Z dyskusji o naturze życia – Bohdan Rutkiewicz

• Authors: Zhuravskyy Vladyslav

Title variants

EN

ON THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE NATURE OF LIFE – BOHDAN RUTKIEWICZ

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

This article addresses the conception of life as it is formulated by Bohdan Rutkiewicz, a pre-war professor of KUL – the Catholic University of Lublin. Its primary focus is on the ontological and methodological foundations, i.e. methodological pluralism, substantialism, and teleologism. While engaged in a debate with the mechanistic and intuitionistic conceptions of life, as well as with some branches of vitalism, Rutkiewicz indicates the value and legitimacy of a philosophical explanation of the phenomenon of life and the necessity of combining this type of knowledge with scientific research. The phenomenon of life is to be explained within the confines of classical substantialism, according to which an analysis of concrete organisms is supposed to be a point of departure for investigating the essence of life because life phenomena are centred there; they are the principal manifestations of animate nature. In the organic world one observes also a teleological moment, which – according to Rutkiewicz – induces us to search for the ultimate sources of the biocosmos. Now seeking the reverse foundation of the structure and dynamism of animate nature Rutkiewicz points to the Absolute as the ultimate reason for the world’s harmony and finality. In each organism there is an inherent life factor, which is the principle of unity in the very nature of the organism. It is owing to its guiding activity that the organism takes part in the general biocosmic purpose.

Keywords

EN

LIFE; VITALISM; MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY; INTUITIONISM; METHODOLOGICAL PLURALISM; SUBSTANTIALISM; HYLEMORPHISM; FINALITY; ABSOLUT

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Umiejętności / Uniwersytet Jagielloński
• Journal: Kwartalnik Filozoficzny
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 47
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 114 - 140

Contributors

author

Zhuravskyy Vladyslav

• Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski, Wydział Filozofii, al. Racławickie 14, 0-950 Lublin, Poland