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The political discourse in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth changed deeply in the second half of the eighteenth century. New concepts, terms and notions were integrated into it, some of them drawn from the vocabularies of Western philosophers. The article tries to answer the question what these concepts or notions were, and how their adaptation informed the language itself and the descriptions of the political world and political-system projects formulated in it. Based on the analysis of theoretical treatises as well as writings produced as part of current political debate of the years 1764–92, the author seeks to demonstrate the ways in which the political disputants of King Stanislaus Augustus's time endeavoured to face the state's crisis through introducing new words and ideas, and in which the language was adapting to the challenges of the changing socio-political situation. She argues that the concepts which appeared in the last quarter of the century in the Polish political language were fundamental to the description and view of the world – to the extent that a breakthrough in Polish discussion on society and state is identifiable along these lines.

The Four-Year Sejm is one of the events of critical importance both in the history of parliamentarism and the eighteenth-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This article attempts to present the events of 1788–92 from two perspectives: on the one hand, by placing them in the tradition of the functioning of the Sejm as the highest organ of power in the Commonwealth; on the other, by considering them as a kind of revolution, interwoven with the 'revolutionary cycle', which began with the rebellion of the American colonies and culminated with the groundbreaking eruption in France. Following and describing the course of the Sejm's debates, the author divides them into stages that she describes as 'destruction – discussion – creation', seeing in them certain features typical of all events of this period that bear the hallmarks of revolution. She analyses both the play of political forces within the Sejm and the more fundamental changes in the political attitudes and political awareness of the nobility, as well as the revival of the townspeople. She also takes into account the changing international position of the Commonwealth. In this broad context, she presents the subsequent events and decisions of the Sejm up to the most important – the adoption of the Government Act on 3 May 1791.

The political discourse in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth changed deeply in the second half of the eighteenth century. New concepts, terms and notions were integrated into it, some of them drawn from the vocabularies of Western philosophers. The article tries to answer the question what these concepts or notions were, and how their adaptation informed the language itself and the descriptions of the political world and political-system projects formulated in it. Based on the analysis of theoretical treatises as well as writings produced as part of current political debate of the years 1764–92, the author seeks to demonstrate the ways in which the political disputants of King Stanislaus Augustus's time endeavoured to face the state's crisis through introducing new words and ideas, and in which the language was adapting to the challenges of the changing socio-political situation. She argues that the concepts which appeared in the last quarter of the century in the Polish political language were fundamental to the description and view of the world – to the extent that a breakthrough in Polish discussion on society and state is identifiable along these lines.

p. 31-50 ; The political discourse in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth changed deeply in the second half of the eighteenth century. New concepts, terms and notions were integrated into it, some of them drawn from the vocabularies of Western philosophers. The article tries to answer the question what these concepts or notions were, and how their adaptation informed the language itself and the descriptions of the political world and political-system projects formulated in it. Based on the analysis of theoretical treatises as well as writings produced as part of current political debate of the years 1764–92, the author seeks to demonstrate the ways in which the political disputants of King Stanislaus Augustus's time endeavoured to face the state's crisis through introducing new words and ideas, and in which the language was adapting to the challenges of the changing socio-political situation. She argues that the concepts which appeared in the last quarter of the century in the Polish political language were fundamental to the description and view of the world – to the extent that a breakthrough in Polish discussion on society and state is identifiable along these lines. ; s. 31-50 ; The political discourse in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth changed deeply in the second half of the eighteenth century. New concepts, terms and notions were integrated into it, some of them drawn from the vocabularies of Western philosophers. The article tries to answer the question what these concepts or notions were, and how their adaptation informed the language itself and the descriptions of the political world and political-system projects formulated in it. Based on the analysis of theoretical treatises as well as writings produced as part of current political debate of the years 1764–92, the author seeks to demonstrate the ways in which the political disputants of King Stanislaus Augustus's time endeavoured to face the state's crisis through introducing new words and ideas, and in which the language was adapting to the challenges of the changing socio-political situation. She argues that the concepts which appeared in the last quarter of the century in the Polish political language were fundamental to the description and view of the world – to the extent that a breakthrough in Polish discussion on society and state is identifiable along these lines.