Józef Stanisław Tischner (12 March 1931 – 28 June 2000) was a Polish

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. The first chaplain of the

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, "

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

" (Polish ''Solidarność'').

Life

Tischner was born in

Stary Sącz Stary Sącz is a small historic town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina Stary Sącz (commune), and one of the oldest towns in the country, receiving Magdeburg rights in the 13th century. Geography Star ...

to a Góral family and grew up in the village Łopuszna in the south east of Poland. He studied at

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. In the 1970s he became an important writer of the opposition movement against the socialist government of the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

. In 1980s he was considered the semi-official chaplain of the

movement, and was praised by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. After the fall of communism in 1989, he continued preaching the importance of

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

in the new

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

Poland. In September 1999, Tischner received the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest decoration. Tischner remains a controversial figure in Poland. He frequently criticized Polish religiousness by calling it as flat (shallow) as a pancake, he also accused the Polish clergy of being extremely conservative, engaged in politics and

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. Tischner was involved in politics, he supported the Liberal Democratic Congress, then was a member of the program council of the Freedom Union. Tischner also cooperated on scientific ground with

Jarosław Gowin Jarosław Adam Gowin (born 4 December 1961) is a Polish conservative politician and editor. Gowin served as Minister of Justice in the cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk between 2011 and 2013, and as Minister of Science and Higher Education ...

. Józef Tischner was an author of the Catholic Weekly, a liberal Catholic, and Christian democratic newspaper. Tischner was also member of ''Związek Podhalański'', an organisation of

Gorals The Gorals (; Goral ethnolect: ''Górole''; ; Cieszyn Silesian dialect, Cieszyn Silesian: ''Gorole''), also anglicized as the Highlanders, are an ethnographic group with historical ties to the Vlachs. The Goral people are primarily found in thei ...

from Podhale. Fellow of

Collegium Invisibile Collegium Invisibile is an Learned society, academic society founded in 1995 in Warsaw, Poland, Warsaw that affiliates outstanding Polish students in the humanities and science with distinguished scholars in accordance with the idea of a libera ...

as a professor of philosophy. He died in

on 28 June 2000.

Philosophy

Tischner, in The Decline of Thomistic Christianity (1970), challenged the philosophical primacy of Thomism, accusing it of closing philosophy in one right direction and thus obscuring Revelation. Tischner believed that philosophy was independent and, although imbued with the spirit of Christianity in many respects, could not be reduced to it. In articles collected in the books Unhappy Gift of Freedom (1993), In the Land of Ill Imagination (1997) and Priest on the Wanderings (1999), he expressed his views on the issue of building a new social, political and ethical order.

Selected publications

Tischner wrote and published more than 600 articles and books. His main works, in which he explained his original philosophical concepts, are: * ''The Decline of Thomistic Christianity (Schyłek chrześcijaństwa tomistycznego)'' (1970) * ''Unhappy Gift of Freedom'' ''(Nieszczęsny dar wolności)'' (1993) * ''Land of Ill Imagination (W krainie schorowanej wyobraźni)'' (1997) * ''Priest on the Wanderings (Ksiądz na manowcach)'' (1999) *''The Philosophy of Drama (Filozofia dramatu)'' (1998) *''The Controversy over Human Existence (Spór o istnienie człowieka)'' (1998) Most notable among his Góral themed works is: *''A Goral History of Philosophy (Historia filozofii po góralsku)'' (1997)

Sources

* "Nie ma rzeczy niemożliwych" . Magazyn Kulturalny Tygodnika Powszechnego nr 7/8 (56/57), 08 lipca 2001. * "Lektury nie tylko obowiązkowe". Dziennik Polski, 14 maja 2009.

References

External links