A Conference in Częstochowa: Polish Studies on Plato
Ancient Φilosophy Reception research group couldn’t have been absent at the conference on Polish Studies on Plato, which was held in Jan Długosz University (UJD) in Częstochowa on May 18-19th, 2026.
The conference was organised by the Chair of Philosophy of UJD, and prof. Wiesława Sajdek was the head of the whole event. Tomasz Mróz delivered his paper in the opening panel, after the introductory talk by prof. Marian Wesoły. Reports from the first day of the conference (in Polish) were published on the websites of UJD and a local radio station. It should be emphasised that both professors, Sajdek and Wesoły, have already collaborated in various activities of AΦR.
The paper by Mróz had a long title: Why study the history of studies on Plato? (and a couple of interesting pieces that were not included in the books). He argued, certainly, for the positive answer to the question in the title, since – for example – discussions about Plato’s legacy and various interpretations of his philosophy reflect philosophical trends of their times and commenting on Plato’s dialogues provides a convenient opportunity to express one’s own views. Moreover, Mróz discussed peculiar history of the texts that had “Plato” and “Poland” in their titles, starting with an English report, published by Lewis Campbell (1830-1908), Plato in Poland (1893), on the then recent studies on Plato’s logic by Wincenty Lutosławski (1863-1954). Then, the history of Polish texts by Irena Pannenkowa (1879-1969), Izydora Dąmbska (1904-1983), Zbigniew Nerczuk (another collaborator of AΦR), and Mróz himself followed.
Mróz discussed briefly some issues related to his decades long studies on Polish traditions in researching and translating Plato that were unsuitable for publishing in scholarly works. They were e.g. his reminiscences from his meetings with Lutosławski’s daughter, Janina Lutosławska (1922-2006), and the archival discoveries he had made in the legacies of Lutosławski, Stefan Pawlicki (1839-1916), Stanisław Lisiecki (1872-1960), and Henryk Jakubanis (1879-1949), many of which he was able to edit and publish.
In the final parts of his talk, Mróz presented a small detail related to the location of the conference, the city of Częstochowa. Once in his research he came across a copy of the Phaedo in Władysław Witwicki’s (1878-1948) translation (Warsaw 1925) which had been owned by Jan Sołdrowski (1889-1970), a teacher of various subjects (including classics) and a Catholic activist from Częstochowa. His notes on the margins of the book revealed his thoughts and impressions from reading the dialogue.
Another Work by H. Jakubanis Available in Polish Translation
Henryk Jakubanis (1879-1948) for over two decades worked in the Catholic University of Lublin, but his most important works were composed in Russian, during his Kyiv period, and were unavailable to Polish audiences. It was only recently that they started to be translated and published by the members and collaborators of the AΦR group. First, his study on Empedocles was translated and published, and now it is the paper titled: The Significance of Ancient Philosophy for the Modern Worldview (1910), accompanied by a commentary from the translator, Mariam Sargsyan.
The translation and the commentary were published in “Studia z Historii Filozofii” 2 (17)/2026, one of the top Polish journals for the history of philosophy. The whole volume in open access can be found here, while the translation – here, and the commentary – here. The original article, based on a lecture, had been published in an university journal in Kyiv in 1910 as Значенiе древней философiи для современнаго мiропониманiя.
In his article, Jakubanis discussed metaphilosophical issues and presented his views on the then state of philosophy. He emphasised the enduring values of the ancient world, compared ancient and modern approaches to philosophical inquiries, and expressed hopes for the revival of the Hellenic culture. He remarked on the growing interest in antiquity in general, and in philosophy in particular, that had been demonstrated by studies of many scholars. At the same time, however, he noticed a crisis in modern philosophical thought. He took an attempt to identify its reasons: increasing specialisation of sciences, narrowing of intellectual horizons, and the discrepancy between theory and practice. Ancient thought, on the contrary, seemed to embody harmony and other timeless values.
Jakubanis’ aim was to revive ancient Greek culture, he argued that such a revival would contribute to overcoming the then crisis. In his view, such a revival should be based on three principal components: „nationality, antiquity, and Christianity”, in which he followed the ideas of his older colleague, Polish classics scholar, Tadeusz Zieliński (1859-1944). The translation of Jakubanis’ paper provides Polish audiences with an opportunity to become acquainted with the works of a scholar whose methods were moulded in pre-revolutionary Kyiv and who continued teaching in Lublin, in independent Poland.
The translation and commentary were the results of the research project funded by National Science Centre on Henryk Jakubanis (1879-1949) as a classics scholar and historian of ancient philosophy.
Erasmus+ Teaching Visits in Vilnius Continue
In May, 11th-15th, 2026, Tomasz Mróz enjoyed his fifth Erasmus+ teaching visit in Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University.
One of the lectures was focused on discussing various problems related to historiography of philosophy, using the method and structure of the History of Philosophy by Władysław Tatarkiewicz (1886-1980), especially in regard to ancient philosophers. An additional material for discussion was provided by the Lithuanian edition of this three-volume book (2001) with covers – contrary to Polish editions – decorated with various images. The front cover of vol. I, for example, depicts Boethius – what students were able to discover with only little help! – in his consoling dialogue with Philosophy herself, and the wheel of Fortune, an important argument for a philosophers not to let a hard lot get them down.
Another lecture related to the history of ancient philosophy scholarship was devoted to Wincenty Lutosławski (1863-1954), a renowned researcher of Plato, and the Vilnius period of his academic career. A decade spent in Vilnius was by Lutosławski considered a disappointment with his colleague professors and low number of students. He was able, however, to promote a successful Ph.D. student interested in Plato, Benedykt Woyczyński (1895-1927), initiate correspondence with notable persons, not only philosophers, and – last, but not least – work on his idea of a historical development of metaphysics, which was his focus until his ultimate years.
This lecture was an open event and it was advertised here.
Next Interview with Ancient Philosophy Scholar: Filip Karfik
We would like to invite you to watch the next interviews published on memoryclassics.eu website. The next interviews with historians of the Greek world (e.g. Cinzia Bearzot) are on the way, but we’d like to draw your attention to the conversation of Jaroslav Daneš, with whom we cooperated in the project Oral History and the Classics, with professor Filip Karfik (born 1963). Prof. Karfik is currently professor emeritus at the University of Fribourg and a former professor at Charles University in Prague.
First part of the interview is available here. Prof. Karfik shares his memories of his early interest in ancient languages and beginnings of his classical and philosophical studies. The video has English subtitles. The second part of this long and informative conversation is now under processing.
A. Habura’s Research Stay in Vilnius
We have already informed that the members of the Ancient Φilosophy Reception research group received a “Small Grant” from the Deputy Rector for Science and International Cooperation of the University of Zielona Góra. The aim of the AΦR team is to pursue research on the notes by Bohdan Zawadzki (1902-1966) from Władysław Tatarkiewicz’s (1886-1980) lectures on the philosophy of the Greeks. Now, we are glad to announce that the work is progressing.
The first phase of the research plan, that is, preliminary analysis of the manuscripts, has just been completed. It was thanks to the works of Adrian Habura, who travelled to Vilnius in May 2026 to assess the value of Zawadzki’s manuscripts and to identify the most significant issues that were emphasised by both, Zawadzki, the student, and Tatarkiewicz, the lecturing professor.
The next steps in the research plan include studies of the most important problems related to Tatarkiewicz’s lectures, as they were rendered by Zawadzki. The results will be presented in near future as conference or seminar papers and academic articles.
The Third Small Grant from the University of Zielona Góra
Prof. Justyna Patalas-Maliszewska, the Deputy Rector for Science and International Cooperation of the University of Zielona Góra, home institution of the AΦR, awarded Tomasz Mróz and Adrian Habura with a “Small Grant” (17th edition). These internal grants are distributed by the Rector annually among those researchers of UZ, who have submitted their proposals to the National Science Centre (NCN), received positive assessements from the experts, yet finally have not been granted funding.
The aim of the “Small Grant” for AΦR is to conduct preliminary research on extensive notes taken by Bohdan Zawadzki (1902-1966), later professor of psychology, during the lectures of Władysław Tatarkiewicz (1886-1980) on the philosophy of the Greeks, which were held at the University of Warsaw in the early twenties of the 20th century. Zawadzki’s manuscript is kept in one of the libraries in Vilnius.
The proposal received highest possible notes and funding will be spent on archival research and attending a conference.
The Second Doctoral Degree by a Member of AΦR Team
On April 14th, 2026, a public defense of Adrian Habura’s doctoral thesis took place in the Institute of Philosophy, University of Zielona Góra (UZ). The title of his dissertation was Aristotle as a Research Material and Source of Inspirations of Władysław Tatarkiewicz (1886-1980). The whole event was chaired by prof. Justyna Kroczak. At the start of the curriculum, the candidate was presented by the supervisor, Prof. Tomasz Mróz, who gave an overview of the candidate’s research and teaching experience, emphasised Habura’s work in a previous research project on S. Lisiecki, and his successful collaboration with prof. Jonas Čiurlionis of Vilnius University, an auxiliary supervisor of the dissertation.
Habura then took the floor and presented the main points of his thesis. His dissertation aimed to answer two questions: 1) how did Tatarkiewicz interpret Aristotle’s philosophy? And 2) how did Aristotle inspire him in his original philosophical reflections? Habura applied Juliusz Domański’s distinction between the researchers and the users of ancient heritage, which helped him to define clearly the conditions of reception process. According to Domański, reception must be preceded by acknowledging and positive evaluation of the subject of study. Habura argued that Tatarkiewicz had met both of these conditions.
To answer the questions of the thesis, Habura focused on chronology of Tatarkiewicz’s life and work and on philosophical problems related to the reception of Aristotle, and applied biographical and comparative methods. His analyses demonstrated that Tatarkiewicz, during his long and fruitful life, developed several interpretations of Aristotle. Therefore, Habura examined relations between these interpretations.
Tatarkiewicz himself stated that during his life, he had developed two “images”, two interpretations of Aristotle, and spoke about him in two different ways. However, as Habura argued, they were not contradictory, but rather complementary. Regarding Aristotle’s research methods, philosophical approach, and philosophical ideas, Tatarkiewicz did not change his position in his later works; he broadened his analyses to include various aspects of Aristotle’s philosophy (from metaphysics to aesthetics). For this reason, Habura concluded that it was fully justified to treat Tatarkiewicz’s interpretations as parts of one coherent image of Aristotle.
From Tatarkiewicz’s earliest works on Aristotle to his final writings, he consistently regarded the Stagirite’s philosophy as pluralistic and teleological. As comparative analyses demonstrated, Tatarkiewicz’s own philosophical thinking could be attributed with these two adjectives as well, because they describe accurately his position in epistemology, methodology, ethics, and aesthetics.
The dissertation was assessed by three reviewers, they were prof. Marian Wesoły (The Jacob of Paradies Academy in Gorzów Wielkopolski / Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań ), prof. Przemysław Paczkowski (University of Rzeszów), and prof. Ryszard Wiśniewski (Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa / Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń). It should be remarked that prof. Wiśniewski, in 1976, was himself an author of a doctoral dissertation on Tatarkiewicz. All the reviewers arrived in Zielona Góra to present their positive assessments of the dissertation and ask a couple of questions. They were concerned with a very detailed character of Habura’s account of Tatarkiewicz’s career. Removing some minor parts could have given, as a result, a thinner volume and clearer argument. The discussion, that followed, focused on originality of Tatarkiewicz’s philosophy, on the attempt to position him against the 20th century interpreters of Aristotle, and on a lacking chapter on Tatarkiewicz in Enrico Berti’s book Aristotele nel Novecento (1992), that could have been written, had Berti known the works of the Polish author. Moreover, prof. Wiśniewski, who knew Tatarkiewicz personally, shared some memories of the philosopher with the audience.
Finally, after hearing the reviews, questions and answers, the commission decided to award A. Habura with a doctoral degree cum laude. His dissertation, no doubt, has broadened the knowledge of the Polish reception of Aristotle and of Tatarkiewicz himself.
Dear Doctor Habura!
Good luck with your research plans!
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