Antonio Labriola

thumb|Antonio Labriola Antonio Labriola (1843 – 1904) was an Italian Marxist theoretician and philosopher. Although an academic philosopher and never an active member of any Marxist political party, his thought exerted influence on many political theorists in Italy during the early 20th century, including the founder of the Italian Liberal Party, Benedetto Croce, as well as the leaders of the Italian Communist Party, Antonio Gramsci and Amadeo Bordiga. He also influenced the Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician Leon Trotsky. Quotes In Milan, there is only one man, who is actually a woman, Kuliscioff. From a letter to Friedrich Engels in 1890. Quoted in Furio Bacchini, Un laico dell'Ottocento: Andrea Costa: libero muratore, libero pensatore, socialista libertario (A 19th-century layman: Andrea Costa: freemason, free thinker, libertarian socialist), La Mandragola, Imola, 2001, p. focus=searchwithinvolume&q=viceversa 158. We will erect a monument to Giordano Bruno in Campo de' Fiori, in atonement for the sins of our ancestors, whose moral sloth was the cause of our delayed political progress, so that it may serve as a symbol to the multitudes of freedom of conscience, who will have it alive and powerful in time, when they grow in culture, and as a salutary warning to all the capable and all the lukewarm, who speak of conciliation without blushing. From “'Per una commemorazione di Giordano Bruno”' (1888), in “'Scritti politici e filosofici”', Einaudi, p. 70. Giuseppe Garibaldi was a man of the people, and of that part of the people which, through its habit of frankness, sobriety of life and honesty of customs, is the most incorruptible. In his popular instincts as a lover of justice, a hater of privilege, a defender of the oppressed, and a persecutor of all tyranny, he will remain forever, and as in effigy, the noblest, simplest, and most persuasive example of true democracy. Speech of 3 June 1888, in A. Labriola, Democrazia e socialismo in Italia (“Democracy and Socialism in Italy”), edited by L. Carfagna, Milan, 1954, p.8. The doctrine of historical materialism, given the two elements of economic articulation and class friction, becomes the key to understanding true revolutions; that is, those changes in the complex state of society from which innovations in law, new political directions and new moral dispositions have derived. From Storia, filosofia della storia, sociologia e materialismo storico (“History, Philosophy of History, Sociology and Historical Materialism”), in Scritti varii: editi e inediti di filosofia e politica (“Various Writings: Published and Unpublished Works on Philosophy and Politics”), collected and published by Benedetto Croce, Giuseppe Laterza & Figli, Bari, 1906, chap. 5, p. 254. Incipit of some works Da un secolo all'altro During the last academic year, specifically from November 1900 to June 1901, I gave a series of lectures at the University on a subject so broad and varied that what I actually managed to say could not help but leave the large audience with the impression of a small fragment of a great whole. Del materialismo storico. Dilucidazione preliminare In this kind of consideration, as in many others, but in this more than in any other, the vice of minds indoctrinated solely by literary means of culture, usually called “'verbalism”', is no small impediment, indeed it is an annoying hindrance. This bad habit creeps into and spreads throughout every field of knowledge, but in discussions relating to the so-called moral world, that is, the historical-social complex, it often happens that the cult and empire of words succeed in corroding and extinguishing the living and real meaning of things. Discorrendo di socialismo e di filosofia Rome, 20 April 1897 Dear Mr Sorel, I have been thinking for some time about engaging in a kind of written conversation with you. This will be the best and most appropriate way for me to express my gratitude for the “'Preface”' with which you have honoured me. It goes without saying that, in saying this, I am not thinking only of the kind words with which you have so generously showered me. I could not fail to respond immediately to those words and repay you in the form of a private letter. Nor would it be appropriate now for me to engage in compliments with you, especially in letters which, either you or I, may later deem it appropriate to publish. What good would it do, after all, for me to now protest modesty, shielding myself from your praise? In memoria del Manifesto dei comunisti In three years' time, we socialists will be able to celebrate our jubilee. The memorable date of the publication of the “'Communist Manifesto”' (February 1848) reminds us of our first and sure entry into history. All our judgements and appreciations of the progress made by the proletariat in the last fifty years refer to that date. That date marks the beginning of the “new era”, which is blossoming and rising, indeed springing forth and developing from the present era, through a formation that is intimate and immanent to it, and therefore necessary and inevitable; whatever its various vicissitudes and successive phases may be, which are certainly unpredictable for now. Socrate In the first year of the 95th Olympiad, in the month of Targelion (May 399 BC), Socrates, son of Sophroniscus, died in the Athenian desmoterion, condemned to drink hemlock, guilty of violating religion and corrupting the youth<ref>For this date, which is the result of a critical combination of various sources, compare Zeller, op. cit., p. 39, note 1. The accusation reported by Xenophon, Memor., I, 1, 1, is more or less authentic (τοιάδε τις ἧν) and differs only in the expression εἰσεγούμενος, instead of εἰσφέρων, from the form in which Favorinus reports it in Laertius (II, 40). Plato reports it with a different arrangement, Apol. 24 B; but he precedes it with ἒχει δέ πως ὧδε; see Stallbaun ad locum, ed. IV, and Cron: “'Einleitung in die platonische Apologie”', ed. 3rd, § 31 and 54. His close friends, who were left without the most prudent and just man among all those of that timeSee the words of Phaedo at the end: Ἣδε ἡ τελευτὴ, ὦ Ἐχέκρατες, τοῦ ἐταίρου ἡμῖν ἐγένετο, ἀνδρὸς, ὡς ἡμεῖς φαῖμεν ἂν, τῶν τότε, ὦν ἐπειράθημεν, ἀρίστου, καὶ ἄλλως φρονιμωτάτου καὶ δικαιοτάτου. , had tried in vain to save him from such a sad end, first offering themselves as guarantors for a fine of thirty minasApol. p. 36 A-38 B. The contrary testimony of the apology, falsely attributed to Xenophon (§ 23), has no value. On the apocryphal nature of that writing, see Arnold Hug's dissertation: “'Die Unächtheit der dem Xenophon zugeschriebenen Apologie des Sokrates”', reported at the end of the aforementioned book by Köchly, p. 430 ff. , and then, after the sentence had been pronounced, trying to find him shelter and rest in a safer place by helping him escapeCrit. p. 44 B-D, and 44 E-46 A.. Storia, filosofia della storia, sociologia e materialismo storico The word history, to our confusion, is used to express two different sets of notions, namely the set of things that have happened and the set of literary means that are used to attempt to explain them. In fact, the Greek word corresponds to the second set of concepts; indeed, it expresses the subjective attitude of research. Thus, the literary meaning of the word begins with the father of history: “This is the exposition of Herodotus” research'. When, in the mid-19th century, the need arose for an organised discipline of historical research, Gervinus coined the name HistoricaThe word “'Istorica”' was already used in older literature, such as in Vossio's book from 1623 [“'Ed.”']., in analogy with Grammar and Logic. Bibliography Antonio Labriola, Da un secolo all'altro, in "Scritti filosofici e politici", Franco Barbieri (editor), Einaudi, Torino, 1973. Antonio Labriola, Del materialismo storico. Dilucidazione preliminare, in "Scritti filosofici e politici", Franco Barbieri (editor), Einaudi, Torino, 1973. Antonio Labriola, Discorrendo di socialismo e di filosofia, in "Scritti filosofici e politici", Franco Barbieri (editor), Einaudi, Torino, 1973. Antonio Labriola, In memoria del Manifesto dei comunisti, in "Scritti filosofici e politici", Franco Barbieri (editor), Einaudi, Torino, 1973. Antonio Labriola, Socrate, Laterza, 1909. Antonio Labriola, Storia, filosofia della storia, sociologia e materialismo storico, in "Scritti filosofici e politici", Franco Barbieri (editor), Einaudi, Torino, 1973. Antonio Labriola, Storia, filosofia della storia, sociologia e materialismo storico, in Scritti varii: editi e inediti di filosofia e politica, collected and published by Benedetto Croce, Giuseppe Laterza & Figli, Bari, 1906. External links {Labriola, Antonio Category:1843 births Category:1904 deaths Category:Atheists Category:Philosophers from Italy