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The aim of this paper is to show the conception of philosophical superstition understood as something which is without any doubt false but considered as undoubtedly true. The conception is presented in The Short Philosophical Dictionary of Superstitions of fr. Józef Maria Innocenty Bocheński OP. Philosophical superstition differs from superstition in general, understood as beliefs and practices grounded in conviction that there exist cause-effect relationships, which are impossible to be empirically proven but are thought to have supernatural origin. Bocheński draws from philosophical realism, including classical conception of truth, and claims that philosophical superstition is a cognitive distortion characterized by two: obviousness that a claim is false and universal conviction that this false claim is true. In this paper we present not only premises necessary to qualify some ideas as philosophical superstition but also fundaments that initiate the proces of their creation. According to Bocheński, we find remedy for superstitions in growing social significance of philosophers, whose main task would be to search and identify superstitions. For that reason, in this work we speak of topic of the social role of philosophy. Bocheński claims that not every philosophy is equally destined to fulfill this task for many philosophical ideas contributed to create superstitions. The author of the Dictionary made St. Thomas a specific guide on the path of searching and identifying superstitions. The additional aim of the paper is to show a historical context of perception of Bocheński’s book on philosophical superstitions and describe his influence in various environments. We focus on numerous editions (in Polish and foreign languages) and on main revisions. |
