jacek9520@gmail.com
Since 2018, I’ve been carrying out my work not alone anymore, but with Jacenty Siewierski.
He is the author of an excellent book on the Christian roots of the West. It could be bought in a bookstore or read and download from my site. We both are interested in the same area of issues and have nearly the same approach to them. Sometimes we focus on different problems, what expands the range of topics that reader can find on this page.
I am very glad that we started working together. Close neighbourhood also helps. We live close to each other, in walking distance.
Jacenty Siewierski (to the left) and Jacek Kwaśniewski
Spis treści / Contents
Jacenty Siewierski, My professional interests and future plans
I welcome readers interested in cultural determinants of civilization development, readers of Jacek Kwaśniewski’s website. I gladly accepted his invitation to join forces and common work
I present here my works analyzing the influence of Christianity on the expansion of Western civilization. The uniqueness of Western culture and civilization as well as its past vitality and current drying of its sources, is in the very centre of my interest.
I also turned to Confucian culture and civilization whose development was often compared with Western development. I have published several papers in this subject.
In addition to the civilization, my interests revolve around history and anthropology and their connections with the philosophy and sociology, especially issues of collective identity, community, tradition, multiculturalism and cultural patterns of social life. I intend to develop these issues, including civilization, in fruitful cooperation on Jacek Kwasniewski’s website.
Jacek Kwaśniewski, I would highly recommend
For almost twenty years I have been dealing with the history of the civilizational explosion of Europe, dating from the XII – XIV century. I can confidently recommend Jacenty Siewierski’s book “Christianity and the expansion of Western civilization”, one of the best analyzes of the role of Christianity in the emergence of the European phenomenon.
The choice of issues guarantees a wide, panoramic view. Christianity and the Church are shown as the foundation of Europe, which consolidates its diversity, brings on the track of individualism, provides a model of modern law, supports the construction of urban autonomy, creates conditions for the development of institutionalized intellectual activity. There is no apologetics in this analysis. The author shows the subsequent erosion of Christianity as a motor of civilization explosion. Extensive literature is used. The Ending deserves separate praise. Written twelve years ago, it draws unhappy prospects for the future of the West that we have just started experiencing.
Equally worth recommending are the other texts of Dr. Siewierski, posted on this page.
Jacenty Siewierski, book “Christianty and the Expansion of Western Civilization” (in Polish)
Entire book pdf version Synopsis pdf Synopsis on-line
Introductory Remarks
Synopsis on-line Introductory Remarks pdf (open / download)
Culture and Civilization. Definitions of key terms
Religion and Culture
History of Europe: Split Into Periods
Zawartość opracowania
1. Christianity As the Foundation
Synopsis on-line Chapter 1 pdf (open / download)
From Romanitas to Christianitas
The Birth of Christian state
Institutionalization of Christianity and position of Rome
Christian moral and political Universe
Cultural unity of Christian Europe
Gradual erosion of Christianity
Conclusion
2. Individualism in the European Culture
Synopsis on-line Chapter 2 pdf (open / download)
Culture in the post-Christian era
Individual and Community
Christian sources of individualism
Change of cultural purpose
Individualism as a threat to the foundations of culture
Gradual erosion of individualism
3. The formation of an autonomous urban community
Synopsis on-line Chapter 3 pdf (open / download)
Cultural and civilization universals
Differentiation of civilization designs / patterns
Christian inspirations of the autonomous urban community
The town’s road to autonomy in medieval Europe
Base of town autonomy
Influence of the medieval urban community on dynamics and economic changes. From the urban community to capitalism
Conclusion. The special role of the town in historical development
4. Birth of the legal order (Ordo Iuris)
Synopsis on-line Chapter 4 pdf (open / download)
Law in Confucian culture
Forming of Western legal tradition
Reform of Church in 11th century
5. Prelude to the scientific revolution
Synopsis on-line Chapter 5 pdf (open / download)
God and nature’s order
Scientific knowledge in ancient and medieval times
The benefits of scholasticism
Authority and knowledge development
Conclusion
Synopsis on-line Conclusion pdf (open / download)
Bibliography, Index pdf
Jacenty Siewierski, Other texts (in Polish)
Historic race of civilization. Why did the West win? The role of Christianity
2018, Historyczny wyścig cywilizacji. Dlaczego Zachód zwyciężył? Rola chrześcijaństwa, 19 pages
Christian legitimization of the development of science and technology in the Middle Ages
2019, Chrześcijańskie uzasadnienie rozwoju nauki i technologii w Średniowieczu, 8 pages
Culture and economic development. Comparative analysis of the West and East Asia
2010, Kultura a rozwój gospodarczy. Analiza porównawcza Zachodu i Azji wschodniej, 81 pages
Autonomy and individual and community. Comparative analysis of economic development in the West and in East Asia
2011, Autonomia jednostki a wspólnota. Analiza porównawcza rozwoju gospodarczego na Zachodzie i w Azji wschodniej, 95 pages
Jacenty Siewierski, Biographical note
Sociologist. Lecturer at the Warsaw School of Economics, Academy of Humanities, College of International Cooperation. PhD in sociology.
Carrier
- 1971 master’s degree. Master’s thesis: “Historiosophy De Civitate Dei at St. Augustine”
- 1971 work in the PWN (Polish main scientific publisher)
- 1972 work at SGPiS (now SGH – Warsaw School of Economics)
- 1980 doctor’s degree at the Warsaw University. PhD thesis: “The idea of socialism in the works of Kautski and Bauer and disputes about how to implement the ideas of socialism”
- Internships at the universities of Leipzig, Mannheim and Duisburg
- Currently a senior lecturer at SGH
- From 1972 employee of the Department of Sociology at SGH. In the years 2002–2010 the chairman of the Solidarity Trade Union at the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) and was a member of the university senate with an advisory vote
Scientific and research interests:
- the 1970s – idea of socialism German and Austrian thought
- 1980s – transformations in local communities
- 1990s – transformation of the economy and society in free market environment
- Since 2004: cultural determinants of economic and social development
Selected publications (in Polish)
- Socjologia gospodarki [Sociology of the economy] (with L. Gilejko, J. Gardawski i R. Towalski), Difin Publishers, Warszawa 2006; 2. ed. 2007
- Chrześcijaństwo jako fundament kultury europejskiej, [Christianity As the foundation of the European Culture], in: Studia i Prace KES, zeszyt naukowy 13, Warszawa 2007, OW SGH
- Chrześcijaństwo a ekspansja cywilizacji zachodniej (Christianity and the expansion of Western civilization], SGH Publishers, Warszawa 2009
- Idea wielokulturowości. Tradycja Rzeczypospolitej a doświadczenia obecne [The Idea of Multiculturalism – Polish Historical Tradition and Current Experience], SGH Publishers, Warszawa 2010
- Chrześcijaństwo i konfucjanizm jako kulturowe stymulatory rozwoju gospodarczego. Zachód i Azja Wschodnia [Christianity and Confucianism as cultural stimulators of economic development. West and East Asia], (in print, SGH Publishers)
- Azjatycki model rozwoju na przykładzie Chin i Japonii [Asian development model: example of China and Japan], in: K. Górak-Sosnowska, J. Jórewicz (editors), Kulturowe uwarunkowania rozwoju w Azji i Afryce, Łódź 2010, Ibidem Publishers.
Classes: lectures on sociology, sociology of economy and sociology of labour, social anthropology and European civilization
Hobbies: chess, bridge, ancient history, Eastern culture