Filozofia Nauki

The Lvov-Warsaw School in the World of Values: Introduction to the Special Issues of Filozofia Nauki

Anna Brożek, Witold Płotka — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Kotarbiński on Intellectual Values and Intellectual Ethics

Pascal Engel — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Tadeusz Kotarbiński never formulates explicitly the project of an intellectual ethics, but we can reconstruct his answer from his Traktat o dobrej robocie (1955; Eng. transl.: Praxiology: An introduction to the Sciences of Efficient Action, 1965) and his ethical writings. Kotarbiński does not formulate an explicit meta-ethics of values, and seems to develop a purely functionalist conception according to which there is nothing more in intellectual ethics than a conception of efficient action. However, he has a theory of practical values and skills that can be applied to the aims and norms of the epistemic domain. But can he secure a genuine conception of intellectual values if these are merely immanent to “efficient work”?

Anti-irrationalism, Its Value and Philosophical Implications

Ryszard Kleszcz — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The article examines the concept of anti-irrationalism coined by the members of the Lvov-Warsaw School. The term “anti-irrationalism” comes from Ajdukiewicz, who used it to define the specificity of the School as a whole. For Ajdukiewicz, anti-irrationalism, which values cognition with intersubjective qualities, is contrasted with irrationalism. The article discusses Twardowski’s tripartite division of beliefs into rational, “irrational,” and “non-rational.” Against this background, the article explores Dąmbska’s view on irrationalism, which is divided by her into several subcategories.
Finally, the author considers the question of anti-irrationalism as a metaphilosophical standpoint in the context of the question of a worldview.

Leading Metaphilosophical Values of the Lvov-Warsaw School

Tadeusz Szubka — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The article explores the concept of scientific philosophy as understood by members of the Lvov-Warsaw School. The author argues that according to Twardowski and his students, philosophy should be done as an exact discipline which ought to be pursued in critical and collaborative spirit. Selected views on scientific philosophy are analyzed, including ideas of Ajdukiewicz, Zawirski, and Dąmbska. It is claimed that though the conception of scientific philosophy is beset with crucial and fundamental ambiguities, it was far more important for the Lvov-Warsaw School than the idea of analytic philosophy.

On Certain Values of the Lvov-Warsaw School and Logical Culture: Towards Challenges of Contemporaneousness

Urszula Wybraniec-Skardowska — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This article explores the question of how the members of the Lvov-Warsaw School promoted values that can be regarded as components of so-called logical culture. The author argues that these values are strictly connected with science. With references to Łukasiewicz, Czeżowski, and Kotarbiński,
the article explores how values shape the logical culture and determines society as directed towards values. The article connects the meta-philosophical perspective with the philosophical one.

Polish Logicians in the Years 1918-1948 on Social Functions of Logic

Jan Woleński — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The Polish School of Logic flourished in the period 1920-1939. Philosophically, it was influenced by Kazimierz Twardowski, professor at the University of Lwow (now Lviv in Ukraine), who established the Lwow-Warsaw School, to which the mentioned logical group belonged. Twardowski claimed that logic is very important in every kind of human activity, professional as well as private. Hence, every argument should be clearly formulated and proceed by correct inferential rules. These postulates involved semiotics, formal logic, and methodology of science — that is, logica sensu largo. This position was accepted by Twardowski’s most distinguished students, such as Jan Łukasiewicz, Stanisław Leśniewski, Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, and Tadeusz Kotarbiński, who graduated before 1914, as well as the next generation of logicians and philosophers, particularly by Alfred Tarski. Although all these people considered logic, philosophy, and science as completely neutral with respect to politics and ideology, they treated logical skills as indispensable in political activities. In philosophical specialized terminology, Polish logicians regarded logic as a weapon against irrationalism. This position was also represented by Polish logicians who did not belong to the group of Twardowski’s students.

The Value of Reality to Logic and the Value of Logic to Reality: A Comparison of Łukasiewicz’s and Leśniewski’s Views

Zuzana Rybaříková — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Since Kazimierz Twardowski introduced the notions of “symbolomania” and “pragmatophobia,” the relationship between logic and reality was the focus of the philosophers from the Lvov-Warsaw School — inter alia two prominent logicians of the group, Stanisław Leśniewski and Jan Łukasiewicz. Bolesław Sobociński has pointed out, however, that there was a contrast between their approach to logic and reality. Despite being members of the same philosophical group and even colleagues from the same department, their philosophical views on the position of logic in reality differed considerably. Yet they both agreed that reality has a certain importance for logic and that logic could be valuable for reality. The aim of this paper is to introduce their divergent positions and describe in more detail how Leśniewski and Łukasiewicz understood the relationship between logic and the real world.

On Good Mental Work: Techniques of Mental Work as a Subject of Pragmatic Logic in the Lvov-Warsaw School

Marcin Będkowski — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Kazimierz Twardowski was renowned as an outstanding philosopher, teacher, and organizer of academic life. No less famous was his style of work, depicted in many recollections of his students. In the paper, I present three aspects of good mental work: a) stoic inspiration for Kazimierz Twardowski’s style of work, b) the place of the techniques of mental work in the program of pragmatic logic according to the views of Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz and Tadeusz Kotarbiński, and c) selected contemporary approaches consistent with the direction provided by the Lvov-Warsaw School. By exploring a new perspective in the study of good mental work by linking it to the ancient philosophy of life as well as to the most recent developments in the theory of good mental work, the paper reveals unexplored insights into the tradition of the Lvov-Warsaw School, demonstrating its significance, depth, and relevance to modern times.

Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, “On Justice”: Introduction

Anna Brożek — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

On Justice

Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Two Papers by Maria Ossowska: Introduction

Anna Brożek — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The Model of a Citizen in a Democratic System

Maria Ossowska — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

On the Concept of Dignity

Maria Ossowska — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000