Autor definiuje pojęcie kultury przez odniesienie do szczególnej kategorii znaczeń normatywnych, czyli wartości. System wartości zorganizowany jest wokół trzech wartości najbardziej ogólnych i fundamentalnych: prawdy, dobra i piękna. Odpowiednio mówić można o trzech domenach kultury: kulturze poznawczej, kulturze moralnej i kulturze estetycznej. Desygnatami kultury poznawczej są przekonania, poglądy, opinie podzielane przez członków społeczeństwa. Desygnatami kultury moralnej są relacje łączące jednostki w przestrzeni międzyludzkiej. Desygnatami kultury estetycznej są szczególnego typu wytwory należące do sztuki artystycznej lub użytkowej. Podobieństwo wartości w każdym z tych trzech obszarów stanowi silny czynnik wytwarzający więzi społeczne i wspólnoty, a także tożsamości społeczne. Kultura jest fundamentem żywej i bogatej tkanki społecznej, społeczeństwa obywatelskiego.

The article presents the ideas of flexible design in the construction sector. Flexibility in the construction sector was discussed and defined between typical and flexible approaches to design. The idea applied during the economic effectiveness analysis of construction projects was introduced. The issue of flexibility was discussed based on the example of construction of a sports facility - The National Stadium in Warsaw. An effectiveness analysis was applied for variant solutions.

The article discusses problems related to rules and regulations determining compensations for the mining usufruct of mineral deposits covered by the so called “state mining ownership”. Specific acts of law framing agreements on mining usufruct between government and mining enterprises were analyzed. Rules and algorithms applied to calculate an appropriate compensation are evaluated leading to several conclusions, including the one about lack of a direct legal grounding for them. Such a situation creates disputes and may be risky for all involved. It was also indicated that, in parallel, the State lets another class of mineral deposits, namely the ones owned as a result of real estate ownership and the related Civil Code regulations confirmed by the mining law. In such cases, a mining entrepreneur gets usufruct of a real estate, but only the one with mineral rights. Subsequently a comparison of the rules and algorithms established for determining compensation for mining usufruct and for usufruct of real-estates comprising rights for mineral assets was performed. Arguments for a far going harmonization between these two were put forward. This implies that a starting point for determining any compensation has to be a valuation of a relevant mineral deposit market value as opposed to any universal, however complicated, prescribed algebraic formula. Such a process is complicated and demands competences in geology, mining and finance. Consequently, regulations set in the Polish Mineral Asset Valuation Code shall be applied to both a running a valuation process and indicating competent persons. As a result, recommendations leading to correlate rules applied in both cases are put forward including the adoption of mineral asset valuation as a fundament to determine the level of compensation for the mining usufruct. The closing section contains recommendations regarding necessary changes in the legal framework.

The article considers the issues of the value of invested capital, methods of its measurement and its growth mechanisms. The author draws attention to relationship between the value of capital and the paradigm of economics, which ultimately indicates the existence of connections between the effectiveness of investment and the philosophy of economics. The main purpose of the article is to identify abnormalities in the valuation of assets by investors due to their incorrect or incomplete understanding of the value growth mechanism, the effects of which may assume significance on a macroeconomic scale.

The paper discusses selected topics in moral philosophy of Professor Bogusław Wolniewicz. His overall approach is marked by intellectual independence and analytic treatment of moral issues. The theory of values that he has endorsed can be described as a moderate non-religious absolutism based on weak metaphysical principles. Although in general his normative position can be assimilated to the views of an enlightened liberal, it also clashes with that position insofar as he proclaimed the existence of ontological evil and supported legitimacy of death penalty.

The aim of this paper is to present and explain the metaethical theory proposed by Ayn Rand. In particular, Rand’s view of ethics as necessary for human life is discussed. I also analyze the concept of value which is crucial to Rand’s ethics. I seek to demonstrate that the concept of value is rooted in the concept of life, and from this it follows that the normative sphere is secondary to the existence of living beings. Further, I introduce Rand’s argument concerning human life as an ultimate point of reference in her philosophy. Finally, I explain the conditional character of morality, and end my paper with a short discussion of Rand’s unique view on objectivity of values.

The purpose of the article is to present, analyze and evaluate the concept of freedom in Friedrich August von Hayek (1899–1992). First, I point out the main determinants of his understanding of freedom (with the emphasis on the fact that freedom means the absence of arbitral coercion towards the individual by other people), then I present Hayek’s arguments for his definition of freedom, as well as for his conviction that freedom is what should be absolutely valued and what is worth defending. An attempt is made to evaluate those ideas in terms of their relevance and convincingness – both in relation to Hayek’s analyses of notion of freedom as well as his normative statements.

In the process of extraction and enrichment of coal waste, considerable quantities of waste material are produced, mainly the gangue and coal sludge, considered as waste or raw material. The main directions of the management development of the waste rock are the production of aggregates, the production of energy products and the liquidation works in hard coal mines and the filling of excavations. The paper proposes the extension of these activities to the use of waste material. The possibility of using aggregates or extractive waste to fill open-pit excavations has been proposed, also in areas within the reach of groundwater and the possibility of building insulation layers of waste material and the production of mixtures of hard coal sludge and sewage sludge to produce material with good energy properties. The analysis was based on the author’s own research and literature data related to selected parameters of waste material. This paper presents our own preliminary studies on the amount of combustion heat and the calorific value of coal sludge combined with other wastes such as sewage sludge. The proposed methods and actions are part of the current directions of development, but they allow the extension of the scope of use of both extractive waste and products produced on the basis of gangue or coal sludge. Due to the frequent lack of the stable composition of these materials, their current properties should be assessed each time before attempting to use them. The fact that it is important to continue research to promote existing economic use and to seek new activities or methods has been concluded.