Analysis, Reconstruction, Engineering: Dealing with Concepts in the tradition of the Lvov-Warsaw School

Anna Brożek (University of Warsaw)

Call for Participation
AP in V4 Lecture Series — Analytic Philosophy in Visegrad Countries

Title: Analysis, Reconstruction, Engineering: Dealing with Concepts in the Tradition of the Lvov–Warsaw School
Speaker: Anna Brożek (University of Warsaw)
Date and time: 16 March 2026, 15:00–16:30 CET (3:00–4:30 p.m. CET)
Format: Online lecture (6/9 in the lecture series)

Organised by: Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia; University of Ostrava, Czech Republic; and University of Warsaw, Poland, with the support of the Visegrad Fund.

The lecture takes place within the AP in V4 Lecture Series — Analytic Philosophy in Visegrad Countries.

Abstract

Although analytic philosophy did not originate conceptual analysis, it introduced new logical tools that significantly refined its practice. The Lvov–Warsaw School, a Central European branch of early analytic philosophy, adopted these tools at an early stage and developed precise, replicable methods of philosophical inquiry. In the case of conceptual analysis, these methods were naturally combined with logical reconstruction.

This lecture presents selected elements of this often-overlooked tradition and shows its relevance to contemporary debates on conceptual engineering, explication, and rational reconstruction. Anna Brożek argues that members of the Lvov–Warsaw School — including Twardowski, Łukasiewicz, Kotarbiński, Ajdukiewicz, Ossowska, Dąmbska, Tarski, and others — not only theorised about philosophical methods but also systematically implemented them in their scholarly work.

She further proposes an “algorithm” for the reconstruction and analysis of concepts: a sequence of steps designed to ensure methodologically sound reconstruction in the spirit of the Lvov–Warsaw School. The procedure is formulated at a level of generality that makes it applicable across philosophical disciplines, regardless of the specific domain of inquiry. Finally, the lecture discusses the limitations of conceptual reconstruction, focusing in particular on the boundaries of engineering interventions into existing conceptual schemes. This issue has an important pragmatic dimension and bears directly on the broader social role of analytic philosophy.

About the speaker

Anna Brożek is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warsaw. She is affiliated with the Department of Logical Semiotics and heads both the Lvov–Warsaw School Research Center and the Unit for the Methodology of the Humanities. Her work focuses especially on semiotics, methodology, the history and methods of the Lvov–Warsaw School, and broader questions at the intersection of logic, philosophy, and the humanities.

She is also known for the remarkable breadth of her scholarship: alongside philosophy, she is a trained pianist and music theorist. Her publications include books such as Theory of Questions: Erotetics through the Prism of Its Philosophical Background and Practical Applications, Kazimierz Twardowski: Die Wiener Jahre, and Anti-Irrationalism: Methods in the Lvov–Warsaw School.

If you are interested in joining, please contact: [email protected]