Charakterystyczne rysy filozofii polityki Mieczysława A. Krąpca
Defining Characteristics of the Political Philosophy of Mieczysław A. Krąpiec

Summary/Abstract: Prof. Mieczysław A. Krąpiec (1921–2008) — one of the most eminent Polish philosophers, the main creator of the Lublin School of Philosophy. His conception of politics is presented in such publications as: ‘Toward a Human Politics’ (also issued under the title ‘Man and Politics’), ‘Sovereignty — Whose?’, ‘Person and Natural Law’, ‘Human Freedom and Its Limits’. Therein, he indicates that what gives meaning to and constitutes the ultimate purpose of one’s engagement in politics is the focus on the human being. The scope of this article is defined by four issues determining the uniqueness of Krąpiec’s political philosophy. First, his classical conception of philosophy, due to which Krąpiec does not confine himself to studying political phenomena, but embarks on a quest for the underlying determinants of the complex political reality. Second, his notion of the human being as a creature oriented at their own personal development and therefore inevitably connected to the community. In this respect Krąpiec is critical of Hobbesian anthropology which ignores the potentiality-actuality dichotomy of human nature and considers man a perfect, autonomous and autotelic being. Third, his conceptualization of the common good as personal development of each and every member of a political community. It is this development that the state, with all its organizational elements, including the material means as well as the legal and institutional structure, should serve. And fourth, his respect for the close relationship between politics and the sphere of moral functioning of the human being, which constitutes the basis for an analysis of Machiavelli’s mistake.

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