Leśniewski Against Universals

Abstract

The author contrasts two arguments against the existence of universal objects formulated by Stanisław Leśniewski and indicates the possible directions for the critique of these arguments. The paper contains also some historical and bibliographical remarks which throw new light on the role that Leśniewski played in the controversy over universals in the Lvov-Warsaw School. The paper has the following structure. The first part is a historical outline which pictures Leśniewski against the background of the above mentioned controversy. The second part is devoted to the first Leśniewski's argument against universals (1911) and to the critical analysis of this argument. The third part deals with the proof against the existence of universals formulated by Leoniewski in 1927 and to the limitations of this proof.