author
Alfred Korzybski
1879–1950
Best known for developing general semantics, this Polish-born thinker challenged readers to notice the gap between words and the world they describe. His work reached far beyond philosophy, influencing later discussions of language, communication, and human behavior.
1 Audiobook
Manhood of Humanity.
by Alfred Korzybski
About the author
Born in Warsaw on July 3, 1879, Alfred Korzybski was a Polish-born scholar who later made his life and career in the United States. During World War I, he served with the Russian army and was sent to North America on a military mission; after the upheavals of the war and revolution, he remained in the United States and became an American citizen.
Korzybski is remembered above all as the founder of general semantics, an approach that explored how language, perception, and patterns of thought shape human understanding. His best-known book, Science and Sanity (1933), set out these ideas in detail and became the central text of his work.
He died on March 1, 1950. Though his ideas were debated, his central insight—that people can confuse their descriptions of reality with reality itself—left a lasting mark on psychology, communication theory, and modern intellectual culture.