Inspirational Quotes by Alfred Korzybski (Polish-American Philosopher)

Alfred Vladislavovich Habdank Skarbek Korzybski (1879–1950) was a Polish-American philosopher of language. He is the forefather of general semantics, a philosophical movement seeking to develop public awareness of the conventional basis of the relationships between words and objects to improve the clarity of thought and communication. Korzybski was the founder and director of Institute of General Semantics in Chicago.

Born in Warsaw, Poland, to an aristocratic and wealthy family, Korzybski studied chemical engineering at the Polytechnic Institute in Warsaw. The Russian army sent him on a military undertaking to North America during World War I. Following the Russian Revolution and civil war in 1917, he remained in the United States, becoming a citizen in 1940.

Korzybski is best known as the originator of general semantics and semiotics, a system of linguistic philosophy concerned with the study of language as a representation of reality. He sought to create a “General Semantics” for all modes of communication to help expand people’s ability to analyze the meanings and uses of words. Korzybski’s goal was to promote mutual understanding between individuals and the accurate transmission of ideas from one generation to another.

Korzybski’s major work on general semantics is Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics (1933.) In this tome, Korzybski argued for the development of a visual semantic that could apply equally to science, philosophy, mathematics, psychology, and physiology. He also proposed a formal, non-Aristotelian logic as an iconic calculus.

Korzybski also wrote Manhood of Humanity: The Science and Art of Human Engineering (1921.) In this work, Korzybski argued about the nature of physiological development required by humankind to overcome the conflicts that led to war.

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