The aim of this review article is to discuss the perspectives of reception of metaphysical system proposed by Polish philosopher Leszek Nowak (1943-2009). In 2010 Krzysztof Kiedrowski published a book “Zarys negatywistycznej metafizyki unitarnej” [An Outline of Negativistic Unitarian Metaphysics]. The book was meant to be a handbook on the topic of Leszek Nowak’s metaphysical system introduced in three volumes titled collectively Byt i Myśl [Being and Thought]. In this review article the idea of such “promoting” of the system is (...) examined. The analyses lead to the conclusion that Leszek Nowak’s system is almost completely neglected by Polish philosophers. The main difficult of Leszek Nowak’s system lies in its method, which is a combination of two philosophical traditions: Hegelian dialectics and analytical philosophy. Such combination “repels” many readers, and makes the system “opaque”. After the lecture of Krzysztof Kiedrowski book one can see clearer the very idea of the system. It becomes obvious that there are two features which make the system unique in contemporary philosophy. Firstly, Leszek Nowak proposed a system which is consistently unitary, which means that fundamental metaphysical divisions (ab-stract – real, material – ideal, body – mind, etc.) can be interpreted as parts of a wholeness (attributive, negativistic universe of possible worlds and enigma). This is a highly speculative idea. Its justification cannot be of empirical nature. The justifica-tion comes from its “usefulness”. Leszek Nowak used his system to paraphrase a large number of classical ideas of western and oriental philosophy. It is true that paraphrases lead to many unintuitive conclusions, which is not, by itself, a drawback. Unintuitive paraphrases allow us to understand better the fundamentals of classical philosophical traditions, and, secondly, they can induce doubts about “obviousness” of our philosophical traditions. It is the main goal of Leszek Nowak’s metaphilosophy: metaphysics should release human discursive powers from imprisonment of common sense. Krzysztof Kiedrowski’s book is the first step in the (postulated) reception of Leszek Nowak’s metaphysical system. (shrink)

The paper analyses not well known beginning of Cracow philosophy of nature originating from the 19th century. A selected number of issues formed by two founders of Cracow philosophical centre – W. Heinrich and M. Straszewski are presented. Finally, the author tries to refl ect on modern nature philosophy in the context of its relations with tradition lasting over the centuries.

The article deals with the question whether the poetic representation of the concert in the verse “Mochnacki” by Jan Lechoń is probable. There is some doubt about one of the elements making the world pictured in the verse - the instrument the protagonist is playing. We know the account given by a person present at the concert performed by Mochnacki in the Societé Philharmonique in Metz on March 23rd 1832 and that lets us point rather to a piano then to (...) a clavickord as the instrument used for the concert. Our opinion is supported by the sound characteristics and the design of the instrument given by the poet in the verse. The clavickord is not able to achieve such a variety of musical expression as Jan Lechoń says Mochnacki could yield. There is a strong probability that the instrument was a piano but the poet called it a clavickord (by mistake or on purpose) for style reasons. (shrink)

The philosophical roots of Malinowski's functionalism are in the academic circles of Krakow, where three figures seem to have exerted a particularly strong influence: Pawlicki, Straszewski, and Heinrich. The predominant trend in philosophy at that time was empiriocriticism, as developed by Mach and Avenarius. Also important were F. A. Lange's interpretation of Marburg neo-Kantianism. It should be noted that the historical philosophy field was extremely broad and diverse. Functionalism, a philosophically open concept, cannot be subordinated to any one philosophical (...) system, although the "openness" of functionalism is not absolute but complemented by its "closedness" to certain other philosophies. Praxism pervades functionalist theory and even creates its foundation. Malinowski approach is entirely scientific, but functionalism is never just empirical. Malinowski realized that pure experience is as impossible as pure reasoning. (shrink)