Władysław Tatarkiewicz | |
|---|---|
 Władysław Tatarkiewiczc. 1960 | |
| Born | April 3, 1886 |
| Died | April 4, 1980 (aged 94) Warsaw,Polish People's Republic |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | Warsaw University of Technology University of Warsaw |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Lwów–Warsaw school of logic |
| Main interests | aesthetics,ethics,history of art,history of philosophy |
Władysław Tatarkiewicz (Polish:[vwaˈdɨswaftatarˈkʲevitʂ]; 3 April 1886 – 4 April 1980) was a Polishphilosopher, historian ofphilosophy, historian ofart,esthetician, andethicist.[1]
Tatarkiewicz began his higher education atWarsaw University. When it was closed by theRussian Imperial authorities in 1905, he was forced to continue his education abroad inMarburg,Germany, where he studied from 1907 to 1910.[2]
As he describes in hisMemoirs, it was a chance encounter with a male relative, whose height made him stand out above the crowd at aKraków railroad station, upon the outbreak ofWorld War I that led Tatarkiewicz to spend the war years inWarsaw.[3] There he began his career as a lecturer in philosophy, teaching at a girls' school onMokotowska Street, across the street from whereJózef Piłsudski was to reside during his first days after World War I.
DuringWorld War I, when the Polish University of Warsaw was opened under the sponsorship of the occupying Germans – who wanted to win Polish support for their war effort – Tatarkiewicz directed its philosophy department in 1915–19.
In 1919–21 he was professor atStefan Batory University inWilno, in 1921–23 at theUniversity of Poznań, and in 1923–61 again at theUniversity of Warsaw. In 1930 he became a member of thePolish Academy of Learning.[4]
DuringWorld War II, risking his life, he conductedunderground lectures in German-occupied Warsaw[5] (one of the audience members wasCzesław Miłosz).[6] After the suppression of theWarsaw Uprising (August–October 1944) he again consciously risked his life when retrieving a manuscript from the gutter, where a German soldier had hurled it (this and other materials were later published as a book, in English translation titledAnalysis of Happiness).[7]
After World War II, he taught at theUniversity of Warsaw. In March 1950 Tatarkiewicz was demoted and banned from teaching after seven of his students (includingHenryk Holland andLeszek Kołakowski), who were activists in thePolish United Workers' Party, presented a "Letter of 7" which denounced him for "privileging 'objective-bourgois' science instead of Marxist engagement" and opposing "the construction of socialism in Poland".[8]
Władysław Tatarkiewicz died the day after his 94th birthday. In hisMemoirs, published shortly before, he recalled having been ousted from his University chair (by Henryk Holland, a politically connected former student[9]). Characteristically, he saw even that indignity as a blessing in disguise, as it gave him freedom from academic duties, and leisure to pursue research and writing.[10]
And in sum it is a good existence: that of a retired old professor. He still has something to do, but is under no compulsion. He only voluntarily imposes compulsions on himself. He has time: at any time of day, he can go for a walk in the park—as long as his legs will still carry him. Equally, or even more, important is this: he no longer has ambition, he has ceased to be a rival to others. He is no inconvenience to others, they have no need to fear him, they have no reason to envy him: in this situation—without opponents, rivals and enemies—life is considerably more tolerable.[11]
Tatarkiewicz reflected that at all crucial junctures of his life, he had failed to foresee events, many of them tragic, but that this had probably been for the better, since he could not have altered them anyway.[12]
Tatarkiewicz believed that "satisfaction with particular things... is only partial satisfaction; happiness requires total satisfaction, that is, satisfaction with life as a whole."[13]
Tatarkiewicz belonged to theinterwarLwów–Warsaw school of logic, created byKazimierz Twardowski, which gave reborn Poland many scholars and scientists: philosophers, logicians,psychologists,sociologists, and organizers of academia.[14]
Tatarkiewicz educated generations of Polish philosophers, estheticians and art historians, as well as a multitude of interested laymen.[15] He posthumously continues to do so through hisHistory of Philosophy and numerous other works.
In his final years, Tatarkiewicz devoted considerable attention to securing translations of his major works. Of the below incomplete listing of his works, his 1909 German-language doctoral thesis, and hisHistory of Philosophy,Łazienki warszawskie,Parerga, andMemoirs have not been translated intoEnglish.
