Gerhard Banse, Monika Bartíková:
Bio- und Medizinethik
in Ländern Mittel- und Osteuropas. Eine Hinführung 5
Polen: Andrzej Kiepas 21
Rumänien / Romania: Dan L. Dumitrascu 27
Slowakische Republik / Slovak Republic: Daniela Kovaľová 31
Tschechische Republik: Josef Kuře 43
Deutschland: Dieter Birnbacher, Minou Bernadette Friele 53
Österreich: Alexander Bogner 63


Michal Anderle:
Whitehead´s First Coming to Terms with the Legacy
of Modern Science and Philosophy 71

Tomáš Marvan:
The Davidson—Quine Dispute on Meaning and Knowledge:
A Concise Guide 107

Ladislav Tondl:
The Role of Values in Human Life 121



BIO- UND MEDIZINETHIK IN LÄNDERN MITTEL-
UND OSTEUROPAS. EINE HINFÜHRUNG
Gerhard Banse, Monika Bartíková
Bioethics and Medical Ethics in Middle and Eastern European Countries. A Prologue
Summary:
The area of biomedicine is one of the fastes developing areas of science and technology. The perception of its possible and expected positive or negative impacts results in the growing number of bioethical discussions in scientific community, politics and public. Their intensity, focus and used methods differ from country to country. The authors of the prologue have tried to map the state of the art and expected development of bioethical discussion in the countries of Middle and Eastern Europe. In the beginning, they addressed the bioethical experts with short questionnaire from 7 “new” European countries (Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) and two “old” European countries (Germany and Austria). In the end, seven experts have responded their questions (Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Austria and Germany) and expressed their expectations and difficulties of the development of bioethical discussions and institutionalisations in their countries. The authors summarize in the prologue the most interesting results.
Keywords: Bioethics, Medical ethics, Middle and Eastern European Countries


WHITEHEAD´S FIRST COMING TO TERMS
WITH THE LEGACY OF MODERN SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
Michal Andrle
Summary:
This article summarises the underlying points of Whitehead´s first systematic critique of the „materialistic“ theory, which dominated modern scientific reasoning, as well as the philosophical motivation of his criticism of modern epistemology that originated as a result of a specific link towards science. Together with an outline of Whitehead´s critique, this study offers a number of illustrative quotes from the works of thinkers against whom Whitehead delineated his own philosophy since his own texts do not systematically come to terms with primary literature. In conclusion, this study sketches out the key traits of Whitehead´s own position representative of the particular phase of his thinking under scrutiny.
Keywords: Whitehead, Bifurcation, Modern Philosophy


THE DAVIDSON—QUINE DISPUTE ON MEANING AND KNOWLEDGE:
A CONCISE GUIDE
Tomáš Marvan
Summary:
The paper adresses the debate between Donald Davidson and W.V.O. Quine on the nature of meanings and knowledge. It is argued that Davidson’s misgivings, though interesting, are not devastating for Quine’s version of empiricism, which is not easily translateble into traditional philosophical categories.
Keywords:Quine – Davidson - epistemology


THE ROLE OF VALUES IN HUMAN LIFE
Ladislav TONDL
Summary:
The paper analyses the function of values, systems of values or of the “teleological world” and their impacts on the life of man and society. This function is connected with the structure of social action, its goal orientation together with its rationality. The action is based on decision-making procedures. The decision-making represents a choice between alternatives, which is based on their evaluation, assessment other proceeding from values, criteria or criterial functions. The role of values is bound to evoke value-related attitudes connected with the selection, preferences or comparisons. It is not possible without integrating values and knowledge.
Keywords: values, teleological world, decision-making, social action, structure of social action, goal-orientation, choice between alternatives, evaluation, assessment, value-related attitudes, integration of values and knowledge