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OverviewAlexander Herzen-philosopher, novelist, essayist, political agitator, and one of the leading Russian intellectuals of the nineteenth century-was as famous in his day as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. While he is remembered for his masterpiece My Past and Thoughts and as the father of Russian socialism, his contributions to the history of ideas defy easy categorization because they are so numerous. Aileen Kelly presents the first fully rounded study of the farsighted genius whom Isaiah Berlin called ""the forerunner of much twentieth-century thought."" In an era dominated by ideologies of human progress, Herzen resisted them because they conflicted with his sense of reality, a sense honed by his unusually comprehensive understanding of history, philosophy, and the natural sciences. Following his unconventional decision to study science at university, he came to recognize the implications of early evolutionary theory, not just for the natural world but for human history. In this respect, he was a Darwinian even before Darwin. Socialism for Russia, as Herzen conceived it, was not an ideology-least of all Marxian ""scientific socialism""-but a concrete means of grappling with unique historical circumstances, a way for Russians to combine the best of Western achievements with the possibilities of their own cultural milieu in order to move forward. In the same year that Marx declared communism to be the ""solution to the riddle of history,"" Herzen denied that any such solution could exist. History, like nature, was contingent-an improvisation both constrained and encouraged by chance. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Aileen M. KellyPublisher: Harvard University Press Imprint: Harvard University Press Dimensions: Width: 15.60cm , Height: 4.40cm , Length: 23.50cm Weight: 1.076kg ISBN: 9780674737112ISBN 10: 0674737113 Pages: 608 Publication Date: 09 May 2016 Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General , Tertiary & Higher Education Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Out of stock  The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available. Table of ContentsReviewsThis book is brilliantly argued, beautifully written, and profoundly thought-through. This will be one of a handful of classics about Russian thinkers.--Gary Saul Morson, Northwestern University [A] gripping biography of a tragic if courageous life [The] hidden strands in Herzen s thought, painstakingly uncovered here by Aileen Kelly, provide yet another compelling reason we should read the melancholy old Russian again and recognize, in his anguished attempt to defend human freedom in dark times, amid all the cruelty of history, that he is truly our contemporary.--Michael Ignatieff New York Times Book Review (05/22/2016) Author InformationAileen Kelly is Fellow of King’s College and Reader in Intellectual History and Russian Culture, Emerita, at the University of Cambridge. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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