Abstract
Nineteenth-century European intellectual history has given rise to such varied and abundant research that one is surprised to find certain important problems long identified and yet still relatively unexplored. Such is the case for certain aspects of the crucial transition from Hegel to Marx, for minority tendencies among French socialists and for the Messianic phenomenon, national and religious, so central to the period, particularly in Eastern Europe, and so rarely studied in detail. Certainly, these lacunae are exemplified by the absence of any comprehensive work on August Cieszkowski whose overall contribution to the history of the period may be marginal but whose specific role in each of the areas mentioned is both significant in itself and illustrative of certain wider problems.
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Notes
For an exposition and application of this principle see Lucien Goldmann, Le dieu caché, Paris, 1959. For reflections on political theory in these terms see also Sir Isaiah Berlin, ‘Does Political Theory still exist?’ in P. Laslett and W. G. Runciman (eds.), Philosophy, Politics and Society (second series), Oxford, 1962, pp. 19–28
and Leszek Kołakowski, Chrétiens sans églises, Paris, 1969, especially pp. 799–800.
Karl Mannheim, Ideology and Utopia, trans. Louis Wirth and Edward Shils, 1st ed., New York, 1936.
Ibid., p. 55, and 56.
Ibid., p. 192.
Ibid.
See Hanno Kesting, ‘Utopie und Eschatologie’, Archiv für Rechts und Sozialphilosophie, XLI, 1954–55, pp. 220–242.
‘Conservative Thought’, in Kurt H. Wolff, ed., From Karl Mannheim, New York, 1971, pp. 148–149.
Marx offers an explanation for this phenomenon: “In order to arouse sympathy the aristocracy was obliged to lose sight, apparently of its own interests and to formulate its indictment against the bourgeoisie in the interest of the exploited working class alone…” Karl Marx, ‘The Communist Manifesto’, in E. Burns, ed., Handbook of Marxism, New York, 1935, p. 47.
See i.a. Roczniki Poznańskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk, XX, 1894, dedicated to Cieszkowski to record his jubilee but which was in fact to constitute a necrology.
August Cieszkowski Junior (1865–1932) was almost fanatically devoted to his father’s memory. See Teresa Garnysz-Kozłowska, ‘Z dziejów francuskiego prezekładu Ojcze Nasz Augusta Cieszkowskiego’, Archiwum Historii Filozofii i Myśli Społecznej, XVI, 1970, pp. 173–183,
and Paul Cazin, ‘Un souvenir de Paul Cazin: la Madame Venus de Monsieur Guga’, Peuples-Amis: Revue de l’Amitié franco-polonaise, nr. 115, April 1959.
See also part III, chapter 2 of this work. Cieszkowski Junior’s efforts included: a translation of the Prolegomena into Polish (Posen, 1908); republication in German and translation into Polish of Gott und Palingenesie with supplementary materials (Posen, 1911), republication, and translation of the De la Pairie et de l’Aristocratie moderne (Paris and Posen, 1908); a translation of Du Crédit et de la Circulation into Polish (Posen, 1909); a four-volume edition of the manuscripts to what became Our Father (Posen, 1899–1906); co-translation of the entire four volumes into French (Paris, 1906, 1927–29). Moreover, he facilitated William John Rose’s abridged English edition of the Our Father which appeared as The Desire of All Nations (London, 1919). See The Polish Memoirs of William John Rose, ed. Daniel Stone, Toronto, 1975. He naturally underwrote the costs of this whole collection-no mean task for a man wealthy but so parsimonious as to always ride third class!
Cazin, ‘Un souvenir de Paul Cazin: la Madame Venus de Monsieur Guga’, Peuples-Amis: Revue de l’Amitié franco-polonaise, nr. 115, April 1959 Above all, he preserved the entire Cieszkowski Nachlass with the utmost piety and readily made it available to interested scholars.
See August Cieszkowski Junior’s introduction to both 1908 editions of De la Pairie et de l’Aristocratie moderne, where he expresses his own and, by implication, his father’s disapproval of proposed Prussian land reforms. op cit., citing Cazin on a conversation with Cieszkowski Junior recounts the indignation with which Cieszkowski Junior received any criticism of his father’s orthodoxy: “Montanus considered himself to be the Holy Spirit; my daddy did not!” he declared in a debate on Sanctospiritualism with Cazin. For August Cieszkowski Junior’s mysticizing tendencies see his introduction to the several volumes of the Our Father.
Bishop Likowski, Roczniki Poznańskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk, XXI, p. 494. Morawski, Introduction, to Michal Klepacz, Idea Boga w historiozofii Augusta Cieszkowskiego na tle ówczesnych pradów umysłowych, Kielce, 1933.
Ignacy Chrzanowski, ‘Ojcze Nasz Augusta Cieszkowskiego’, Rok Polski, VII, nr. 13, 1916, cites Cieszkowski himself: “People will judge the accuracy of the reasoning but (Lord) You alone are witness to the purity of the feelings and intentions”.
R. Koppens, reviewing volume II, Przeglad Powszechny, LXVII, 1900, pp. 243–253.
Kazimierz Kowalski, Filozofia Augusta hr Cieszkowskiego w świetle zasad filozofii św Tomasza z Akwinu, Posen, 1929.
Gabryl X., Polska filozofia religijna w wieku XIX, vol. I, Warsaw, 1913, pp. 280.
Partripassianism by Gabryl, Polska filozofia religijna w wieku XIX, vol. I, Warsaw, 1913, pp. 280,
and Sabellianism by Nicholas Berdiaev, The Russian Idea, New York, 1948, pp. 212.
See Chrzanowski, ‘Ojcze Nasz Augusta Cieszkowskiego’, Rok Polski, VII, nr. 13, 1916;
Op cit.
Nicholas Lossky, Three Polish Messianists, Prague, 1937;
V. Lutosławski, ‘Le messianisme polonais’, IV congrès international de philosophie, Bologna, 1911.
This was matched by disinterest in what Cieszkowski had actually written and concentration on biographical anecdota. Apart from a new edition of the Ojcze Nasz, there were no other re-editions of his works until as recently as 1972 when August Cieszkowski, Prolegomena do historiozofii; Bóg i Palingeneza; oraz mniejsze pisma filozoficzne, edited by Andrzej Walicki and Jan Garewicz, with introduction by Andrzej Walicki, appeared in the series: Biblioteka Klasyków Filozofii, Warsaw, 1972.
(William John Rose?), ‘A Polish Prophet: the Kingdom of the Spirit’, The New Poland, nr. 33, 1919, p. 649.
Adam Zóltowski, Graf August Cieszkowskis ‘Philosophie der Taf’, Münchener Inaugural Dissertation, Posen, 1904.
A Jakubisiak, Principes de la morale d’après August Cieszkowski, Paris, 1914.
Klepacz, Op cit.,
Kowalski, Op cit.
also Albert Wojtczak, Philosophie der Freiheit bei August Cieszkowski, Niepokalanów, 1933.
Walter Kühne, Graf August Cieszkowski, ein Schüler Hegels und des deutschen Geistes, Veröffentlichungen des Slavischen Instituts an des Friedrich Wilhelm Universität, XX, Leipzig, 1938, (Kraus reprint, Liechtenstein, 1972); see also his ‘Neue Einblicke ins Leben und Werke Cieszkowskis’, Jahrbücher für die Kultur und Geschichte der Slaven, (Neue Folge) VI, nr. 1, pp. 54–66, and VII, nr. I, 1930–31, pp. 3–36.
Among the former, Benedetto Croce, Saggio sullo Hegel, Bari, 1913, who calls Cieszkowski’s Prolegomena “the strangest effort which I know” (to put off the end of history)
” p. 151 and describes Cieszkowski as “a real abbot Joachim”, p. 156. Among the latter, see Karl Löwith, From Hegel to Nietzsche, trans, by David E. Green, from the third German edition, New York, 1964, 1st ed., 1941, p. 144.
The Russian Idea, New York, 1948, pp. 211–214. See also Berdiaev’s Essai de métaphysique eschatologique, Paris, 1941, p. 229.
The Russian Idea, p. 212.
I am grateful to Mr. S. A. Zdziechowski who communicated this detail to me concerning the visit of his uncle, the noted literary historian, M. Zdziechowski, to Tolstoy.
See Dmitrij Čyževskij, ed., Hegel bei den Slaven, second edition, Bad Homburg, 1961, 1st ed., 1934,
and Boris Jakowenko, Geschichte des Hegelianismus in Russland, volume I, Prague 1938.
Also W. Kühne’s article, ‘Hegel und die Polen’ in Čyževskij, ed., Op cit.
Čyževskij, ed., Op cit.. The most recent study on the subject,
Guy Planty-Bonjour, Hegel et la pensée philosophique en Russie, The Hague, 1974, does not share this favourable view perhaps because the author considers only Cieszkowski’s Prolegomena and underestimates even this work, p. 160.
Most notably, Auguste Cornu, La Jeunesse de Karl Marx and Moses Hess et la gauche hégélienne, both Paris, 1934. Following Cornu more recently,
Shlomo Avineri, The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx, Cambridge, 1968,
and David McLellan, The Young Hegelians and Karl Marx, London, 1969.
‘Moses Hess und die Probleme der idealistischen Dialektik’, Archiv für die Geschichte des Sozialismus und der Arbeiterbewegung, XII, 1926, pp. 103–155, translated in Telos, number 10, 1971, pp. 23–35.
Reinhard Lauth, ‘Einflüsse slawischer Denker auf die Genesis der marxschen Weltanschauung’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica, XXII, 1955, nr. 2, pp. 413–448
Jan Ostrowski, ‘A Christian Contribution to the Origins of Marxism’, Kongres współczesnej nauki i kultury polskiej na obczyźnie, vol. I, pp. 45–47.
See G. Hillmann, Marx und Hegel, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1966;
especially, Horst Stuke, Philosophie der Tat: Studien zur “Verwirklichung der Philosophie” bei den Jung-hegelianem und den Wahren Sozialisten, Industrielle Welt, vol. II, Stuttgart, 1963;
not sympathetic but original is Jürgen Gebhardt, Politik und Eschatologie, Münchner Studien zur Politik I, 1963, esp. pp. 130–152.
Among these, Benoit Hepner, ‘History and the Future: the Vision of August Cieszkowski’, Review of Politics, XV, 1952, pp. 328–350;
Nicholas Lobkowicz, Theory and Practice: the History of a Concept from Aristotle to Marx, Notre Dame — London, 1967, chapter 13;
Most recently, Leszek Kołakowski, Główne Nurty Marksizmu, vol. I, Paris, 1976, pp. 89–92;
L. S. Stepelovich, ‘August von Cieszkowski: From Theory to Practice’, History and Theory, XIII, 1974, pp. 39–53, as well as my own ‘Prolégomènes à une théorie de la praxis’, Economies et Sociétés, série S, VIII, number 10, 1974, pp. 1487–1506.
Tadeusz Kroński, ‘Koncepcje filozoficzne mesjanistów polskich w połowie XIX wieku’, Archiwum Historii Filozofii i Myśli Społecznej, vol. II, 1957, pp. 108
and his ‘Reakcja mesjanistyczna i katolicka w Polsce polowy XIX-go wieku’ in Bronisław Baczko Z dziejów polskiej myśli filozoficznej, vol. III, Warsaw, 1957.
See Jerzy Szacki, ‘Etudes récentes sur l’histoire de la pensée sociale polonaise au XIXe siècle’, Annali, 1963, Istituto Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, Milan, 1964, pp. 708–724 and
Bronisław Baczko, ‘Problemy rozwoju myśli filozoficznej XIX-go wieku’, in Baczko, op. cit., pp. 1–61.
Compare Zdzisław Grot’s, ‘Koło polskie w Berlinie w dobie Wiosny Ludów’, Przeglad Zachodni, VII, nr. 9, 1952, pp. 126–172, with his introduction to his edition, Protokoły Posiedzeń Koła polskiego w Berlinie, vol. I, 1849–51, Posen, 1956.
Also Witold Jakóbczyk ‘Cieszkowski i Liga Polska’, in Przeglad Historyczny, XXXVIII, 1948, pp. 137–168.
Barbara Skarga, ‘Praca organiczna a filozofia narodowa i konserwatywna katolicka przed 1864 r.’, Archiwum Historii Filozofii i Myśli Społecznej, VIII, 1962. pp. 171–213.
See, for example, A. I. Volodin, GegeV i russkaja socialisticeskaja mysl’ XIX veka, Moscow, 1973.
Antologija mirovoj filosofii v četyrex tomax, volume III, Moscow, 1971.
Bol’šaja Sovetskaja Enciklopedija, volume XLVI, Moscow, 1957, p. 588.
Filosofskaja Enciklopedija, ed. F. Konstantinov, volume V, Moscow, 1970, p. 464. The summary bibliography given here does not list a single Soviet work on Cieszkowski.
Andrzej Walicki, ‘Cieszkowski a Hercen’ in Polskie Spory o Hegla, ed. Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Warsaw, 1966, pp. 153–205.
Most recently, Justin Kremes ‘Filozofia społeczna Augusta Cieszkowskiego’, Zeszyty Naukowe WSP Katow Filoz, XX, nr. 3, 1968, pp. 115–128;
Irena Curyło, ‘Historia i Moralność w filozofii Augusta Cieszkowskiego’, Eryka, VIII, 1971, pp. 25–40. Particularly valuable is the article by Jan Garewicz, ‘August Cieszkowski w oczach Niemców w latach trzydziestych-czterdziestych XIX wieku’, in Polskie Spory o Hegla, op. cit. pp. 205–243.
On Messianism, see Walicki’s collection of essays, Filozofia a Mesjanizm, Warsaw, 1970, which contains an expanded version of his article, ‘Two Polish Messianists: Adam Mickiewicz and August Cieszkowski’, Oxford Slavonic Papers (new series), II, 1969, pp. 77–105; see also his article, ‘Milenaryzm i mesjanizm religijny a romantyczny mesjanizm polski’, Pamietnik Literacki, LXII, nr. 4, 1971, pp. 23–40.
On the French sources of Cieszkowski’s thought, see Walicki’s, ‘Francuskie inspiracje myśli filozoficzno-religijnej Augusta Cieszkowskiego’, ‘Archiwum Historii Filozfii i Myśli Społecznej, XVI, 1970, pp. 127–171. The one previous work to consider these sources and one which focussed chiefly on Cieszkowski’s socio-economic thought had been Antoni Roszkowski, Poglady społeczne i ekonomiczne Augusta Cieszkowskiego, Posen, 1923.
Bibliographia filozofii polskiej, ed. Instytut Filozofii i Sociologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk, vol. II, Warsaw, 1961, pp. 34–51.
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Liebich, A. (1979). Introduction. In: Between Ideology and Utopia. Sovietica, vol 39. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9383-9_1
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