Stefan Czarnowski

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Stefan Zygmunt Czarnowski (born September 1, 1879 in Kroczewo ; † December 29, 1937 in Warsaw ) was a Polish Celtologist, sociologist and cultural historian who, along with Ludwik Krzywicki and Florian Znaniecki, was one of the "three greats" of Polish humanistic sociology in the interwar period becomes.

After studying in Leipzig, a. a. with Wilhelm Wund, in Berlin with Georg Simmel and in Paris as a student and assistant to Marcel Mauss and Henri Hubert, Czarnowski completed his habilitation in 1926 in cultural history at the University of Warsaw , and from 1928 to 1929 he lectured at the École pratique des hautes études in Paris. From 1930 he taught at the University of Warsaw as an associate professor for cultural history, and since 1934 as a full professor for sociology and cultural history.

In his sociological work, Czarnowski closely followed the positivist conception of science by Émile Durkheim , in which he explored the socio-cultural world using empirically verifiable theories and methods. At the same time he advocated an "ontological" humanism in the view that this world was a dimension constituted by symbolic communication , to be observed separately from natural phenomena. In his work he mostly appeared as a historian and sociologist at the same time, which is why he is considered the first Polish representative of historical sociology . His main work, Kultura, offers a series of historical-sociological studies on the emergence, change and renewal of culture and is an attempt to synthesize Durkheim's concept of society and Marxist analysis categories.

Works (selection)

  • Filozofja społeczna w Polsce w końcu XVIII i początku XIX wieku (1904)
  • Zjawisko religijne (1912)
  • Dawna literatura irlandzka (1915)
  • Hercules Gallijski (1925)
  • Idea kierownicze ludzkości (1928)
  • Tłumaczenie tekstów literackich celtyckich (1930)
  • Ludzie zbędni w służbie przemocy (1935)
  • Podłoże ruchu chłopskiego (1935)
  • Związki mityczne bajki o kozie, kózce i wilku (1936)
  • Kultura (1938)
  • Społeczeństwo. Kultura (1939)

literature

  • A. Miller: Czarnowski, Stefan. In: Wilhelm Bernsdorf , Horst Knospe (Ed.): Internationales Soziologenlexikon. Volume 1: Articles on sociologists who died by the end of 1969. 2nd revised edition. Enke, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-432-82652-4 , p. 91.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sulek, Róza: "Droga do socjologii". In Jablonowski, Marek (ed.) (2008): Stefan Czarnowski z perpektywy siedemdziesieciolecia . Warszawa, Oficyna Wydawnicza ASPRA-JR, pp. 67-107.
  2. ↑ Morawska, Ewa (1996): Insecure Prosperity . Princeton University Press, p. 255.
personal data
SURNAME Czarnowski, Stefan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Czarnowski, Stefan Zygmunt (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish sociologist and cultural historian
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Kroczewo
DATE OF DEATH December 29, 1937
Place of death Warsaw