Henry Kamienski’s Question about Russia: between Philosophy of History and Social Philosophy Cover Image

Henryka Kamieńskiego pytanie o Rosję: między filozofią dziejów a filozofią społeczną
Henry Kamienski’s Question about Russia: between Philosophy of History and Social Philosophy

Author(s): Krzysztof Wołodźko
Subject(s): History of Philosophy, Social Philosophy
Published by: Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Kamieński; Rosja; historiozofia; filozofia dziejów; filozofia społeczna;

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to present the thought of Henry Kamieński (1813-1865), the author of „Russia and Europe. Poland. The Introduction to the Research into Russia and Russians”; the work is regarded as the most important and original analysis of Russian Empire, that was written in the 19th century by a Pole. Kamieński, the philosopher, the sociologist and economist tried to inform compatriots and international opinion about the complexity of Polish-Russian relationship, described in the wide social, economic and geopolitical background. As a participant of November Uprising (1830), the theorist of democratic movement and the Siberian exile, he regarded Russian issues as important not only from Polish point of view but also the European one. He pointed to civilization thre¬ats, that could result from the lack of understanding of Empire of Tsars. Russian Empi¬re, the state without history, institutions, law and without freedom, that indicated the co¬urse of history of Western Europe, can become the reason of the decline of civilization. What is more, the submission of West Europe to Moscow, an underestimating of its po¬wer and the lack of cultural initiative and ethic elements in international politics result in the fact that Europe continuously loses its significance with Moscow profiting from it. Therefore, if Poland does not find support in the West, it can be forced to make an allian¬ce with Russia, thus marking the beginning of the Slavic Empire, the seed of new Euro¬pe.

  • Issue Year: 52/2007
  • Issue No: 52
  • Page Range: 183-216
  • Page Count: 34
  • Language: Polish
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