The problem of justice, one of the key problems of contemporary political philosophy, is reconsidered in the light of a new paradigm: Otfried Höffe’s theory of transcendental exchange. The main research question is how this theory influences our understanding of the ways of formation of just moral and legal grounds in contemporary society. In order to understand justice adequately, it is important to regard it as personal responsibility, deeply related to attitudes of solidarity and recognition. There is an attempt to fuse moral and material grounds of social existence in order to overcome social injustice. Freedom and justice are rooted in the living world and are based on formal norms and procedures of morality and law. This gives us methodological grounds for understanding Höffe’s philosophy of political justice, which regards freedom and justice as the main conditions of human existence.

Changes of the meaning of „social justice” concept in the face of the welfare state purposes

Since the 40’s of the nineteenth century the term “social justice” has played an increasing role in political reflection. The main subject of this paper is a meaning ascribed to the idea of “social justice” in the face of goals of welfare state. From this point of view very important are various senses of the notion. It can be distinguished in this area at least two related aspects. The first refers to characteristic of the justice itself. It can be described as a virtue, norm or right. The second one applies to the particular type of justice identified with social justice. In this respect relevant are: legal, distributive and retributive (or commutative) justice. Aside from that, social justice is also treated as an idea of equality or solidarity in social environment.

According to Anthony Giddens, the state of social investment was to be the third way between neoliberalism and the post-war welfare state, the quintessence of a future-oriented approach in which the state becomes an entrepreneur. In this concept, state expenditures are perceived as a form of investment in human capital and understood as positive prosperity. The implementation of the state of social investment entails the phenomenon of citizenship of responsible risk recipients. In the literature on social investments, the reflection is repeated that this model is the result of the need to respond to the radically changed economic and social order, including the challenges of a globalized knowledge-based economy. The model encourages active participation in the search for solutions for social structural changes, such as aging population, changing the family model or the labour market. Despite the fact that the social investment model is based on the free market perceived as the most suitable for the organisation of societies, this is no longer the so-called inexorable market. It emphasizes the need for government intervention and targeting market forces to improve both economic and social performance. The aim of the article is to verify the thesis about the investment paradigm of social policy between free-market mechanisms and the welfare state, two extremely different interpretations of contemporary socioeconomic reality.

The purpose of the article is to signal that actions aimed at implementing the principle of social justice (in the context of Article 2 of the Polish Constitution) require the legislator to consider a number of variables. It is particularly about the principle of equality and guaranteeing an appropriate level of security (including social security), as well as respect for acquired rights and trust in the state and law. Legislative actions that result in legitimate securitization of the law may of course lead to the limitation of the principle of social justice, as long as they take into account the objective needs of safety and health protection. The use of inadequate measures by the legislator or the creation of apparent threats and the related fear by the power apparatus will evoke a deep sense of injustice and lead to violent opposition from society.

The subject of the article is an analysis of the impact of the constitutional principle of social justice on the understanding of the principle of equity in civil law and, consequently, on the practical application of regulations that contain the general clause governing the principles of social coexistence. Assuming a universal nature of the axiological basis of the legal system in Poland, and the radiation of constitutional principles and values onto statutory law, the author, using a method involving analytical and functional analysis of legal texts and court rulings, comes to the conclusion that adjudication in civil cases should, to some extent, in addition to protection of individual rights and interests, concern the protection of social interests.

The dominant paradigm for a number of decades of neo-liberal economy has not signifi cantly weakened even times of economic crises referred to as the largest since the Great Depression. Moreover, for a long time we were witnessing the moving logic of economic activities to other spheres of social life. The process of marketization of the public sphere is constantly progressing. It should, therefore, take the debate over its reach and impact on the functioning of the community. We need to ask yourself a number of questions, the answers to which will be crucial for our life as a community. These questions about the moral, ethical and social boundaries of the market put in a rather provocative way Michael Sandel. Adopting a broader debate over them is essential, because the important aspects of our existence both in terms of individual and as a community will really on that. Does the knowledge, information, our body, clean air, access to education, to health care are goods? Are they subject to the rules of supply and demand? Is the market mechanism the best way to distribute them? Is there a legitimate way? Answers to these questions should not be limited to the discourse of the efficiency measure, which sometimes seems to dominate public discourse and especially political. This discourse should be conducted in relation to the concept of social justice and equality as marketization processes inevitably lead to the emergence of new dividing lines and the growing social inequality. This current refl ection on society was constantly present in publications of Richard Borowicz. These questions he asked yourself and his readers for a long time. It is a pity, that now he is not able to participate directly in this discourse.

Otfried Hoeffe’s philosophy of political justice

The paper covers an issue of justice in the light of a new paradigm in political philosophy proposed by Otfried Hoeffe’s theory of the exchange of justice. The author analyses the impact of this approach to justice upon understanding of how could contemporary society develop its fair moral and legal grounds. It is proved that for an adequate understanding of justice is its understanding as a personal responsibility, organically related to guidance on solidarity and recognition. Their interpretations of as well attempts to join moral and material grounds of social life to overcome of injustice are in the author’s focus. It is showed that freedom and justice are enrooted in a lifeword, as well relay upon formal norms and procedures of moral and justice. It gives a methodology for understanding of O. Hoeffe’s philosophy of political justice that states freedom and justice as basic conditions of human being.

Mathematical Failures of Girls and Members of Ethnic Minorities. Causes, Explanations, and Remedial Measures in the Light of Educational Ideologies

In this article I discuss the question: „What is mathematics really all about?” How mathematics is viewed is significant on many levels, especially in education and society. For many years, sociologists of mathematics education, have stressed that mathematics acts as a gatekeeper: mathematics more than any other subject, has been cast in the role as an ,,objective” judge. The main purpose of this article is to conjoin several sets of problems such as the mathematical underparticipation of women and ethnic minorities , the sense of cultural alienation from mathematics felt by many social groups, mathematics in the process of transmission of social and political values, its role in the unequal distribution of power and the social nature of mathematics as a discipline.

Impact of Constitutional Principles and Values on the Private Law Principle of Equity

The purpose of this article is to establish an answer to the question whether, and if so, how, the private law value system, in particular the private law principle of equity, is influenced by constitutional values and principles. In conclusion, it is established that constitutional norms, reflecting the constitutional axiological order, should be taken into account when interpreting the function of the civil law principle of equity.