History

Polish Association for Logic and Philosophy of Science (Polskie Towarzystwo Logiki i Filozofii Nauki) was established in 1994. It is a continuation of Polish Logical Association (Polskie Towarzystwo Logiczne) founded on the initiative of Jan Łukasiewicz and Alfred Tarski on 22nd April 1936. The establishment of the latter was connected with the great development of logic in Poland in the interwar period. The aim of the association was – according to the statutes – “to practise and propagate logic and methodology of science, their history, didactics and applications”. Jan Łukasiewicz became the first President of the Association. The other members of the first Executive Board were Adolf Lindenbaum, Andrzej Mostowski, Bolesław Sobociński and Alfred Tarski. The formal constitution of the Association was written and adopted in 1938. Collectanea Logica, the official Journal of the Association was founded in 1939 and the first issue was prepared in August of that year. The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 interrupted the activities of the Association and the first issue never appeared.

After the second world war the association has not been reactivated. Between 1980 and 1981 Ryszard Wójcicki undertook effords to establish Polish Association of Logic. Unfortunately Polish authorities refused the registration. During 9th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science held in 1991 in Uppsala (Sweden) Polish participants decided to register an association named Polish Association for Logic and Philosophy of Science. On the 10th of December, 1991, the constituent meetig took place. The Temporary President, the Temporary Steering Committe and Temporary Board were elected. The first president became Ryszard Wójcicki. Next presidents were Wojciech Buszkowski (1993–1996), Ewa Orłowska (1997–1999), Jan Woleński (2000–2003), Grażyna Mirkowska (2003–2005), Roman Murawski (2006-2009), Kazimierz Trzęsicki (2009-2012), Janusz Czelakowski (2012-2016), Tomasz Placek (2016-2019), Cezary Cieśliński (2012-2022). Since 2022, the President is Tomasz Jarmużek. The association has nowadays about 210 members (including scientists from abroad).

The aims of Polish Association for Logic and Philosophy of Science are – according to the statutes – “to support scientific studies, popularization and teaching of the following disciplines: logic, applications of logic, especially applications in the foundations of mathematics, computer science and linguistics, and philosophy of science.” They are realized by organizing scientific meetings and conferences, acquiring and propagating information about scientific researches in the field of logic, its applications and the philosophy of science, by editorial, library and teaching activity, by cooperating with national and international institutions and organizations as well as by representing the scientific circle of logicians and philosophers of science.

Association is working all over Poland. Sections and local branches can be formed. The sources of funds of the association include membership fees, donations, subventions and incomes from economic activities.

The Association has an interdisciplinary character – this is the consequence of the existence of many fields in the contemporary logic. Its members are first of all philosophers, mathematicians and computer scientists working in logic, its applications and in the philosophy of science. It should be stressed that it is opened for everyone who is interested in logic in the broad sense including semantics, formal logic and the methodology of science.

The Association was the co-organizer of several Polish–German workshops in logic (in the period 1995–2000), of 11th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science held in Cracow (1999) and of Alfred Tarski Centenary Conference that took place in Warsaw (2001). During those conferences special sessions were organized by the Association. Association together with Studia Logica organized international conferences held under the name “Trends in Logic”. Previous conferences in this series have been held in the following locations: Roskilde (Denmark, 2004), Mądralin (2004), Warszawa and Ruciane Nida (Poland, 2005), Toruń (Poland, 2006), Guangzhou (China, 2007), Brussels (Belgium, 2008), Frankfurt am Main (Germany, 2009), Lexington (USA, 2010), Tbilisi (Georgia, 2011), Bochum (Germany, 2012), Pittsburgh (USA, 2013), Łódź (Poland, 2014), Ghent (Belgium, 2014), Delft (Netherlands, 2015), Campinas (Brazil, 2016), Lublin (Poland, 2017), Milan (Italy, 2018), Moscow (Russia, 2019), Kiev (Ukraine, 2021) and Cagliari (Italy, 2022).

Two journals are published under the auspices of the Association: Studia Logica and Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric.

Polish Association for Logic and Philosophy of Science is the member of International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science – Division of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and Technology.