Universals and Blood on the Hands of Reason: The Dispute over Meaning in Poland

This text shifts the perennial debate over universals from academic departments to the very center of contemporary Polish public debate. The author argues that decisions concerning the reality of general concepts such as goodness and justice constitute the foundation of the architecture of our law, media, and educational systems. The work traces the evolution of thought from medieval realism, through modern rationalism, to contemporary language games. The article critiques modern nominalism in administration, pointing to the urgent need for precise definitions to avoid nihilism. It is a call for the hygiene of meaning and the understanding that philosophy is a tool for shaping objective truth and social order.