PROF. SZCZEPAN W. ŚLAGA – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF SPCh IN THE YEARS 1988-1995

• December 16 marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Rev. Prof. Szczepan W. Ślaga, editor-in-chief of SPCh from 1988 to 1995. Szczepan Witold Ślaga was born on December 26, 1934, in Łukownica near Limanowa. From 1951 to 1956, he studied philosophy and theology at the Higher Theological Seminary in Łódź, where he was ordained a priest. He then continued his philosophical studies at the Catholic University of Lublin, culminating in 1961 with a master's degree in natural philosophy, based on his thesis “The issue of the distinctiveness of living matter on the example of viruses.” He obtained his doctorate in 1965 at the Catholic University of Lublin, based on his dissertation entitled “Abiogenesis in relation to research on viruses.” In the same year, he began teaching at the Catholic University of Lublin, in the Department of Philosophy of Nature, with which he was associated until the end of his life, first as an assistant professor, then as an associate professor after his habilitation in 1974, as an extraordinary professor from 1982, and as a full professor from 1993. In the academic year 1982/83, he stayed in Louvain for specialist studies. From 1981, he headed the Department of Philosophy of Nature. He died on December 16, 1995, in Łódź. Ślaga published nearly 180 scientific texts. He actively participated in many national and international scientific conferences. In his scientific work, he addressed a number of issues. These included philosophical problems of biology and its relationship to philosophy, the question of the essence of life, the problem of the origin of life and its evolution, the issue of evolutionism, systemic research on science, and methodological analyses of the views of other authors (including A. Oparin, M. Eigen, K. Kłósak, J. Rostand, H. C. Urey, W. Sedlak). He was associated with the SPCh for 20 years. In 1975-1985, he was the editorial secretary of the SPCh, and in 1985-1988, he was the deputy editor-in-chief. He published 104 texts (articles, reviews, and others) in the SPCh.

• For more information, see: Ślaga Szczepan, in: Encyklopedia Filozofii Polskiej, vol. 2, Lublin 2011, pp. 681-684.