Stanisław Lem is considered the most outstanding representative of Polish and one of the most eminent representatives of world science-fiction literature, as well as a futurologist and—at least by some—a philosopher who, in the form of novels and short stories written in the convention of science fiction and the so-called discursive prose, touched upon important philosophical problems concerning the place of man in the Universe, the effects of technological and civilisational progress and the issue of the limits of cognition. The article reconstructs and analyses the main philosophical problems presented in the work Filozoficzny Lem. Wybór tekstów Stanisława Lema i opracowania [ The Philosophical Lem. A Selection of Texts by Stanisław Lem and Studies] edited by Filip Kobiela and Jakub Gomułka.

The central question of the article is should Stanisław Lem be read as a futurologist? The main thesis is that more than in predicting the future Lem always has been more interested in exploration the conceptual limits of science and its technological offshoots.

This article examines Bolesław Prus's use of futurology and utopia in his short story Phantoms (Widziadła). A closer look at the story's images and their sequence not only gives us an insight into the author's philosophy of history but also reveals a utopian vision which can hardly be squared with the realism of his previous work. Thus ‘Widziadła’, written in 1911, can be seen as an important piece of evidence of a change in the writer's beliefs and worldview. It was at that late stage of his life that Prus, a hard-nosed realist and critic of the Romantics, turned into an impassioned idealist who, disillusioned with the world around him, sought refuge in literature. It was to be, however, a fiction like ‘Widziadła’, looking beyond the conventions of realism, unashamedly eclectic and visionary.