Ivana Zagorac

In his most significant work in the field of philosophy of education, Personhood and Education (1932), Vuk-Pavlović criticizes Schelerʼs claim that love cannot be an educational principle. According to Vuk-Pavlović, this claim is based on Schelerʼs two misconceptions: the first is related to Schelerʼs misunderstanding of education, and the second to his misunderstanding of love. In this text, we examine aspects of Vuk-Pavlovićʼs criticism and ask a broader question about the potentials and limits of love in education. When defining the concept of love, Scheler indeed opposes it to education, which for him implies changing the object of education. In this sense, education is an attempt to change the person being raised. On the other hand, according to Scheler, love means accepting the loved one without trying to change him. Therefore, the purpose of love is not to transform the loved object. However, through a genuine act of love, Scheler claims, change can occur as the appearance of higher values. Schelerʼs criticism of education is based on the understanding of education in the negative sense of imposing external values, where the individuality and value potential of the one being educated is not recognized. With regard to the aforementioned conception of love, one could theorize about a different type of education, which implies love in the sense of the development of one’s self.

“Not a slow reform, but a quick revolution”, wrote Immanuel Kant enthusiastically in 1777 in his plea for change in education. To initiate this change, all that is needed is one school based on philanthropic (German: Menschenfreunde) principles. This school would not only educate children, but also train new teachers in accordance with progressive educational ideas. Kant’s plea is not merely a distant wish for future changes; a new school called Philanthropinum had recently been established in Dessau on the initiative of Johann Bernhard Basedow, and Kant became its unofficial promoter. He appealed in newspapers for public support of the school, facilitated the enrolment of his friends’ children in Philanthropinum, and wrote recommendations for teaching posts for his former students. In his initial lectures on pedagogy, he used Basedow’s textbook, and in his other writings, lectures, and private letters, he emphasized the importance of this small school. What was it about the organisation of this school and Basedow’s pedagogical ideas that so excited the respected but proverbially reserved philosopher? This paper discusses various aspects of Kant’s involvement and his views on innovative educational practices.

Abortion and euthanasia are still one of the greatest bioethical challenges. Previous studies have shown that there are differences in attitudes towards these issues depending on socio-demographic characteristics and socio-cultural environment (country of residence). As part of the scientific research project EuroBioMed, we compared the attitudes of students from three Mediterranean countries towards abortion and euthanasia and examined them from the perspective of Mediterranean bioethics. A pen-to-paper survey was conducted on a convenient sample of students (N = 1097) from five universities and four fields of study (Medicine, Law, Theology and Philosophy) in Croatia, Greece and Italy to investigate their attitudes towards abortion and euthanasia. Three hypotheses were tested using t-test and ANOVA for differences in attitudes according to country, field of study, year of study, gender, religiosity, political orientation, financial status, and size of place of residence. While attitudes towards abortion were not statistically significantly different between students from different countries, the analysis showed that students from Italy had more liberal attitudes towards euthanasia. Theology students had more conservative attitudes towards both abortion and euthanasia, while there were no differences between the other groups. Women, final year students, non-religious and politically left-oriented students had more liberal attitudes. The results provided an insight into students’ attitudes towards abortion and euthanasia. Knowledge of the attitudes of these future experts can be valuable for the discussion of these issues. These results also provided a basis for a better understanding of the construct of Mediterranean bioethics.

Nakon uvoda u kojemu se tematizira pojam i povijest bioetike, u članku se govori o počecima, razvoju i stanju bioetike u Hrvatskoj, i to u tri aspekta: znanstveno-stručne rasprave o bioetičkim problemima, bioetički senzibilitet i bioetička institucionalizacija. Pritom se posebna pozornost posvećuje konceptu integrativne bioetike, koji je razvijen u okviru projekta bioetičke suradnje u području jugoistočne Europe, gdje Hrvatsko filozofsko društvo ima vrlo važnu ulogu.After the introductory part on the notion of bioethics and its history, the paper deals with the beginnings, development and condition of bioethics in Croatia from the perspective of scientific discussions about bioethical issues, then from the perspective of bioethical sensibility and finally from the bioethics institutionalization perspective. Special attention is thereby given to the concept of integrative bioethics, developed within the framework of bioethical cooperation in South-Eastern Europe, where the Croatian Philosophical Society plays an extremely important role

In philosophical literature, the complex emotional state of ressentiment gained popularity through the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. According to Nietzsche, ressentiment was a bad feeling that reflected the suppressed anger, the pain of impotence, and the general misery of the weak when they compared themselves to the strong and talented members of society. Max Scheler took up Nietzsche’s thesis and described ressentiment as a complex condition characterised by a thirst for revenge. Moreover, ressentiment has the annoying property of presenting itself as having some merit: the modern social and political context offers more than enough examples. First, the aim of this article is to take a closer look at Nietzsche’s ‘man of ressentiment,’ an odious personality characterised by weakness, deep frustrations, and hypocrisy. It will turn out that ressentiment has many different shades that paint a somewhat different picture and raise philosophical questions about positive valuation, vulnerability, and the sense of injustice. Second, we shall be working on the link between the psychology of ressentiment and the temptation to lack integrity in writing, art, or science. The well-described and well-known fact that academic fraudsters evolve in disguise, that they first reactively endorse values very different from their own values, and that these plagiarist authors, second, embark on long-term projects repeating their misdeeds and errors, as if it were normal, are two facts worthy of our attention.

This paper attempts to philosophically articulate empirical evidence on the positive effects of illness within the wider context of a discussion of the positive aspects of vulnerability. The conventional understanding holds that to be vulnerable is to be open to harms and wrongs; it is to be fragile, defenseless, and of compromised autonomy. In this paper, we challenge the assumption that vulnerability consists of nothing but powerlessness and dependence on others. This paper attempts to: (1) outline the theoretical conceptualisation of the positive aspects of coping with illness, while simultaneously showing how these findings provide empirical support for some classical philosophical ideas; (2) influence a change in the manners in which the ill are usually perceived (as weak, dependent, robbed of a good life) and (3) point to the importance of modernising the prevalent biomedical conception of illness with the subjective dimension of health. Biomedical understanding of illness focuses on the vulnerable experience of the sufferer, suggesting the importance of philosophical additions.

The idea of integrative bioethics undoubtedly represents both an intellectual product of the region of Southeast Europe and a certain novum, most certainly when it comes to the theoretical and practical limits of bioethics, which streams from principles. The conceptual footholds of integrative bioethics are characterized by historical-philosophical connections to an intellectual heritage of most European thinkers. This paper will, thus, focus on three authors: St. Francis of Assisi, Fritz Jahr and Albert Schweitzer. Their intentions can generally be defined as a search for guidelines − non-anthropocentric, non-reciprocal and not simply formal ones − which should underline our everyday actions. The intended overview wishes to provide grounds for a reconstruction of the specific tradition of bioethics thought in Europe. This overview also wishes to emphasize the history of an idea rather than its geographical settings. Nevertheless, the idea of integrative bioethics reveals itself as a solid alternative to the reduced, principle-oriented bioethics that has grown from an effort embedded in the works of North America’s authors.

Razlika između prikaza vrhunskog sportaša nekad i danas možda se najbolje ocrtava u točki susreta kiborg-teorije i studija o sportu. Rekonceptualizacija pojma ‘sportaš’ u tome se smislu otvara kao pomak od ‘prirodnoga’ ka ‘umjetnom’. Tijekom ljudske povijesti vrhunski sportaši uvijek su bili doživljavani kao na određeni način ‘ne-prirodni’ i slavljeni kao heroji koji su nadvladali granice svojih prirodnih tijela. Današnji sportski događaji privlače više gledatelja nego ikada ranije, a oštra konkurencija podiže i same standarde i kriterije natjecanja. Sportovi koji privlače mase gledatelja već su odavno predstave ‘nakaza’; gledateljima na stadionima ili pred televizorom u udobnosti njihovih domova gotovo je nemoguće zamisliti da bi i sami ikad mogli postići tako super-mišićavo tijelo sa super-brzim refleksima. Staromodni krv, znoj i suze još su uvijek negdje prisutni, iako inkorporirani u napredna dostignuća moderne tehno-kulture. Mnoštvo pitanja koja proizlaze iz takve perspektive pronašla su svoje mjesto za raspravu u relativno novom pluriperspektivnom pristupu izazovima biotehnološkog doba – bioetici. Bioetika nudi platformu za dijalog o bitnim pitanjima današnjice, dijalog koji nadrasta disciplinarne, stručne, historijske i kulturološke pozicije. Takav diskurs suočava se, međutim, sa pluralizmom u pristupima kao i metodološkim barijerama te pretpostavlja stvaranje odgovarajuće teorijske podloge. Ovaj rad će izdvojiti samo neke problemske točke koje u području sporta plastično ocrtavaju nedostatnosti postojećih monoperspektivno orijentiranih koncepcija. U tome smislu, naglasit će se samo neki simptomi koji ukazuju na dezorijentiranost svakodnevnog življenja, a koji se na osoben način prikazuju u sportu: krhkost etičkih pozicija sadržanih u konceptima »duha sporta« i fair playa u sučeljavanju sa znanstveno-tehničkim napretkom, objektivacija tijela, te porast interesa za aktivnostima visokog rizika. U ovome radu navedena obilježja razumijevaju se kao znakovi potrebe za nadilaženjem redukcionističkih i monoperspektivnih pristupa, donedavno dominantnih, a koje osobit bioetički pristup ima mogućnosti nadići

Igra kao sveprisutna aktivnost ispod površine krije izrazitu kompleksnost i nedohvatnost. Definicije se uglavnom iscrpljuju u tumačenjima svrhovitosti i uporabnosti igre i subjeka igre za ostvarenje određenih ciljeva. Nesumnjiva važnost igre svoje mjesto pronalazi u mnogim razmišljanjima o čovjeku, no iz pokušaja definiranja izlazi kao zatvoreni sistem koji svoju važnost gubi odrastanjem. Ovim radom nastojat će se dotaknuti pitanja bitnih odrednica igre s posebnim osvrtom na tendenciju ograničavanja igre na aktivnost primjenjenu djetinjstvu. U pokušaju prikaza konstitutivnih elemenata igre potražit će se oslonac za tvrdnju o igri kao fenomenu koji nas prati tijekom cijeloga života.Game as an omni-present activity hides an exceptional complexity and unattainability below its surface. Its definitions are mostly exhausted in interpreting the purpose and the use of both games and the subject of games for the fulfilment of certain goals. An unquestionable importance of games lies in countless reflections about man, but attempts to define games make them become closed systems that lose their importance by growing up. This paper attempts to touch on the questions of the important features of games with special emphasis on the tendency to limit games to activities appropriate to childhood. In trying to disclose the constitutive elements of games, a foothold is sought in the statement of games as phenomena that follow us throughout the course of our lives

The paper analyses the role of Albert Schweitzer in the antinuclear movement during the 1950s and 1960s. Having come face to face with the unthinkable threat of nuclear destruction, Schweitzer joins with renowned scientists to raise public awareness about the necessity of banning nuclear testing. Schweitzer applies the view summed up in the concept of reverence for life to a question of global importance, insisting on the personal responsibility of each individual for the present and future generations. His contribution to the antinuclear movement also sheds light on the decisive role of the movement in the formation of the field of bioethics. In conclusion, the authoress points to the need for redefining the origins of bioethics.Das Paper analysiert die Rolle Albert Schweitzers im Rahmen der Anti-Atomkraft-Bewegung der 50er- bzw. 60er-Jahre. Konfrontiert mit einer bis dahin undenkbaren Bedrohung der atomaren Zerstörung gesellt sich Schweitzer den namhaften Wissenschaftlern hinzu, um die Bewusstseinsbildung der Öffentlichkeit für die Unabdingbarkeit einer Atomtestsperre zu stärken. Schweitzer appliziert die im Konzept der Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben resümierte Anschauung auf eine Frage von weltumspannendem Belang, indem er hierbei auf individueller Verantwortung eines jeglichen Einzelnen für gegenwärtige und angehende Generationen beharrt. Sein Beitrag zur Anti-Atomkraft-Bewegung bringt Licht in die ausschlaggebende Rolle dieser Front in der Formung des Bereichs der Bioethik. Abschließend weist die Autorin auf das Erfordernis einer Neubestimmung des Ursprungs der Bioethik

Zamah neoplatonističkih koncepcija i oživljavanje ideala antike uz zdušnu potporu petrarkističke lirike, u humanizmu i renesansi uzvisuju ženu na način nepojmljiv za srednjovjekovlje. Dubrovačko zakonodavstvo, već od ranije pod prevladavajućim utjecajem Crkve, bilježi značajne promjene u pozicioniranju žene u društvu, dok nove misaone orijentacije snažno utječu i na kulturni život. Tako se u Dubrovniku pojavljuju i prve pjesnikinje, a konstruira se i prvi mit o ženi, onaj o Cvijeti Zuzorić. Upravo njen suvremenik i dragi prijatelj Nikola Vitov Gučetić, svojim radovima svjedoči novu mogućnost – ženski glas uklopljen u filozofski koncept i promoviran potpisom uglednog Dubrovčanina. Gučetić otvara prostor svog ljetnikovca, zaštićenog mjesta za »časna proučavanja«, dvjema ženama za njihove razgovore o ljepoti i ljubavi, a posvetu objavljenim Dijalozima upućuje još jednoj »vrlo dičnoj i prepoštovanoj gospoji«, Cvijetinoj sestri Niki. Time svojoj supruzi Maruši Gundulić i Cvijeti Zuzorić posredovano daje glas, ali i ime. U stilskom susretu pjesničkog i filozofskog, prožimanju aktera i interpretatora, premošćivanju od bogova do Boga, Gučetić prolazi tragovima autoriteta iz dobro mu znane filozofske tradicije, opredjeljujući se ipak već i samim podnaslovom za promišljanje ljubavi »u Platonovu duhu«. Ovaj rad otkriće žene prezentirano kroz ženski glas dovodi u vezu s Gučetićevim stavovima iznesenim u Upravljanju obitelji, djelu objavljenom desetak godina nakon Dijaloga o ljepoti i Dijaloga o ljubavi. Poseban naglasak stavljen je na Gučetićevo tematiziranje pojma ljubavi i snagu argumenata korištenih u rješavanju zagonetke moći, izvorišta i kompleksnosti ljubavi.

The differences between the image of top athletes in history and those today could meet at the intersection between cyborg theory and sport studies. The reconceptualisation of athletes could at first be viewed as a shift from the “natural” to the “artificial”. Throughout history top athletes have always been considered to be somehow unnatural, and have always been celebrated as heroes who have overcome the boundaries of their natural bodies. Today’s sports events have been attracting more viewers than ever before, and tough competition has been raising the very standards of competition. High attendance sports are already freak shows; whether from the comfort of their homes or from the grandstands, it is difficult for sport supporters to imagine themselves sculpting such a super-muscular body with super-fast reflexes. Old-fashioned blood, sweat and tears are still present somewhere, although they are incorporated into the advanced achievements of the modern techno-culture. A number of the issues raised from this perspective have found room for discussion in the relatively new pluri-perspectival approach to the challenges of the biotechnological era – in bioethics. Bioethics offers a platform for a dialogue on the key questions of today’s world, a dialogue that surpasses disciplinary, expert, historical and cultural positions. However, any such discourse is facing a pluralism of approaches and methodological barriers, and presupposes the existence of adequate theoretical grounds. This paper highlights only some of the problem points that plastically outline the insufficiencies of the existing mono-perspectively guided conceptions in the field of sport. Accordingly, the authoress emphasises only some of the symptoms that point to the disorientedness of everyday life, which is portrayed in sport in a rather peculiar way: the fragility of the ethical positions contained in the concepts of the “spirit of sport” and fair play in facing the developments of science and technology, the objectification of the body, and an increase in the people’s interest in high-risk activities. The authoress views these traits as signs of the need to transcend the until recently prevalent reductionistic and mono-perspectival approaches, which the distinctive bioethical approach can indeed do

Traganja za dušom i duševnošću motivirala su filozofe na stvaranje koncepcija raznolikog spektra tumačenja. Možemo li spoznati dušu, možemo li definirati duševnost, što bi to zapravo bilo i postoje li takve kategorije koje bi uopće mogle biti predmetom spoznaje, pitanja su na koja nailazimo i u filozofskoj misli Pavla Vuk-Pavlovića.Ishodište njegove filozofije jest doživljaj kao mjesto preplitanja gnoseoloških, ontoloških i etičkih problema te pristup fenomenu doživljaja gradi na kritičkom prevladavanju neokantovskih i pozitivističkih strujanja. Iz kompleksnosti razumijevanja doživljaja iščitavamo specifičnost jedinstva svjesnosti kao subjektivne i predmetnosti kao objektivne komponente doživljaja, njihove složene međuodnose koji produciraju i originalnu filozofsku teoriju pluralizma svjetova te se na kraju pitaju i o mogućnosti filozofije kao takve.Searching for the soul and spirituality has been motivating philosophers to create conceptions of diverse interpretations. Can we gain insight into the soul, can we define spirituality, what is spirituality as a matter of fact and are there such categories that could be the subject of insight – are all questions that we come across in the philosophical thoughts of Pavao Vuk-Pavlović.Experience, as the locus of interlacement between gnoseological, ontological and ethical problems, is where he starts his philosophy. He builds his approach to the phenomenon of experience upon a critical transcendence over the Neo-Kantian and positivistic currents. It is from the complexity of his understanding of experience that we can read out the specific quality of the unity between one’s consciousness – as the subjective component – and the object of one’s experience – as the objective component of experience – their complex interrelations that also give rise to his original philosophical theory of the pluralism of worlds and, finally, investigate the capabilities of philosophy as such

The need for philosophical practice to integrate various methods, both conceptual and those based on the use of emotions, raises the question as to whether its methodology is necessarily eclectic, in terms of the collection of various methodologies used in philosophy, or whether there is a way to move beyond eclecticism. This is the main subject of this paper. In other words, the question is whether there is such a thing as an ‘integrative’ methodology and, if so, what distinguishes such a method from mere eclecticism. In this text, we define the methodological procedure of integrativeness as the process of systematizing perspectives into an orientational answer to the demands of a specific problem. What differentiates such an approach from mere summation is a new contribution that results from a synergistic and systematic meeting of positions and argumentations whose final result differs from its initial elements. Diversity in the form of a multidimensional relationship towards life and the world results in numerous perspectives, which is a value that should be cultivated and integrated into a reflective and actional perception of the world.

The differences between the image of top athletes in history and those today could meet at the intersection between cyborg theory and sport studies. The reconceptualisation of athletes could at first be viewed as a shift from the “natural” to the “artificial”. Throughout history top athletes have always been considered to be somehow unnatural, and have always been celebrated as heroes who have overcome the boundaries of their natural bodies. Today’s sports events have been attracting more viewers than ever before, and tough competition has been raising the very standards of competition. High attendance sports are already freak shows; whether from the comfort of their homes or from the grandstands, it is difficult for sport supporters to imagine themselves sculpting such a super-muscular body with super-fast reflexes. Old-fashioned blood, sweat and tears are still present somewhere, although they are incorporated into the advanced achievements of the modern techno-culture. A number of the issues raised from this perspective have found room for discussion in the relatively new pluri-perspectival approach to the challenges of the biotechnological era – in bioethics. Bioethics offers a platform for a dialogue on the key questions of today’s world, a dialogue that surpasses disciplinary, expert, historical and cultural positions. However, any such discourse is facing a pluralism of approaches and methodological barriers, and presupposes the existence of adequate theoretical grounds. This paper highlights only some of the problem points that plastically outline the insufficiencies of the existing mono-perspectively guided conceptions in the field of sport. Accordingly, the authoress emphasises only some of the symptoms that point to the disorientedness of everyday life, which is portrayed in sport in a rather peculiar way: the fragility of the ethical positions contained in the concepts of the “spirit of sport” and fair play in facing the developments of science and technology, the objectification of the body, and an increase in the people’s interest in high-risk activities. The authoress views these traits as signs of the need to transcend the until recently prevalent reductionistic and mono-perspectival approaches, which the distinctive bioethical approach can indeed do

Uza sve teškoće pozicioniranja humanizma unutar povijesnog okvira, neslaganja oko definiranja njegove naravi, izvora i temeljnih motiva, kao i odnosa spram tradicija mišljenja, uputnim se čini usmjeriti humanistima samima i kroz njihove radove pokušati detektirati onaj novum humanističkog svjetonazora. U tome smislu ovaj će se rad temeljiti na djelu jednog humanista »prve generacije« i pisca utjecajnog pedagogijskog traktata.Petar Pavao Vergerije stariji , književnik, crkvenopolitički pisac i dužnosnik, na samome početku 15. stoljeća piše raspravu De ingenuis moribus ac liberalibus studiis koju bilježimo kao svojevrsnu prekretnicu u filozofskome shvaćanju odgoja. Humanistički program kakav nudi Vergerije, u mudrosti vidi rezultat studija cjelovitog znanja i ostvarenje slobode. Dijalog s tradicionalnim vrijednostima osnova je razumijevanja vlastitoga vremena i njegovih vrijednosti, te zahtijeva slobodan studij kao jedini dostojan slobodna čovjeka. Odgoj pritom treba služiti svakidašnjici, a misao biti potkrijepljena i dopunjena djelom. Iako cijenjen kao prvi humanistički pedagogijski traktat, konfrontiran s misaonim naslijeđem srednjovjekovlja, Vergerijevo djelo i samo nastaje na tragu tradicije; pristupajući mudrima i sam postaje učeniji. Utoliko će i ovaj rad nastojati smjestiti Vergerijevo djelo u kontekst vremena njegova nastanka, kao i naznačiti utjecaj koji je imalo na promoviranje humanističkog svjetonazora.Against all difficulties of positioning humanism in frames of history, disagreements about defining its nature, sources and grounding motives, and also its relation to philosophical tradition, it seems recommendable to rely on humanists themselves and by studying their works try to detect the novum of humanistic way of perceiving the world. With that aim, this paper will be based on work of a “first generation” humanist and a writer of influential pedagogical treatise. Peter Paul Vergerio, Sr. , a writer, religiously political author and a dignitary, at very beginning of the 15th century writes the treatise De ingenuis moribus ac liberalibus studiis which we note as a kind of a milestone in philosophical understanding of education. Humanistic programme, offered by Vergerio, treats wisdom as an outcome of study in comprehensive knowledge and as achievement of freedom. A dialogue with traditional values is basic for understanding proper time and its system of values, and it calls for a free study as the only one that is worthy of a free man. Education should then be in service of every day life, and the idea should be verified and completed by an action. Although appreciated asthe first humanistic pedagogical treatise, being confronted to intellectual inheritance of the Middle-Ages, Vergerio’s work itself originates from tradition; admitting to the wise, he himself becomes wiser. For that reason this paper will tend to place Vergerio’s work in context of time when it was created, and to note the influence it had on promoting humanistic way of perceiving the world