The Problem of Dehumanisation in the Light of Mieczysław Wallis' Intellectual Biography

Abstract

The article presents an ethical problem of dehumanisation in the perspective of the works and experiences of Mieczysław Wallis, a Polish scholar, a representative of the philosophical Lvov-Warsaw School. During World War II the thinker was held captive in the German prisoner-of-war camps for about 5 years. However, he did not yield to the atmosphere of unrest and resignation, he did not immerse himself in the fear of long-lasting captivity, but he continued incessantly his scientific and didactic work. As a result, he not only illustrated the mechanisms of dehumanisation occurring in the camp reality, but also created his original intellectual “preventive programme” which allowed to defend the human psyche, personality, sensations and emotions against their harmful, destructive influence. Its foundation was the world of a human person's inner life, the focus on the sphere of values and aesthetic experiences as well as specifically human activities implied by them.

Keywords

• ethical problem of dehumanisation
• Polish philosophy of the twentieth century
• representatives of the Lvov-Warsaw School
• Mieczysław Wallis
• homo creativus attitude