Józef Tischner is one of the most important intellectual figures of the last decades of the twentieth century in Poland

Józef Tischner*
(1931-2000)

Józef Tischner is one of the most important intellectual figures of the last decades of the twentieth century in Poland. He was a Catholic priest and an excellent philosopher who united two dimensions of spirituality: a deep religiosity and an exceptional skill in perceptive reasoning. His intellectual work and pastoral duties often intertwined with each other, and they were his main areas of activity. He used to say half-jokingly, “I am first and foremost a human being, secondly a philosopher, and only thirdly a priest” (Tischner, Ksiądz 6). In reality, even as a philosopher, he never ceased to be a pastor of lost souls and never underestimated the fact that philosophical reflection that unveiled the truth about the human condition was not only theory, but also a way of saving human beings and renewing their hope. For Tischner, his pastoral work was the first and main field of responsibility, but that field was honeycombed with philosophical reflection that deepened and widened with the passage of time.

Tischner became widely known in Poland in the 1980s. He was the thinker who attempted to philosophically analyze the phenomenon of the Solidarity Labor Movement. After 1989, in the early years after the collapse of communism, he became a regular commentator on public issues, and later on political ones as well. He turned out to be an exceptionally successful media person. His extraordinary skill in articulating deep and complicated issues in a clear and simple language, coupled with a captivatingly warm manner of speaking, won him the hearts of his radio listeners and TV viewers. Consequently, he became extremely popular with the media.
The last three years of his life were marked by a struggle with illness and extraordinarily intensive work on the writings related to the religious dimension of human existence.
Tischner authored a large number of articles and books. They include philosophical works, lecture notes, essays, homilies, and interviews published as books. Their main theme is the contemporary man who is constantly threatened by the presence of evil, yet who also is capable of rebuilding his own self and making his own decisions. He became an authority figure in Polish philosophy and the arts, in particular among the theater professionals who since 1980 participated in the lectures and seminars he gave in the Department of Polish at the Jagiellonian University and in the Department of Stage Direction at the School of Theater Arts in Kraków. Many of these listeners became eminent Polish actors and film and theater directors, and they have continued to attest that Tischner’s teachings inspired their work.

Józef Tischner was born on March 12, 1931, in Stary Sącz in southern Poland. He spent his childhood in a small village of Łopuszna where his parents worked as school teachers. Upon finishing high school he studied law at the Jagiellonian University for one year. In 1950 he entered a Catholic seminary and began to study in the Department of Theology at the Jagiellonian University, where one of his professors was Karol Wojtyła. When the Department of Theology was closed by the communist government in 1954 and after his ordination to priesthood in 1955, Tischner continued his studies in the Department of Christian Philosophy at the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw. In 1957 he resumed his studies in the Department of Philosophy and History of the Jagiellonian University. Among others, he attended a seminar conducted by the eminent phenomenologist Roman Ingarden who, after having been deprived of the right to teach by communists in Soviet-occupied Poland, had just returned to the university. Under the supervision of Ingarden, Tischner wrote and defended his thesis in 1959, and in 1963 his PhD dissertation, “The Transcendental Self in the Philosophy of Edmund Husserl” (“Ja transcedentalne w filozofii Edmunda Husserla”). Tischner was strongly supported by the Archbishop of Krakow Karol Wojtyła who placed great hopes in the young priest-philosopher.

It was only in 1968 that Tischner was allowed to travel abroad. He first went to Vienna where he met a number of people whose acquaintance would later prove fruitful. From there he traveled to Louvain in Belgium. These trips influenced his habilitation dissertation, “The Phenomenology of the Egotic Self-consciousness” (“Fenomenologia świadomości egotycznej”), which he defended in 1972. In this excellent dissertation, Tischner enters into a critical debate with the most important thinkers of the twentieth century: Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel Lévinas, Max Scheler, Paul Ricoeur and Jean-Paul Sartre, while presenting an original philosophy of man that became a subject of widely held discussions. For years, it was available in its entirety only as a dissertation typescript, to be finally published in 2008. However, Tischner included fragments of this work in other published texts, such as his first book The World of Human Hope (Świat ludzkiej nadziei, 1975) and Thinking in Values (Myślenie według wartości, 1982).

Two of his shorter texts deserve special mention. In “Axiological Impressions” (“Impresje aksjologiczne”, 1970) Tischner criticises the Husserlian concept of the “Transcendental Ego”, juxtaposing it with the description of the “Self” experienced from within as the basis of fundamental values. In this way, while remaining within the phenomenological tradition, he followed his own original path of philosophical reflection which he termed “the Philosophy of Drama” or “Agathology” that is, the metaphysics of the good. The main thesis of the second article, “The Decline of Thomist Christianity” (“Schyłek chrześcijaństwa tomistycznego”, 1970) carries on this axiological perspective. Such a stand transported onto the level of metaphysics had to lead to the radical questioning of the Thomist philosophy of being. Tischner’s critique touched upon every understanding of ontology; his later reflections on Heidegger’s concept of it had the same axiological, or rather, to make use of a Tischnerian term, “agathological” source. The issues Tischner raised went far beyond an ordinary theoretical debate between different philosophical schools. In “The Decline of Thomist Christianity” Tischner openly appeals for a reform of the pastoral mission of the Catholic Church. He claims that Thomism perceived as the official philosophy of the Catholic Church reduced the essence of Christianity to a system of knowledge, and in doing so turned faith into an ideology and veiled revelation. As a result of these errors in theory, its practical application was erroneous as well. “From the Thomistic point of view” – wrote Tischner years later commenting on his text –
those who committed suicide were denied a Catholic burial, for they had failed to demonstrate a sign of contrition. There is no concept of authenticity in the Thomistic school; it fails to recognize that human consciousness may be confused and illusionary. . . . Thomism does not know what conversion consists in. It treats it as substituting one world view for another and not as a deep personal change. (Przekonać Pana Boga, 7)

At the time when most priests and bishops were educated according to the Thomistic school, this provocative text that prophesied the end of the Thomistic interpretation of the world indicated great courage. The reaction to Tischner’s thesis, though substantial, did not exceed the borders of scholarly discussion and was going on during the 1970s. Despite serious objections raised by his opponents and thanks to Cardinal Wojtyła’s trust, he did not suffer any professional consequences even when queries about his orthodoxy came from Rome.

In 1977 there occurred a radical shift in Tischner’s intellectual stance. In “What Kind of Philosophy Do I Practice?” (“Czym jest filozofia, którą uprawiam”), he formulated his philosophical credo:
in the face of every kind of philosophizing one has to make a radical choice. From what we can think of, one ought to choose that which we should think of. But that which we should think of does not come from the pages of a book but from the face of a man troubled by his fate. . . . The quality of philosophy is determined by the quality of human pain that philosophy would like to express and explain. He who fails to realize this borders on betrayal. (Tischner, Myślenie 11)
From then on, Tischner’s reflections would constantly oscillate around the most painful problems that disturbed Polish society. It only seems logical that, as a consequence, Tischner would turn to issues related to politics. At the same time, he undertook a deeper study of the philosophy of Hegel, particularly of his Phenomenology of Spirit, finding in it theoretical instruments necessary for his reflections on human freedom, history, and the dynamics of social and political changes. The fruit of these studies was delivered as a series of lectures at the Jagiellonian University starting with 1981. These reflections were later published as a book Confession of a Revolutionary (Spowiedź rewolucjonisty, 1993).

In 1979 Tischner, sidestepping censorship, published Marxism and Christianity: The Quarrel and Dialogue in Poland (Polski kształt dialogu); the English translation came out in 1987. Here he analyzed the postwar Polish Marxists and unveiled the philosophical poverty of their texts produced to serve the purposes of the communist government. The book includes important chapters about the intellectual evolution of such Polish leftists as Adam Michnik and Leszek Kołakowski. This study of Marxism was a perfect preparation for the next task that awaited Tischner. In October 1980 he preached a sermon to the leaders of Solidarity gathered at the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. He began his sermon with the words of St. Paul, “Bear ye one another’s burden” (Gal. VI: 2), and described Solidarity as a community that had arisen spontaneously among men and women of good will. This homily initiated a series of weekly newspaper articles by Tischner where he recaptured the meaning of fundamental ideas such as freedom, truth, community, responsibility, and justice, and pointed out how all of them had been falsified in the world of communist ideology. This collection of texts was published in 1981 in Polish as Etyka Solidarności, and in 1984 in English as The Spirit of Solidarity. Within a short period of time it was translated into 11 languages. During his third trip to Poland in 1987, John Paul II, in a homily preached in Gdańsk, quoted Tischner’s text as best revealing the truth about Polish Solidarity. Traces of some of Tischner’s thoughts can also be found in the papal social encyclicals.

After the declaration of martial law in December 1981 Tischner continued his work. He returned to the basics and articulated in print and word the most important ethical questions the Polish nation faced at that time. He also assumed important public duties. In 1982 he was appointed Dean of the Department of Philosophy at the Papal Academy of Theology in Kraków, a newly-established institution that began functioning despite the fact that the communist government refused to accredit it. In that same year, together with Krzysztof Michalski Tischner founded the renowned “Institute for Human Sciences” in Vienna. He served for many years as the Institute’s president.
In 1985 Tischner completed the writing of The Philosophy of Drama (Filozofia dramatu, 1990) that is now regarded as one of his best works. By inscribing himself into the widely understood school of the philosophy of dialogue and entering into a discourse with representatives of this school such as Martin Buber, Gabriel Marcel, Franz Rosenzweig, and Emmanuel Lévinas, Tischner made an original attempt at systematizing the most essential interpersonal experiences according to categories adapted from the world of theater. Concepts such as “scene”, “mask”, “curtain”, and “drama” turned out to be keynotes in the description of the encounter of man with man and in the unveiling of the mystery of evil which tempts and scares people thus leading them to despair; yet that same evil can be challenged by the continuous and possible chance of choosing the Good.

In the years 1987–89 he published a series of articles where he articulated the essence of totalitarianism as the manifestation of radical evil. Hannah Arendt’s well known thesis that we have been unable to fully grasp that evil within our intellectual tradition was for Tischner unacceptable. In his texts he tried to analyze the structure of totalitarian ideology and of communism in particular; he believed that communism was a more malicious form of totalitarianism than nazism. “The persuasive force with which communism stepped into history was incomparably much more powerful than the force of nazism. The communist adoption of evil turned out to be even more enslaving” (Tischner, Spór 40).

After 1989 Tischner continued to provide philosophical commentary about events that unfolded in Poland. He was concerned with the many misunderstandings caused by changes in the political system, by the continuing presence of the consequences of the communist past, by the issue of responsibility and moral retribution that had to be meted out to communist bureaucrats, and by other challenges to the newly acquired liberty. The titles of the books published in this period speak for themselves: Homo sovieticus (1992), The Unfortunate Gift of Freedom (Nieszczęsny dar wolności, 1993), and In the Land of Diseased Imagination (W krainie schorowanej wyobraźni, 1998).
The most striking element of Tischner’s writings is his continuing reflection on the faith and religiosity of Poles. Ever since the debate on Thomism which he launched in the 1970s, Tischner participated in every pastoral and philosophical debate within the Polish Catholic Church. Many of them were initiated by himself. Sometimes he was like “the voice that cries out in the wilderness”, as for instance in 1978 when, in the moment of universal enthusiasm following the election of John Paul II, he worriedly warned that if Poles failed to undertake serious work on deepening their faith, their enthusiasm would not exceed the emotional level and the person of the Pope would become a popular idol, a sort of narcotic for the nation supporting the prevailing attitude of ethical self-admiration. In the 1980s and 1990s Tischner continued to sound his clarion call, as for instance when he wrote “I have never met anyone who, having read Marx or Engels, has lost his or her faith; I have, however, met many who have lost their faith upon meeting their parish priests” (Michnik, Tischner, Żakowski, Między 562).

In independent Poland Tischner devoted all of his writings and energy to the task of implementing his carefully designed educational and pastoral work, a program for the times of liberty. He tried to purify Polish Christianity of false hopes and deceptions that strengthened thoughtlessness and transformed a religion of love into a political ideology. He stressed that the essence of Christianity is not to evoke fear of condemnation; nor can Christianity be reduced to the naming of its enemies. The essence of Christianity is preaching the Gospel that respects human freedom and is open to all men of good will. In the collection of essays A Priest on the Sideroad (Ksiądz na manowcach, 1999) and in other books, interviews, and conversations such as “Tischner reads the Catechism” (“Tischner czyta Katechizm”, 1996) or “To Persuade God” (“Przekonać Pana Boga”, 1999), Tischner offers reflections accessible to people of all levels of intellect; all these texts are possessed of metaphysical depth and provide an excellent insight into the essence of Christian religion.

Tischner also wrote homilies and stories in his highlander (góral) dialect, the dialect of the Polish highlanders who live in Podhale, the mountainous region in southern Poland. These form a separate part in his writings. One of the best known ones is A Highlander’s History of Philosphy (Historia filozofii po góralsku, 1997), a book full of humor and wit, truly a literary gem in which Tischner puts into the mouths of various acquaintances and friends, mostly highlanders from Podhale villages, the words preached by representatives of the various schools of ancient philosophy.
I
n fall 1997 Tischner was diagnosed with cancer of the throat and sent off to medical establishments for treatment. Deprived of the ability to speak, he focused on writing. He hurriedly finished the second volume of his philosophical work, A Controversy about the Existence of Man (Spór o istnienie człowieka, 1998). The book was a tribute to Roman Ingarden, while at the same time challenging Ingarden’s book A Controversy about the Existence of the World (Spór o istnienie świata). This polemic was based on Tischner’s fundamental intuition that the key to understanding man was not onthology but agathology, the philosophy of the Good.

As he struggled with the progressing disease, Tischner focused his attention on the most essential things. His last texts are devoted to the deepest aspects of religious experience: freedom and grace, mercy and justice. These late texts are filled with the drama and pain experienced by the author, while remaining imbued with a deep trust in the ultimate victory of the Good. In one of these texts Tischner remarks as he views his life’s achievements:

At the final end of our understanding of this world, of our understanding of the human drama, and of the drama we ourselves live out—one can, and should, look upon oneself and see what one has lived through, how much one has suffered, how many things one has lost. One sees all this, as well as what one has won, and suddenly, perhaps at the end of one’s life, one may be enlightened by the consciousness, that ‘it was good’. (...) And perhaps, this is what it all consists of, perhaps this is why we are in this world: so that at the end of our lives we may may repeat the most beautiful words Our Lord God said on the last day of Creation, ‘It was good.’ And shall remain so. (Tischner, Żakowski, Tischner 56)

Upon receiving the news of Tischner’s death, John Paul II sent a telegram in which he wrote: “He was a man of the Church, who in defending the truth always tried not to lose sight of man.”

Zbigniew Stawrowski

Works cited:
Józef Tischner, Ksiądz na manowcach, Kraków 1999, p. 6.
Józef Tischner, Myślenie według wartości, Kraków 1982, p. 11.
Józef Tischner, Spór o istnienie człowieka, Kraków 1998, p. 40.
Józef Tischner, Jacek Żakowski, Tischner czyta Katechizm, Kraków 1996, p. 56.
Adam Michnik, Józef Tischner, Jacek Żakowski, Między Panem a Plebanem, Kraków 1995, p. 562.
Przekonać Pana Boga. Z ks. Józefem Tischnerem rozmawiają Dorota Zańko i Jarosław Gowin, Kraków 2002, p. 7.
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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY IN ENGLISH

Józef Tischner, The Spirit of Solidarity, Translated by Marek Zaleski and Benjamin Fiore. London: Harper and Row, 1984.

Józef Tischner, Marxism and Christianity: the quarrel and dialogue in Poland, translated by Marek Zaleski and Benjamin Fiore. Washington: Georgetown Uiversity Press, 1987.

About Tischner
 and also his various articles, fragments of books and commentaries to his texts in:

The Tischner Institute Journal of Philosophy
No. 1 (2007)
Solidarity
http://tischner.org.pl/ksiazki-instytutu/thinking-in-values/t_i_v_1

The Tischner Institute Journal of Philosophy
No. 2 (2008)
Agathology
http://tischner.org.pl/ksiazki-instytutu/thinking-in-values/t_i_v_2

The Tischner Institute Journal of Philosophy
No. 3 (2011)
Dialogue and Encounter
http://tischner.org.pl/ksiazki-instytutu/thinking-in-values/t_i_v_3
                                                                                         
* Stawrowski, Zbigniew. „Józef Tischner”. The Literary Encyclopedia. 12 January 2010.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12637, accessed 13 January 2010.]