The objective of the paper is a presentation and an interpretation of Władysław Stróżewski’s views on aesthetics. Built upon the foundation provided by classical metaphysics, Stróżewski’s aesthetics is simultaneously a continuation of the tradition of phenomenological interpretation of art. Stróżewski extends Roman Ingarden’s aesthetic theory by including the idea of numinous concretion, largely inspired by the works of Rudolf Otto. As a result, this new phenomenological perspective transcends the narrowly understood ‘aesthetics’ of the work of art towards the inherent dimension (...) of the sacred. Moreover, Stróżewski’s scrutiny of the aspect of art that goes beyond the aesthetic reveals an important relationship obtaining between his insights and the theological aesthetics of Hans Urs von Balthasar. Thus Stróżewski’s ideas turn out to be of significance to contemporary aesthetic and theological debates. In particular, he shows the movement of beauty from aesthetic to transcendental, and ultimately towards the sacred, where numinosum is manifested as Mystery. (shrink)

The basic assumption of the paper is the recognition that the complexity of the challenges related to population ageing forces the development of cooperative links in the area of the silver economy between public policy entities representing various sectors. In other words, there is a need for more intensive and better-coordinated cooperation between organisations in the commercial sector, public sector, non-governmental sector, informal sector and social economy sector (e.g., cooperatives).

Artykuł przedstawia koncepcję tzw. srebrnej gospodarki jako systemu gospodarczego związanego ze starzeniem się populacji, którego rozwój ma cechy idei polityki publicznej. Opracowanie w pierwszej kolejności przybliża dyskurs i etapy procesu konstruowania tego systemu przez międzynarodowych i krajowych aktorów polityki publicznej wobec starzenia się ludności. Następnie przeprowadzono krytyczną analizę wymiarów i obszarów wdrażania i rozwoju koncepcji srebrnej gospodarki oraz przegląd jej zewnętrznych i wewnętrznych ograniczeń. Podsumowanie zawiera propozycje dalszych kierunków badań.

Contemporary demographic processes forcing increasing attention to the problems of relationships and dependencies between the different age groups. The ageing of the population in each society leads to changes in the contacts between young people, adults and the elderly. It is reasonable to undertake research on the concept of "solidarity of generations". Maintaining relationships without generational conflict requires actions in the field of social policy known as intergenerational policy. Aim of this article is to present some of its models, which (...) allow not only to analyze the changes in the various communities, but also to create recommendations for public intervention. Description will include activities at the international, national, regional and local levels. (shrink)

Roman Ingarden has exerted an immense influence on the development of aesthetics, and his texts in this field continue to inspire in-depth studies on art, despite the passage of several decades since the publication of his major works. At the same time, however, phenomenology – especially in France – brought about crucial changes during the second half of the twentieth century with regard to thinking about art, undermining its own methodological principles and tenets, as well as redefining fundamental phenomenological concepts. (...) In this article, I address the question of the continued relevance of Roman Ingarden’s approach to the musical work within the context of current phenomenological research, in particular that which concerns the subject of aesthetic concretisation. (shrink)

"Kapitał społeczny ludzi starych na przykładzie mieszkańców miasta Białystok" to książka oparta na analizach teoretycznych i empirycznych, która przedstawia problem diagnozowania i używania kapitału społecznego ludzi starych w procesach rozwoju lokalnego i regionalnego. Kwestia ta jest istotna ze względu na zagrożenia i wyzwania związane z procesem szybkiego starzenia się społeczeństwa polskiego na początku XXI wieku. Opracowanie stanowi próbę sformułowania odpowiedzi na pytania: jaki jest stan kapitału społecznego ludzi starych mieszkających w Białymstoku, jakim ulega przemianom i jakie jest jego zróżnicowanie? Ludzie (...) starzy są tu postrzegani jako kategoria społeczna, czyli zbiór osób podobnych do siebie pod względem społecznie istotnych cech (takich jak wiek, posiadane role społeczne i świadomość korzystania ze świadczeń społecznych), którzy są świadomi tego podobieństwa i swojej odrębności od innych. Przyjmuje się ponadto, iż osoby takie przekroczyły 60. rok życia. Zakłada się też, że w zasobach ludzkich skumulowany jest kapitał ludzki, społeczny i kulturowy. Kapitał społeczny jest tu ujmowany szeroko jako potencjał współdziałania osadzony w powiązaniach międzyludzkich i normach społecznych, który może przynosić korzyści osobom, grupom i społeczeństwom. W części teoretycznej przedstawiono informacje o starości jako etapie w życiu jednostki, wyjaśniono pojęcie ludzi starych, omówiono społeczne teorie starzenia się, historyczne czynniki oddziaływające na położenie kategorii społecznej ludzi starych, zmiany ich miejsca w społeczeństwie polskim w trakcie transformacji ustrojowej i na początku XXI wieku, możliwe konsekwencje wzrostu długości życia w warunkach demokracji i kapitalizmu oraz charakterystykę problemu starzenia się ludności Białegostoku jako miasta pogranicza. Zaprezentowano też różnorodne koncepcje kapitału społecznego, sfery jego oddziaływania na rozwój społeczno-gospodarczy, jego stan w Polsce oraz wytyczne do strategicznego budowania jego zasobów. Przybliżono również wybrane informacje o aktywności ludzi starych w życiu publicznym, społecznym i gospodarczym jako kluczowych cechach ich kapitału społecznego. Porządkując różne stanowiska teoretyczne, wyniki badań i dane statystyczne, dążono do powiązania wielu rozproszonych źródeł w przekonaniu, iż jest to istotne w celu określenia i zagospodarowania zasobów kapitału społecznego seniorów, jak również niwelacji opóźnienia polskiej socjologii w zakresie badań nad ludźmi starymi. Pomimo, iż za podstawową perspektywę teoretyczną publikacji uznana została koncepcja kapitału P. Bourdieu, autor bierze również pod uwagę propozycje badawcze J.S. Colemana, R.D. Putnama, F. Fukuyamy, A. Giddensa, P. Sztompki i A. Sadowskiego. Drugi rozdział zawiera określenie ram metodologicznych badań przeprowadzonych na potrzeby tej publikacji. Omówiono przyjęte założenia badawcze oraz przybliżono sposób i przebieg realizacji badań. Przede wszystkim zdecydowano się na korzystanie z metody jakościowej i zastosowanie techniki wywiadu swobodnego ukierunkowanego. Uznano, iż podmiotowy kontakt z ludźmi starymi umożliwi dokładniejsze rozpoznanie kontekstu, w którym znajdują się zasoby ich kapitału społecznego. Jest to ważne, gdyż przenoszenie na rodzimy grunt opracowanych za granicą interpretacji działań ludzi starych i rozwiązań aktywizujących, może okazać się nieskuteczne lub wywołać negatywne efekty zewnętrzne. Ponadto w literaturze przedmiotu zwraca się uwagę na niedostatek badań gerontologicznych zgodnych z paradygmatem interpretatywnym. Badaniu poddano 26 respondentów w wieku od 60 do 89 lat żyjących w mieście Białystok związanych z jedną z dwóch różnych instytucji: Domem Pomocy Społecznej i Uniwersytetem Trzeciego Wieku. Poprzez porównywanie osób znajdujących się na dwóch biegunach aktywności społecznej możliwe było dostrzeżenie podobieństw i różnic w ich wyposażeniu kapitałowym, a zarazem w osiągniętych w ciągu życia pozycjach w strukturze klasowej i zasobach służących pomyślnej starości6. W trzecim rozdziale przedstawiona została część wyników analiz empirycznych. Przybliżono tu sposób, w jaki ludzie starzy myślą o podobnych sobie przodkach i osobach współczesnych, a także czynniki, w zależności od których zmienia się ich pozycja społeczna w mieście oraz problemy społeczne, jakie uznają za najważniejsze dla ludzi starych. Analizie poddano opinie o ich czasie wolnym, szansach i barierach aktywności ekonomicznej. Wyróżniono typy kapitału społecznego ludzi starych w zależności od instytucji, z którymi są związani oraz podejścia do postrzegania i wykorzystywania zróżnicowania wewnętrznego seniorów. Omówiono wizerunek seniorów w środkach masowego przekazu. Publikacja nie zawiera ścisłego zakończenia. W ostatnim rozdziale wskazano jedynie na główne wnioski płynące z badań oraz na potencjalne dalsze kierunki analiz. Uzupełnienie tego podejścia stanowią zamieszczone w aneksie zestawienia oddolnych technik budowania kapitału społecznego oraz podstawowych cech Miast Przyjaznych Starszemu Wiekowi. Z opracowania tego z pewnością będą mogli skorzystać nie tylko naukowcy zajmujący się tematyką ludzi starych, ale i pracownicy socjalni, politycy, pracodawcy, przedstawiciele mediów i organizacji pozarządowych oraz obywatele Białegostoku i innych miast. ** "Social Capital of Old People on the Example of Bialystok Residents" is a book based on theoretical and empirical study, which presents an issue of diagnosing and using of old people social capital in the local and regional development processes. This issue is significant because of the threats and challenges associated with process of rapid ageing of Polish society at the beginning of 21st century. Publication, in particular, is an attempt to give answers to the following questions: what is the state of old people social capital in Bialystok, what transformations it undergoes and how is it differentiated? In this study old people are viewed as a social category, which is a set of people similar to each other in terms of socially significant features (such as age, possessed social roles and awareness of received social benefits), who are aware of these similarities and differences between each other. Moreover, it is assumed, that such persons exceeded the 60 years of age. It is also assumed that human, social and cultural capital is accumulated in the human resources. Social capital is recognized here broadly as a potential for collaboration embedded in interpersonal relationships and social norms that may benefit individuals, groups and societies. The book consists of three chapters. The first, which is the theoretical part of work, includes information about: old age as a stage of individual life and explanation of the old people notion. It discusses social theories of ageing, historical factors affecting on the social position of old people category, changes in their place in Polish society during the system transformation and in the early 21st century. It describes the possible consequences of increased life expectancy for democracy and capitalism - including the concepts of society for all ages, silver economy. It also features ageing population issue, as well as social policy towards the elderly and old age in Bialystok as the borderland city. A variety of social capital concepts were presented; the spheres of its influence on socio-economic development, its status in Poland and guidelines for strategic building of its resources. Selected information on the activity of old people in public, social and economic life as key features of their social capital was brought closer. Putting various theoretical positions, results of research and statistical data in order was aimed to link many dispersed sources considering that it is relevant to identify and develop seniors' social capital resources, as well as leveling the delay of Polish sociology research on the elderly. Fundamental theoretical perspective of publication is the concept of capital according to P. Bourdieu. However, the proposals of J.S. Coleman, R.D. Putnam, F. Fukuyama, A. Giddens, P. Sztompka and A. Sadowski were also used. The second chapter contains a methodological framework for the purposes of study. Research assumptions, method and course of implementation of studies were discussed. The study is based on the qualitative method and the application of in-depth interview techniques. It was considered that the personal contact with old people will be more accurate than other research techniques to identify the context in which they social capital resources can be found. It is important because the transfer of developed abroad activating solutions and interpretations of old people actions may be ineffective or have negative external effects in the Polish context. Moreover, in the Polish science literature attention is paid to scarcity of gerontological research in accordance with the interpretive paradigm. Study involved 26 respondents aged 60 to 89 years living in Bialystok associated with one of two different institutions: nursing home for the elderly and University of the Third Age. By comparing the persons on two extremes of social activity it was possible to see similarities and differences in their capital equipment, and also in achievements of the life positions in the class structure and resources aimed at successful ageing. The third chapter presents the empirical analysis of the research results. This part outlines the way in which old people think about their ancestors and contemporary people. It also shows factors according to changes in their social position in the city, social issues which they consider most important for old people, their opinions about leisure time, opportunities and barriers of economic activity and types of old people social capital depending on the institution with which they are associated. Approach to the perception and use of internal disparities of seniors were also discussed. The analysis additionally contains the evaluation of senior citizens image in the polish mass media. This publication does not contain a strict ending. It only identifies the main conclusions of the research and potential directions of future analysis. Above all, older people could improve their position not by demanding increases in social benefits from which major parts are often taken away by their family members, but by highlighting their human, social and cultural capital. It is necessary to create favorable conditions for social and professional life of old people and their cooperation with members of local communities. Important role in this regard is played by institutions implementing three tasks: stimulating senior citizens' desire to satisfy previously unrealized needs; creating relationships between them so that they can solve their own problems and work for the others; and providing legal, social and vocational guidance. Stimulating cooperation between existing public, commercial and non-governmental sector organizations may serve to achieve these goals. The dissemination of bottom-up techniques of social capital building and checklist of essential features of Age-friendly Cities may also be important. -/- . (shrink)

Civic non-participation in public life is one of the most important problems in contemporary Poland. This phenomenon makes all generations equal and it requires breaking of the barriers in intergenerational integration. Presented study shows that the aspiration for coherence and stability of the system may be based on the taking advantage by using benefits of age difference in society. Article indicates dimensions and levels in seeking quality solutions for the integration in conditions of shaping social dispersion space order. It also (...) contains types of different approaches to the integration barriers related with process of aging society and discrimination based on age phenomenon. ** Obywatelskie nieuczestnictwo w życiu publicznym należy do najważniejszych problemów współczesnej Polski. Zjawisko to czyni wszystkie pokolenia równymi a przeciwstawienie się mu wymaga przełamania barier integracji międzypokoleniowej. Niniejsze opracowanie wskazuje, iż dążenie do spójności i stabilności systemu może opierać się na wykorzystaniu korzyści z różnicy wieku członków społeczeństwa. Wskazane zostały wymiary i poziomy poszukiwania rozwiązań jakościowych na rzecz integracji w warunkach kształtowania się w przestrzeni społecznej ładu rozproszonego oraz typy barier integracji międzypokoleniowej związane z procesem starzenia się społeczeństw i zjawiskiem dyskryminacji ze względu na wiek. -/- . (shrink)

This article gives an account of Jean‑Luc Marion’s thought concerning the anamorphosis of works of art. The initial considerations regarding the phenomenon of anamorphosis in art are followed by a presentation of the innovative character of Marion’s phenomenological project, together with the characteristics of saturated phenomena. The article examines selected examples of anamorphosis of works of art and also categorizes different varieties of anamorphosis. The author aims mainly at proving that Marion’s phenomenological thought reaches beyond the limits of traditionally understood (...) aesthetics, pointing towards the category of excess of intuition (saturation, saturé) in art. (shrink)

At the beginning of the XXI century, human societies are entering a period of "late modernity" characterized by new forms of trust and risk, untransparent social situations and economic, political and cultural globalization. These processes are associated with the presence of abstract systems that surround people and which require support of people with expertise in the fields which include transport, telecommunications, finance, security, media, energy. At the same time, it is noted that the expertise cult is born and specialists not (...) only meet the identified needs, but also produce new, thus contributing to the development of a culture of narcissism. Article aims to explain the characteristics of expert systems and cultural narcissism, experts role as a participant in social change, model types and kinds of experts with their arcane in to ontological and epistemological structures of the social world. I also highlight the problems associated with the suppression of restrictions in to the access of expertise knowledge. ** Wraz z początkiem XXI wieku społeczeństwa ludzkie wchodzą w okres „późnej nowoczesności” cechujący się nowymi formami zaufania i ryzyka, nieprzejrzystością sytuacji społecznych oraz postępującą globalizacją ekonomiczną, polityczną i kulturową. Procesy te wiążą się z obecnością systemów abstrakcyjnych, które otaczają ludzi i do funkcjonowania wymagają wsparcia osób z wiedzą specjalistyczną z zakresu m.in. transportu, telekomunikacji, finansów, bezpieczeństwa, mediów, energetyki. Jednocześnie zauważa się, iż rodzi się kult ekspertyzy a specjaliści nie tylko zaspokajają rozpoznane potrzeby, ale też wytwarzają nowe, przyczyniając się tym samym do rozwoju kultury narcyzmu. Artykuł ma na celu przybliżenie specyfiki systemów eksperckich i narcyzmu kulturowego, roli eksperta jako uczestnika przemian społecznych, modelowych typów ekspertów i rodzajów ich wtajemniczeń w struktury ontologiczne i epistemologiczne świata społecznego oraz zwrócenie uwagi na problemy związane ze znoszeniem ograniczeń dostępu do wiedzy specjalistycznej. -/- . (shrink)

More Info: M. Filiciak, A. Tarkowski, A. Jałosińska, A. Klimczuk, M. Rynarzewski, J.M. Seweryn, G.D. Stunża, M. Wilkowski, A. Orlik, Digitalizacja dziedzictwa (Digitisation of Heritage), Fundacja Ortus, Warszawa 2010.

In English: The aim of the article is to analyze the basic assumptions of Roman Ingarden’s ethics. His views are discussed from the perspective of questions about the source of moral oughtness. Therefore, the main analysis is focused on the relationship between moral values and the oughtness needed to realize them. Ingarden’s position is placed in a broader ethical context; the important question is whether it is in the idea of the particular value or in the experience of the particular (...) value in the past. The answer to this question reveals the nature of Ingarden’s ethical thought, in which there is no room for blind obedience to norms or principles. That is why, in order to properly understand Roman Ingarden’s ethics, it is so important to define what constitutes the source of moral duty and the oughtness to act. -/- Po polsku: Celem artykułu jest analiza podstawowych założeń etyki Romana Ingardena. Jego poglądy omawiane są z perspektywy pytań o źródło moralnej powinności. Dlatego też główne analizy skupiają się na relacji między wartościami moralnymi a powinnością potrzebną do ich realizacji. Stanowisko Ingardena zostaje umieszczone w szerszym kontekście etycznym. Istotne jest pytanie, czy tkwi ono w idei danej wartości, czy w doświadczeniu danej wartości w przeszłości. Odpowiedź na to pytanie ujawnia specyfikę myśli etycznej Ingardena, w której nie ma miejsca na ślepe posłuszeństwo wobec norm czy zasad. Dlatego dla dobrego zrozumienia etyki Romana Ingardena tak ważna jest odpowiedź na pytanie, co stanowi źródło powinności moralnej i powinności działania. (shrink)

This Research Topic addresses the eleventh Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which is to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.” Several individual targets and indicators measure progress toward this goal. Researchers study, among others, urban inclusion, the influence of urban policy on socioeconomic disparities, and gentrification. This Research Topic primarily addresses the challenges and complexities of sustainable urban planning and development concerning decent work, economic growth, and associated crises due to their significant impact on urban living.

The book titled The Collaborative Economy in Action: European Perspectives is one of the important outcomes of the COST Action CA16121, From Sharing to Caring: Examining the Socio-Technical Aspects of the Collaborative Economy that was active between March 2017 and September 2021. The Action was funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology - COST. The main objective of the COST Action Sharing and Caring is the development of a European network of researchers and practitioners interested in investigating the (...) collaborative economy models, platforms, and their socio-technological implications. The network involves scholars, practitioners, communities, and policymakers. The COST Action Sharing and Caring helped to connect research initiatives across Europe and enabled scientists to develop their ideas by collaborating with peers. This collaboration opportunity represented a boost for the participants’ research, careers, and innovation potential. The main aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive overview of the collaborative economy in European countries with a variety of its aspects for a deeper understanding of the phenomenon as a whole. For this reason, in July 2017, an open call for country reports was distributed among the members of the COST Action Sharing and Caring. Representatives of the member countries were invited to produce short country reports covering: definition of the CE; types and models of the CE; key stakeholders involved; as well as legislation and technological tools relevant for the CE. Submitted reports varied in length and regarding the level of detail included, in accordance with how much information was available in each respective country at the time of writing. Editors of the book have compiled these early reports into a summary report, which was intended as a first step in mapping the state of the CE in Europe. The Member Countries Report on the Collaborative Economy, edited by Gaia Mosconi, Agnieszka Lukasiewicz, and Gabriela Avram that was published on the Sharing and Caring website, represented its first synergetic outcome and provided an overview of the CE phenomenon as interpreted and manifested in each of the countries part of the network. Additionally, Sergio Nassare-Aznar, Kosjenka Dumančić, and Giulia Priora compiled a Preliminary Legal Analysis of Country Reports on Cases of Collaborative Economy. In 2018, after undertaking an analysis of the previous reports’ strengths and weaknesses, the book editors issued a call for an updated version of these country reports. Prof. Ann Light advised the editorial team, proposing a new format for country reports and 4000 words limit. The template included: Introduction, Definition, Key Questions, Examples, Illustration, Context, Developments, Issues, Other Major Players, and Relevant Literature. The new template was approved by the Management Committee in October 2018. The task force that had supported the production of the first series of country reports acted as mentors for the team of authors in each country. The final reports arrived at the end of 2018, bringing the total number of submissions to 30. A call for book editors was issued, and a new editorial team was formed by volunteers from the participants of the COST Action: Andrzej Klimczuk, Vida Česnuityte, Cristina Miguel, Santa Mijalche, Gabriela Avram, Bori Simonovits, Bálint Balázs, Kostas Stefanidis, and Rafael Laurenti. The editorial team organized the double-blind reviews of reports and communicated to the authors the requirements for improving their texts. After reviews, the authors submitted updated versions of their country reports providing up-to-date interdisciplinary analysis on the state of the CE in 2019, when the reports were collected. During the final phase, the chapters were again reviewed by the lead editors together with all editorial team members. At the time, the intention was to update these reports again just before the end of the COST Action Sharing and Caring in 2021 and to produce a third edition. However, the COVID-19 pandemic changed these plans. Thus, this final volume was created by 82 scholars-editors and contributors-and consists of reports on 27 countries participating in the COST Action. M4 - Citavi. (shrink)

Local and global dependencies and interactions between individuals, groups and institutions are becoming increasingly opaque and risky. This is due to increased importance of highly complex abstract systems created and supported in order to maintain of transport, communications, finance, energy, media, security infrastructure, as well as social and cultural institutions. These systems require the knowledge and skills of experts. Professionals that not only satisfy identified needs, but also create new thereby contribute the development of cultural narcissism phenomenon. The aim of (...) the book is to discuss relations of experts and mass narcissism, on the background of shaping the knowledge societies and knowledge-based economies, and moreover their transformations towards the societies and economies based on creativity and wisdom. Undertaken analysis is contribute to sociology of expertise and intervention by indicating four selected contemporary issues: dilemmas of the knowledge society development; selection between trust substitutes and its reconstruction methods; transformations of social stratification; and the choice of pathways to socio-economic development. (shrink)

Listening and polyphony lead us directly to reflection on the musical form of the fugue. Starting with M. Heidegger’s considerations about the juncture of beyng, we will phe-nomenologically ask about the essence of the fugue, and the musical work put under analysis will be The Art of Fugue by J.S. Bach. The article aims to show the convergence between Heidegger’s philosophy and the essence of the musical form of fugue as an artis-tic mode of the essential occurrence of beyng as (...) an event. (shrink)

The Research Topic “On poverty and its eradication” was inspired by the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, first commemorated in Paris in 1987 and formally designated by the United Nations. This day is dedicated to renewing the commitment to universal human development, enabling all individuals to achieve their highest potential, and reflecting on how poverty hinders this progress. The urgency of addressing poverty has increased after the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated existing issues and highlighted the critical need for (...) effective poverty eradication strategies. The studies included in this Research Topic aim to expand knowledge about poverty, its causes, consequences, and connections to crises, inequality, and fairness, and to assess policy measures for poverty reduction. The included contributions use various theoretical, empirical, quantitative, and qualitative approaches to drive sociological and policy-related discussions and initiatives, promoting fair and inclusive societies. (shrink)

This article addresses the subject of the ekphrastic description of experiencing music. It shows the main differences between ekphrasis and commonly used analysis in music theory and musicology. In approaching the problem of ekphrasis with what is called pure music, I emphasize its ancient understanding, thus differing from Lydia Goehr (2010) and Siglind Bruhn (2000, 2001, 2019). The ekphrastic analysis of the first movement of Arnold Schoenberg’s Six Little Piano Pieces Op. 19 conducted in this article uses the methodology developed (...) by Gottfried Boehm (2014) and Georges Didi-Huberman (2005, 2015, 2017, 2018) in the discipline of art history. This article aims to delineate a new way of researching the art of music, an essential feature of which is the combination of the traditions of analytic philosophy and phenomenology. (shrink)

DARWIN’s (1859, 1871) discoveries have profound ethical implications that continue to be misrepresented and/or ignored. In contrast to socialdarwinistic misuses of his theory, Darwin was a great humanitarian who paved the way for an integrated scientific and ethical world view. As an ethical doctrine, socialdarwinism is long dead ever since its defeat by E. G. Moore although the socialdarwinistic thought is a hard-die in the biological community. The accusations of sociobiology for being socialdarwinistic are unfounded and stem from the moralistic (...) fallacy that is, a false assumption that morality is good by definition. Both social and developmental psychology demonstrate that the moral agency is a motivational device for executing reciprocity that remains at the core of any morality across all studied societies and throughout the ontogeny of moral judgment. The level of true universalizing ethical reflection (KOHLBERG’s postconvential stages or GIBBS’s existential phase) is achieved by a small minority of humans, thus showing that Homo sapiens is a moral but not an ethical animal. While the origin of reciprocity has been perfectly explained by sociobiology, the evolutionary assembly of affective and cognitive elements that make up the moral agency is being successfully studied by the social/personality/developmental psychology as extended to non-human primates. As DARWIN (1871) expected, the key innovation for the evolution of moral agency was the emergence of empathy that evolved independently at least three times: in elephants, dolphins and primates. Empathy has a motivational power of its own; it is also necessary for moral agency that requires two cognitive abilities: reflective self-consciousness and understanding of causality; the two make possible the attribution of responsibility. All these requirements are met by the chimpanzees whose moral agency operates in dyads. In contrast, the human moral agency allows for a third party intervention that opens up vast opportunities for ideologies, especially religions, to use and misuse the moral agency to enforce a reciprocation that may be harmful to both individuals and the entire group. Also, the moral agency is known to enforce enhanced intragroup cohesion and loyalty in response to conflict and war, which suggests that the two prima facie opposed human universals, morality and warfare, may have coevolved. The most important ethical consequence that follows from the increasing understanding of the primate moral agency is that every received morality is ethically flawed, none can be taken as a paragon of goodness, and each needs corrections by science-informed ethics. In fact, Darwin pioneered the integration of science and ethics, an approach that has come to be appreciated only recently under the heading of consilience. (shrink)

More Info: M. Filiciak, A. Tarkowski, A. Jałosińska, A. Klimczuk, M. Rynarzewski, J.M. Seweryn, G.D. Stunża, M. Wilkowski, A. Orlik, Digitalizacja dziedzictwa (Digitisation of Heritage), Fundacja Ortus, Warszawa 2010.

Narcyzm: Jednostka--Społeczeństwo--Kultura Uniwersytet w Białymstoku.

Aside from the local (mostly Western) efforts to subject animal experimentation to public scrutiny, the extent of animal experimentation, the acceptance of alternative methods and the fate of animals in laboratories depend on experimenters’ morality (as defined by social psychology), whose shaping is of crucial importance for the future of animal use in science. Meanwhile, sociological and ethnographic research in laboratories demonstrates that in the matter of animal use the experimenters are unreflective, ethically incompetent, and incapable of taking a critical (...) view of the received morality. This appears to result largely from their higher education which is known to cause a regression in moral development, inculcate a routine exploitation and/or objectification of animals, and ignore both the scientific premises and moral consequences of animal subjectivity. From all we know, it is researchers’ morality rather than pressing needs and expectations of humanity that interferes with a major restriction of invasive animal research in general and a wide, proactive acceptance of alternative methods in particular. (shrink)

True Darwinian Ethics -/- Darwin’s model for the evolution of morality as presented in Descent of Man (1871) is shown to comprise three major stages that are here referred to as empathic premorality, tribal morality, and universalizing morality. Empathy, the key component of Darwin’s “social instincts” that started moral evolution, is here recognized as the principal cognitive device that conveys epistemic credibility to moral agency. The two constitutive elements of the tribal morality are conscience that Darwin conceived of as a (...) conflict between a lasting social motive and an immediate selfish impulse, and true altruism that evolved as a result of group (community) selection. Darwin’s genius recognized the uniqueness of group selection in human evolution as being dependent on mental faculties and speech that facilitated habit formation through praise and blame form other group members, with empathy as a gauge of others’ emotional reactions. Contrary to repeated claims, Darwin did not derive morality from reciprocity that he (and his contemporaries) considered to be “a low motive”, and adduced it only as a mechanism of habit formation. The universalizing morality was brought about by the increasing powers of intellect that led to respecting individual lives (rather than group interests only) and extending humane concerns beyond one’s group, ultimately to all sentient beings, which places Darwin among the spiritual fathers of modern humanitarianism. In terms of substantive ethics, Darwin’s views support moral individualism that requires to treat each subject according to his/her individual characteristics rather than any group membership. Darwin’s moral individualism and universalism have been elaborated by Peter Singer as the principle of equal consideration of interests and the expanding circle of ethics, respectively. Darwin’s model of moral evolution, which starts with intuitive but epistemically reliable moral agency and then allows for its rational improvement, provides a way out of the moral subjectivism of evolutionary ethics that reduces morality to an adaptation to social life. The primary or core morality that relies on empathy and implements reciprocity supports welfare (wellbeing) of a group and its members. Welfare (which has been defined by Darwin) is a basic “terminal” (ultimate) value that constitutes an objective, measurable fact. Since the primary morality supports welfare, it is objectively good, which justifies an ethical reasoning that such morality ought to be extended (with appropriate adjustments) to all sentient beings. Confusion over the status of morality is largely due to the lack of appreciation of its complexity: not only had its motivational apparatus (known as the moral agency) evolved by superposition of many emotional and pure cognitive mechanisms, but it has subsequently been co-opted to implement prudential, religious and possibly other norms that are accidental and sometimes contrary to its original social function. Those secondary morality norms are now enforced by the moral agency but lack moral objectivity and thus may support the perception of moral subjectivism and relativism. In short, true Darwinian ethics is based on the scientific axiology that recognizes evolutionary origins of all values, requires respecting all values that are experienced by each and every subject according to its individual characteristics, and calls for a critical assessment of each and every received morality. (shrink)

In the evolution of the vertebrates and probably a few other animals (Metazoa), biological values have been translated (subjectivized) into affective experience that necessarily involves the consciousness of external objects/events (as different from one’s body), which is tantamount to the origins of subjectivity. Mammals, birds and other vertebrates are experiencing subjects even though their negative and positive experience greatly vary in scope. Some mammals are capable of vicarious experience and may act as empathic agents, and some of them, at least (...) the great apes, use true reflective self-consciousness and thus perceive themselves as agents, which generates attributive feelings. The balance of positive and negative experience determines the intrinsic value of (an individual) life. Every subjective life is autotelic in striving to maximize this balance. A subjective life may also have a social value that is measured in terms of the impact on intrinsic values of other lives. The social value of life is contingent upon an agency, that is, conscious intentional actions that impact intrinsic value of other lives. The difference between the social value of a subjective life and an instrumental value of an individual comes down to the difference between agent causation and event causation. The moral agency refers to a subcategory of agent causation that involves the awareness of impact on another subject’s wellbeing (interests). The moral agency is at present known only in the hominids (including the chimpanzees) which understand causality and use reflective self-consciousness, which in turn enables them to perceive themselves as agents and attribute to themselves responsibility. The moral agency originated as a motivational mechanism of reciprocity execution , and thus as an adaptation for group life, which is why it favors ingroup members and often promotes norms that harm other groups. The human moral agency is frequently used by third parties to implement group norms that are based on ideologies (religious or secular) and may actually harm both group members and the entire groups. Any received, bioculturally evolved morality is unlikely to be good in either absolute or universal sense. Therefore, the moral capacity alone does not make a human life categorically more valuable, even if human motivation were dominated by moral agency (which is true only of some people). The life of a vertebrate has, therefore, two values, intrinsic and social. Each can be negative or positive, and may vary to a large extent independently of the other, whereby a joint value of a subjective life cannot be sensibly assessed and compared without prior assessments of the intrinsic and social component separately. In the absence of objective reasons to rate the intrinsic value of a human life as categorically higher than that of other mentally advanced mammals, and in consideration of the observed range of social values of human lives, some of which approach zero and some are highly negative (lower than any thinkable negative values of non-human lives), the doctrine of extraordinary and inalienable (innate) human „dignity” is groundless and unethical, as it leads to a depreciation of the lives of non-human subjects, and often preempts the need to impart a real social value to one’s own life. (shrink)

This Research Topic focuses on the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) by the UN, which aims to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere.” Progress toward this goal is evaluated through various targets and indicators. The most recent SDG progress report highlighted how poverty reduction has significantly slowed and worsened, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic (United Nations, 2024). This unprecedented emergency has particularly affected informal workers, young people, and women. With the goal of eradicating poverty by 2030 currently off (...) track, intensified action is crucial. Moreover, amid a growing climate crisis, significant efforts are needed to bring the 2030 targets within reach. This Research Topic examines SDG1 from a sociological perspective, focusing on its framing, geographic adaptations, stakeholder involvement, and the influence of social mobility and stratification studies, especially in the context of the challenges of the post-COVID-19 pandemic. (shrink)

W ostatnich latach obserwujemy intensywną debatę publiczną dotyczącą implementacji koncepcji miast i gmin przyjaznych starzeniu się (age-friendly cities and communities) oraz jej nowszej i szerszej odsłony związanej z inteligentnymi i zdrowymi przestrzeniami przyjaznymi starzeniu się (smart healthy age-friendly environments, SHAFE). Rozdział koncentruje się na zwięzłym przeglądzie obejmującym te zagadnienia. W pierwszej części artykuł przybliża podstawowe pojęcia i wybrane działania Komisji Europejskiej w obszarze upowszechniania dialogu międzypokoleniowego oraz programowania polityk relacji międzypokoleniowych. Następnie zaprezentowano krótkie omówienia studiów przypadku dotyczące wybranych projektów innowacji (...) społecznych i metodyk mających na celu: (1) wzmocnienie pozycji facylitatorów koncepcji miast i gmin przyjaznych starzeniu się oraz inteligentnych, zdrowych i inkluzywnych przestrzeni; (2) ułatwienie obywatelom, szczególnie osobom starszym, radzenia sobie z sytuacjami kryzysowymi w obszarze zdrowia publicznego; oraz (3) wspieranie głosu seniorów i seniorek w podejmowaniu decyzji co do celów i zadań polityk publicznych (współprojektowanie), ich wdrażania (współzarządzanie, współrealizowanie/koprodukcja usług publicznych) oraz ich monitorowania i ewaluacji (współocena). Ostatnia część zawiera rekomendacje dla wybranych podmiotów odpowiedzialnych za politykę publiczną wobec starzenia się ludności oraz propozycje kierunków dalszych badań. (shrink)

This Research Topic explores Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) eight, which is to “promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.” It highlights the COVID-19 pandemic’s severe impact and triggered global economic recession, worsened gender pay gaps, increased undeclared employment, and significantly raised unemployment (United Nations, 2024). From a sociology-specific perspective, this Research Topic examines the global and local implementation of SDG8, its adaptation to different geographical contexts, stakeholder involvement, and issues related to (...) decent work conditions worldwide. (shrink)

Among issues considered in contemporary ethics, apart from concepts such as good, value and justice, there is also the concept of care, discussed extensively in feminism. The article presents and analyses this ethical concept. It shows some problems with the translation of the English word ‘care’ into the Polish equivalent ‘troska’. The focus here, however, is mainly on the way of understanding the concept of care among feminist ethicists, such as Virginia Held, Nel Noddings, Joan Tronto, Diemut Bubeck, and Sara (...) Ruddick. For all of them, care is a relation, though they differ in their account of the specificity and meaning of this relation. (shrink)

Most Enlightenment thinkers believed that the World’s order (as ultimately based on divine laws) is good and thus every gain of knowledge will have good consequences. Scientific process was assumed to entail moral progress. In fact some moral progress did occur in the Western civilization and science contributed to it, but it is widely incommensurate with the progress of science. The Enlightenment’s concept of a concerted scientific and moral progress proved largely wrong for several reasons. (1) Public morality and science (...) evolve largely independently and may either enhance or inhibit each other. (2) There are no objective values to be read in the World’s order and simply followed. Instead, our real, subjective values and the moral systems they fuel have all been generated and shaped by evolution rather than designed to be universally good, and thus ought to be managed rather than simply followed. (3) Our evolved morality is flawed, deficient, prone to doctrinal manipulation and refractory to progress. (4) The majority of people show metaethical incompetence in failing to take a reasoned critical stand toward the principles and assumptions of received morals. This makes moral progress largely dependent on those who reach metaethical competence by transcending the conventional stages of moral development. (shrink)

Having positive experience is, by defintion, in the interest of every subject. Whether being alive per se, in addition to having positive experiences, is in a subject's interest depends of her/his cognitive development. Only a reflectively self-conscious subject can take and thus have an interest in one's own individual existence and may not want to die regardless of the expected experience. Since most non-human subjects (except for a few mammalian and avian species) are not aware of their subjective existence they (...) cannot take and thus have interest in their lives per se. However, they do have interest in maximizing rewarding experience and minimizing suffering. (shrink)

In the first part of his magnum opus Hans Urs von Balthasarpresents his project of theological aesthetics where the experience of art becomes an entrance to a religious act and an ennobling way leading to the contemplation of God. Defining the essence of being human as a spiritual being directed towards God bears a deep ethical meaning in this consideration. H.U. von Balthasar’s reflection over the religious dimension of the essence of art is shaped within theology but at the same (...) time in the opposition to aesthetic theology which is de-scribed as ‘aesthetisation’ of the Mystery of Revelation. The art of music occupies a particular place in this reflection. For this reason Mass in B Minor BWV 232 by Johann Sebastian Bach, which is an emblematic example of the revelation of the glory of the Lord (Herrlichkeit), will be analysed not only from the perspective of philosophical or musicological aesthetics, but also theological aesthetics. This article outlines characteristic features of theological aesthetics specifically developed from traditional philosophical aesthetics whose range was extended by the human being’s relation to God. (shrink)

In 'The Work of Music and the Problem of Its Identity' by Roman Ingarden we are presented with a philosophical theory of the structure of the musical work. The author includes melody, rhythm and harmony among the primary elements of the musical work while dynamics, tempo and colouration (sonoristics) are classified as its secondary elements. The elements designated by the score constitute a schematic prescription for creating a particular work. Still, the scheme also includes numerous gaps and indeterminacies which can (...) be filled in only through performance which makes the work an individualized concretum. However, it is puzzling why the list of the elements of the musical work does not include articulation. In this article I claim that the absence of articulation in the theory of the structure of the musical work indicates its omnipresence, thus the broader we understand the term articulation, the better it penetrates into the remaining elements of the musical work, preserving its distinctiveness at the same time. (shrink)

Innovation is progressively needed in responding to global challenges. Moreover, the increasing complexity of challenges implies demand for the usage of multisectoral and policy mix approaches. Wicked problems can be tackled by "integrated innovation" that combines the coordinated implementation of social, technological, and health innovation co-created by entities of the public sector, the private sector, the non-governmental sector, and the informal sector. This Research Topic focuses on filling the knowledge gaps about the selected types of innovation. First, regarding social innovation (...) that can be understood as new strategies, concepts, products, services, and organizational forms that allow the satisfaction of human needs. Second, a technological innovation that refers to new or remarkably improved products, goods, or services in terms of their technical specifications, components, materials, software, design, or other functional features. Third, health innovation that focuses on novel or enhanced health policies, systems, products, technologies, services, and care delivery schemes to improve people’s health. Finally, this Research Topic highlights attempts to develop integrated innovation that can add value to social policy, health policy, and environmental policy by improving efficiency, effectiveness, quality, sustainability, safety, and affordability. (shrink)

Podstawowym założeniem artykułu jest uznanie, że złożoność wyzwań związanych ze starzeniem się populacji wymusza rozwój powiązań kooperacyjnych między podmiotami polityki publicznej reprezentującymi różne sektory. Innymi słowy: niezbędna jest bardziej intensywna i lepiej skoordynowana współpraca między organizacjami sektora publicznego, komercyjnego, pozarządowego, nieformalnego oraz sektora obejmującego podmioty gospodarki społecznej (np. spółdzielnie). Zasadnicze znaczenie ma w tym kontekście wdrażanie założeń teorii współzarządzania (governance), koprodukcji oraz mieszanej gospodarki dobrobytu (inaczej: wielosektorowej polityki społecznej). W konsekwencji artykuł wskazuje na wybrane wątki dyskursu dotyczącego relacji procesu starzenia (...) się ludności z przedsiębiorczością społeczną i innowacjami społecznymi. Tekst przytacza także przykłady dobrych praktyk i inicjatyw z obszaru gospodarki społecznej. Podsumowanie zawiera rekomendacje dla podmiotów polityki publicznej oraz proponowane kierunki dalszych badań. (shrink)

The declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, led to unprecedented events. All regions of the world participated in implementing preventive health measures such as physical distancing, travel restrictions, self-isolation, quarantines, and facility closures. The pandemic started global disruption of socio-economic systems, covering the postponement or cancellation of public events, supply shortages, schools and universities’ closure, evacuation of foreign citizens, a rise in unemployment and inflation, misinformation, the anti-vaccine movement, and incidents of discrimination (...) toward people affected by or suspected of having coronavirus disease. Attempts have been made to protect the oldest age group at risk, but in many cases, this has led to over-restriction and age discrimination. The rationale for working on the Research Topic "Socio-economic systems in the post-pandemic world: Design thinking, strategic planning, management, and public policy" was the need to start reflecting on resilience and lessons learned from this public health event that revealed the global unpreparedness in critical areas. Also, the pandemic triggered both top-down and bottom-up responses that needed more in-depth analyzes. This Research Topic covers interdisciplinary contributions addressing new thinking, challenges, and transformations required for post-pandemic global, national, regional, and local realities. The presented Research Topic combines studies focused on recognizing the actions and interventions leading to the recovery of socio-economic systems during the tail end and after the pandemic. The studies delivered recommendations regarding, among others, the care of vulnerable, planning socio-economic restart, and imagining the "new normal.". (shrink)

The article considers the problem of the meaning of a musical discourse from the perspec-tive of hermeneutic phenomenology. The analysis is based on the collected essays by Paul Ricoeur, included in the book 'Language, Text, Interpretation'. The author of the article aims at contextualization of such terms as discourse, event, meaning, distance, appropriation, interpretation, self-understanding, projection of ‘the world of work’ and the projection of the possibility of ‘being-in-the-world’ with reference to a musical work of art.

Phenomenological reflection on the essence of art goes towards the revelation of its ultimate Source, which is also the Source of spirituality of a man and, finally, of artistic works. Art occupies a prominent place in the works of Martin Heidegger, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Michel Henry, and what they have in common is pointing out the ability of transcending artistic work towards beyond-aesthetic and over-aesthetic dimensions. For those philosophers the work of art is a ‘way’ which may lead (...) human spirit towards Transcendence (the Absolute, God), but also towards the inner self. In this article the reflection over a religious dimension of the essence of art is extended by the analysis of St John Passion, BWV 245 by Johann Sebastian Bach, as a particular example of an artistic realization of phenomenologically rooted philosophical and theological reflection. (shrink)

Interest in “the flesh” (Leib, la chair) in phenomenological research leads to revealing the original (ursprünglich) and non-phenomenal essence of the very appearance. Contemporary phenomenological aesthetics is heading in the same direction. While describing the intentional content of particular, i.e. subjectively “embodied” aesthetic objects, it reveals the ultimate origin (Ursprung) thanks to which the appearance of phenomena is possible at all. At the same time, revealing the ultimate origin — differently named but always meaning the furthest horizon of the possibility (...) of the appearance of phenomena — sometimes claims to be called “first philosophy”. However, such ambitious cognitive aspirations of phenomenological aesthetics may arouse suspicion. This is why, first, we should ask about its differentia specifica and its position among other types of aesthetics, and then consider whether its most significant essential statements are not just as insightful as questionable. I argue for admitting that phenomenological aesthetics has the broadest cognitive horizon and at the same time for limiting its validity for individual actualizations (concretions) of potentiality (potentia) of given phenomena. I also point out that the basic cognitive procedure within phenomenological aesthetics is reductive reasoning, which goes in the opposite direction to logical entailment. (shrink)

A work of music as an artefact is a particular acoustic material. However, the sounds are not identical with music since they only constitute the external appearance of a musical work and its most explicit layer, while aesthetic perception is certainly not limited to the superficial perception of sounds. Contemporary research in the field of fine arts by Gottfried Boehm and Georges Didi-Huberman showed new possibilities of revealing the hidden inner phenomenality of a work of art. Yet, is it possible (...) to apply the methodology of research on the invisible visuality of a painting to the field of non-acoustic sound of a musical work? What kind of additional research problems does a work of music cause, taking into account the fact that it is not only created by its author-composer, but it also requires a re-creational performance to phenomenally exist? The article provides the critical analysis of Roman Ingarden’s views on the subject of a musical work and indicates the need to expand the research horizon as regards the issue of nonsounding elements of music. The article aims mainly at bringing new research perspectives on a work of music in the light of contemporary phenomenology. (shrink)

In the field of phenomenology philosophers more and more frequently show interest in early Christian thought – including apophatic theology – which, in result, affects the understanding of the role and significance of art. „Invisibility” in art and the manifestation of God through the work of art is a mystery which cannot be satisfactorily explained by traditional philosophical aesthetic models. Negative theology, together with its key apophatic way brings a new perspective of understanding art into contemporary aesthetic debates. Its 'reductive' (...) application can be found especially in the theory of the icon. Paweł Florenski's icon analysis and Jean-Luc Marion's category of the ‘saturated phenomenon’ converge in many points. Henry Dume ry’s henological reduction which is complementary to, but at the same time exceeds Edmunda Husserl's reductions, extends the horizon of the 'invisible' dimension of art by the relation the Spirit (intelligibility) makes with Transcendence. In the article I will show the cohesion of contemporary phenomenological thought, early Christian apophatics and the theory of the icon. I will also consider whether an aesthetic and theological framework so structured could be valid and useful as a general philosophical theory of art. (shrink)

The aim of this study is to discuss in what sense one can speak about universal character of logic. The authors argue that the role of logic stands mainly in the generality of its language and its unrestricted applications to any field of knowledge and normal human life. The authors try to precise that universality of logic tends in: (a) general character of inference rules and the possibility of using those rules as a tool of justification of theorems of every (...) science, (b) principles of correct formulating of thoughts and using language, and (c) general deductive method of reasoning, i.e in the study of language syntax and semantics. The authors present two theories of language syntax and semantics as exemplifications based on the Tarski’s famous results in metalogic: (1) a formalization of universal syntax system by Andrzej Grzegorczyk based on a new primitive notion of quotation-marks operator, and (2) an enlarged system of axiomatic theory of syntax of any categorial language of Urszula Wybraniec-Skardowska’s in which the main role plays the relation of concatenation understood as a set-theoretical function. The study concludes in arguing that the importance of the result (2) lies not only in solving some philosophical problems but also in different fields of knowledge and spheres of human life as ex. in discussion and education as well. (shrink)

A publication called Aging in the Social Space is a compilation of studies, which deal with theoretical understanding and empirical solutions, learning about problem spheres, specifying content parallels of social, legal, economic, moral and ethical views on senior issues in society, which are closely related to each other and are interconnected. This publication focus on the case study of Poland. It is supposed to provide a multidimensional view of old age issues and issues related to aging and care for old (...) people in society. We believe that it is natural also to name individual spheres, in which society has some eff ect, either direct or indirect, within issues concerning seniors. Learning about these spheres is the primary prerequisite for successful use of social help to seniors in society. (shrink)

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease that was first recognized in China in late 2019. Among the primary effects caused by the pandemic, there was the dissemination of health preventive measures such as physical distancing, travel restrictions, self-isolation, quarantines, and facility closures. This includes the global disruption of socio-economic systems including the postponement or cancellation of various public events (e.g., sporting, cultural, or religious), supply shortages and fears of the same, (...) schools and universities closure, evacuation of foreign citizens, a rise of unemployment, changes in the international aid schemes, misinformation, and incidents of discrimination toward people affected by or suspected of having the COVID-19 disease. The pandemic has brought to the fore unpreparedness in critical areas that require attention, amid prospects and challenges. Moreover, considerable reorganization efforts are required with implications for assets, resources, norms, and value systems. COVID-19 is challenging the concept of globalization and stimulating responses at the levels of local and regional socio-economic systems that lead to the mobilization of assets that have been unrecognized earlier on, such as various forms of economic capital, social capital, cultural capital, human capital, and creative capital. For example, through digital channels, local groups are forming to create schemes of support for physical and mental wellbeing. These emerging exchanges lead to various social and technological innovations by building on skills and assets that are less important in the free-market economy, such as empathy, skills for crafts, making and fixing; locally grown microgreens; and micromanufacturing. Isolation and local living are also making it much harder to ignore the civic responsibilities towards communities, meant as individuals, vulnerable groups, and local businesses. Whilst the pandemic is limiting physical participation, this challenging time is uncovering alternative ways of mutual support, which may create long-term benefits for socio-economic systems, including environmental and biodiversity protection, reduction of the air pollution, and climate action. The pandemic’s threat to public health will hopefully be overcome with implications for disruption for an extended period that we are unable to forecast at this stage. It is key to focus on studies recognizing the activities and interventions leading to the recovery of socio-economic systems after the pandemic. Reflecting and planning on how societies and economies will go back to “business as usual” requires new forms of communication and cooperation, imaginative design thinking, new styles of management, as well as new tools and forms of participation in various public policies. Many questions related to the care of the vulnerable, economic restart, and the risk of future pandemics, to mention but a few, are already occupying the academic, scientific, experts, and activist communities, who have started to imagine the “new normal.”. (shrink)

This Research Topic focuses on both strengths and weaknesses of social innovation, technological innovation, and health innovation that are increasingly recognized as crucial concepts related to the formulation of responses to the social, health, and environmental challenges. Goals of this Research Topic: (1) to identify and share the best recent practices and innovations related to social, environmental and health policies; (2) to debate on relevant governance modes, management tools as well as evaluation and impact assessment techniques; (3) to discuss dilemmas (...) in the fields of management, financing, designing, implementing, testing, and maintaining the sustainability of innovative models of delivering social, health and care services; and (4) to recognize and analyze social, technological and health innovation that has emerged or has been scaled-up to respond to crisis situations, for example, a pandemic of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease. (shrink)

Generational differences in societies are characteristics generally attributed to people’s age that constitute a sociocultural phenomenon. Divisions in the generations differ across nations and extend even to civilizations. Perception and recognition of the different characteristics of each generation affect the cooperation between people in social, political, and economic capacities, and subsequently extend to entities in the public, informal, commercial, and nongovernmental sectors. From the perspective of social justice, it is important to draw attention to how workplace management techniques are used (...) to promote equal opportunities among representatives of various generations. (shrink)

Bridging Social Inequality Gaps - Concepts, Theories, Methods, and Tools focuses on contemporary discussions around multifaceted causes, explanations, and responses to social disparities. The contributors provide studies related to social and cultural dimensions of inequality, economic and technological dimensions of inequality, environmental dimensions of inequality, and political, ethical, and legal dimensions of inequality, as well as a variety of other perspectives on disparities. The volume also covers crucial issues and challenges for the global, national, regional, and local implementation of public (...) policies to reduce inequalities, including innovative actions, projects, and programs focused on achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The collection includes chapters encompassing research and practical recommendations from various disciplines such as sociology, economics, management, political science, administrative science, development studies, public health, peace and conflict studies, cultural studies, educational studies, communication studies, and social work. This book is an asset to academic and expert communities interested in theories of social inequality as well as effective measurement tools, public services, and strategies. Moreover, the volume helps students, practitioners, and people working in government, business, and nonprofit organizations to build more equitable social relationships. (shrink)

Intergenerational Relations - Contemporary Theories, Studies, and Policies, concentrates on actual discussions around various aspects of interactions that occur between people from different age groups and generations. The authors present studies related to four sets of challenges crucial for relationships between children, young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults. These challenges include social and cultural challenges, economic and technological challenges, environmental challenges, and political and legal challenges. The volume also addresses issues important for the global, national, regional, and local application (...) and performance of intergenerational solutions, projects, and programs focused on achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The collection includes chapters encompassing research and practical recommendations from various disciplines such as demography, economics, ethics, management, gerontology, public health, pedagogy, social work, political science, and sociology. This book is an asset to academic and professional communities interested in theories of intergenerational relationships as well as public services and age-related policies. Moreover, the volume is a useful resource to help students, practitioners, and people working in government, business, and nonprofit organizations build positive and harmonious interactions between generations. (shrink)

Celem badań jest odpowiedź na pytanie o to, jakie są efekty dotychczasowej realizacji warsztatów typu medialab z inicjatywy Fundacji Ortus w Polsce oraz jakie są uwarunkowania ich dalszego rozwoju w kierunku budowy stałej instytucji. Podjęta analiza została ukierunkowana na osiągnięcie następujących celów teoretycznych i praktycznych: identyfikacja cech wizerunku warsztatów medialab organizowanych przez Fundację Ortus; określenie zakresu upowszechniania w Polsce koncepcji nowych instytucji kultury poprzez warsztaty medialab; określenie opinii i postaw wobec inicjatyw medialab ich uczestników i nie-uczestników; identyfikacja zakresu wykorzystania technik (...) i form działań poznanych na warsztatach medialab przez ich uczestników; oszacowanie trwałości zawiązanych między uczestnikami warsztatów więzi i zakresu współpracy przez wspólnych przedsięwzięciach; identyfikacja dotychczasowych i potencjalnych korzyści i barier w realizacji inicjatyw medialab; ustalenie czynników wspierających i hamujących przyszłą działalność instytucji medialab w stałej lokalizacji; określenie cech potencjalnej roli instytucji medialab w regionalnej polityce kulturalnej i polityce innowacji; wskazanie potencjalnych rozwiązań na rzecz budowy polskiego modelu instytucji medialab. (shrink)

Social Aspects of Ageing - Selected Challenges, Analyses, and Solutions, focuses on the key challenges underlined by the United Nations during the Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030). The authors introduce studies in areas crucial for older people, their families, and communities, such as combatting ageism, age-friendly environments, and care provision. The volume also examines issues linked to the global, national, regional, and local implementation of age-specific and intergenerational solutions, initiatives, and programs towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). (...) The collection contains chapters representing research and practical recommendations from various disciplines, such as critical studies, geographical gerontology, legal studies, public health, and sociology. This volume is an asset to academic and professional communities interested in theories of ageing as well as public services and ageing policies. In addition, the book aims to help students, practitioners, and people working in government, business, and nonprofit organizations. (shrink)

This volume addresses the eighth Sustainable Development Goal. It not only enquires into its global promulgation and into individual local, national, and international cooperative programs in support of it, but it also considers the framing and elaboration of the goal, its adaptation to particular geographical contexts, stakeholder involvement in it, and the issues concerning decent work conditions worldwide.