Humanism and Terror

First published in France in 1947, __Humanism and Terror__ is a vital work of political philosophy by one of the leading French philosophers of the twentieth century. Attempting to understand what he called the "dislocated world" that followed immediately after the Second World War—including his own, divided France—Merleau-Ponty asks a fundamental question: how did Marxism and humanism come apart? Through a fascinating reading of Arthur Koestler's famous novel, __Darkness at Noon__, an allegory of the Stalinist show trials and purges of the 1930s, Merleau-Ponty weighs up the costs of a regime of permanent revolution and false confessions. His profound and controversial point, however, is that the purges were the inevitable outcome of abandoning crucial subjective elements of Marx’s theory of history, with the result that "humanism is suspended and government is terror." As we again confront the reality of authoritarianism, political polarisation and curtailing of human freedom, the dislocated world brilliantly depicted by Merleau-Ponty in __Humanism and Terror__ sends a powerful and articulate message that continues to resonate today. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by William McBride. A vital book for understanding the use of political violence in pursuit of political ends, by one of the major French philosophers of the 20th century Includes a fascinating chapter on Arthur Koestler's famous novel about the 1930s'show trials'in Moscow, Darkness at Noon Extremely clearly written and still highly relevant for dealing with questions of political power and authoritarianism This Routledge Classics edition includes a new foreword by William McBride, helpfully placing the book in the context of Merleau-Ponty's thought as a whole Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents FOREWORD TO THE ROUTLEDGE CLASSICS EDITION AUTHOR’S PREFACE PART 1: TERROR 1 Koestler’s Dilemmas 2 Bukharin and the Ambiguity of History 3 Trotsky’s Rationalism PART 2: THE HUMANIST PERSPECTIVE 4 From the Proletarian to the Commissar 5 The Yogi and the Proletarian Conclusion INDEX