Psychology of the Lvov‐Warsaw School and the shape of postcommunist Polish psychology (unfinished dialog with Brentanian tradition)

Abstract

This article presents the development of Polish psychology from the perspective of the most important intellectual formation in Poland—the Lvov‐Warsaw School of Kazimierz Twardowski. The representatives of the school played an extraordinary role in the history of Polish psychology in the first half of the 20th century. Unfortunately, this influence was halted by the outbreak of the war in 1939 and by communist oppression and propaganda after the war. After 1989, Polish psychology underwent a deep transformation in the spirit of Western psychology but with no continuation of the most significant achievements of Twardowski's School. Although this process has integrated Polish psychologists into the mainstream of psychology in the world, it has not led to the integration of one of the most original European psychological traditions into world psychology.

The origins and development of Leopold Blaustein’s descriptive psychology: An essay in the heritage of the Lvov-Warsaw School.

“…After World War II, Poland was (until 1989) in the Soviet sphere of influence. Political changes made the dialogue between Polish postwar psychology and descriptive psychology difficult (Citlak, 2023b, pp. 20–30; Koczanowicz & Koczanowicz-Dehnel, 2021, pp.…”

“…1050–1054; 2021, pp. 95–96; 2023b; Domański, 2018, pp. 222–234; Jadczak, 1997; Rzepa, 1993; Zeidler, 2017); (b) the methodological approach inquires into psychological methods and their application by the School’s members (Betti, 2017b; Citlak, 2016; Rzepa, 2019; Rzepa & Stachowski, 1993; Płotka, 2020a); (c) studies on selected topics discussed within the School, for example, the psychological framework of Twardowski’s theory of actions and products (Citlak, 2019b, pp.…”