Tekst omawia zagadnienia relatywizmu w kontekście międzynarodowej architektury, jak również konfrontuje je z przeciwnymi tendencjami. Wybrane przykłady świadczą o tym, że tego rodzaju architektura jako wynik globalizmu przeciwstawia się tradycji. Mimo przedstawienia główne aspektów relatywizmu, artykuł ten stanowi również prolegomenę do tendencji absolutystycznych w architekturze. Paradoksalnie absolutyzm nie zawsze narzuca architekturze styl historyzujący, lub monumentalny. Relatywizm jednak nie stanowi jednorodnego stylu i nie posiada sprecyzowanych granic. W tym świetle jakakolwiek próba całkowitej negacji tradycyjnych wartości w procesie projektowania wydaje się być skazana na niepowodzenie.

These remarks are to be considered as a voice in the discussion not only on the historical role of the Catholic Church in culture but also on mistakes committed by its Magisterium of the Catholic Church such as absolutism, globalism, and intolerance. Certainly it can be called otherwise. The key issue is however at how we call it but if we consider it as major mistakes and if yes if we seek for such an explanation that will actually is an excuse. This is the case in the example of often recalled in these remarks “The history of the Catholic Church” by Marian Banaszak. I do represent another view than this author. Also not just than Banaszak himself but other authors as well who blame for the failures of Catholicism (including the decline of its decisive social role) all those but not the ones who make the key decisions within the Church.

The ethics of ‘theistic absolute morality’ (TAM), as any other ethical theory, must offer a definition of good, describe the connection between good and duty, and provide an effective guidance to human conduct. In the ethics of TAM we find, in my rendering of its claims, an irremediably unsuccessful definition of good, permanently loose connection between moral value and moral duty, and irreparably limited practical efficacy. It is not surprising that it has to be so, as it is a common condition of all ethical systems. The TAM ethics suffers, however, additionally from a unique conceptual trouble, but that is a story I have told elsewhere.

Józef Andrzej Gierowski’s academic profile is presented in the light of his interest in the problems of universal history in relation to events, but above all to phenomena which allow for a better knowledge and understanding of the mentality of the people of the time, their activities and their consequences. Gierowski’s studies on the history of Europe were closely linked to the history of the Polish‑Lithuanian Commonwealth (especially the period of the Saxon Wettin dynasty on the Polish throne), highlighting its international position and associations, and the resulting foreign policy of its rulers. Among the questions raised, there was no shortage of issues relating to the culture and ideology of the Baroque and the Enlightenment and, of primary interest to the researcher, the problem‑laden, not fully deciphered transition period between the two currents.
The second ‘part’ of the article emphasises Józef Andrzej Gierowski’s understanding of Europe as a certain whole, encompassing not only political history, social or economic affairs, but also cultural patterns and phenomena to which he was particularly sensitive.