EN
The aim of this paper is to present and compare the views of two prominent thinkers of the seventeenth century – Petrycy of Pilzno and Francis Bacon. Living in the same century, they faced different geopolitical and cultural circumstances. A comparison of their views sheds some light on the philosophical tendencies around the turn of the seventeenth century in Poland, where Petrycy of Pilzno (1554–1626) remained a central figure in the field of philosophy occupied with the issue of language development, and in England, where Francis Bacon (1561–1626), a politician, scientist and philosopher, saw clarification of language as a primary condition on the way towards true philosophy and harmonious political state. The authors of the article analyse different approaches of Petrycy and Bacon towards the issue of purification of language: Bacon’s theoretical and cognitive assumptions as opposed to the ethical direction of Petrycy’s reflection aimed at the reformation of public life in Poland.