Myśl historiozoficzna i filozofia społeczna Jana Karola Kochanowskiego

Abstract

The book constitutes a monograph bringing closer the viewpoints of Jan Karol Kochanowski, a little-known Polish thinker. The issues Kochanowski dealt with were concerned with historiosophy and social philosophy. He was particularly interested in the individual-mass relationship. The introduction of the individual-mass antithesis enabled Kochanowski to show the mechanism shaping the human history. A historiosopher treats an individual and mass as equal sources of the historical dynamics — after each period of social “equality” there is a period of “inequality”. Kochanowski was also interested in the issue of the crisis of contemporary civilization. Searching for he way out of the crisis, he hoped in Christianity claiming that it is only the turn to Christian ideals that can save the contemporary civilization. Kochanowski’s thought has many features in common with the assumptions of both psychologism and sociologism, though the former must have been closer to him. His viewpoints reflect a combination of the psychology of the crowd with that of nations, which in the Polish works, was a novelty perspective. Kochanowski thought that historians should regard the human and national psyche as the main source of historical facts. According to him, social processes can be explained referring to the individual psyche. Methodologically speaking, he was in favour of psychologism. Kochanowski preached elitarism. This is a theory of elites and crowd which should be emphasized in his writings. He also described the role of outstanding individuals during the revolution in an interesting way. What needs to be paid attention to is his characteristic of the leaders’ attitude to the crowd. Kochanowski, as one of the first in the Polish works, based his considerations on the psychology of crowds. He also touched upon the issue of the nation that was really important for Poles. He was interested in the issue of mental differences between nations and claimed that each nation represents a particular mental type which influences its history and culture. He entered into a discussion on the future of Poland and the very viewpoints can be ascribed to the trend of apologetic deliberations. Kochanowski’s thought encompasses various ideal trends appearing at the beginning of the 20th century. That is why the work pays attention to the similarities of his thought and opinions expressed by other philosophers at that time.