StanisÅ‚aw Leopold Brzozowski (28 June 1878 â€" 30 April 1911) was a
Polish philosopher, writer, publicist, literary and theatre critic.
Considered to be an important Polish philosopher, Brzozowski is known
for his concept of the philosophy of labour, rooted in Marxism.
Besides Karl Marx, among his major inspirations were Georges Sorel,
Friedrich Nietzsche, Henri Bergson, Thomas Carlyle, and John Henry
Newman. Brzozowski's core idea was based on the concept of a socially
engaged intellectual (artist). Although he was in favour of historical
materialism, he strongly argued against its deterministic
interpretation. In his philosophical approaches, Brzozowski rejected
all concepts that were commodifying a human being.Polish intellectuals
(Czesław Miłosz,[1] Andrzej Walicki,[2] Leszek Kołakowski[3]) have
stressed that Brzozowski's interpretations of Marx's early writings,
not widely known at the time of their formulation, largely anticipated
those presented later by György Lukács and Antonio Gramsci.Leopold
Stanisław Leon Brzozowski was born in 1878 in Maziarnia, a village
near Chełm. He grew up in an impoverished gentry family, but attended
private schools, which allowed him to enroll in the Faculty of Natural
Sciences of the University of Warsaw in 1896. In 1897 Brzozowski was
involved in student riots against Russian professors teaching at the
university. As a consequence, Brzozowski and many other students were
expelled from the university for a period of one year. Brzozowski then
led the student organization Bratniak, established to maintain
financial support for the expelled students. To help his father, who
suffered from a fatal illness, Brzozowski decided to use the
organization's funds. Although he had promised himself to give the
money back as soon as possible, his embezzlement was discovered. The
arbitration panel of the fellow members excluded Brzozowski from the
activities of the organization for three years. In the same year
(1898), he was imprisoned as a result of investigations into the
secret activities of the Society for People's Education.[4]
Polish philosopher, writer, publicist, literary and theatre critic.
Considered to be an important Polish philosopher, Brzozowski is known
for his concept of the philosophy of labour, rooted in Marxism.
Besides Karl Marx, among his major inspirations were Georges Sorel,
Friedrich Nietzsche, Henri Bergson, Thomas Carlyle, and John Henry
Newman. Brzozowski's core idea was based on the concept of a socially
engaged intellectual (artist). Although he was in favour of historical
materialism, he strongly argued against its deterministic
interpretation. In his philosophical approaches, Brzozowski rejected
all concepts that were commodifying a human being.Polish intellectuals
(Czesław Miłosz,[1] Andrzej Walicki,[2] Leszek Kołakowski[3]) have
stressed that Brzozowski's interpretations of Marx's early writings,
not widely known at the time of their formulation, largely anticipated
those presented later by György Lukács and Antonio Gramsci.Leopold
Stanisław Leon Brzozowski was born in 1878 in Maziarnia, a village
near Chełm. He grew up in an impoverished gentry family, but attended
private schools, which allowed him to enroll in the Faculty of Natural
Sciences of the University of Warsaw in 1896. In 1897 Brzozowski was
involved in student riots against Russian professors teaching at the
university. As a consequence, Brzozowski and many other students were
expelled from the university for a period of one year. Brzozowski then
led the student organization Bratniak, established to maintain
financial support for the expelled students. To help his father, who
suffered from a fatal illness, Brzozowski decided to use the
organization's funds. Although he had promised himself to give the
money back as soon as possible, his embezzlement was discovered. The
arbitration panel of the fellow members excluded Brzozowski from the
activities of the organization for three years. In the same year
(1898), he was imprisoned as a result of investigations into the
secret activities of the Society for People's Education.[4]
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