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An Erasmus+ Visit of a Guest from Vilnius
A co-operation between Vilnius University and the University of Zielona Góra in philosophy is developing well and a recent (March 9th-13th, 2026) visit of a guest from VU, dr Mindaugas Stoškus, proves this. M. Stoškus is a scholar with whom Ancient Φilosophy Reception research group have recently started a formal collaboration in a project funded by the Research Council of Lithuania on the reception of Greek philosophy among the philosophers in VU in the 20th century. It is here where we have already announced this as well as Stoškus’ previous visits in Zielona Góra.
There were two lectures on ancient philosophy (and its application) among the classes of dr Stoškus. They both required students’ engagement and active participation. For philosophy students, he spoke about the ancient Greek idea of philosophy and wisdom, while for the students of doctoral school – about Plato and teaching methods. The photo on the right was taken by Urszula Majdańska-Wachowicz during the class for PhD. students. M. Stoškus (left) is being introduced by T. Mróz (right).
We are looking forward to the next visits of Vilnius scholars!
Paper on H. Jakubanis as a Promoter of Greek Thought
It is not the first time (and, hopefully, not the last one either) that the Lithunian journal “Logos” publishes a paper composed by a member of Ancient Φilosophy Reception research group. The scope of the journal are scholarly studies in all areas of philosophy.
This time the author is Mariam Sargsyan, who in 2025 defended her Ph.D. thesis cum laude and received her doctoral diploma during a ceremony at the University of Zielona Góra, where AΦR group is affiliated.
Her article was published in vol. 124 of “Logos” and is available here in a bilingual, that is, Lithuanian (translated from English by Tomas Kavaliauskas) and original English version. It is important to remark here that Henryk Jakubanis (1879–1949), whose works are the topic of this paper, and his ancestors had their roots in Lithuania, although their mother tongue was Polish and they spent most of their lives in the Russian Empire. Two language versions of Sargsyan’s paper title are Henrikas Jakubanis kaip graikų mąstymo puoselėtojas and Henryk Jakubanis as a Promoter of Greek Thought.
Sargsyan’s article covers some issues from her previous Polish studies, as for example a short sketch of Jakubanis’ and a presentation of his historical-philosophical works. This is supplemented with archival materials from the Catholic University of Lublin. Additionally, the article delves into the intellectual lineage of Jakubanis, focusing on the influences of Alexei Gilarov (1856–1938) and Tadeusz Zieliński (1859–1944).
Let us focus only on Jakubanis’ work titled The Importance of Ancient Philosophy for the Modern Worldview (published in Kyiv in 1910) in which he identified the characteristic features of ancient thought with inner harmony on the top of them. Along with harmony, he listed universalism, sincerity, the ability to adopt justified views, and the plasticity of objectivism. He used harmony as an intrument for reviving ancient philosophy at the dawn of the 20th century. According to the him, modern times could undoubtedly be described as an epoch in a state of profound philosophical crisis. The essence of the crisis was the lack of unity in spiritual life and a deep split in its manifestations. This state was described as a threefold disharmony: in the scientific and theoretical sphere, in the discord of mind, feelings, and will, and, finally, in a disunion between theory and practice. In this regard the harmony of Greek thought seemed to him to be an accurate cure. More details can be found in Sargsyan’s paper.
The Interview with Professor Marian Wesoły Available with English Subtitles
We are very glad to announce that finally, after two years, the interview with Professor Marian Wesoły is available online with English subtitles on the website of the project Oral History and the Classics, here. We have already reported on shooting this interview here.
Professor Wesoły, at his desk at home, talked about his intellectual biography, his teachers, collaborators, colleagues, correspondents, about his academic adventures at research centres in Germany (Tübingen) and Italy (Naples), books and editions, and many other fascinating issues. Moreover, he shared his views on prospective developments of research in the field of ancient philosophy.
We want to encourage you, once again, to click here and watch the video.
Polish Political Platos in Brill’s Companion
Brill’s Companion to the Legacy of Greek Political Thought edited by David Carter, Rachel Foxley, and Liz Sawyer is one of the latest volumes in the series (vol. 8, Leiden-Boston 2024). Contributors to this volume investigated a range of responses to issues surrounding the legacy of Greek political thought, exploring the ways in which political thinking has evolved from antiquity to the present day.
One of the chapters in this book was authored by Tomasz Mróz who discussed variety of Polish interpretations of Plato’s political works in studies written by nineteenth-century Polish authors (Plato’s Political Works in Nineteenth-Century Polish Thought, pp. 335-363), including historians of philosophy, philosophers and social thinkers. Their diverse views on the Republic of Plato reflected the wealth of ideas which are present in Plato’s opus. In spite of their various intellectual backgrounds and goals, all these authors found inspiration in Plato’s work for the implementation of his political ideas into their own arguments touching upon contemporary social or political issues, including the questions of democracy, socialism and gender equality.
Let’s say a few words about the authors presented in Mróz’s chapter to give a glance of its content: Bolesław Limanowski (1835-1935), a socialist thinker, regarder Plato as a progressive philosopher, despite his disregard for democracy. For Wojciech Dzieduszycki (1848-1909), a conservative politician, Plato’s socialist and feminist ideas were too destructive for society to be implemented. Wincenty Lutosławski (1863-1954), a famous Plato scholar, considered Plato’s socialism as a natural consequence of his metaphysics and only a transitional step in his development. Stefan Pawlicki (1839-1916), a neo-Scholastic philosopher, claimed that even Plato’s most controversial political ideas (communism and feminism) had stemmed from his deep moral beliefs, but all their shortcomings were later to be corrected by Christianity. Eventually, Eugeniusz Jarra (1881-1973), a historian of legal philosophy, emphasised gender equality and the possibility of social promotion as progressive ideas supporting democracy.
PS.: this chapter was edited and improved by Una Maclean-Hańćkowiak and is presented on Kudos platform.
Renaissance Platonism in Polish Debates at the symposium in Saint Louis, MO
In June (9th-11th) 2025, Saint Louis University (Saint Louis, Missouri) held the Twelfth Annual Symposium for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (SMRS). This year’s optional theme was Synthesis and Reconciliation.
Symposium gathered over a hundred of scholars debating on various aspects of mediaeval and Renaissance studies, but only a couple of papers were devoted to philosophy or historiographical discussions. A booklet including a plentiful schedule, all the sessions, papers etc. can be downloaded here. Tomasz Mróz’s paper was delivered during a session titled Studying Renaissance Literature and Philosophy Through New Eyes. Mróz’s attendance at the SMRS was funded through a “Small Grant” scheme from his home institution, University of Zielona Góra, and his presentation was devoted to Bohdan Kieszkowski: Florentine Platonism between Ideology and World War II: The Case of Bogdan Kieszkowski (1904-1997).
It was for the first time that Kieszkowski’s life and works were presented to international audience. Mróz discussed his biography, including successful beginnings of his academic career in interwar Poland and his later difficult life on the exile in Paris, as well as various hypotheses regarding undocumented period of his life directly following the war. Philosophical part of the paper focused on Kieszkowski’s dispute with Marian Heitzman (1899-1964), who accused him of underestimating the influences of mediaeval neoplatonism on Ficino and it was the role of mediaeval philosophy in forming Renaissance Platonism that turned them against each other. After the war, in 1973, Kieszkowski managed to publish the edition of Pico della Mirandola’s Conclusiones (Geneve 1973). This book was based on the materials he had been able to collect and study in various European libraries before the war and thus his work was far from perfection. Reviews of this book emphasised insufficient accuracy in editing the original Pico’s text, yet his scholarship and experience in Renaissance philosophy were assessed as indisputable. The most eminent and meticulous critic of this late Kieszkowski’s work was a Portuguese scholar, José Vitorino de Pina Martins (1920-2010).
A dozen of scholars attended the session and the questions from the audience were concerned both with biographical and philosophical parts of the paper, that is, with Kieszkowski’s later life on exile as a possible consequence of a PTSD resulting from his serious bullet wounds and subsequent disabilities, and with the connection between the developments of neo-Scholasticism in Poland and Europe and resulting appreciation of the role of mediaeval culture and philosophy.
Neverending Story of… Plato in Poland
This time it was at the University of Hradec Králové where the word about Plato reception in Poland was spread. Tomasz Mróz, among his activities in accordance with Erasmus+ Teaching Assignment, delivered a talk on political aspects of Plato reception in Poland. The focus was, naturally, on Plato’s Republic and on the connections between the interpretations of Plato’s political philosophy and the political situation of Poland from the 19th century to the post World War II era. This talk was delivered for international students enrolled in a course: Ancient Greek Democracy and Its Legacy taught in UHK by professor Jaroslav Daneš, with whom AΦR research group has successfully co-operated for many years.
The topics covered in this talk included a brief overview of how political situation of Poland changed and how various researchers of Plato interpreted his political ideas. The lecture started with Bolesław Limanowski (1835-1935), an advocate of socialism, who used Plato’s ideas as an evidence that socialism had been present in European thought from its very beginning. The next was Wojciech Dzieduszycki (1848-1909), a conservative politician, who ridiculed gender equality and socialism as political phantasies. Wincenty Lutosławski (1863-1954) considered totalitarian character of Plato’s polis as a natural consequence of his idealism, but after the World War II emphasised Plato’s evolution and his affinity to Christianity. Stefan Pawlicki (1839-1916), a Christian thinker rejected the connection between socialism and Plato, but praised the idea of preventive censorship. At the dawn of Polish independence after World War I Eugeniusz Jarra (1881-1973) welcomed the idea that social promotion or demotion in the state should depend on personal capabilities, and that the elites should no longer consist of the members of aristocracy but of the most gifted individuals. After World War II, in the Stalinist period, the criticism of Plato stemmed from various premises. Tadeusz Kroński (1907-1958), on the one hand, a Marxist thinker, considered Plato’s political philosophy as an aristocratic reaction to democratic changes in Athens, and in general as an expression of obscurantism and religiosity. Władysław Witwicki (1878-1948), on the other hand, was apparently critical towards Plato’s political project, assessing it as a monastery, concentration camp and a totalitarian state, but actually it was a criticism in disguise of the then political system.
In spite of the fact that the history of Poland or Polish philosophy was completely new for the members of the audience, their questions and remarks demonstrated that they were able to see the relations between the views of Plato’s interpreters and their interpretations of Plato’s Republic. Moreover, as usually, the discussion was the evidence that more general issues related to Plato’s legacy remain topical and stimulating as, for example, the chronology of Plato’s dialogues or reliability of image of Socrates.
Ancient Wisdom in a Lithuanian Interpretation
Connections between Ancient Φilosophy Reception research group at the University of Zielona Góra and the scholars of Vilnius University have been many times documented on this website. This time we want to report on an Erasmus+ teaching visit of a Lithuanian scholar, Mindaugas Stoškus from Vilnius, in the Institute of Philosophy (UZ). He was our guest between 10th and 14th of April.
Among dr Stoškus’ teaching acitivities, there was a lecture titled:
What Can We Learn from the Ancient Concept of Wisdom?
This lecture was delivered twice, during the classes of Philosophical Counselling (above on the photo by A. Habura) and on the course of the History of Ancient Philosophy. At the beginning of his lecture, Dr. Stoškus discussed etymological issues, focusing on the very notion of wisdom. The he took an attempt to enumerate the attributes of the wise man, as the Greeks saw them. They included, for example, knowledge, experience, ability to justify judgments, and desire to disseminate wisdom. Dr. Stoškus discerned philosophical wisdom from its sophistic version and, in conclusion, emphasised the essential connection between theory and practice of wisdom.
Greek philosophy still fares well!
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