and philosophers living in a time of revolutionary changes in both European philosophy and science; they keenly appreciated the value of new currents in intellectual life, yet they did not lose sight of philosophical tradition, especially the tradition of Aristotelian philosophy, which they both regarded as an important vehicle of truth. Thus, in their style of doing philosophy and science, one finds certain peripatetic traits, for example the acceptance of the Aristotelian conception of philosophy as science.
53. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 66 > Issue: 2
Joanna Klara Teske Joanna Klara Teske
Falsification of Interpretive Hypotheses in the Humanities
Falsyfikacja hipotez interpretacyjnych w naukach humanistycznych

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This paper reconsiders the possibility of applying the procedure of falsification, which consists in testing a theory by confronting hypotheses derived from the theory with empirical data, in the studies of culture, in particular when evaluating interpretive hypotheses. Falsification, to which, according to Popper and his followers, the natural sciences owe their success, is viewed with strong suspicion when the object of investigation is meanings and values rather than material phenomena. If by interpretation one understands reconstruction of the artefact’s meaning, obvious challenges when falsifying interpretive hypotheses include: the multiplicity, instability and ambiguity (indefiniteness or self-contradictory character) of meanings inherent in artefacts. All of this does not seem to exclude the possibility of identifying as misreadings interpretive hypotheses which clearly contradict relevant (non-contradictory) artefactual evidence. Falsification thus understood seems indispensable in educational contexts. At the same time, it must be admitted that in practice (as contrasted with the logical formula which underlies the procedure) falsification is inconclusive, and the application of the procedure is further complicated when meanings and values are the object of research. This is one of the reasons why falsification in the humanities (as elsewhere) needs to be complemented by other epistemic procedures while the status of literary studies or history of philosophy might best be perceived as partly cognitive (and in so far as the research conducted in these disciplines is empirically testable, also scientific) and partly creative (artistic).
54. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 66 > Issue: 2
Bożena Czernecka-Rej Bożena Czernecka-Rej
On the Philosophical-Logical Views of Ludwik Borkowski
O filozoficzno-logicznych poglądach Ludwika Borkowskiego

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Ludwik Borkowski’s vast knowledge of philosophy allowed him to put his logical studies in a philosophical context. As a logician, he continued the tradition of the Lvov-Warsaw school. He dealt with the basic issues of the widely understood logic as well as with those having strong philosophical implications (e.g. non-classical logics, the theory of truth, natural deduction, the theory of consequence). He also worked on the theory of definition and the intuitive interpretation of logical results. For Borkowski, logic was an autonomous science whose function is supposed to be ancillary towards the other sciences. Although he did not write any typical philosophical-logical works, investigating philosophical sources, inspirations and the implications of logical results was something he did throughout the whole period of his creative activity.
55. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 66 > Issue: 4
Ciro de Florio, Aldo Frigerio Ciro de Florio
Fragmented Future Contingents and Omniscience
Fragmentaryczne Przyszłe Zdarzenia Przygodne I Wszechwiedza

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In this paper, we have analyzed a number of solutions to the antinomy between divine foreknowledge and human freedom. If we assume that God is temporal, then a sort of backwards causation of past divine beliefs by future human acts must be acknowledged. Since this solution runs into difficulties, we consider the prospects of the view according to which God is outside time. A timeless and omniscient God seems to imply a B-theory of time and, at least at first glance, seems to jeopardize human freedom. Therefore, we have examined what happens when a non-standard A-theory of time like Fragmentalism is assumed. We demonstrate that in this case the prospects of a timeless view of God are much better: both human freedom and divine knowledge of the results of human choices are preserved if this metaphysics of time is adopted. The costs of this solution are, however, very high. From the logical point of view, it rejects bivalence; from the metaphysical point of view, the world is regarded as fragmentary and incoherent. However, if one is ready to accept these costs, this solution is one of the most successful in the search for a solution to the centuries-old problem of the conciliation between divine foreknowledge and human freedom.
56. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 66 > Issue: 4
Marcin Tkaczyk Marcin Tkaczyk
The Antinomy of Future Contingent Events
Antynomia Przyszłych Zdarzeń Przygodnych

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The antinomy of future contingents is here understood as a trilemma whose horns are (a) the thesis of the closed past, (b) the thesis of the open future, and (c) the thesis that all events can be represented at any time. The latter thesis can take different forms, like the principle of bivalence or the thesis of divine foreknowledge. Different versions of (c) lead to different versions of the antinomy itself. The antinomy has been formalized. It hasbeen proven that the theses (a), (b), and (c) make up an inconsistent set but are consistent with each other. Possible solutions have been considered. It has been argued that there are only two global solutions to the antinomy: radical determinism (fatalism) and retroactive causality. The latter solution has been recommended and developed.
57. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 66 > Issue: 4
Jacek J. Jadacki Jacek J. Jadacki
Causal and Functional Determination vs. Foreknowledge about the Future
Determinacja Kauzalna I Funkcjonalna vs. Przedwiedza O Przyszłości

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The author of the paper critically analyzes a quasi-theory of future contingents (PFC) given by Marcin Tkaczyk and proposes his own explication of its theses and terms. The author makes it by introducing operational definitions of temporal and modal concepts, distinguishing between the causal and functional determination, discussing the status of the principle of bivalence, and replacing Tkaczyk’s theses by their new formulations. As a result, the author states, among other things, that (contrary to Tkaczyk) there is no contradiction between the thesis about the opened future and the thesis about divine omniscience, because it requires the causal (but not functional as it is a case) determination between a true proposition and its determined fact. The author also shows that Tkaczyk’s examples of the retroactive causes are not an accurate solution of the antinomy because they are, at most, the examples of the factors which change the picture of the past but not the past itself.
58. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 66 > Issue: 4
Paweł Garbacz Paweł Garbacz
On the Representation if States of Affairs in the Antinomy of Future Contingents
O Reprezentacji Stanów Rzeczy W Antynomii Futura Contingentia

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The paper is a comment on the formalization of the antinomy of futura contigentia in the form of a (inconsistent) theory formulated by Marcin Tkaczyk in the language of classical predicate calculus. I argue that some features of the formalization in question are controversial from the viewpoint of formal semantics and ontology, and suggest two ways of removing some of those controversies.
59. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 66 > Issue: 4
Simo Knuuttila Simo Knuuttila
Medieval Approaches to Future Contingents
Średniowieczne Ujęcia Problemu Przyszłych Zdarzeń Przygodnych

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This paper discusses the main lines of medieval Latin approaches to future contingents with some remarks on Marcin Tkaczyk’s paper “The antinomy of future contingent events.” Tkaczyk’s theory shows some similarity with the general frame of the views of Ockham and Scotus, the difference being that while medieval authors argued for the temporal necessity of the past, Tkaczyk is sceptical of the general validity of this necessity. Ockham’s theological view was that God eternally has an intuitive and immutable knowledge of all possibilities as well as whether they are ever actualized or not (PANACCIO & PICHÉ 2010). The content of God’s past knowledge attitude remains contingent before the free choice takes place because God’s knowledge could be different similarly as the truth-value of the proposition. While Ockham held that no past or present thing follows from future things as an effect follows from its cause, this causal link is defended by Tkaczyk. Later thinkers thought that the doctrine of the scientia media sheds light on this question; perhaps it is easier to understand than the retroactive model which is not contradictory but difficult to imagine, as Tkaczyk concludes his paper.
60. Roczniki Filozoficzne: Volume > 66 > Issue: 4
Dariusz Łukasiewicz Dariusz Łukasiewicz
Marcin Tkaczyk’s Ockhamism, or Whether the Theory of Contingentia Praeterita is the only Plausible Solution to the Problem of FuturaContingentia
Ockhamizm Marcina Tkaczyka, Czyli O Tym, Czy Teoria Contingentia Praeterita Jest Jedynym Możliwym Rozwiązaniem Problemu Futura Contingentia

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In the first part of this article, we point out and discuss these the contained in Marcin Tkaczyk’s book, Futura Contingentia, with which we agree completely or at least partially. In the second part of the paper, we seek to consider whether the solution of the futura contingentia problem, rooted in the basic intuitions of William of Ockham, is the only one possible and available for us. We argue that there is another possible approach to the problem of how to reconcile divine omniscience with contingent events rather than the Ockhamist solution. The alternative view, which we suggest, is “eternalism”, meaning that God is timeless, and that temporal necessity is compatible with contingent events and free decisions.