FORUM PHILOSOPHICUM Facultas Philosophica Ignatianum Cracovia - Kraköw, 9: 2004, 273-275
AN OBITUARY FOR PROF. JÖZEF KALUZA
„Two things influenced the formation of contemporary medicine. One of them was Cartesian philosophy with its still valid criterion of scientific investigations: a maximal objectification of the observed events of nature, grounded in the reiteration of the events in the same conditions. [...] The second thing was the theory of cell pathology developed by Virchow. In the same moment as the conception of cell-pathology was introduced into medicine, the human being began to be seen as a multitude of structural elements called cells" (Jözef Kaluza)\A f t e r the unexpected death of Professor J ö z e f K a l u z a at the age of 74 on the 2 6 t h of J u l y 2003, not only P o l i s h neuropathology but also P o l i s h philosophy of m e d i c a l investigations lost one of its most renowned m i n d s .
B e g i n n i n g i n 1949, Professor K a l u z a studied m e d i c a l sciences for five years at the M e d i c a l F a c u l t y of the J a g i e l l o n i a n U n i v e r s i t y i n Cracow. H e d i d h i s P h . D . thesis i n neuropathology (The dynamics of
morphologi-cal changes in brain caused by mechanimorphologi-cal injury) i n the Department of Neuropathology of the Polish Academy of Science. I n 1962 he received
a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship a n d spent one year at the National
Institutes of Health (in Bethesda, M a r y l a n d , U S A ) . I n 1981 Professor
K a l u z a was promoted to a tenured professorship i n neuropathology. H e is the author of more t h a n 110 articles p u b l i s h e d i n m e d i c a l periodicals a n d coauthor of m a n y chapters i n m e d i c a l handbooks. A s a scientist he p a r t i c i p a t e d i n the „ I n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y S e m i n a r y of «Science, R e l i g i o n , H i s t o r y » " i n C a s t e l Gandolfo. T h e m e d i c a l report s a i d t h a t the cause of h i s death was probably a stroke or cardiac arrest. H i s close colleagues
^ Jözef Kaluza, Humanistic and non-humanistic aspects of reductionism in contem-porary medicine [Humanistyczne i ahumanistyczne aspekty redukcjonizmu we wspölczes-nej medycynie], Jerzy A. Janik (ed.), VI. Sem. Interdyscyplinarne w Castel Gandolfo, 6-9 Sierpnia 1990, Kraköw, Uniwersytet Jagiellohski, 1992, pp. 75-85 (cited from p. 77).
274 Jözef Bremer
have w r i t t e n detailed obituaries^, so I a m going to w r i t e some words about the philosophical side of h i s scientific investigations.
Professor K a l u z a was a n e m p i r i c a l scientist involved i n p h i l o s o p h i c a l questions a n d acquainted w i t h philosophical ar gu m en tatio n . A l o n g w i t h h i s w o r k as a neuropathologist he w a s also the professor of m e d i c a l ethics i n the Medical Faculty of the Jagiellonian University. A s a scientist a n d as a philosopher he saw v e r y clearly t w o t h i n g s . T h e f i r s t of t h e m w a s t h a t the r a p i d advance of the l i f e sciences i s r a i s i n g i n c r e a s i n g l y complicated problems about how the n e w m e d i c a l k n o w -ledge s h o u l d be used. T h e second t h i n g w a s t h a t these problems need to be t a c k l e d b y new, strongly i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y research. These t w o i n t e r l a c i n g insights made h i s e t h i c a l lectures a m a t t e r of great p r a c t i c a l importance. D u r i n g h i s lectures h e discussed - among others - such subjects as: euthanasia, t r a n s p l a n t a t i o n , genetic engineering. H e explored a n d shared themes a n d concerns of both philosophy a n d m e d i c a l sciences. O n one h a n d , he saw t h a t the c e n t r a l issues i n m e d i c a l research a n d practice have i m p o r t a n t philosophical dimensions, for t r e a t i n g diseases a n d p r o m o t i n g h e a l t h medicine involves presuppo-sitions about h u m a n goals a n d values. O n the other h a n d , h e k n e w t h a t the concerns of philosophy often s i g n i f i c a n t l y relate to the n a t u r e of knowledge a n d the h u m a n condition i n the modern w o r l d .
F o r t h a t reason Professor K a l u z a w a s confident not o n l y w i t h the w o r k s of the classical philosophers such as A r i s t o t l e or m o d e r n philosophers as Rene Descartes, b u t also w i t h the contemporary philosophical authors such as K a r l Popper, L u d w i g W i t t g e n s t e i n or w i t h the philosophical insights of the famous neurologist J o h n Eccles. S i m i l a r to J o h n Eccles, Professor K a l u z a saw t h a t medicine adopts a n e a r l y d u a l i s t i c n a t u r e of the h u m a n being: i t s m a t e r i a l i s t i c a n d m e n t a l aspects. I n the development of science, he saw t h a t m e d i c a l science is c o m i n g v e r y n e a r to a coincidence of the two sides of the h u m a n existence: m e n t a l a n d p h y s i c a l . I n h i s p h i l o s o p h i c a l t h i n k i n g he was a n antireductionist. T h e same s h o u l d be s a i d of h i s p h i l o s o p h i c a l v i e w on m e d i c a l research. H e was strongly against a p h i l o s o p h i c a l r e d u c t i o n (to s i m p l i f y our v i e w of the world), b u t he saw the seriousness of scientific r e d u c t i o n i s m - to s i m p l i f y the v e r i f i c a t i o n of m e d i c a l theories. Professor K a l u z a could see both sides of the h u m a n b e i n g - as a whole a n d as a n autonomous person - together^.
^ See, e.g., the profound and personally composed Obituary about the medical and scientific career of Professor Kaluza, written by his professional colleagues: Doc. dr hab. med. Dariusz Adamek and Prof, dr hab. med. Jerzy Stachura {Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University) and pubHshed in J^oUsh Journal of Pathology", Vol. 54:4 (2003). ^ See his speech: Autonomy of the patient - autonomy of the physician during „The Second World Congress of Philosophy of Medicine", Krakow 2000.
An Obituary for Prof. Jözef Kaluza 275
D u r i n g the last two years I h a d the possibility to met Professor K a l u z a several times. W i t h a lot of patience a n d sympathetic under-s t a n d i n g he helped me i n the p r e p a r i n g of m y book on the philounder-sophy of consciousness. O u r conversations revolved u s u a l l y about the philo-sophical a n d neurological problems concerning the methodological ques-tion: how to find the n e u r a l correlates of consciousness. H e was l i t e r a l l y a master of scientific conversation, k n o w i n g how to extend the subject not only to the p h i l o s o p h i c a l d i m e n s i o n but also to the religious or social.
I can see h i m w e a r i n g h i s w h i t e w o r k clothes a n d s i t t i n g i n h i s s m a l l office. The microscope on the table is surrounded by boxes w i t h s m a l l q u a d r a n g u l a r glass slides w i t h neuropathological preparations. F r o m the bookcase of the reference l i b r a r y look out t h i c k a n d b i g neuropatho-logical books (mostly of t h e m i n E n g h s h ) along w i t h some philosophical books. Sometimes one of h i s laboratory staff* members is coming and b r i n g i n g a paper or a new slide. H i s good a n d f r i e n d l y face is p a y i n g attention a n d h i s eyes, b e h i n d glasses, are looking a l i t t l e bit skeptical but v e r y deeply interested.
I f I should b r i e f l y characterize the person of Professor J ö z e f K a l u z a , I w o u l d say t h a t he was a r e a l „ R e n a i s s a n c e M a n , " l i v i n g a n d w o r k i n g according to the O a t h of Hippocrates ,Above a l l , do no h a r m " . H e was a f a t h e r of two sons a n d a grandfather, a sensitive m e d i c a l doctor, a m a n of broad interests but above a l l a penetrating neuropathologist a n d philosopher.
