Krzysztof Piotr Skowroński

American and European Values – Berlin Edition

6 August 2015 by Chris Skowroński Leave a Comment

American and European Values were a series of ten conferences on contemporary philosophy that were held annually since 2004 at the Institute of Philosophy of Opole University, Poland (detailed history of the events here). The main creators of the whole idea were professor John Lachs, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA and dr. Chris Skowronski, Opole University, Opole, Poland.

In 2015 the conference series is being extended into a Berlin edition. Berlin Practical Philosophy International Forum e.V. is proud to organize the event: John Lachs’s Practical Philosophy Conference, August 11-13, 2015.

The question whether there is a place for philosophers nowadays and how much influence they exercise in our everyday life seems as valid as it was 25 centuries ago in the time of Socrates. It will be also the leitmotif of the conference devoted to the practical philosophy of John Lachs (presently leading American pragmatist), during which academic world meets everyday life. If you want to listen to philosophical debate about values, the art of acting ethically, relativism, the state of being in love with life or you just wish to challenge your theoretical mind, it is the place to be.

About the comming conference on the radio (in Polish): Funkhauseuropa – RECORDING.

Filozofia praktyczna (practical philosophy)

6 August 2015 by Chris Skowroński Leave a Comment

Above is a fragment of an open seminar at European University of Viadrina, in Polish, on practical philosophy (pol. filozofia praktyczna). I talk to the about happiness, the beautiful, and freedom as some of the basic philosophical ideas that we practically deal with in our ordinary and daily lives. You do not have to be a university philosopher to practice these things; a modicum of reflection is enough to start ‘doing’ philosophy, and this was the main message of my seminar at Viadrina University.

On Aesthetics and Politics

11 July 2015 by Chris Skowroński Leave a Comment

I claim, that we deal with the political (and politics: a stricter division of these terms seems to me merely academic) when some people, in the name of a given worldview, (try to) impose, dictate, promote, and/or persuade—with different scale of intensification—values, norms, and ways of thinking upon other people. Most effectively, this imposition (and dictation, promotion, and/or persuasion) takes place by means of the institutionalized forms of socio-political life: the cultural policy, the education system, the mass media, religion, moralities, the policies practiced by particular governments, and many others, and this does not take place exclusively in democratic countries. Most probably any socio-political system, be it democratic or theocratic, old or modern, Western or Eastern must philosophically justify—by its most vocal institutions, authority figures, and specific agendas—its basic axiological assumptions about what is good, true, and beautiful, if we want to use the vocabulary of classic thought in this case. In this way, we deal with different types of impositions, the dictation, the promotion, and/or the persuasion of a given way, or ways, of thinking upon others, as regards ethics, public affairs, the role of the individual in social life, liberties, and a great variety of other problems. [Read more…]

Santayana on History of Philosophy

10 June 2015 by Chris Skowroński Leave a Comment

Santayana on The History of Philosophy. Santayana is a good example for us to see at least four different approaches to the history of philosophy: 1) studying the past authors to see what they really claimed and why, 2) using past authors and their ideas as “a quarry or a touchstone for my own thoughts” (PGS 543), 3) contributing to (the history of) philosophy by originally developing selected problems, issues, and ideas that have been circulating through time, and 4) comparing ideas, texts, and worldviews that have been proposed by the great authors.

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Santayana on Music

10 May 2015 by Chris Skowroński Leave a Comment

Santayana on Music. “Music is essentially useless, as life is: but both have an ideal extension which lends utility to its conditions” (LR 315) – these are perhaps the most famous words of Santayana’s philosophy of music. They somewhat remind us of the Stoic wisdom according to which things in life are indifferent, but the use we make of them is not indifferent (cf. Epictetus, 2.5.1). Santayana’s philosophy of music is a combination of naturalism (music is a part of the natural world) and ‘naturalized Platonism’ (music has ideal meanings). [Read more…]

Santayana on Travel

10 April 2015 by Chris Skowroński Leave a Comment

Santayana on Travel. In “The Philosophy of Travel” (1964) Santayana takes a look at human existence as “a form of motion and a journey through a foreign world” (BR 5), and discusses different types of travelling (migration, exploration, wandering, pilgrimage, tourism) as metaphors for different forms of having a good life. Since for Santayana ‘a good life’ should include philosophizing, these metaphors also deal with the role of experiencing various intellectual traditions, dealing with incompatible ways of argumentation, coping with sundry modes of the articulation of human views as well as expanding your passion, hoping for surprises, awaiting novelties, fulfilling your curiosity, and approaching wisdom by differentiating illusion from reality. [Read more…]