CFP: Philosophical Education in the Lvov-Warsaw School (Volume)
Special issue of the journal EDUKACJA FILOZOFICZNA (Philosophical Education)
DEADLINE: December 31, 2023
EDITORS OF THE SPECIAL VOLUME: Anna Brożek & Ewelina Grądzka
There are several reasons why the Lvov-Warsaw School (LWS) is an exceptional branch of analytic philosophy. Firstly, the School is famous for its methodological emphasis on the postulates of clarity and justification. Secondly, among its hallmarks was optimism towards philosophical problems, namely the conviction that they are senseful and generally solvable. Thirdly, the Polish language was used almost exclusively in discussions and publications, which gave the philosophy practiced in the School a specific tint but also made the reception of the Lvov-Warsaw results abroad more difficult. Fourthly, and perhaps most importantly, the LWS was a school in a strict sense. It was composed of people joined by the relations teacher-student. The process of philosophical education was considered very seriously in the School. We owe the School the development of a program of philosophical education at various levels, as well as many excellent textbooks.
The most important teacher in the School and the model of an educator was Kazimierz Twardowski (1866-1938). Thanks to the enormous effort, he established the whole philosophical education system in Lwów at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. This includes, at the university, general lectures for all students and elitist seminars for closer pupils. Outside the university, there were open lectures for a broad audience in Lwów and in the province, and the foundation of the journal Ruch Filozoficzny [Philosophical Movement], which was aimed to inform all possibly interested about the course of philosophical life in Poland and abroad. Twardowski contributed to preparation of the philosophy teaching program for secondary schools. Through his textbook for primary school teachers, he tried to “touch” with the philosophical thinking also this group of educators.
It is important to stress that Twardowski’s program for philosophy was interdisciplinary and included interactions of many disciplines. Moreover, Twardowski considered psychology and logic, which were s in the process of emancipation in the first decades of the 20th century, two basic philosophical disciplines. That is why Twardowski’s program included psychological and logical education. In addition, Twardowski led a pedagogical seminar and also gave impulses for the developments in this domain; hence leading pedagogy professors in 20th-century Poland were his students.
In his teaching activities, Twardowski followed another great educator , Franz Brentano, whose style of philosophizing and teaching Twardowski wanted to disseminate in Poland. Soon, Twardowski was followed by his students, who became excellent philosophy, logic, and psychology teachers. Władysław Witwicki, Jan Łukasiewicz, Tadeusz Kotarbiński, Bogdan Nawroczyński, Tadeusz Czeżowski, Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, Izydora Dąmbska, and others, became just as excellent instructors as Twardowski. They created their own schools of clear and exact thinking in various centers (Lwów, Warsaw, Poznań, Wilno, Cracow…). This didactic generations relay race made the occurrence of the most important results of the LWS possible. What is significant to emphasize, the School was vital not only because of its outstanding or even genius members but because of the interpersonal cooperation and group work.
Although the didactic component of the LWS was so essential to it, the number of works and studies about this phenomenon, especially in English, could be much higher. The present volume is planned to fill this gap.
We invite all the scholars to contribute to the volume on philosophical, logical, and psychological education in the LWS. The following list of issues may be considered as suggestions for contributors:
- What does philosophical education’s phenomenon (specificity and topicality) in the LWS consist of? What can we learn from it today?
- What is the model of a philosophy teacher in the LWS (Brentano and Twardowski and then Kotarbiński and Czeżowski as educational models)?
- What are the general educational and pedagogical principles in the LWS?
- What are the stages of philosophical “initiation” in the LWS? What are the peculiarities of Twardowski’s seminar, and seminars led by his students?
- What educational methods were recommended and applied by the LWS’s members in teaching philosophy, logic, and psychology?
- What should the philosophical, logical, and psychological education on the secondary level consist of according to the members of the LWS
- What are the controversies about logical, psychological, and philosophical education in the LWS?
- What was the role of the philosophy, logic, psychology, and pedagogy/didactics textbooks published by members of the LWS?
- What is the influence of the LWS on pedagogy after World War II?
- What was the role of particular philosophy/logic/psychology/pedagogy teachers of the LWS in their environments?
Articles must be written in English and meet the conditions described here (bookmark „For Authors”).
All the texts will be peer-reviewed (see the principles and procedure).
Please send articles to: abrozek@uw.edu.pl and edukacjafilozoficzna@uw.edu.pl by December 31 at the latest.
Practical Details
The Publisher does not charge Authors and does not pay any honorary. Every Author will get a free hard copy of the volume. The Publisher provides copy editing. The entire volume will be available in Open Access.
If you have any questions, please write to: edukacjafilozoficzna@uw.edu.pl