Prawa człowieka w publicystyce Aleksandra Świętochowskiego

Abstract

The author of the article focuses his attention on Aleksander Świętochowski, who is regarded as one of the most outstanding representatives of the Warsaw Positivism. He emphasizes that being an ardent positivist, Świętochowski attacked what remained of feudalism and clericalism on the Polish territory, partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria. According to the author, „the Pope of the Polish Positivism” supported a liberal, secular and scientific model of culture, which led him to defending freedom of speech as the most important personal right of every human being. For Świętochowski, a free flow of ideas and information was the the sine qua non condition for the pursuit of truth in public life and the precondition for the vindication of rights of minorities, e.g. of the rights of women and Jews. In one of his columns published in „Prawda” Świętochowski wrote: „Liberum veto! A veto against slavery of thought, boastfulness, humiliation, blague, lies, hypocrisy, ultramontaigneism and other virtues of «double accounting» of the spirit. Praise freedom of beliefs, justice, science and tolerance, and truth”. The author draws attention of the reader to the peculiarity of Świętochowski’s conception of human rights, with its special emphasis laid on the right to free expression. In the conlusions, he claims that due to this selective attitude to individual rights and freedoms, it is much more approppriate to call Świętochowski „a publicist” than „a human rights defender”.