The main aim of the following article is to juxtapose two methodological perspectives, influential in the field of the widely understood history of ideas, that is to say, the Cambridge School with the German tradition of Begriffsgeschichte. Presenting both opportunities and pitfalls that may result from applying these perspectives, I sketch the propositions to overcome possible shallows. In concluding remarks, I draw potential challenges for the history of ideas in Poland.

This article explores the methodological and practical aspects of the history of concepts. In central focus is Reinhart Koselleck’s theory of the principal shift in the meanings of basic concepts (Sattelzeit) and its implications.