Między empirią i teorią. O metodologicznej dyskusji historyków, siedemdziesiąt lat później

The paper explores the views of historians presented during the session of the methodological section of the 7. General Congress of Polish Historians held in 1948 in Wrocław. The session was attended by such scholars as Stanisław Śreniowski, Bogusław Leśnodorski, Roman Lutman, Marian Henryk Serejski, Ewa Maleczyńska, Wanda Moszczeńska and Adam Stebelski. The researchers’ opinions are shown against the background of a methodological controversy among Kazimierz Tymieniecki, Jan Rutkowski and Witold Kula, expressed vividly in the papers they delivered during the session of the historical section of the Congress. Tymieniecki emphasised the inductive and empirical nature of historiographical research, while Rutkowski and Kula shared a deep conviction that empirical material should be analysed in the light of theoretical considerations.