Władysław Witwicki (; 30 April 1878,

Lubaczów Lubaczów ( ''Liubachiv'') is a town in southeastern Poland, close to the border with Ukraine, with 12,567 inhabitants Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, it is the capital of Lubaczów County and is located northeast of Przemyśl. Othe ...

– 21 December 1948, Konstancin) was a Polish

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

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 ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

(mainly of

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

's works into Polish),

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

(of philosophy and art) and artist. He is seen as one of the fathers of

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

in Poland. Witwicki was also the creator of the theory of , theory of

feeling According to the '' APA Dictionary of Psychology'', a feeling is "a self-contained phenomenal experience"; feelings are "subjective, evaluative, and independent of the sensations, thoughts, or images evoking them". The term ''feeling'' is closel ...

s, and he dealt with the issues of the

psychology of religion Psychology of religion consists of the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to the diverse contents of religious traditions as well as to both religious and irreligious individuals. The various methods and frameworks ...

, and the creation of

secular ethics Secular ethics is a branch of moral philosophy in which ethics is based solely on human faculties such as logic, empathy, reason or moral intuition, and not derived from belief in supernatural revelation or guidance—a source of ethics in many ...

. He was one of the initiators and co-founders of Polish Philosophical Society. He is one of the thinkers associated with the

Lwów–Warsaw school The Lwów–Warsaw School () was an interdisciplinary school of thought, school (mainly philosophy, logic and psychology) founded by Kazimierz Twardowski in 1895 in Lviv, Lwów, Austro-Hungary (now Lviv, Ukraine). Though its members represented a ...

Background

Władysław Witwicki was the fifth child of Urszula Witwicka, born Woińska (niece of the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv, Łukasz Baraniecki), and Ludwik–Filip Wasylkowicz Witwicki, as well as father of Janusz Witwicki, the creators of the Plastic Panorama of Old Lviv. He graduated from the

University of Lviv The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

(1900), was a student of

Kazimierz Twardowski Kazimierz Jerzy Skrzypna-Twardowski (; 20 October 1866 – 11 February 1938) was a Polish philosopher, psychologist, logician, and rector of the Lwów University. He was initially affiliated with Alexius Meinong's Graz School of object theory. ...

. In 1901–1902 he studied at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

(under the direction of Alois Höfler) and at the

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

(under the direction of

Wilhelm Wundt Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and biology, was t ...

). Then Witwicki taught in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

gymnasiums (1902–1918), lectured at the University of Lviv (1907–1918), and became a professor at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

(1919–1948).

Works

Witwicki is the author of the first Polish textbooks on psychology. He also collaborated with other philosophers. For instance, he worked with

Bronisław Bandrowski Bronisław Bandrowski (; 27 May 1879 – 27 July 1914) was a Polish philosopher and psychologist. He was one of the pupils of Kazimierz Twardowski. Drawing from his mentor's theories and the tradition of the Lwów–Warsaw school, his works dea ...

to develop a model of psychology based on

Franz Brentano Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Josef Brentano (; ; 16 January 1838 – 17 March 1917) was a German philosopher and psychologist. His 1874 '' Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint'', considered his magnum opus, is credited with having reintrod ...

's theory on

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839� ...

. It included an analysis of

Edmund Husserl Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology. In his early work, he elaborated critiques of histori ...

's Theory of Content and the Phenomenon of Thinking. In the comments to his own translation of the Gospels of Matthew and

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

– ''Dobra Nowina według Mateusza i Marka'' (') – Witwicki challenges the mental health of Jesus. He attributed to Jesus

subjectivism Subjectivism is the doctrine that "our own mental activity is the only unquestionable fact of our experience", instead of shared or communal, and that there is no external or objective truth. While Thomas Hobbes was an early proponent of subjecti ...

, increased sense of his own power and superiority over others,

egocentrism Egocentrism refers to difficulty differentiating between self and other. More specifically, it is difficulty in accurately perceiving and understanding perspectives other than one's own. Egocentrism is found across the life span: in infancy, ea ...

and the tendency to subjugate other people, as well as difficulties communicating with the outside world and multiple personality disorder, which made him a schizothymic or even

schizophrenic Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

type (according to the

Ernst Kretschmer Ernst Kretschmer (8 October 18888 February 1964) was a German psychiatrist who researched the human constitution and established a Personality type, typology. Life Kretschmer was born in Wüstenrot near Heilbronn. He attended Cannstatt Gymnas ...

typology A typology is a system of classification used to organize things according to similar or dissimilar characteristics. Groups of things within a typology are known as "types". Typologies are distinct from taxonomies in that they primarily address t ...

Artistic activities

Witwicki illustrated books (including his own translations), created watercolors,

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

bookplate An , also known as a bookplate (or book-plate, as it was commonly styled until the early 20th century), is a printed or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the front endpaper, to indicate ownership. Simple typographical bookplates are ...

s. He designed magazine covers, cast plaster busts, sculpted, reviewed exhibitions, presented artists' profiles. He helped his son Janusz create the Plastic Panorama of Old Lviv. He lectured and wrote articles about art, and authored textbooks for visual artists: ''Wiadomości o stylach'' (''About Styles''); ''O widzeniu przedmiotów: Zasady perspektywy'' (''Seeing Objects: Principles of Perspective''); ''Anatomia plastyczna'' (''Plastic Anatomy'').

Selected publications

* Translations of

's dialogues * ''Psychologia do użytku słuchaczów wyższych szkół naukowych'', vol. 1–2 (1925–1927) * ''Wiadomości o stylach'' (1934) * ''Wiara oświeconych'', 1959 (fr.: ''La foi des éclairés'', 1939) * ''Przechadzki ateńskie'' (a series of radio programs, 1939, issued in 1947) * Translations of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark with psychological analysis: ''Dobra Nowina według Mateusza i Marka'' (''The Good News according to Matthew and Mark''); written in 1942, issued in 1958

References

Sources

* * * * * * * *

External links

Works of Władysław Witwicki
on digital library

Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witwicki, Wladyslaw 1878 births 1948 deaths People from Lubaczów University of Lviv alumni Polish psychologists Polish historians of philosophy Polish art historians Polish translators Polish male artists Polish schoolteachers 20th-century Polish educators 20th-century Polish philosophers Academic staff of the University of Warsaw Leipzig University alumni