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Logical Investigations at the University of Pozna« in 1945 1955

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Logical Investigations at the University of Pozna« in 1945 1955 Logical investigations at the University of Pozna« in 19451955 Roman Murawski¤ and Jerzy Pogonowski Abstract The paper is devoted to the presentation of logical investigations carried out at the University of Pozna« in the rst decade after its reopening in 1945. One of the problems considered in the paper is whether there was any continuation of the Lvov-Warsaw Logical School at Pozna« University. 1 Some introductory information The history of Warsaw Logical School (being an important part of Lvov-Warsaw Philosophical School) is well known.1 But logical investigations have been carried out also at other scientic and academic centers of Poland, not only in Warsaw. Hence the question how did they look like? What were the connections with Warsaw School? Were they connected with the tradition of Lvov-Warsaw School? We want to investigate those questions with respect to Pozna« University. We are interested in the period 19451955.2 To understand it better we shall start by describing briey logical investigations at Pozna« before the Second World War. The university in Pozna« was founded in 1919. This happened 400 years after the foundation of the Lubra«ski Academy and 308 years after the formal creation of the university in Pozna« by king Zygmunt III on the base of a Jesuit college (the university was not created then as a consequence of objections by the Cracow Academy). The initiators of the foundation of a university after the First World War were scholars gathered at Pozna« Friends of Scholarship (Pozna«skie Towarzystwo Przyjacióª Nauk; shortly: PTPN) existing since 1857. The university was founded as Wszechnica Piastowska (Piast University). In 1920 the name was changed to that of the University of Pozna«. ¤The nancial support of the Committee for Scientic Researches (grant no 1 H01A 042 27) is acknowledged. 1Cf. Wole«ski (1989). 2Our study is based on materials from the archive of Adam Mickiewicz University, the archive of Pozna« Friends of Scholarschip (Pozna«skie Towarzystwo Przyjacióª Nauk) and on some studies on the history of the University (cf. Grot 1971, 1972). Remembrances of some persons (former students of Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz), whose scientic career has started in the considered period as well as (rather few) existing papers on the activity of particular scholars were also used. 1 At the beginning there were two faculties: Faculty of Philosophy and Faculty of Law. Since 1925 there existed ve faculties: Law and Economy, Medicine, Humani- ties, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Agriculture and Forestry. Already in 1919 at the Faculty of Philosophy a Chair of Theory and Method- ology of Natural Sciences and Humanities was founded. Its head was Wªadysªaw Mieczysªaw Kozªowski (18581935). He was scientically active in many domains: botany, history, theory of literature and others but he is known rst of all as a philosopher working also in logic. His main achievements in the latter are: an in- teresting and original classication of sciences and his works in the methodology of sociology. He was also the author of a university handbook in logic Podstawy logiki, czyli zasady nauk (Warszawa 1916). It was already a bit out of date when Kozªowski taught logic at the University of Pozna«, nonetheless it was the rst Polish handbook of logic in which Boolean algebras and the theory of relations were presented. The author formulated there the whole of syllogistic using the concepts of Boolean algebra augmented by a certain type of existential quantier. His follower at the chair was Zygmunt Zawirski (18821948) who studied philoso- phy, mathematics and physics at the Lvov University and received Ph.D. in Lvov in 1906 and Habilitation at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow in 1924. Since 1928 he was professor at the University in Pozna«. He worked in the methodology of physics as well as in the formal logic. In the latter he was interested mainly in possible ap- plications of logic, in particular in interrelations between many-valued logics and the probability theory. At the beginning of 1937 Zawirski moved to Cracow where he became ordinary professor at the Philosophical Faculty of the Jagiellonian University. The Ministry of Education asked all the relevant professors in Poland to suggest a candidate to ll the vacancy. Alfred Tarski (19011983) was unanimously recommended but was not appointed. The reason was the atmosphere in Pozna« always a stronghold of right-wing conservatism and dominated by the Catholic church, had, since Piªsudski's death in 1935, moved even further to the right and became outright fascistic and anti- Semitic. Because there was no way to appoint anyone else without making the reasons for denying Tarski the professorship patently clear, the position was eliminated.3 Before the war at the University in Pozna« worked also a philosopher and logician Adam Wiegner (18891967). He obtained his Habilitation in 1934 and was active mainly after the Second World War hence we will talk about him later. One can see that before 1945 there were no real investigations in logic sensu stricto in Pozna«. Logic was developed by philosophers interested mainly in the methodology. On the other hand mathematicians in Pozna« were not interested in logic at all. During the Second World War the university was closed by the German authorities. It existed and worked, however, as the underground Uniwersytet Ziem Zachodnich (University of Western Territories). 3Cf. Wole«ski (1995) as well as Feferman and Feferman (2004), pp. 102103. 2 The university was reopened in 1945.4 And now the situation of logic has changed: philosophers who moved to Pozna« (mainly from Lvov) were really interested in logic and scientically active in this eld and on the other hand mathematicians, in particular Wªadysªaw Orlicz (a collaborator of Stefan Banach in Lvov) who re- launched the mathematical center in Pozna« though not working in logic set a high value on it. In 1945 at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences the Chair of Theory and Methodology of Science has been founded its head was professor Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz (who came to Pozna« from Lvov via Cracow). In 1951 its name was changed to Chair of Logic at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. Members of the chair were (in various periods): Seweryna uszczewska-Romahnowa, Roman Suszko, Tadeusz Strumiªªo, Franciszek Zeidler, Zbigniew Czerwi«ski, Andrzej Malewski. Researches led at the chair were devoted to epistemology, formal logic and method- ology. Beside the doctorate and Habilitation of R. Suszko (see below) two other procedures leading to Habilitation were carried out: by Henryk Mehlberg (on the basis of the dissertation Essai sur la theorie causale du temps) and by Maria Lutman (dissertation O wzglêdno±ci prawdy (On the relativity of truth)). Classes given by members of the chair were devoted to: main principles of logic and methodology (with exercises) (this course was obligatory for all students of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences), mathematical logic (with exercises), logic (for students of other faculties), elements of set theory and mathematical logic, seminar on methodology as well as proseminars. Ajdukiewicz led also a seminar in logic for postgraduate and graduate students (see below). In 1945 at the Faculty of Humanities, the Chair of Philosophy was reactivated. It was renamed in January 1951 to Chair of the History of Philosophy. Since 1947 its head was Adam Wiegner. In 1951 Wiegner became the head of the newly opened Chair of Logic which, since 1952, was located at the Philosophical-Historical Faculty. In this chair were active among others Jerzy Giedymin (since 1953) and Zbigniew Czerwi«ski (from 1951 till 1953). An important role in the scholar life in Pozna« after the war was played by Pozna« Friends of Scholarship. Pozna« logicians repeatedly delivered lectures at meetings of the Philosophical Committee of this society (often held as joint meetings of PTPN and the Polish Philosophical Society). Among the invited speakers one nds also: Stanisªaw Ja±kowski, Tadeusz Kotarbi«ski, Tadeusz Cze»owski, Maria Kokoszy«ska- Lutmanowa, Izydora D¹mbska, Maria Ossowska.5 PTPN was also active by editing books and journals. In minutes of administrative 4In 1955 the university assumed the name of Adam Mickiewicz after the greatest Polish Ro- mantic poet of the rst half of the 19th century. 5Let us add, as a curious detail that on 5th March 1953, the day of the death of Joseph Stalin, a lecture by Rev. Mieczysªaw Dybowski on Existentialism in psychology was given (30 persons were present). 3 meetings one nds some interesting information on editorial plans (as well as changes of them). For example, Ajdukiewicz intended to publish in October 1950 a work Krytyczna analiza idealizmu (Critical analysis of idealism) (10 printed sheets) (in the minute it was written: the subject of the work is of great world-view signicance). In plans for the fourth quarter of 1951 a work under the same title is planned in the size of 5 printed sheets only. In 1952 Ajdukiewicz withdrew a work (planned for this year) under the title Analiza klasycznej problematyki epistemologicznej (An analysis of the classical problems of epistemology) instead a paper by R. Suszko O an- tynomiach logicznych (On logical antinomies) (1.5 printed sheets) was planned. The latter was then moved in plans to 1953, next to 1954 (ultimately it was never pub- lished in Pozna«; Suszko published W sprawie antynomii kªamcy i semantyki jêzyka naturalnego (Concerning the antinomy of the liar and semantics of natural language) in Warsaw). Heated discussions were led concerning the question of publishing or rejecting a paper by T. Wªodarczyk Logika zda« u Dunsa Szkota i Pseudo-Szkota (Propositional logic by Duns Scotus and Pseudo-Scotus). Pozna« logical center was active also in publishing journals. Note that the rst volume of the new journal devoted to logic, namely Studia Logica has been prepared for publication in Pozna« in 1953.
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