Metaphysical tenderness does exist – it lies at the core of joyful acceptance of all manifestations of life on both sides of our skin and determines our zest for life, perhaps to a greater extent than money, fame, or origin.

This article consists of two parts. The first part summarizes using informal language Wolniewicz’s understanding of the idea of God which he expressed in the language of formal logic. It demonstrates that Wolniewicz’s position was founded on antinaturalism, i.e. the conviction that nature is a fragment of a larger reality while man partly transcends the natural reality. The second part of the article is an attempt at capturing the intuitions behind Wolniewicz’s idea of God as an impersonal power which is not identical with Providence though. It is argued that this view is a consequence of the characteristic traits of Wolniewicz’s personality. This explanation is consistent with Wolniewicz’s understanding of human nature. In the analysis that ensues reference is made to Wolniewicz’s private correspondence.

In this interpretation of Juliusz Słowacki's ‘Snycerz był zatrudniony Dyjanny lepieniem…’ [The carver was busy shaping Diana's statue] the discussion focuses on his attitude to matter, especially as the material of art. The article argues that Słowacki elevates and even sacralises mud, the most lowly of raw materials, and thus exposes the falseness of the popular view that he despises matter, the base opposite of the spirit. However, it would be more accurate to say that in his vision, which is part of his Genesis from the Spirit philosophy, the path to salvation leads through the reconciliation of spirit and matter rather than a triumph of one over the other.

Architecture created in Poland of 21st C. is somewhere a mode of selfpresentation, in another cases is a method of shouting down the others. It is also aomwhere talking without any thesis, instead with a large dose of a badly understood assertiveness. Whe should to built a clear architectural activity, more objectified, and tied with a contemporaneity. We should begin from the most basic rules, from the certain architectural grammar. The identity can be understood as a set of features, which e.g. let to distinguish architecture growing out in Poland, in contrary to architecture rooted somewhere elsewhere. Those are not always any formal features. In order to understand what a spirit of the place really is, e.g. in ancient Rome there was an idea of the watchman spirit. This spirit gives life to the people and to the places, accompany them since they a born until they are dead. It determines their character or the content.

This article aims at verifying the findings by Richard g. Wilkinson and Kate e. Pickett (2009) which point to a strong correlation between the income gap and the escalation of social problems. Wilkinson and Pickett’s thesis, described here as ‘the Spirit level concept’, states that all kinds of social problems (ranging from drug abuse to lack of trust among people) are directly connected with the scale of social inequality in a given country. In this article we test this concept by analyzing the relation between the income gap in a particular country and four important problems: health condition, trust, social activity and cultural activity. We investigate this relation in european union countries.

The aim of this article is to identify and analyze similarities in philosophical anthropology of two major Polish philosophers, Roman Ingarden and Henryk Elzenberg, with particular emphasis placed on their image of a human individual as a self- ‑overcoming being. A reconstructive method has been used here. Although reciprocal references between Ingarden and Elzenberg were not numerous, their concepts of human nature are very similar. According to both philosophers, man is essentially different from animals, but participates largely in what animals do as well. What is specific to man is determined by the spiritual element that transcends the physical world. Through spirit, man can overcome the biological part of him/ herself, and tries to overcome his/her condition, because in this way only can humanity reach out and create a world of culture. At the end of text, the most important differences between the discussed concepts of man are discussed.

This article discusses an unknown tradition from the Malay Archipelago, namely the island of Lombok. The article describes a spirit possession ceremony, as it was practised in East Lombok before being subject to a ban in 1984. It also explains the reasons for prohibition and explores a recent revival of the tradition. The discussion draws a parallel with similar traditions from late colonial Malaysia. Aside from similar functions as healing rites, the traditions many times use the same ceremonial equipment during the ceremonies and have identical symbols. This encourages us to look for connections between the Sasaks in Lombok and the Malays in Malaysia and Sumatra. The article suggests some direct connections between the two, but also takes indirect connections into consideration, for example, the rule of the Bugis-Makassarese people, who played an important role in both of these corners of the archipelago.

The chuch dedicated to The Holy Spirit, erected in Wrocław, in housing estate Huby, was created during the communist period, hence it was very difficult to design it, and to build. But it was also the period close to the collapse of this regime, so communist leaders were pressed to be more tolerant towards human rights than before, including the religious freedom and towards building new churches. The author of the church mentioned – a very active political oppositionist – when designing the strongly innovative church building, was simultaneously forced by fate to fight formal difficulties caused by oppressive rulers. Author makes the reader closer to those complicated double troubles: artistic, parallel to the political. Finally, the church building was happily completed, then became widely popular and accepted.