Vybrané kapitoly z epistemológie (v kontexte postmetafyzického myslenia)

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Lucia Tóthová - Dušan Šlosár

The presented monographic processing of the issues of groups, as a basic phenomenon of our social life, draws a lot of current knowledge from realized researches, their empirical results and practical work with the group, which offers a comprehensive view of the social group. Social group looks both as a natural part of human life and it is analyzed and studied, so that knowledge of the social group can be rewarded.

This has been transferred to artificially created groups to help individuals through group work. At the same time, the monograph also considers the method of social work with a group as one of the methods used in various helping professions.

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Marián Bednár

University textbook Selected Chapters from Managerial Ethics presents selected topics from the current issue of Managerial Ethics.

The historical context of Managerial Ethics and its formation on the background of business ethics, up to the form of independent inter and trans discipline, is presented at the introduction. Being one of the subdisciplines of applied ethics, it is inherently normative and interdisciplinary. It represents an overlapping institutional aspect - management ethics and individual aspect - manager ethics. The issue of social responsibility in economics and business, or the moral profile of a manager as a key player of this applied ethics is mentioned.

Institutionalization and implementation of ethics in corporate culture and the tools that are used in this so complex and interdisciplinary process are also a necessary step. Established ethical management systems, which complement the modularity of institutionalization, are also important. The main question is, of course, ethics in decision-making and management of people, as it is where ethical dilemmas and tensions are born. Also, the issue of ethics in leadership, as another qualitative and developmental stage in Managerial Ethics, is the contribution.

The attached moral dilemmas are meant to reflect, self-test moral intelligence and to be resolved.

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Ján Šimko - Dušan Šlosár

The monograph is dealing with the issue of homosexuality and homophobia in the context of social work and it is divided into five chapters, which are devoted to individual fields of the tackled issue. The first chapter is describing the phenomenon of homosexuality in the society; the focus is put on human sexuality and sexual orientation. The following chapter is clarifying the formation of homosexual identity in connection to coming out and it describes its frequently utilized models. The third chapter is devoted to the concepts of heteronormativity and heterosexism in the social context.

Furthermore, the chapter is dealing with the formation of attitudes towards this issue from the point of view of religion and masculinity. Another chapter is describing homophobia as the result of heteronormativity, stereotypes and prejudice.

In the last chapter, the authors are introducing selected social work theories dealing with the homosexual minority, the approaches to LGBT+ community and suggestions towards elimination of homophobia within the social work environment.

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Martina Hurčalová - Sergej Sinicyn - Maroš Čupka (eds.)

Proceedings from the 13th International Scientific Conference of Students and Young Researchers, organized on May 16, 2024, by the Department of Political Science of the Faculty of Arts at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, the Institute of Political Science and Public Administration of the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, the Department of Political Science of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Miskolc, the Institute of Social Studies of the Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies at Mendel University in Brno, the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, and the civic association Respublica.

The aim of the translated publication NEW EUROPE: Back to the Future is to reflect on the challenges in the fields of international security, the fight against climate change, and environmental protection, and to highlight selected global phenomena.

The proceedings consist of 12 contributions in Slovak, English, and Czech. The authors primarily addressed selected current issues from the international environment in the context of deteriorating international relations and global security.

The topics of the contributions mainly include questions of international security (for example, in Germany or Hungary), environmental issues and the fight against the climate crisis. Furthermore, the proceedings include topics such as the European Parliament elections, selected narratives related to the war in Ukraine, migration to Europe and its security aspects, self-reflection of the European political system, and public space and public discourse. The proceedings also include a part of an upcoming utopian novel.

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Renáta Orosová

The scientific-professional journal Edukácia focuses on issues related to education and upbringing in the fields of primary, secondary, and higher education. It emphasizes the current state and prospects of educational practice, contemporary aspects of pre-service teacher training, social pedagogy, special pedagogy, as well as pedagogical and psychological aspects of upbringing in basic educational institutions from the perspective of the broader pedagogical community. It is intended for researchers, young university lecturers, doctoral candidates, as well as professional and teaching staff, with the aim of presenting trends in education and stimulating discussion on current issues in the presented areas of upbringing and education.

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Soňa Lovašová - Veronika Bérešová (eds.)

Reviewed proceedings from the scientific conference with international participation held on December 1, 2023, in Košice.

This proceedings volume collects contributions from the 11th annual conference focused on adolescents, reflecting current interdisciplinary issues faced by this age group. It consists of 12 scholarly contributions addressing various aspects of adolescent life, including loneliness, risky behavior, and the phenomenon of radicalization. The contributions are organized into thematic sections, facilitating easier navigation for readers. Topics include prevention of radicalization, family factors, and mechanisms of cyberbullying. The proceedings offer both theoretical and practical insights valuable for professionals in social work, psychology, and other helping professions, aiming to enhance understanding of the current challenges faced by adolescents and propose effective solutions.

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Lucia Tóthová

The monograph offers a comprehensive perspective on the theoretical, methodological, and empirical dimensions of participatory visual research within the field of social work. It is grounded in the understanding that social work plays a crucial role in amplifying the voices of vulnerable groups and promoting social justice, with particular attention paid to persons with disabilities who frequently encounter limited opportunities for participation as well as persistent social, communicative, and environmental barriers. The author analyses the concept of participation in alignment with the principle of “Nothing about us without us” and presents the PhotoVoice method as an interdisciplinary tool that integrates participatory action research, critical pedagogy, feminist epistemologies, and documentary photography. The method is understood not only as a research technique but also as a form of visual advocacy, enabling participants to articulate their experiences, needs, and perspectives in ways accessible to both professional audiences and the wider public. The monograph reflects on the development of PhotoVoice in international scholarship and highlights its potential to transcend traditional academic boundaries toward participatory and transformative practice in social work. The empirical section comprises three projects conducted by the author in the Slovak context, focusing on diverse groups of persons with disabilities and their families, who face specific social needs and everyday barriers. The findings demonstrate the potential of PhotoVoice to strengthen participation through accessible and meaningful visual tools. The monograph also addresses methodological, ethical, and terminological considerations and adopts an inclusive understanding of disability consistent with contemporary approaches in social work.

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Renáta Orosová - Zuzana Boberová - Emília Marcinová (eds.)

Proceedings of Abstracts from the International Scientific Conference, 12–13 September 2016

The international scientific conference is focused on issues of education and upbringing within primary, secondary, and higher education, as well as school institutions, from the perspective of the educator. Emphasis is placed on the current state and prospects of educators in educational practice, pedagogical and sociological aspects of upbringing in fundamental educational and upbringing institutions, as well as current aspects of pre-service teacher training.

The conference is intended for researchers, young university teachers, doctoral students, as well as professional and pedagogical staff, with the aim of presenting the educator-teacher, social pedagogue, and special pedagogue-from a contemporary perspective, highlighting their essential cooperation in relation to education, and stimulating discussion on current issues in the presented areas of upbringing and education within the context of the present situation in the school system.

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Jozef Bavoľár

Decision-making is an everyday activity for us, whether it involves decisions about routine matters such as what to have for breakfast or more significant choices like selecting a career after finishing school. Due to the far-reaching consequences that a single decision can have on our entire lives, this area has received considerable attention in psychology. After all, the classic goals of psychology—describing, explaining, and predicting human behavior—are essentially attempts to understand decision-making and identify and describe the factors influencing it. Fundamental psychological disciplines such as the psychology of emotions and motivation, cognitive psychology, social psychology, and personality psychology all strive to achieve this understanding.

The presented text primarily adopts a cognitive approach, focusing on the processes of information processing and utilization. Since there are very few events in the future we can be completely certain about, key concepts include terms expressing uncertainty about the future, such as uncertainty, risk, objective probability, and subjective probability.

The central question thus lies in processing information from the environment and utilizing it in the decision-making process.

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Vladimír Leško - Milovan Ješič - Pavol Tholt

The philosophical work of the most significant Czech philosopher of the 20th century, Jan Patočka (1907–1977), stands out for its unique intellectual originality.

Even at the time of its creation, it significantly transcended the narrow boundaries of the contemporary Czechoslovak spiritual space and uniquely connected our country with the most advanced philosophical teachings of Western thought, in which Husserl's phenomenology and Heidegger's fundamental ontology played a dominant role. Certainly, it would be a great mistake to reduce the decisive position of Patočka's philosophical work merely to the reception and critical-creative elaboration of Husserl's and Heidegger's philosophy.

In this context, we cannot overlook the decisive contribution of Eugen Fink, who introduced Patočka to the intricacies of Husserl's and Heidegger's philosophy. Both thinkers then continued in a lifelong creative philosophical dialogue. However, it is also necessary to mention Patočka's intense interest in the works of Scheler, Ingarden, Landgrebe, as well as Sartre and others.

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Štefan Jusko

The goal of the monograph is to highlight the significant problem of interpreting the Socratic question, as its approach represents a method of interpreting the history of philosophy, specifically in our case, the interpretation of Socrates and Plato. The Socratic question can be grasped in diametrically different ways, as shown by Patočka and Nietzsche, among others. The former aligns with Socrates and innovatively updates his question for the present. The latter is ambivalent towards Socrates but ultimately labels him a decadent.

In the first part of the monograph, Patočka's characterization of human existence is presented, which he formulates as unified and morally firm. Patočka interprets the Socratic question as care for the soul, for its well-being, without deriving the concept of good from something positively defined but from the whole world, which can only be defined negatively due to its constant openness. This sphere of negativity is for Patočka something immensely positive because transcendence lifts humans from relative goods to the overall meaning, making them morally capable in the true sense. The good, i.e., the requirement for a surge, for a turn of humans from the world of things to the whole world, is for him a program that Socrates first formulated through his knowing ignorance.

The second part of the work is dedicated to Nietzsche's concept based on the non-unified nature of human existence, which is not derived from the whole world or overall meaning but from situational meaning. Nietzsche strives to prove that in every situation, human existence is exposed to two opposing perspectives, between which it is impossible to decide which is correct. He concludes that both perspectives are equally valid and mutually conditioned, meaning that the opposite of good, what threatens meaning, is a beneficial condition for situational meaning. He labels this level as immoral, as a sphere where human existence creates meaning outside the thinking of good and evil in opposition.

The conclusion of the work is open because, as it turns out, we do not have a common denominator that could decide on the correctness of one or the other concept. Precisely in this lies the fact that the Socratic question remains a serious philosophical problem even today.

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Zuzana Buráková

The English language study materials are intended for students of geography and general ecology at the Faculty of Science of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University. Their aim is to broaden communicative language competencies at an intermediate level of English proficiency, with an emphasis on the students’ field of study.

The individual chapters are based on the need for specialization within the various natural science disciplines and on preparing students to present their academic results not only at home, but also abroad. The study material contains a variety of texts, quizzes, exercises, maps, etc., which further illustrate the issues relevant to the field.

This material is intended to serve as a foundation for the future creation of even more precise materials needed for teaching specialized foreign language courses.

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Ľubov Vladyková - Marián Bednár a kol.

The university textbook Ethics of Science and Technique (Selected Problems) is a collection of contributions by various authors who deal with selected problems and areas of science and technique. For the last hundred years, we can observe the rapid development of science and technique (technology). The transition of society in the 20th century into the information age and in the current 21st century into the digital age brings radical challenges and changes in all areas of human life, but especially in the moral field.

Ethical discussions, responding to the development of science and technique (technology), have stimulated the emergence of ethics of science and technique, which as a subdiscipline of applied ethics is a way out of the conflict between professional autonomy, social control and self-regulation of action and behaviour; not only in science and technique, but also in economy and politics. In the digital age, technique, technology and science are fundamentally changing our lives; from the way we work to the way we communicate, how we fight local and global problems, and how we try to solve societal problems.

These radical changes are not without controversy, and many provoke intense debates that are often polarized or associated with scientific ambiguities or dishonest demagoguery and ideology.

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Myroslava Fabian

The academic textbook entitled “Stylistics: Theory and Practice, Part I” responds to the need identified by the author in her own teaching practice to supply the students with both theoretical and practical materials to the lecture and seminar course of contemporary English Stylistics.

Taking into account the richness and variety of English stylistic means of communication, the author dwells on basic notions of the academic course in question, describes stylistic semasiology as well as phonetic, syntactic expressive means and stylistic devices, offers practical help to stylistically identify, classify and describe the elements of language used in speech.

The textbook is designed for university students of English philology, students of English translation and interpretation study programmes, and also for students majoring in other disciplines combined with English language studies, as well as for those who study in English are expected to engage in scientific inquiry, document their research in Bachelor and Master theses or in doctoral dissertations written in English, and to present their work to their academic community.

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Mikuláš Jančura - Maroš Melichárek

The Textbook is based on the output of the twelveth year of the student scientific conference held in December 2023. The student scientific conference is a study subject included in the study plans of the Department of History, Faculty of Arts, UPJŠ, implemented since 2011 and aims to offer space for Bc. and Mgr. degree students to present fragments of their primary research as part of the creation of their bachelor and master thesis. The aim of the presented Textbook is not only to publish these thematically broad-spectrum texts, but also to target the effort for above-standard pedagogical activities and the added value of university studies towards students in the form of publication output.This year's anthology contains 6 texts with a chronological framing from the Middle Ages to the history of the 20th century.

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Gabriel Eštok

The university textbook Citizenship of the European Union is structured into four parts. The first chapter focuses on the characteristics of citizenship in a historical context (concepts of citizenship in the ancient, medieval and modern periods).

The second chapter deals with a theoretical introduction to citizenship. It comes up with the characteristics of citizenship, introduces the ways of acquiring and losing citizenship and the transformations of citizenship in the context of globalization and multiculturalism.

The third chapter focuses on European Union citizenship itself, its historical development and the process of introducing and strengthening citizenship in the European Union.

The fourth chapter presents the specific rights of citizens deriving from European Union citizenship - the right to free movement, the right to vote and stand as a candidate in municipal and European Parliament elections, the right to diplomatic and consular protection in the territory of a third country, the right to petition the institutions of the European Union, the right of access to documents of the institutions and bodies of the Union, and the right of initiative of the citizens of the European Union.

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