Abstract

In this article, we reassess Twardowski's scientific legacy on the basis of an ontological analysis of his theory of conceptual representation and judgement that breaks with commonly established analyses. In 1903, in his 'The Essence of Concepts', Twardowski posits the concept as part of acts of ‘non-intuitive’ representations. We attribute to the concept the role of bringing to consciousness an object endowed with properties, enabling the subject to think about an arbitrary object. The existence of this immanent thought object, coupled with the fact that the concept is also an object of representation, leads us to bring to light a coherent set of notions concerning judgement, namely that of represented judgement and that of carried judgement. Among the objects thought about, we specify the nature of the affair, distinct from the thing, conferring on the subject a knowledge of evolutions in the world. Finally, to fully characterize Twardowski's ontological psychologism, we mention the nature of the social construct that he attributes to the thought object.