Cywilizacja zachodnia w poglądach o. Józefa M. Bocheńskiego

Abstract

Alfred Skorupka

Father Joseph M. Bocheński’s Views on the Western Civilization

Abstract
The paper presents the views of the Polish philosopher Fr. Joseph M. Bocheński on Western civilization. According to Bocheński, our civilization is characterized by three fundamental features: the Greek attitude to the pure form (that is seen in science and art), the Roman attitude to social issues, and the Jewish-Christian approach to existential problems. Another important feature of our civilization is democracy. Bocheński claims that today we must defend the Western civilization; one of the threats is the diminished strength of Christianity. The Polish thinker writes that only the Western civilization is a living civilization, whereas all others are dead civilizations. According to the author of the paper, we cannot say that the Chinese civilization is a dead civilization.

Keywords: Joseph M. Bocheński, Greek culture, Christianity, democracy, Western civilization, China civilization.