The concept of conscience is analyzed here in two different ways: the systematic and the historical-literary. As to the first, systematic perspective, I distinguish (in part 1) three levels of conscience and on every level I identify two opposite categories (conscience that is ‛individual’ versus ‛collective’; ‛emotional’ versus ‛intellectual’; ‛motivating ex ante’ versus ‛evaluating ex post’). In the second, historical-literary perspective, I analyze two literary cases of fictional characters usually thought of as being guided or affected by conscience. The first case is the ancient Greek tragedy and here I offer (in part 2) a comment on the Sophoclean Antigone and the Euripidean Orestes presenting them both as dramas that contain an exemplary formulation of the phenomenon of conscience. Although Antigone and Orestes express their main principles of action in apparently different words, I suggest (in part 3) the two poetical visions of conscience are equally based upon a highly emotional behavior called pathos by the Greek. Thereby I provide a reason, why ancient philosophers created a new concept of conscience intended as an alternative to the poetical vision of human behavior. The new philosophical concept of conscience was based upon an axiological behavior called ethos. I also coin (in part 4) a concept of the ‛community of conscience’ where I distinguish four ‛aspects of solidarity’ in conscience, namely, somebody’s own self, a group of significant persons, a group of the same moral principles, and a sameness of life. In the end I turn (in part 5) to a historical-literary case in Joseph Conrad’s last novel The Rover (1923), which provoked a lively discussion among Polish authors and seems useful as an illustration of several levels of ‛solidarity of conscience’.

The spread of pseudoscientific beliefs and opinions is one of the more serious problems of modern societies. Pseudoscientific beliefs and opinions question the authority of science and may lead to serious harms to individuals and whole societies. In recognition of these hazards, the Committee of Ethics in Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences submits the following statement for the consideration of researchers, teachers in higher education and primary and secondary schools, as well as institutions which are responsible for education, and the society at large. The statement characterizes pseudoscience, its main causes and forms, as well as its key ethical aspects. It also contains recommendations for scientists and academic institutions on the appropriate responses to this troubling phenomenon.

The Author presents in this paper a concept of research on the Jewish ethos internalized in the groups representing main political trends that were popular among the Polish Jewry in the interwar Poland (1918-1939). These trends are: Zionism, Socialism, Folkizm and a policy of Assimilation. Analysis of above group's ethos covers research on the following issues: values and attitudes constituting the ethos of a specific group, sources and function of the ethos and instruments of communication used in transmission of the ethos.

Trust and trustworthiness are crucial for science: equally for the scientific knowledge, scientific institutions and scientific community. For scientific knowledge the main criterion of trustworthiness is the search for truth, for scientific institutions it is the regime of autonomy, and for scientific community – respecting the ethos of science: norms of universalism, communalism, disinterestedness and organized scepticism (peer review and meritocracy). In the traditional academic science due to these criteria the level of deviance (fraud, plagiarism etc.) was very low. Alas in current post-academic science we witness numerous occurrence of fake knowledge, loss of autonomy of academic institutions and the neglect of the ethos of science among scholars. There are several processes responsible for this condition: fiscalisation, privatization, marketization, bureaucratization, and the pressure of non-academic, external forces and interests on scientific community. The regaining of autonomy and reactivation of academic culture (primarily the ethos of science), are the preconditions for overcoming the current crisis of trustworthiness in science.

As communication grows ever more media-centric, it often intends to modify the addressee’s attitude. In this context, our chapter aims to investigate a relatively little- examined film review genre from the discursive, pragmatic and rhetorical perspective. The selected corpus consists of one hundred French and Polish journalistic reviews of three famous films from 2019. The act of persuasion we focus on corresponds to a set of strategies exploiting exploiting the deliberative and epideictic dimensions of discourse as well as the rhetorical principles of movere and delectare in order to instil particular views and concepts. Hence, to some extent, the described procedures draw on other discourses, such as elite, advertising, stylistic and filmic discourse. Therefore, our study centres around these new intrinsic features of the film review’s multifaceted nature considered as a sociocultural activity based on the justified assessment and the addresser’s ethos.

In the third decade of the twenty-first century, the “cathedral” of Catholic theology has suffered some structural assaults and the way forward is a contemporary “hot topic”. This paper argues against the idea, common among Catholics of the millennial generation, that we simply need to “reboot” the system to 1959 and restore the framework of “Strict Observance Neo-Scholasticism”. Instead, it suggests that attention needs to be given to the structure itself, to issues in fundamental theology, and the relationships or “joints” in the framework of Catholic theology, along the lines recommended by Joseph Ratzinger and others in his theological circle.

Interpreting the Gospel parable of the Prodigal Son and the Loving Father (Luke 15:11–32), J. Ratzinger/Benedict XVI shows the essence of the biggest problems of modern (particularly Western) society. The younger son’s journey to remote places, far from his father, symbolizes the fundamental gap between the present and God, which - although promising a happy and independent life – turns out to debase him. Blind questioning of the existing order (including the order of Creation!), an apotheosis of variability and a priori assumption of the new-over-the-old superiority, inevitably lead to confusion, with relativism becoming a “moral” reference and criterion for every action. Finally: bitterness and a protest generating violence, emptiness looking for satisfaction in drug-induced ecstasy, men seen as destroyers and enemies of nature. The only solution is a spiritual battle and metanoia – a return to the Father.

The article attempts to establish the role that may be presently played by Merton’s concept of scientific ethos, and especially his norm of “communism” in describing and explaining the mechanisms of modern science’s functioning. Merton introduces scientific ethos’ norms as ethical and technological, and therefore truly regulating the practice of research. In this context especially important is the role played by the norm of “communism,” which orders to share research results with all research community and society. This article presents two visions of research community’s functioning alternative to Merton’s concetion: Pierre Bourdieu’s conception of ” le champ scientifique,” and Bruno Latour’s and Steve Woolgar’s conceptions of conversion of capital within the “cycle of credibility.” None of these concepts feature research practice as organised by “communism.” The consideration of roles of historically evolving models of practicing science (amateur, academic, professional, post-academic) is crucial for a precise description of the rules of functioning in science. Abiding by the rule of communism is possible only in the academic model, whereas modern researchers increasingly often function either within corporations (professional model), or remain in the academia while operating on private funds (post-academic model). Following the rule of communism, even as a moral guideline, is not possible in these circumstances.

Higher education system in Poland has undergone in the years 1989–2020 the process of profound changes. The logic and the philosophy of the reforms of the Polish HEI have stayed in the broad frame of New Public Management, thus being convergent with the public policies addressed to academic institutions in US and Europe (Ferlie, Musselin, Andresani 2008). The circumstances of implementing the NPM driven reforms were, however, very specific in Poland: on the one hand, the modernization of the HE institutions took place in the context of the profound, wholistic systemic transformation. On the other, Polish academia entered the new era with the resources, habits and traditions that had been shaped by the past experiences. The paper is the case study of the Polish HEI after 1989. I aim to identify the processes and mechanisms that have been put into motion by the solutions and regulations adopted by the public authorities – privatization, performance based funding and decentralization in the first place. In the frame of NPM, public authorities supersede planning by steering via setting the boundary conditions and payoffs matrix in such a way as to encourage – or make rational – to move in a certain, desired direction. I argue this kind of steering resulted in many negative externalities, including instrumentalization of the HEI missions and erosion of the academic ethos.