To the Great Memory of Leszek Kołakowski

Leszek Kołakowski died in Friday, in Britain. He was one of the few free men remained from the 20th century. My own connection with him was through his fantastic book,Main Currents of Marxism. I read the Persian translation of the book, by Abbass Milani. I’ve read two first volumes. I don’t know if the third volume is published in Persian as well or not, I haven’t find it yet, and I’m eager to read. However, these two volumes are enough for me to judge.

Of course, I’m a great enemy of Marxism, but my knowledge of its philosophy and the different approaches to it was really scattered, and it seems to me it wasn’t gathered in a fine book, but Kołakowski did that. The first volume is called The Founders, tracing Marxism back to its influences such as Plato and Hegel. In this part what really enlightened me was the points he showed were true about the influence philosophers such as Rousseau, Hume and Kant left in Marxism. This very first chapter is enough to let you see Marxism in a full light. The rest of the first volume is about Marx and his philosophy. The second volume, The Golden Age, more traces the Marxism from after Marx to Leninism. As I said earlier, I haven’t read the third volume, but it’s at the top of my “To Read” list after some other works.

In short, The Main Currents of Marxism, Its Rise, Growth and Dissolution is a master work, written by a true master, an instant classic, a great work and it’s absolutely a must read for everyone interested in philosophy.

But my interest in Kołakowski doesn’t end here. The main reason to pay tribute to his great memory is his great life. His father was killed by Nazis in Poland. He became a staunch Marxist later. But soon he broke with Stalinism, and advocated a humanist Marxism. This separation widened and he completely left Marxism. He had rightly found out that “the totalitarian cruelty of Stalinism was not an aberration but the logical end product of Marxism.” [quote from Wikipedia].

He was a great moralist and activist to the end of his life. He wanted to see a more moral world and he fought for it. And he was a true convert to liberalism, he left Marxism because he had found its totalitarian roots, and he spread liberal values the rest of his life. He was one of the few remaining intellectuals, such as Bertrand Russell, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Einstein who thought well and fought well for a better world. He’s not only someone the world will miss, he belongs to a race that if is extinct the world will miss.

Written By:
Nader Amini