دانلود کتاب Main Currents of Marxism. Vol 1. The Founders

Main Currents of Marxism is a handbook and a thorough survey of the varieties of Marxism; it will be published in three volumes. The author delineates the development of Marx's own thought and the contributions of his best-known followers.

No survey of the doctrines of the Marxist tradition could fail to be controversial but Professor Kolakowski's treatment is detached and pluralistic and he does not attempt to identify a pure or essentially Marxist strand in the tradition as a whole. There is no better example of the variety of Marxism than the diversity which results from the tension between the Utopian and fatalist impulses in Marx's thought. In Professor Kolakowski's own words 'The surprising diversity of views expressed by Marxists in regard to Marx's so-called historical determinism is a factor which makes it possible to present and schematize with precision the trends of twentieth-century Marxism. It is also clear that one's answer to the question concerning the place of human consciousness and will in the historical process goes far towards determining the sense one ascribes to socialist ideals and is directly linked with the theory of revolutions and of crises'.

In Volume One, The Founders, Professor Kolakowski examines the origins of Marxism. The author traces the philosophical tradition, through Hegel and the Enlightenment, back to the Neo-Platonists. Professor Kolakowski both examines the development of Marx's thought and draws attention to its divergence from other forms of socialism.