Praxis: Yugoslav Essays in the Philosophy and Methodology of the Social Sciences (Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, Vol. 36) ... in the Philosophy and History of Science, 36)

This volume of the Boston Studies is a distillation of one of the most creative and important movements in contemporary social theory. The articles repre­ sent the work of the so-called 'Praxis' group in Yugoslavia, a heterogeneous movement of philosophers, sociologists, political theorists, historians, and cul­ tural critics, united by a common approach: that of social theory as a critical and scientific enterprise, closely linked to questions of contemporary practical life. As the introductory essay explains, in its history and analysis of the development of this group, the name Praxis focuses on the heart of Marx's social theory - the conception of human beings as creative, productive makers and shapers of their own history. The journal Praxis, which appeared regularly in Yugoslavia at Zagreb, and also in an International Edition for many years, is the source of many of these articles. The journal had to suspend publication in 1975 because of political pressures in Yugoslavia. Eight members of the group were dismissed from their University posts in Belgrade, after a long struggle in which their colleagues stood by them staunchly. Yet the creativity and productivity of the group continues, by those in Belgrade and elsewhere. Its contributions to the social sciences, and to the very conception of social science as critical and applied theory, remain vivid, timely and innovative. The importance of the theoretical work of the Praxis group is perhaps at its height now. Front Matter....Pages i-xxxvii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Dialectic Today....Pages 3-43 The Meaning of Marx’s Philosophy....Pages 45-61 A Tension in Historical Materialism....Pages 63-79 Some One-Sided Conceptions of Social Determinism....Pages 81-88 Historical Science and the Philosophy of History....Pages 89-97 Front Matter....Pages 99-99 Homo Politicus....Pages 101-119 Political Dictatorship: The Conflict of Politics and Society....Pages 121-137 Revolution and Terror....Pages 139-150 The Philosophical Concept of Revolution....Pages 151-164 Front Matter....Pages 165-165 Culture As a Bridge Between Utopia and Reality....Pages 167-185 Between Two Types of Modern Culture....Pages 187-197 Ideas and Life....Pages 199-208 The Withering Away of Religion in Socialism....Pages 209-215 Culture and Revolution....Pages 217-225 Front Matter....Pages 227-227 Theoretical Foundations for the Idea of Self-Management....Pages 229-247 Some Contradictions and Insufficiencies of Yugoslav Self-Managing Socialism....Pages 249-271 Institutionalization of the Revolutionary Movement....Pages 273-287 Bureaucracy — Reified Organization....Pages 289-301 Bureaucracy and Public Communication....Pages 303-316 Social Equality and Inequality in the Bourgeois World and in Socialism....Pages 317-332 Front Matter....Pages 227-227 Middle Class Ideology....Pages 333-356 Ecstasy and Hangover of a Revolution....Pages 357-369 Back Matter....Pages 371-415 Translated By Joan Coddington ... [et Al.] ; Edited By Mihailo Marković And Gajo Petrović. Selections From The Praxis Jugoslavensko Izdanje 1965-1974 By The Praxis Group. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.