A leading Polish philosopher of the period, the journalist, short-story writer, and novelist
Bolesław Prus (author of the novels
The Outpost,
The Doll,
The New Woman, and
Pharaoh, and of the prescient 1873 study,
On Discoveries and Inventions), advised his compatriots that Poland's place in the world would be determined by the Polish people's contributions to the world's scientific, technological, economic, and cultural advances. Societal concerns addressed by the Polish Positivists included the securing of
equal rights for all members of society, including peasants and
women; the
assimilation of
Poland's Jewish minority; the elimination of illiteracy resulting from closure of Polish schools by the partitioning powers; and defense of the Polish population in German-ruled Poland against Germany's
Kulturkampf and
displacing of Poles with German settlers. The Polish Positivists viewed work, rather than uprisings, as the true path to preserving Polish
national identity and affirming a constructive
patriotism.
Aleksander Świętochowski, editor of
Prawda, held that "All the great problems [abiding] in the [bosom] of mankind can be solved by education alone, and this education must be compulsory." ==Leading authors==