Kazimierz Twardowski
Encyclopedia
Kazimierz Jerzy Skrzypna-Twardowski (20 October 1866 – 11 February 1938) was a Polish
philosopher and logician.
Twardowski studied philosophy in Vienna
with Franz Brentano
and Robert Zimmermann
. In 1892 he received his doctorate
with his dissertation, Idee und Perzeption (Idea and Perception), and in 1894 he presented his habilitation
thesis, Zur Lehre vom Inhalt und Gegenstand der Vorstellungen (On the Doctrine of the Content and Object of Presentations). He originated many novel ideas related to metaphilosophy
.
He lectured in Vienna in the years 1894-95, then was appointed professor at Lemberg in Austrian Galicia (later Lwów, now Lviv
in the Ukraine
) .
There Twardowski established the Lwów-Warsaw School of logic and also became the "father of Polish logic", beginning the tradition of scientific philosophy in Poland
. Among his students were the logicians Stanisław Leśniewski, Jan Łukasiewicz and Tadeusz Czeżowski
, the historian of philosophy
Władysław Tatarkiewicz, the phenomenologist and aesthetician
Roman Ingarden
, as well as philosophers close to the Vienna Circle
such as Tadeusz Kotarbiński
and Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz
.
. According to him the mind is divided in two main areas: acts or mental phenomena, and a physical phenomenon. For example an act of presentation is aimed at a presentation. This is what he called ‘intentionality’, aboutness. Every act is about something, but also every presentation goes together with an act of presentation.
But there is a problem for this theory. For it is not clear what the presentation exactly is. Is the presentation something only in the mind? Or is it also in the world as object? Twardowski says that sometimes presentation is used for the object in the world and sometimes for the immanent content of a mental phenomena.
Twardowski offers a solution for this problem and proposes to make a distinction between the content of a presentation and the object of a presentation.
In his book Twardowski offers an analogy to make clear how we should think about this distinction. He uses the example of a painting. We say of a landscape that it is painted, but also of a painting that it is painted. In the first case we use the word ‘painting’ in a modifying way (a painted landscape is not a landscape at all), while in the latter case we use the word painting in a qualitative or attributive way. And now Twardowski says, it’s the same with presentations. The content is the painted painting and the object is the painted landscape. So, the content is the present ‘picture’ in your mind, and the object the landscape.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
philosopher and logician.
Life
Twardowski's family belonged to the Ogończyk coat-of-arms.Twardowski studied philosophy in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
with Franz Brentano
Franz Brentano
Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Brentano was an influential German philosopher and psychologist whose influence was felt by other such luminaries as Sigmund Freud, Edmund Husserl, Kazimierz Twardowski and Alexius Meinong, who followed and adapted his views.-Life:Brentano was born at Marienberg am...
and Robert Zimmermann
Robert von Zimmermann
Robert von Zimmermann or Robert Zimmermann was a Czech-born Austrian philosopher....
. In 1892 he received his doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
with his dissertation, Idee und Perzeption (Idea and Perception), and in 1894 he presented his habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
thesis, Zur Lehre vom Inhalt und Gegenstand der Vorstellungen (On the Doctrine of the Content and Object of Presentations). He originated many novel ideas related to metaphilosophy
Metaphilosophy
Metaphilosophy, also called philosophy of philosophy, is the study of the nature, aims, and methods of philosophy. The term is derived from Greek word meta μετά and philosophía φιλοσοφία ....
.
He lectured in Vienna in the years 1894-95, then was appointed professor at Lemberg in Austrian Galicia (later Lwów, now Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
in the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) .
There Twardowski established the Lwów-Warsaw School of logic and also became the "father of Polish logic", beginning the tradition of scientific philosophy in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Among his students were the logicians Stanisław Leśniewski, Jan Łukasiewicz and Tadeusz Czeżowski
Tadeusz Czezowski
Tadeusz Czeżowski was a Polish philosopher and logician.Czeżowski, born in Vienna, Austria, became a student of Kazimierz Twardowski and member of the Lwów-Warsaw School of Logic. From 1923 to 1939 he was a professor at Stefan Batory University in Wilno, Lithuania, and from 1945 to 1960 a...
, the historian of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
Władysław Tatarkiewicz, the phenomenologist and aesthetician
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
Roman Ingarden
Roman Ingarden
Roman Witold Ingarden was a Polish philosopher who worked in phenomenology, ontology and aesthetics.Before World War II, Ingarden published his works mainly in the German language...
, as well as philosophers close to the Vienna Circle
Vienna Circle
The Vienna Circle was an association of philosophers gathered around the University of Vienna in 1922, chaired by Moritz Schlick, also known as the Ernst Mach Society in honour of Ernst Mach...
such as Tadeusz Kotarbiński
Tadeusz Kotarbinski
Tadeusz Kotarbiński , a pupil of Kazimierz Twardowski, was a Polish philosopher, logician, one of the most representative figures of the Lwów-Warsaw School, and a member of the Polish Academy of Learning as well as the Polish Academy of Sciences...
and Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz
Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz
Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz was a Polish philosopher and logician, a prominent figure in the Lwów–Warsaw school of logic. He originated many novel ideas in semiotics, including the "categorial grammar" used by many formal linguists...
.
Content and object
In his book Zur Lehre vom Inhalt und Gegenstand der Vorstellungen, Twardowski argues for a distinction between content and object in the frame of the theory of intentionality of his teacher Franz BrentanoFranz Brentano
Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Brentano was an influential German philosopher and psychologist whose influence was felt by other such luminaries as Sigmund Freud, Edmund Husserl, Kazimierz Twardowski and Alexius Meinong, who followed and adapted his views.-Life:Brentano was born at Marienberg am...
. According to him the mind is divided in two main areas: acts or mental phenomena, and a physical phenomenon. For example an act of presentation is aimed at a presentation. This is what he called ‘intentionality’, aboutness. Every act is about something, but also every presentation goes together with an act of presentation.
But there is a problem for this theory. For it is not clear what the presentation exactly is. Is the presentation something only in the mind? Or is it also in the world as object? Twardowski says that sometimes presentation is used for the object in the world and sometimes for the immanent content of a mental phenomena.
Twardowski offers a solution for this problem and proposes to make a distinction between the content of a presentation and the object of a presentation.
In his book Twardowski offers an analogy to make clear how we should think about this distinction. He uses the example of a painting. We say of a landscape that it is painted, but also of a painting that it is painted. In the first case we use the word ‘painting’ in a modifying way (a painted landscape is not a landscape at all), while in the latter case we use the word painting in a qualitative or attributive way. And now Twardowski says, it’s the same with presentations. The content is the painted painting and the object is the painted landscape. So, the content is the present ‘picture’ in your mind, and the object the landscape.
Works
- Wyobrażenie i pojęcie (1898)
- O tzw. prawdach względnych (1900), O psychologii, jej przedmiocie, zadaniach, metodzie, stosunku do innych nauk i jej rozwoju (1913)
- Rozprawy i artykuły filozoficzne (1927)
- Wybrane pisma filozoficzne (1965)
- Wybór pism psychologicznych i pedagogicznych (1992)
- Dzienniki (1997)
- On the content and object of presentations. A psychological investigation. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff 1977. Translated and with an introduction by Reinhardt Grossmann
- Sur les objets intentionnels (1893-1901). Paris: Vrin 1993. French translation of Zur Lehre vom Inhalt und Gegenstand der Vorstellungen and other texts by Edmund Husserl
- On actions, products and other topics in philosophy. Edited by Johannes Brandl and Jan Wolenski. Amsterdam: Rodopi 1999. Translated and annotated by Arthur Szylewicz
See also
- School of BrentanoSchool of BrentanoThe School of Brentano refers to the philosophers and psychologists who studied with Franz Brentano and were essentially influenced by him. While it was never a school in the traditional sense, Brentano tried to maintain some cohesion in the school...
- Representationalism
- Lwow-Warsaw School of Logic
- Polish logicPolish logicPolish Logic is an anthology of papers by several authors, including Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, published in 1967 and covering the period 1920–1939...
- History of philosophy in Poland
- List of Poles