Power And Humanism (Paperback)

Lucien Goldmann was born in 1913, in Romania. In 1934 he settled in France, although he was driven into emigration in Switzerland during the years of the second world war. After the war the publication of his major works on Kant and Pascal established his world-wide reputation in the sociology of literature. In addition to his philosophical work, he carried on an active struggle for his own concept of socialist humanism, which resulted in an extensive output of articles and public lectures, many of which are of abiding interest. He participated in the Stockholm Conference on Czechoslovakia, organised in 1969 by the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, and subsequently the papers in this volume were published by the Foundation in its journal The Spokesman.

Distinguished philosopher and dedicated socialist activist, Lucien Goldmann demands attention from all those to whom the humanities have an immediate practical meaning in the struggles of daily life. Whether he is considering the theology of Jansenism or the significance of the experiments in self-management in Yugoslavia, Goldmann’s thought is always seeking to establish the connections between the way we live now and the ideas we hold about how life should be lived. No modern thinker is more courageously open-minded, yet principled, than the Goldmann whose practical concerns and academic interests are fused in these essays.