Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz was an extraordinary figure on the Polish political scene at the turn of the 20th century. A Marxist and patriot, academic and politician, Kelles-Krauz was most known for his efforts to reconcile the needs of the nation with international socialism. This volume, however, offers a selection of his writings centered on the history of ideas, published for the first time in English. Kelles-Krauz’s works, while Marxist at heart, linked ideas stemming from the concepts of German idealists, French positivists, as well as contemporary sociologists who offered a bridge between research on individuals and the workings of social systems. Kelles-Krauz, however, repeatedly transcended Marxist tenets, focusing on the construction of traditions, social norms, and the social role of art.
This edited volume was first published in Polish as Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz: Marksizm a socjologia. Wybór pism by Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego in 2014. This current work has been revised and translated into English.
Publication date: March 5, 2019
Acknowledgements
A Revised Introduction to the English Edition: Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz’s Theory, Practice, and Purposeless Change.
by Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer
1 The Sociological Law of Retrospection: The Law of Revolutionary Retrospection as a Consequence of Economic Materialism
2 The Golden Age, State of Nature, and Development in Contradictions: From Studies into the Sources of Marxism
3 Comtism and Marxism: Positivism and the Monistic Comprehension of History
4 A Glance at the Development of Sociology in the 19th Century
5 The Crisis of Marxism: On the So-Called ‘Crisis of Marxism’
6 What is Economic Materialism?
7 A Few Main Principles in the Development of Art
8 Psychiatry and the Science of Ideas
9 The Social Dialectic in Vico’s Philosophy
Bibliography
Directory of Persons Referenced
Name Index
Subject Index