Tadeusz Kotarbiński o filozofii i wychowaniu
Tadeusz Kotarbiński on philosophy and education

Author(s): Rafał Marcin Leszczyński
Subject(s): Philosophy, Education
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Tadeusz Kotarbiński; reism; pansomatism; ontology; epistemology; radical realism; independent ethics; upbringing; reliable guardian
Summary/Abstract: The article presents philosophical and educational concepts of Tadeusz Kotarbiński. It discusses the Polish philosopher’s ontology – reism (pansomatism) – and his realistic epistemology. According to Kotarbiński, there are only individual bodily objects; therefore, one should not assign attributes of being to the properties of things, relations and events. The object of cognition is, therefore, constituted by only material things and not mental contents and sensory data. Accepting the above thesis, a follower of reism becomes a practical realist, who considers the realities of the material world and maintains that the material world is the only existing reality. These concepts influenced Kotarbiński’s so-called independent ethics and his educational views. He believed that moral norms and conscience are a product of the evolution of the material world. Evolution developed the people’s belief that a respectable man (a reliable guardian) is a person who protects others from suffering and alleviates the pain of fellow human beings. The aim of education should be to instil the qualities of a reliable guardian in pupils. As part of upbringing, one does not have to refer to religion, but only to independent ethics, based on human conscience and a natural sense of good and evil.

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