Philosophical Reflection on Ideology against the Backdrop of Józef Tischner’s Thinking

Since its beginnings, philosophy has been associated with a critical quest for answers and has rejected biased and uncritical a priori interpretations. Methodic doubt has thus become not only the ever-present method of philosophy, but also a symbol of defiance against every kind of closed-minded and ideological thinking that has a tendency to simplify explanations and adapt reality to its own projections about the said reality. This type of thinking has always been linked to truth claims made by individual power entities. In the past, we have witnessed twists and abuses of ideology with far-reaching political consequences and yet the problem still persists. Each and every situation affected by crisis is a breeding ground for quick, clear and black and white explanations which attract attention and gain support, since they are generally easy to comprehend. This paper introduces a philosophical context of ideological thinking, in which the “will to power” is typical, as reflected upon by many thinkers, among them Józef Tischner who draws from his personal experience with the Communist regime in Poland.