The article presents a phenomenological description of existential experience, one of the fundamental issues in the philosophy of existence. At the outset, it is worth emphasizing that showing the specifics of this experience seems to be a difficult, or even an impossible task – due to its individual, subjective and inexpressible nature, and, as a consequence, its elimination from the academic, schematic, scientific reflection. The problem of existential experience is so interesting, however, and philosophically so important that – despite those disheartening limitations – it seems worthwhile to take a closer look at it. The article shows the phenomenon of human existence in the context of its intra‑world situation, exposing its ontic uniqueness.

The aim of the article is to discuss Ingmar Bergman’s film Persona in a philosophical context and analyze the problem of the identity of the main characters. During the analysis, elements of existential thought and Sartre's philosophy were used. The psychological and philosophical layer of the film combines the common theme of broadly understood existence. The focus was on the identity problems of the main characters of the film and the linguistic layer in the context of the interpersonal conflict.

Stanislaw Lem is one of the most famous figures of the Polish science fiction in post-world war two Europe. Solaris. His most famous novel, was published in 1961, and was adapted twice for the big screen, first in 1971 by Andrej Tarkovski, and in 2002 by Steven Soderbergh. The plot revolves around the psychologist Kris Kelvin, who is sent on the planet Solaris to try to find out if it is possible to communicate with the alien ocean that covers almost all of its surface. Confronted with a strange phenomenon and colleagues turned paranoid, Kelvin tries at first to understand what is going on at the space station. The unexplained arrival of the döppleganger of his ex-partner, Harey, will little by little make him accept the absurdity of his task and possibly of life itself. As Lem himself refused any final interpretation of his novel, there has of course been a flourish of them. One can however choose this exegetic impossibility as a major theme in the novel, and reflect on the implications of the situation Kelvin faces, caught between a desire to understand the nature of Solaris’s ocean and the sheer failure of doing so. In this essay, we will try to suggest that, by showing the limits of language as the means to express a satisfying epistemic frame, Lem’s parabol could be seen as an attempt to show the reader the existential limits of our anthropocentrism and scientific hubris.

The paper critically considers Alfried Längle’s view presented in his book Gdy rodzi się pytanie o sens. Praktyczne zastosowanie logoterapii [ When the Question of Sense Arises. The Practical Application of Logotherapy] (Warszawa 2016). It invites to reflection focused on the problem of the sense of existence.

The article presents a critical approach to „Filozofia” Jaspersa [ Jaspers’ „Philosophy”] by Mirosław Żelazny (WN UMK, Toruń 2019). It discusses the main theses presented in the dissertation and invites to reflection on the existential philosophy of Karl Jaspers. The paper exposes the most important themes of Jaspersian thinking — the dialectical method of philosophizing, understanding the worldview, the phenomenon of existential communication and the concept of borderline situations.

The article offers an existential interpretation of Roman Polanski’s movie: Two men and the wardrobe (1958). Despite a large number of publications dealing with Polanski’s work, there is still no single study that would directly and primarily show the philosophical and existential potential of this short film. This article aims to amend this situation and reveal this potential. The paper is divided into five parts. Firstly, it depicts the issue of loneliness presented in Polanski’s film, referring – secondly – to the recognition of selected existential philosophers (J. Ortega y Gasset, E. Lévinas, J.‑P. Sartre, A. Camus). Thirdly, the article presents the specificity of the grotesque and absurd motifs characteristic for the film, exposing their connection with the problem of loneliness raised in it. Fourthly, the paper interprets the Polish director’s short film in the context of an authentic way of existence. It refers to the philosophy of Martin Heidegger, and emphasizes the gap between ‘being oneself’ and belonging to community (society). Finally, the article presents a psychological‑existential reading of Polanski’s short film, paying attention to the psychological determinants of human existence.

This is a review article of Herman Paul's Masks of Meaning, Existentialist Humanism in Hayden Whites Philosophy of History. Paul's book is claimed to be a successful attempt to comprehend White's oeuvre as a whole. The author presents its structure and indicates the major arguments as well as some minor flaws, which however do not affect the merits that the book provides.

Considering responsibility as a key anthropological category, Roman Ingarden stresses that it could only be inquired through the lens of a subject that is perceived personally, and not as a ‘pure I’. On the one hand, responsibility determines the nature of personal existence, and on the other hand, personal existence constitutes a space for interrogating about any meanings of the concept of responsibility. What remains problematic, however, is an alternative outlined by Ingarden, which implies that perception of a personal subject must be conducted within either of two perspectives – one that refers to a substantial model of personal subject, or the other that relates to acts of actualising the subject, which unfold in the stream of consciousness. It seems possible to go beyond this contradiction and reconcile the two perspectives – which the modern philosophy of dialogue proposes to do. Ingarden emphasises that the analysis of the concept of responsibility should not be limited to the realm of morality. However, all four scenarios that the philosopher uses as research fields to scrutinise the concept point, or at least imply the necessity of including aesthetic issues. Furthermore, the four fields of analysis – when somebody 1) bears responsibility, 2) takes responsibility, 3) is held responsible, and 4) acts responsibly – should not be perceived as isolated from one another. The link between them is man, who appears as a person in certain situations, while in others, his personal status is unrevealed, although it still remains within a firm horizon of situations and meanings examined herein. Moreover, regardless of the polarisation of the research fields highlighted by Ingarden, moral context constitutes a permanent space of reference for a human person, who not only asks for the sense (meanings) of responsibility, but also determines his/her personal existence through meanings and with their help.

This article traces two lines of philosophical interpretations of the character of Don Quixote. Common to both is the view that Don Quixote should be treated as a paragon of directness, i.e. a subject that strives to attain his ideals – a sphere of sense that is general – without any mediation (in the sense of Vermittlung). For the existentialist Miguel de Unamuno, who in this respect follows Kierkegaard, the individual cannot constitute himself unless he rejects mediation, Quixote is a knight of faith, whose every intervention is an act of heroism analogous to Abraham's leap of faith. For the Hegelian Constantin Noica the opposite is true: any attempt to move from the particular to the general without mediation is a symptom of an existential and ontological disorder. Taking his cue from Hegel’s Law of the Heart and the Frenzy of Self-Conceit ( Phenomenology of Spirit), Noica repudiates Quixote’s unswerving commitment as insane folly. These two diametrically opposed assessments – one inspired by Kirkegaard, the other by Hegel – show the significance of Don Quixote as a focus of the modern debate about mediation and its dilemmas.