Wojciech Edmund Zieliński

In the article the author attempts first to set down and then to take a position with respect to selected themes that were considered in a discussion about the condition of philosophy and its social status. The basis of his declaration is the conviction that the philosophy, cultivated professionally, systematically, and methodically in university classrooms, and later recorded in specialized, scored journals, has the task of relating its own theoretical achievements to the experience of a simple philosophizing person, and that this task is important for both parties of the above relationship. The choice of a philosophy is not morally indifferent; it is derivative from an axiological decision that binds the one who makes the choice with those on whom the consequences of his decision have an effect. A philosophy that wants to be morally significant cannot shun responsibility for this choice.

This article is an attempt at a meta-ethical description of ethics in economic life. First of all, critical rationalism is understood in a meta-objective sense, as a methodological program of philosophy and science; next, it is treated in an objective way as a definite moral principle. This emphasises social experience as a kind of empirical test of theories within the arts and social sciences; therefore, this also confirms standard solutions suggested in the ethics of economic life.Specific issues which arise in this context include the following: the sociological premises of ethics in economic life, the relationships between issues of descriptive economics and the prescriptive aims of general ethics, the principles of qualifying acts within the economic sphere as ethical acts, the operational efficacy of standards formed on the level of the ethics of economic life, the possibility of predicting ethical behaviour patterns in people working in economics.The analysis of the above issues is based on a critical reading and exploitation of the works of Karl R. Popper, the promoter of critical rationalism, as well as Jürgen Habermas, an exponent of critical social theory. Another important source are the works of Florian Znaniecki, the originator and organizer of Polish institutional sociology. His concept of the humane factor is treated here as a key tool in the study of social phenomena.

Article shows, that the practical philosophy of Władysław Tatarkiewicz – especially from his Analysis of Happiness – can be important for the contemporary acting man, which is living always in the own world of the life. In the introduction, author explains the title, assumptions and character of his ethical analysis. Next part shows the subjective perspective of the author’s statement. This is a statement from the work with students of non-philosophical directions. Students’ postulates and questions to ethics, answers of Tatarkiewicz, generalizations and next questions from author – these are the next parts of article. In the conclusion, author writes about his own philosophy, which can be recommended as a little practical philosophy. It is a philosophy for everyday life, philosophy useful in microscale of the moral experience. Across such philosophy, Tatarkiewicz can be an intimate author for more than one his reader.