Józef Maria Bocheński

Józef’s father had a more liberal disposition, being primarily interested in his sons becoming good athletes and cavalrymen (he himself having had considerable sports achievements as a horse rider).[1] In 1907, the Bocheński family moved from Czuszów in the Kielce region to Ponikwa, a property inherited by Józef’s mother, near Brody in Eastern Galicia.Feeling that he was no longer a Christian, a Catholic or even a person of faith, he broke his engagement with Maria Franciszka Bocheńska (his cousin) and entered a seminary.In 1931–1933, he studied at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome to become, on 21 March 1934, a doctor of theology (for a thesis entitled Discovering the existence of God through causality and the Catholic faith).Bocheński’s understanding of the supernatural and material spheres was greatly influenced by his attachment to the logical method of thinking, which, in his opinion, inevitably led to recognising the existence of God.On 16 February 1944, Bishop Józef Gawlina appointed him army chaplain, thanks to which he joined the Polish II Corps, where he met his brother Adolf and participated in the Battle of Monte Cassino (serving on the Italian front from 27 March to 16 July 1944).Bocheński had his own reflections and theories regarding the nation, based on the concepts of Fr Woroniecki, and not limited to only the issues of language, culture or ideology, but also to the whole sphere of emotions and axiology.His views in these matters corresponded with the traditions of Polish national thought, which placed emphasis on biological, economic and cultural development as a prerequisite in the struggle for independence, which only then could be followed by the building of the actual state.In this respect, he was both a militarist and a positivist, convinced, similarly to his brother Alexander, that the Poles had to face a long and arduous education in overcoming their much accumulated shortcomings.[1] Bocheński criticised Marxism from the philosophical point of view as a closed system of thought, misinterpreting interpersonal relations through a false belief in the existence of a ‘scientific worldview’, which was by definition anti-Christian and especially dangerous as an instrument of Soviet imperial politics and propaganda.Hence, he fought Marxism by all possible means, for instance, by taking part in the 1950s trial of the German Communist Party by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, which led to its banning.The PAX Association ideology derived from this theses, because this is what we are talking about here, assumed that despite different worldview inspirations, Marxism and Catholicism shared the same social and economic goals.The philosopher was personally involved in putting on the index of the Congregation of the Holy Office Bolesław Piasecki’s Zagadnienia istotne (Real Issues) as well as PAX’s biweekly Dziś i Jutro (Today and Tomorrow) – where incidentally his brother occasionally published texts.Bocheński received the text of the book from Janina Kolendo with Piasecki’s approval because he hoped Alexander’s older brother would understand the thesis and even persuade the Vatican to look also favourably on it.In the post-war period, Jozef primarily disapproved of Aleksander’s support of Piasecki’s campaign against Primate Wyszyński, which included PAX accusing the cardinal of disruptive activities.Aleksander not only approved of the open letter of the PAX Association in this matter, but even tried to persuade bishops Bohdan Brejza and Henryk Grzondziel to support it.Józef did not hide his indignation in a letter to his brother, in which he condemned Aleksander’s actions as contrary to ‘binding’ principles, and stated that he had abstained from public criticism not because of family considerations but because of the apolitical stance he had to maintain as a scholar and university rector.[1] Bocheński, a fan of fast cars and aviation (obtaining a pilot’s licence at the age of 68 in 1970, and achieving a total flight experience of 765 hours and 40 minutes), was famous for his original views and unconventional manner.
CzuszówCongress PolandRussian EmpireFribourgSwitzerland20th century philosophyWestern philosophyPolish philosophySchoolAnalytical ThomismCracow CirclePontifical University of Saint Thomas AquinasTheologyHavelismDominicanlogicianphilosopherNapoleonic wars1919-21 war with the Soviet UnionMarxismJohn of the CrossTeresa of JesusPonikwaLegislative ParliamentPatriotic Movement for National RebirthPolish Armed Forces in the WestRighteous Among the NationsKielceRoman DmowskiNational DemocratsFirst World WarBolshevik RevolutionTarnówWarsawAdam MickiewiczBattle of KomarówUniversity of LwówUniversity of PoznańMay CoupPiłsudskiChristianCatholicperson of faithseminaryJacek WoronieckiThomismJacques MaritainEmmanuel MounierCracow Circle Thomismphilosophersneo-Thomismnotation, in the style of ŁukasiewiczTautologyContradictionfalsityLogical disjunctionDisjunctionLogical NORjoint denialConverse conditionalConverse implicationConverse nonimplicationMaterial conditionalMaterial implicationMaterial nonimplicationLogical NANDAlternative denialConjunctionLogical biconditionalEquivalenceExclusive disjunctionnonequivalenceNegationProjection functionRobert Blanchélogical hexagonsquare of oppositionCommutative propertyWayback Machine