Wincenty Lutosławski (1863–1954): Philosopher, Hellenist, and underestimated founder of stylometry

What is it about?

The article is on Wincenty Lutoslawski's contributions to Platonic philosophy, the chronology of Plato's works, but the main theme is to show that Lutoslawski laid the foundations of modern stylometry, he even formulated its "law of similarity".

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Why is it important?

Stylometry is considered a modern method of authorship research, which also allows for the creation of a taxonomy of texts. Few people know, however, that its roots go back to the 19th century. The creator of the theoretical basis of stylometry and the term itself was Wincenty Lutoslawski, a Polish philosopher and thinker, whose dream was to establish a true chronology of Plato's works. While today the mathematical solutions and technical tools of modern stylometry are different, the assumptions of this method, described by Lutosławski, remain valid. Interestingly, Lutoslawski, who in addition to the humanities also studied the sciences (chemistry), always felt himself to be a philosopher. The "stylometric method" created by him was to serve only the noble aim, which was a better understanding of the greatest philosopher of all time - this is how he perceived Plato, treating his doctrine almost like a religion. Meanwhile, during Lutosławski's lifetime, stylometry came to be seen as his main achievement. Although the philosopher himself considered this a kind of degradation, his lasting position in science was decided by his descendants - today he is primarily associated with the stylometric method.

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