Jarosław Maciej Janowski

Title: The Question of the Existence and the Nature of Time in Selected Cosmological Models This monograph examines the problem of the existence and nature of time in selected cosmological models from the perspective of the philosophy of nature. Its central aim is to investigate whether contemporary cosmology and theoretical physics can contribute to resolving longstanding philosophical debates concerning the ontological status of time. The study focuses on three cosmological proposals developed within the Quantum Gravity Research Programme: the Hartle–Hawking no-boundary proposal, the noncommutative universe model of Michał Heller and Wiesław Sasin, and Julian Barbour’s concept of Platonia. These models attempt to describe the structure of the Universe at scales below the Planck level, where the standard cosmological model and general relativity cease to provide an adequate account of physical reality. The first chapter reviews the problem of time in philosophy. It discusses the principal ontological, epistemological, and psychological dimensions of time and situates them within contemporary philosophical debates, including eternalism versus presentism and endurantism versus perdurantism. The chapter also introduces an original typology of positions concerning the ontological status of time, extending beyond the traditional opposition between realism and anti-realism by identifying an intermediate category that captures more nuanced philosophical approaches. The second chapter examines the concept of time in modern science, particularly in special relativity, general relativity, and quantum mechanics. It analyzes the different roles attributed to time in these theories and outlines the limitations of the standard cosmological model in describing the earliest stage of cosmic evolution, the Planck epoch. Particular attention is devoted to the Quantum Gravity Research Programme, whose objective is to reconcile general relativity and quantum mechanics and to provide a coherent account of spacetime singularities. The chapter further discusses competing views concerning the fate of time and spacetime in quantum gravity, including proposals that regard them as emergent rather than fundamental features of reality. The third chapter reconstructs and analyzes the three selected cosmological models. Special attention is paid to their theoretical assumptions, internal structure, and the image of the Universe that emerges from each framework. Although all three models are commonly interpreted as atemporal descriptions of the fundamental level of reality, they contain structural features that may serve as a basis for the emergence or reconstruction of time. The fourth chapter explores the ontological implications of these atemporal cosmologies. To facilitate this analysis, the author introduces the concept of temporal constitutives—elements of fundamentally atemporal models that make possible the reconstruction of temporal order at higher levels of cosmic organization. Their ontological status, relation to time, and connection with the attendant ontologies of the underlying physical theories are examined in detail. The chapter also considers whether the analyzed models, despite their explicit atemporality, implicitly presuppose the real existence of time. The central hypothesis of the monograph is that temporal constitutives can be identified within cosmological models that explicitly deny the fundamental existence of time. Confirmation of this hypothesis would strengthen realist interpretations of time while simultaneously demonstrating that the deepest level of physical reality may be fundamentally atemporal. The study concludes that future developments in quantum gravity and cosmology may require a substantial revision of existing views in the philosophy of time, the philosophy of nature, and philosophical reflection on the structure of the Universe as a whole.

The subject of the article is the issue of using tools equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the education of people with disabilities. The conceptual framework will be, on the one hand, contemporary tendencies in the humanities to raise the importance of the role of non-human (posthuman) actors (agents) in networks of agency. On the other hand, the concepts of the extended cognitive system are present in contemporary epistemology. The use of AI tools in education will be analyzed from the perspective of cognitive enhancements. In particular, the analyses will concern the validity of their use, taking into account the dynamic development of AI applications in various areas of social life, including education, for which the dissemination of AI is a challenge. The aim of the article will be to consider the validity of using this type of cognitive enhancement in the education of people with disabilities. Possible (both positive and negative) consequences of such actions will be analyzed. In particular, in addition to the concepts of assistive technology and common technology that appear in the literature, the concept of prosthetic technology will be proposed, which may be helpful when considering the inclusion of specific tools (including those equipped with AI) in the education process. The considerations will be conducted from both pedagogical and philosophical perspectives.

This chapter is part of the problems related to the search for interdisciplinary connotations of the Lvov-Warsaw school. The main subject of the analysis are the meta-philosophical views of Zygmunt Zawirski, one of the representatives of this school. The meta-philosophical views of Zawirski will be presented against the background of the meta-philosophic views of the entire Lvov-Warsaw school. Next, the application of Zawirski’s meta-philosophical concepts will be presented by the example of the subject analyzes carried out by him regarding the concept of time, he carried out in one of his most important works entitled ‘L’évolution de la notion du temps’. In the further part of the chapter, Zawirski’s meta-philosophic views will be compared with the concepts of ‘multidisciplinarity’, ‘interdisciplinarity’ and ‘transdisciplinarity’, which are discussed in contemporary metatheoretical reflections in philosophy of science. The aim of the chapter is an attempt to assess whether the philosophical considerations conducted by Zawirski and his meta-philosophical views correspond with contemporary postulates regarding the conduct of interdisciplinary research in science and philosophy. In relation to the three concepts presented above, it seems that Zawirski’s views are in line with the idea of multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity. But, on the other hand, it seems, that in the case of the idea of interdisciplinarity Zawirski would be cautious, when it comes to the postulate of integrating all discipline of science into one super-discipline. A similarity negative assessment could be made by Zawirski in relation to the idea of transdisciplinarity in science.

The article is devoted to the issue of the boundaries, limitations and moderation in the integration of humans with tools (artifacts) using, among others, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, which are considered to be one of the types of cognitive enhancements. The context of the considerations will be the dispute between transhumanism and bioconservatism on the acceptability and admissibility of such procedures. The considerations will also take into account moderate positions. In answering the formulated research question, what can be considered a criterion of moderation in the use of such enhancements, conceptual analyses concerning the category of perfection, conducted by Władysław Tatarkiewicz, will be used. As a result, it turns out that the category of perfection analyzed by this representative of the Lvov-Warsaw School can be considered as the above criterion, which to its semantic diversity, will constitute a conceptual plane enabling a more synthetic approach to the diverse and opposing positions related to the acceptability and admissibility of particular cognitive enhancements. This in turn seems to have a positive impact on the understanding of this issue. Keywords: perfection, moderation, The Lvov-Warsaw School, artificial intelligence, cognitive enhancements.

W artykule podjęto kwestię dotyczącą tożsamości filozofii przyrody w kontekście trzech współcześnie wymienianych charakterystycznych cech tej dyscypliny, a mianowicie jej różnorodności metodologicznej, interdyscyplinarności oraz swoistej dynamiki rozwojowej. Analizowane są zagrożenia dla tożsamości filozofii przyrody, wynikające z takiego zestawu cech, w szczególności z różnorodności metodologicznej filozofii przyrody. Jednocześnie podjęto próbę obrony wymienionych cech jako powodujących nie tylko zagrożenia, ale również wzmacniających tożsamość filozofii przyrody. Całość analiz odnosi się do metafilozoficznej charakterystyki dziedziny filozofii. --------------- Zgłoszono: 13/08/2021. Zrecenzowano: 06/09/2021. Zaakceptowano do publikacji: 14/10/2021.