O wiedzy i znajomości

The distinction introduced by Bertrand Russell between knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description is the starting point for analyses related to the concept of acquaintance. I propose to assume that the following three concepts used by Russell are equivalent: knowledge of things, knowledge by acquaintance, and acquaintance. Then I present linguistic analyses concerning the construction of ‘know‑NP’ and ‘znać‑NP’, which lead to (i) division into a direct and indirect acquaintance and (ii) separation of knowledge from acquaintance, recognizing them as two different cognitive relations. Then, through the prism of knowledge, I describe the concept of acquaintance, pointing to the common properties of these concepts (aptness, non‑voluntariness, dispositiona-lity, contextual dependency), and postulate similar normative functions. This paper can be treated as an introduction to the concept of acquaintance and an elucidation of its role in epistemology.