A ’Rump’ Statehood and the Polish Liberalism

This article is revised version of speech that was given at Oxford University. It deals with the origins of polish liberalism. Author states that there are two sources of liberalism that look like globular clusters. The first one sprung from a tradition of ancient feudal liberties. And the second source: liberalism stemmed from an opposition both to a practice of absolutist state and to the political ideology of absolutism. Finally, article tracks down the intellectual history of Polish liberalism.