Stanisław Kamiński – a Polish priest of the Siedlce diocese (in the Podlasie region), a philosopher, methodologist, historian of logic and science, a logologist. He was born on 24 October 1919 in Radzyń Podlaski, and died on 21 March 1986 in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany). In 1938 he graduated from the secondary school (bishop’s secondary school) in Siedlce and he took up philosophical and theological studies at the Theological Seminary of the Siedlce diocese (Podlasie) in Janów Podlaski. The school was closed in 1939 and reopened in 1941 in Siedlce. In 1946 he was ordained priest. The same year he started his philosophical studies at the Faculty of Christian Philosophy of the Catholic University of Lublin. During that period, in 1947 he started didactic work teaching logic at the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences. Then, in 1949, at the Faculty of Christian Philosophy of KUL he obtained the doctor’s degree based on the doctoral thesis “Fregego dwuwartościowy system aksjomatyczny zmiennych zdaniowych w świetle współczesnej metodologii nauk dedukcyjnych” [Frege’s Bivalent Axiomatic System of Task Variables in the Light of the Modern Methodology of Deductive Sciences]. From 1950 he worked as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Christian Philosophy of KUL. In 1957, on the basis of his scientific achievements and the dissertation “O początkach indukcji matematycznej” [On the Beginnings of Mathematic Induction], he obtained the degree and the post of a docent (the qualification procedure for that post was not obligatory at that time), and then he became the head of the Chair of Logic and Methodology of Sciences. In 1965 he obtained the degree of an associate professor, and in 1970 – full professor. As a professor, and also as a dean, he was connected with the Faculty of Christian Philosophy of KUL.
In his scientific research he dealt with issues such as: history of logic (this area of science was explored in his promotion works: “Fregego dwuwartościowy system aksjomatyczny zmiennych zdaniowych w świetle współczesnej metodologii nauk dedukcyjnych” [Frege’s Bivalent Axiomatic System of Task Variables in the Light of the Modern Methodology of Deductive Sciences] and “O początkach indukcji matematycznej” [On the Beginnings of Mathematic Induction], methodology of sciences (his main work was the book entitled “Pojęcie nauki i klasyfikacja nauk” [The Concept of Science and the Classification of Sciences] published several times), methodology of metaphysics and other areas of philosophy understood in classical terms (he described the types of philosophy and carried out the typology of philosophical methods), as well as the theory and methodology of theology (he differentiated between the theology perceived as rationalisation of the Revelation and as revelationisation of human knowledge).
He is considered to be the co-founder of the Lublin school of classical philosophy in which he developed the methodological and metaphilosophical reflection. The methodology of classical philosophy which he developed with Mieczysław Albert Krąpiec OP, was a unique undertaking in the world’s philosophy.
The most important books by Kamiński include: “Gergonne’a teoria definicji” [Gergonne’s Theory of Definition], Lublin 1958; “Pojęcie nauki i klasyfikacja nauk” [The Concept of Science and the Classification of Sciences], Lublin 1981 [19702, 19813]); “Z teorii i metodologii metafizyki” [On the Theory and Methodology of Metaphysics] (Lublin 1962 – with M.A. Krąpiec). After Kamiński died, five volumes of “Pisma wybrane” [Selected Writings] were published: Vol. I: “Jak filozofować? Studia z metodologii filozofii klasycznej” [How to Philosophise? Studies on the Methodology of Classical Philosophy], Lublin 1989 (edited by Tadeusz Szubka); Vol. II: “Filozofia i metoda. Studia z dziejów filozofowania” [Philosophy and Method: Studies on the History of Philosophising], Lublin 1993 (edited by Józef Herbut); Vol. III: “Metoda i język. Studia z semiotyki i metodologii nauk” [Method and Language: Studies on the Semiotics and the Methodology of Sciences], Lublin 1994 (edited by Urszula M. Żegleń); Vol. IV: “Nauka i metoda. Pojęcie nauki i klasyfikacja nauk” [Science and Method: The Concept of Science and the Classification of Sciences], Lublin 1992 (edited by Andrzej Bronk); Vol. V: “Światopogląd, religia, teologia. Zagadnienia filozoficzne i metodologiczne” [Worldview, Religion, Theology: Philosophical and Methodological Issues], Lublin 1998 (edited by Monika Walczak and Andrzej Bronk). Selected publications on Kamiński’s work: A.B. Stępień, “Działalność naukowa i organizacyjna ks. prof. Stanisława Kamińskiego” [Rev. prof. Stanisław Kamiński’s Scientific and Organisational Activity in KUL Scientific Bulletin 29 (1986), no. 1, pp. 17–23]; “Nauka i mądrość. Księga ku czci Księdza Profesora Stanisława Kamińskiego [Science and Wisdom: In Honour of Fr. Professor Stanisław Kamiński in Philosophical Annuals 35 (1987), no. 1]; S. Majdański, A. Lekka-Kowalik, “Kamiński Stanisław” in: Encyklopedia filozofii polskiej [Encyclopaedia of Polish Philosophy], ed. A. Maryniarczyk et al., Vol. I, Lublin 2011, col. 621–626.