Ostrożny rzecznik Don Kichotów
Cautious Spokesman of Dons Quixote

Summary/Abstract: The religious reflection of Miłosz is a significant phenomenon in the Polish intellectual realm of the twentieth century. Since religious quests are one of the most prominent if not the most important intellectual component of the artistic-intellectual heritage of the poet’s thought, their assessment exerts a considerable impact on the evaluation of the whole, which differs diametrically depending on world outlook preferences. The author attempted to discover the specificity of such an evaluation and in doing so situated it against the backdrop of twentieth-century religious philosophy. Concluding, he asserted that although Miłosz’s religious thought remains in accord with certain tendencies of contemporary religious reflection, it is at odds with its spirit. The reason for this state of affairs does not lie in the fact that it precedes or contradicts the latter, but in the fact that it still remains within the range of the Polish idyll: “Whatever he would have done to overcome the passivity of Polish religious thought, and he accomplished much by paving the way for Shestov or Simone Weil, ultimately he succumbs to it, although the eventual overcoming of that inertia shall be to a considerable extent his achievement”.

• Details
• Contents