From interpretation to refutation of marxism. On Leszek Nowak’s non-marxian historical materialism

Krzysztof Brzechczyn

doi:10.18778/1689-4286.37.09

Authors

Krzysztof Brzechczyn Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1689-4286.37.09

Keywords:

Adaptive interpretation of historical materialism, analytical Marxism, idealizational theory of science, Leszek Nowak, non-Marxian historical materialism, real socialism, communism

Abstract

The aim of this article is to outline the theory of a historical process developed within the framework of the Poznań School of Methodology, mainly by Leszek Nowak and a team of his co-workers. In the first part of the paper, the meta-philosophical and meta-theoretical assumptions of Poznań school are reconstructed and juxtaposed with the relevant assumptions of Western analytical Marxism. In the central part of the paper, the main ideas of adaptive reconstruction of historical materialism and non-Marxian historical materialism are presented. In its final part, some problems of reception of Leszek Nowak’s theory of historical process in Polish People’s Republic and the Third Republic are discussed.

Author Biography

Krzysztof Brzechczyn, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

Krzysztof Brzechczyn, employed as full professor in the Chair of Epistemology and Cognitive Sciences at Institute of Philosophy in Adam Mickiewicz University. Fields of interests: philosophy of history, political philosophy, intellectual history, current history. Recently he authored (in Polish) book: On the Evolution of the Social-Political Thought of Solidarność in the Years 1980-1981. A Study in Social Philosophy (WN WNS UAM 2013), edited collection (in Polish) of Leszek Nowak's underground writings Polish Road from Socialism. Political Writings 1980-1989 (Poznań 2011) and Real Socialism - "Solidarność" - Capitalism. Around Political Thought of Leszek Nowak (in Polish, Poznań 2013) and co-edited (with G. Borbone), Idealization XIV: Models in Science (Brill/Rodopi 2016).

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