HadziewiczRafal-PortretMichalaWiszniewskiego

Michał Wiszniewski (27 September 1794 – 22 December 1865) was a Polish philosopher,

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how ...

, and

literary historian The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...

Life

Wiszniewski graduated from the celebrated Krzemieniec Lyceum (secondary school), where he subsequently taught for a time. In 1831 he became a professor at

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...

's Jagiellonian University. He was a conservative activist during the

Kraków Uprising The Kraków uprising ( Polish: ''powstanie krakowskie'', ''rewolucja krakowska''; German: ''Krakauer Aufstand''; Russian: ''краковское восстание'') of 1846 was an attempt, led by Polish insurgents such as Jan Tyssowski and ...

of 1846. In 1848 he emigrated to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Wiszniewski was an epigone of the

Polish Enlightenment The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in Poland were developed later than in Western Europe, as the Polish bourgeoisie was weaker, and szlachta (nobility) culture (Sarmatism) together with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth political system (Go ...

, and at the same time a precursor of

Positivism Positivism is an empiricist philosophical t