Polish Minds That Shaped World Philosophy

The philosophical biography penned by the eminent Polish philosopher and translator Professor Piotr Nowak presents the difficult fate of Polish thinkers who reflected and created their philosophies in the 20th century—the century of three Polands, three wars, and two totalitarian regimes. Building his narrative around three key words, the author presents the lives and work of Wladyslaw Tatarkiewicz, Tadeusz Kronski, Leszek Kolakowski, Andrzej Walicki, Adam Schaff, Bronislaw Baczko, Krzysztof Pomian, Zbigniew Kuderowicz, Stefan Amsterdamski, Jerzy Szacki, Zygmunt Bauman, Jan Garewicz, Barbara Skarga, Juliusz Domanski, Ryszard Legutko, Krzysztof Michalski, Marek J. Siemek, Józef Tischner, Roman Ingarden, Henryk Elzenberger, Tadeusz Kotarbinski, Kazimierz Adjunkiewicz, Marian Przelecki, Boguslaw Wolniewicz, Józef Maria Bochenski, Alfred Tarski, Leon Chwistek, and Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz. The book concludes with a transcript of a conversation between Zbigniew Janowski (an American philosopher of Polish descent) and the author of this book, discussing the influence of two powerful ideologies born in the 19th century, Marxism and liberalism, on the intellectual and political life of contemporary nations.