Izydora Dąmbska’s concept of independent ethics

Izydora Dąmbska was one of the closest collaborators of Kazimierz Twardowski, the founder of the Lvov-Warsaw School. She was also his assistant at the Jan Kazimierz University in Lvov for several years. Dąmbska focused her scholarly interests on the theory of cognition and methodology of sciences. She also dealt with ethical issues, especially the practical aspects of ethical education among school youth. To this end, she used her studies of ancient culture and philosophy. In 1930, she got a scholarship from the National Cultural Fund, thanks to which she continued her studies at the universities of Vienna and Paris. Influenced by the views of Moritz Schlick and the French philosopher André Lalande, as well as her own studies of scepticism, she developed an original system of ethics, which constituted a compilation of the theses of Twardowski’s independent ethics and her own research into philosophical scepticism. In his article, the author distinguishes two stages in the formation of Dąmbska’s concept of ethics, the first of which was influenced by Twardowski’s views, and the second, sceptical, which was associated with the search for justified reasons for resolving moral dilemmas. Dąmbska gained great recognition in the academic community in Poland, as no other reasons than scientific ones affected her views. For this reason, she was not only a true authority, but also a voice of conscience for academics in the totalitarian political system in post-war Poland.