Polish liberal thought before 1918
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Polish liberal thought before 1918
Central European University Press, 2004
English ed
- : hbk
- Other Title
-
Polska myśl liberalna do 1918 roku
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Note
Translation of: Polska myśl liberalna do 1918 roku. Warsaw : Polish Batory Foundation, 1998
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Based on solid research, this erudite study is a first attempt at presenting a comprehensive analysis of nineteenth-century Polish liberalism. Polish liberal tradition has generally been considered weak or even nonexistent. Janowski, on the other hand, argues that nineteenth-century Poland inherited a strong protoliberal tradition from the nobility-based democracy, and that in the mid-nineteenth century, liberalism was a dominant trend in Polish intellectual life, even if it rarely appeared in its pure form and did not create political movements separating liberal aims from patriotic ones. The author maintains that the definition of liberalism in Central Europe should not be based on the Anglo-Saxon model, in view of the weakness of the middle classes and, in the case of partitioned Poland, the lack of independent statehood. This explains why there was a marked etatist trend among liberal thinkers, who saw the creation of a strong state as a tool of modernization. Janowski sees his subject in a broad comparative perspective, taking into account the historical experience of other nations of Central Europe.
His innovative interpretation may be the starting point for new debates in the ongoing discussion on the different perceptions of liberalism.
Table of Contents
Introduction and Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 Two Sources of Liberal Thought
Chapter 2 The Rise and Decline of Enlightened Liberality
Chapter 3 Romantic Liberalism
Chapter 4 Liberalism as the Ideology of the Intelligentsia
Chapter 5 The Rise of Positivism
Chapter 6 Positivism under Attack
Chapter 7 In a World of Alien Ideals
Conclusion Terms and Currents
Bibliography
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"