Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina, 2018 (vol. 20), issue 1A
Articles
Individualization and the Ideal of Self-Realization in Conditions of Reflexive Modernity
Ciprian Turcan
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):3-7 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.3-7 
Individualization as a modernization social phenomenon is of a highly ambivalent character. On the one hand, it represents the emancipation of individuals from general pressures of the society, from the traditional relations of domination and material dependence, the reduction of social pressure on the reproduction of traditional, typified social roles and lifestyles associated with social status and gender. On the other hand, individualization leads, under the current conditions, to increasing isolation of individuals in the context of instrumentalized, anonymous and fragmentary social relations and contacts, ultimately to forms of social deprivation....
Interaction of Philosophy and Natural Sciences in Byzantine Empire
Jan Zozulak
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):8-15 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.8-15
The aim of this paper is an analysis of the interaction of philosophy and natural sciences in Byzantine Empire. The cornerstone for this will be the clarification of the function of philosophy as a metascience (μεταεπιστήμη) in Greek thought, which grappled the order of things in its functional unity of macroscopic and microscopic observation of the world. This macroscopic observation was never at odds with microscopic research but was a universal science (καθόλου ἐπιστήμη) or science about scientifically...
Current Challenges of Digital Technologies
Andrea Leskova, Hubert Jurjewicz, Patrik Lenghart, Peter Bacik
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):16-21 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.16-21
This contribution deals with questions on the relationship between reality and virtual reality. It focuses on the problem of shaping an individual's identity in a digital, online environment and, in this context, identifies a retrospective impact on the real person's identity. An effort will also be made to name selected problems related to the topic and to point out some risks that the online environment introduces to the field of self-perception, especially in regard to interpersonal relations. As a result, attention is drawn to changes in the value system that are related to the explored questions.
Philosophy and Digital Humanities in Slovakia - Problem of Digital Textual Resources
Andrej Gogora
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):22-26 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.22-26
The main aim of the article is to bring together free available digital textual resources of Slovak philosophy into the comprehensive list that will serve as a basis for a more systematic building of databases of resources in the future. Firstly, it consists of mapping and describing of accessible Slovak philosophical digital resources. Secondly, it illustrates methodological benefits of digital resources in digital scholarship in philosophy. The purpose of contribution is to draw attention to systematic building-up of digital textual resources in Slovak philosophy and to demonstrate the importance of the application of advanced computational processes...
Future Ethical Challenges as Portrayed in Science Fiction Films
Karel Sladek
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):27-31 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.27-31
Fictional worlds of sci-fi films are but visions of the stage humanity (and the world) is coming to given the ever-evolving technological progress. On the one hand, there are optimistic views of scientific development, on the other, there are ethical warnings, especially when a film portrays consequences for humanity and the planet; a vision, in which we crossed the boundaries and fundamentally change the nature of living organisms either by changing their genetic information, or by implanting nanotechnologies. Therefore, the present article reflects on some ethical challenges portrayed in sci-fi films; in particular, we especially concentrate on the...
The Ethical Aspects of Techno-Science, Dromology, and Hyperreality
Livia Sebikova
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):32-37 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.32-37
The contemporary societies are characterized by several attributes. We can talk about a postmodern, scientific-technical, information, fast, hyperreal or consumer society. In fact, these attributes do not appear in isolation, but in relation to each other. The author inspired by postmodernists such as Lyotard, Virilio, and Baudrillard, focuses on identifying the ethical aspects of these phenomena and deals with the contemporary image of man and societies in this context. Science, technology, information and communication technologies permeate all spheres of human being and change the nature of knowledge. Information, time and speed are important factors...
C. S. Lewis and the Challenge of Ethics in Digital Society
Tibor Mahrik, Mark Neal
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):38-44 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.38-44
This paper examines the idea that digital societies lack an ethical framework for understanding and mitigating the impact of digital technologies on human flourishing and the consequent diminishing of human agency. The authors examine how selected works of C.S. Lewis address man's moral responsibility while living in a developing society and call for a grounding in metaethical frameworks prior to any outcomes of applied ethics. Each of the authors contributes from his own field of expertise - Mahrik on nanoethics and Neal on digital media - while Lewis' writing corpus is the shared interest as well as the basis for their research. Writing and thinking...
Interpersonal Relations in Ethics of Science and Technologies
Peter Kondrla, Eva Durkova
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):45-50 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.45-50
Science and technologies are defined in their foundations as tools for understanding the world. They are tools for simplifying and facilitating the life of man and society. Science and technologies are oriented towards production. The absence of humanistic aspect is leading to science not reflecting human as a person but as an object. The result of this is depersonalization. Thanks to this, manipulation is present in interpersonal relationships. Another thing that adds to this fact are new technologies which make manipulation and control easier. Concrete ethical solution to the problem of depersonalization are personalist ethics which represent the...
Man, Engineering and Ethics
Cyril Diatka
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):51-56 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.51-56
In today's technologically advanced and science-driven societies, a tension arises between the natural process of using our rationality that focuses more or less on the purpose and the practical questions of using new pieces of knowledge that we have gained mostly through modern engineering and technologies. There is often a significant contradiction between that which the required changes should bring about and that which they bring about in reality. The fact here is that the social reality since we are present in it not only with our rationality but also with our desires and ideas often changes the acquired pieces of knowledge and their utilization...
The Power of Modern Technologies in the Fiction of Don Delillo
Martina Pavlikova
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):57-60 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.57-60
This paper analyses the literary work of an American writer Don DeLillo, who belongs among contemporary American writers. He focuses on the manner in which contemporary human consciousness has been shaped being influenced by consumer and military technologies, media and daily life of information. Modern consumer technologies have a strong impact on men. In DeLillo's fictions, modern technologies are not just simple objects in everyday life of his characters. They are able to shape the consciousness of each human. Telephones, nuclear bombs, computers, television sets and modern appliances present a psychological phenomenon which provides the possibilities...
Hermeneutic Change of the Scientific Approach to Myths and Function of Symbols in the Cultures of the Ancient Middle East
Daniel Slivka
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):61-65 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.61-65
In Slovakia, the older generations consider everything connected with religion a priori in the negative sense, because the previous regime led them to treat all such religious interpretations of life as legends or fairy tales. However, in the scientific world today, there is a significant change in the approach to the ancient literature, to its myths and old stories - epic poems of the humanity. In the absolute terms, myth communicates its content via symbols which convey its inner meaning. Nowadays, myths, epic poems, ancient literary works and literary units are considered to be narrative literary genres that were used by an archaic man for an explanation...
Science and Poetry
Dalimir Hajko
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):66-70 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.66-70
Emotionality and rationality or differences and consensus regarding the basic units of the semantic plan of art and science. Relationship of the language and extra-linguistic area in scientific knowledge and poetry. Particularities of the poetic language and the language of science. Image and abstraction: a different ability of our spirit to reflect the world. The presence of metaphors in philosophy and natural sciences as a transcendence of common experience. Interactive understanding of metaphor and its pitfalls. Is metaphor usable in science and does it have a cognitive function?
Interpretation of Values in the Epitaphs on the Tombstones of Old Jewish Cemetery in Bratislava
Jarmila Jurova, Marek Debnar
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):71-79 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.71-79
The aim of the paper is to find the most frequent links and connotations of the notions related to the values of the Jewish religious community in Bratislava before WWII. We understand community as an entity that requires adherence to a set of values, norms, and meanings; religious community is understood as one of the most important and influential constitutive communities in human life. We have therefore decided to process and analyse selected concepts and their closest semantic determinations in the corpus of epitaphs which were found on the tombstones of the Old Jewish Cemetery (already largely destroyed) in Bratislava. The research will be realized...
Using Mathematical Statistics Ethically in Research in The Social Sciences and Humanities
Pavel Hanes, William Gibson, Dana Hanesova
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):80-88 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.80-88
The aim of the authors is to consider some of the ethical challenges caused by the use of statistical methods for research in the humanities and social sciences (specifically education sciences). Statistics has the potential to be a useful tool in the research methodology of these sciences but, on the other hand, it can be abused and misused when the scientists are not aware of its limitations and pre-conditions. Most of the problems arise with deciding what to do to try to answer their questions and how to collect the data. How the data are collected affects how the data are analysed, and how the data will be analysed should affect how the data are...
Achievements of Technology Teachers` Professional Development Resulted From an International Cooperation
Alena Haskova, Peter Hodal, Dirk Van Merode
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):89-95 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.89-95
In the period of the years 2013 - 2017 an international project focused on modernization of tertiary education in Ukraine, Armenia, and Georgia (supported by the European Union in the framework of the TEMPUS program) was carried out. The main goal of the project was to ensure the quality of teaching technical subjects by providing practically oriented syllabi and modules in the embedded system environment and by creating remote laboratories in the target institutions. In accordance with the main goal, great attention was also paid to the professional development of teachers who have been teaching the relevant technology subjects at the concerned higher...
The Position of Ethics in Research Methodology of Educational Sciences after 1989 in the Czech Republic
Miroslav Dopita, Helena Grecmanova
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):96-100 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.96-100
Ethics is one of the themes of educational sciences. Its position is in disciplines such as the history of pedagogy, philosophy of education, the theory of education, general pedagogy, didactics, andragogy or adult education, special pedagogy, research methodology of educational sciences, school legislation and other. Ethical norms were influenced by ideology in the Czech and Slovak environment before 1989. Ethics in educational sciences have gradually been revised after 1989. The presented paper focuses on the analysis of scientific texts on research methodology of educational sciences (pedagogy, andragogy or adult education, special pedagogy), dealing...
The Themes of Global Development as a Challenge for Contemporary Education in the Reflection of Future Teachers
Noemi Bravena, Jana Stara
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):101-108 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.101-108
The themes of global development should form a significant part of the educational process and also of the so-called turning-to-the child education. The themes include the consequences of globalization, technological development, and the lack of ethical reflection connected with them. The article is divided into a theoretical and an empirical part. The theoretical part is focused on the explanation of the terms still not widely known in the educational process: global citizenship and responsibility, the limits and borders of global development in education, and the way of passing along ambiguous themes. The empirical part presents a concrete lesson...
Ethical Issues in the Assessment of Speaking Skills
Rastislav Metruk
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):101-114 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.101-114
Language assessment is a rather complex yet an inseparable part of the learning process. Not only should it represent learners' achievements, but it also ought to facilitate and enhance learning. Assessing spoken proficiency can be regarded as particularly difficult, complex, and time-consuming since many aspects of oral performance need to be carefully considered. The two types of assessment, the assessment for learning (formative assessment) and the assessment of learning (summative assessment), have to be taken into account as they both occupy a significant role in the overall development of speaking skills of a learner. However, mastering the formal...
Developing Communication and Critical Thinking through Creative Writing in English and French Language: Analysis of Classroom Management Strategies
Irina V. Kulamikhina, Jana Birova, Aleksei Yu. Alipichev, Dinara G. Vasbieva, Olga A. Kalugina
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):115-130 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.115-130
Developing critical thinking skills in university students has become a primary goal in higher education. This study investigated the efficacy of the classroom management strategies for developing critical thinking skills in undergraduate students in the class. The four strategies were incorporated into the 54-hour English program: 1) "Reading circles" strategy; 2) Socratic-questions-based discussions; 3) Group presentations; 4) Writing assignments (abstracts, essays, reports). Students took a multiple-choice pretest and posttest (Cambridge Thinking Skills Assessment Test) and answered a Satisfaction Questionnaire. The study produced several findings:...
Ethical Challenges in Nanometrology
Stefan Luby, Martina Lubyova, Ivan Kostic, Pavol Hrkut
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):131-136 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.131-136
Nanometrology is an intrinsic and fast developing part of nanoscience. Given the huge diversity of nanostructures ranging from large molecules from about 10 atoms to structures from 105 atoms (particles of the size ≤ 100 nm), broader investigations in this area cannot be exactly scrutinized nor repeated by the existing capacities. This gave rise to the initiative for reproducibility that aims to avoid simplified approaches, plagiarism and other phenomena that are often triggered by the "publish or perish" philosophy, as well as business practices of predatory journals. In this paper, we discuss two case studies illustrating how to solve these problems:...
Magnetic Fluids and their Applications
Jozef Kudelcik, Maria Kudelcikova
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):137-143 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.137-143
Magnetic fluids contain magnetic nanoparticles which are dispersed in water or various types of oils. Magnetic nanoparticles are monodomain and their magnetic moments are oriented in the direction of the magnetic field. They interact with each other and create new structures, which depend on parameters of magnetic nanoparticles, temperature, values, and development of magnetic and electric fields. This paper describes two basic methods of investigation of magnetic fluids in magnetic and electric fields by the acoustic and the dielectric spectroscopy. Magnetic fluids have wide application in technology, medicine and other areas
The Role of Beauty in Physics
Ivan Melo
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):144-148 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.144-148
The goal of physics is to look for the truth behind the physical phenomena. Where is the place for the beauty then? The truth can be in principle ugly in one case and aesthetically pleasing in another. Nevertheless, many physical theories can be considered as beautiful and are often formulated with aesthetic criteria in mind. These criteria include the ability to explain a lot starting from a little and/or some form of symmetry. Several examples of beautiful laws will be discussed along with opinions of particle physicists on beauty.
The Ethical Dimension of Synthetic Teaching of Mathematics
Dalibor Gonda, Marcela Pjatkova
Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2018, 20(11):149-154 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2018.1A.149-154
Man has created certain habits and ways of dealing with ordinary life situations. It is possible to talk about regularly repeated patterns of behaviour and of solving the everyday routine problems. In principle, people create algorithms for solutions of individual situations, and these algorithms start for him/her more or less subconsciously in identifying the existing problem. But what happens if he/she meets a new, totally unknown situation where the learned algorithms are not enough? There is an inner conflict of the learned with the unknown.In our article, we point out the asset of synthetic mathematics teaching when the pupil is led to solve creatively...