The Meaning of “Witness” in Wojtyła’s Works

Abstract

“Witness” plays an important role in Wojtyła’s dissertation: “Faith According to St. John of the Cross” where, it seems to demonstrate a potent but obscure philosophical meaning. In subsequent early works the term seems to recede into the background while maintaining an indirect presence through the Polish words przeżycie and doświadczenie. The term returns with frequent use in his encyclicals as Pope John Paul II encorporating the philosophical meaning he developed in his use of it for theological themes. Here the attempt is made to unfold the development of the different meanings of the term and to suggest its philological development along the lines of some works of Dietrich von Hildebrand and Adolf Reinach.