Socialism and Social Science: Selected Writings of Ervin Szabó (1877-1918)

223 Pages·1982·2.952 MB·English

by  Ervin Szabo

SOCIALISMA ND SOCIAL SCIENCE
O
SELECTED WRITINGSO F ERVIN SZAB

SOCIALISMA ND SOCIAL
SCIENCE
SELECTED WRI1:INGS
OF ERVIN SZABO
(1877-19)1 8
Editebdy
GyorgyL itvan
and
JanoMs. B ak
ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL
London,B ostona nd Henley
Firstp ublisheidn 1982
by Routledg&eK eganP aulL td
39 StoreS treetL,o ndonW C 1E 7DD,
9 Park StreetB,o ston,M ass. 0210U8S,A and
BroadwayH ouse,N ewtownR oad,
Henley-on-ThameDsx,o n RG9 lEN
Printeidn GreatB ritaibny
St.E dmundsbury PresSsu,f folk
Editoricaolm pilatiaonnd translation
© GyorgyL itvdna nd JanosM . Bak 1982
No parto ft hisb·o ok may be repl'oduced
in any formw ithoupte rmissiofnr omt he
publishere,x ceptf ort he quotatoifob nr ief
passageisn c riticism
Libraryo fC ongressC ataloginign P ublicatiDoant a
Szab6,E rvin,1 877-1918.
Socialiasnmd sociaslc ience.
Includeisn dex.
1. Communisma nd sociaslc iencesI.. L itvanG,y orgy.
II.B ak, JanosM . III.T itle.
HX541.5.S95 335.4 81-13993
ISBN 0-7100-9007-2 AACR2
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Editorsi'n troduction 1
PART I:O N MARX AND MARXISM 23
On>t hem aterialciosntc epotf h istory 25
Socialism 35
On editinMga rx:A correspondenwciet hK arl
Kautsky 55
Backt oM arx!E ditor'psr efacteo vol.I of the
'SelectWeodr kso f Marx and Engels' 68
Marx and Bakunin( IntroductitooMn arx's
'InauguarlA ddresst ot heI nternatioWnoarlk ing
.
Men'sA ssociation') 74
Marx 93
PART II:O N THE SOCIALISTM OVEMENT 101
Masseso r individuals 103
Partyd isciplianned thef reedomo ft hei ndividual 106
Syndicaliasnmd SociaDle mocracy 121
The roleo ft hep oliticpaalr tyi nt hew orkers'
movement( IntroducttiooM na rx's' Critiqoufe
theG othaP rogramme') 139
Americana nd Europeans ocialism 150
PART III:O N SOCIAL SCIENCE,H ISTORY AND
LITERATURE 155
The HungariaRne volution 157
The agrariaqnu estioinn Hungary 178
Can politiecvse rb e scientific? 184
The taskso f theS ociologiScoacli ety
(Presidentaidadlr ess) 189
Whati sr eada nd whats houldb e 198
'ProletarPioaent ry('T ot heb ooko f ZseniV arnais'
poems) 202
VulgarM arxismA. replyt oE rnl:JB resztovszky 205
Culturaen d cultivation 208
Index 212
v

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The editorwsi shg ratefultloya cknowledgteh em any suggestions
and commentsr eceivefdr omf riendasn d colleagueasn,d apologize
forn oth avingb eena blet of olloawl lt heirr ecommendationWse.
yvisht o thanko ur typistsB,a rbaraP arker, Sheila Rowswell,
Eva Faroa nd WilliaEm. Taylorw,h o offeremdo ret han mere
technichaell pb y decipherinogu r hieroglyphasn d oftens uggest­
ingb ettefro rmulatiotnhsa no urs.
Mosta rticleosf Szabow eret ranslatferdo mt heH ungariabny
MarioD . Feny6; Masseso r individuaalnsd The Hungarian
Revolutioans,w ella st hec orrespondenwceer et ranslatferdo m the
Germano riginbayl J. M. Bak, who alsot ranslataeldle ditorial
mattersF.o rt hep ermissiotnor eprinJt. M. Bak'st ranslation
(fromt heG ermant ext)o fT he agrariaqnu estiowne arei ndebted
tot hee ditoorf ' PeasanStt udiesa'n d UCIS, Pittsburgh.
BudapestV-ancouver Gy.L. J.M.B.
December1 980
vii

EDITORS'INTRODUCTION
Durnigt het wod ecadoefsh isc retaivaen dp rodutvciec are,e r
ErvinS zbaoe njoeyda nu ndsiputerde putoanta is sac hol,a wride
acclaaisma socialtihseto rceaitni,a nde aryl andl asntgis uccess
asa libraanr.i But he waasl sboe estb yc ontinuforuussrt aitons
andf aliurse,a ndw asp laguebdyc ontradoinsc htei wausn ablteo
resolv,ea st heyo rgiineatdi nh isp esronaplh liospohy,t het he­
oriehse e,mbracaendd t hec onidtoinsi nw hcihh eh adt ol ivaen d
work.
He was tfhries ts ystemtcaialyl traniedM arxiins tH ungary but
alstoh ef isrt' reviosniis't( htouhg nota Bernstneiia)n.H ew asa
protagonoifes xtt remer evlouotniariyd eabsu tf oundh isb est
freindsa mogn libreald emorcast inw hoscei rcsl heef elhtim self
mosta th ome. Hew ast heH ungariamno stc lolsyea soscaitewdi th
Russainr eovluotniariaensd theb esintf ormeadb ourta dilcm aove­
menttsh er,eb ut fora socliiasetx amplheec hosteo t urnt ot he
wes,t toF rancIot-laains yndicalainsdm A ngloA-meircaunn iosnmi.
Hisp olitiwcrailnt giss howh im aasna dvcoatoef a ll-oculta ss
sturggle, but asa leadeofrt heS ocoilogicSaolce itya ndd irector
oft heB udapesMtu nciiplaL ibrarhye d eefndeds cienacned a rt
fromi mmdeiatpeol itlii cnafelnuces.
Threem ajotre nosnisa ndc ontdricatioinnsS zabo'sl ife waonrd k
mays ervet oi llustratthee' fliedo ff orc'ew hcihd efnied his
thoguhtsa nda ctonis:t hosbeet weetnh eorayn dp rax,iM sarixsm
ande thcis,a nd thea uthoarnd hisa udien.c Aellt hawte c an
attemhpetr ei st os ketcthh eo utnleiso ft hesteo pi,cb sreifyl
reefrrign tot hes oci,ap loltiicaaln di ntellectsuuarlr oduinngso f
Szabo;t od om orew ould amotuoan nte ssaoyn t heh istoorfy
avantg-uerrHeu nagry whcihw oulcde ritnayl exceetdh ef ramoef
an tironducotni.
THEORYA NDP RAXIS
Severalf reindsa ndc ontpeomrarioefsS zabo wonderewdh ethehre
was' edepd own insai sdceoh'l aorr a revoliuotanrya ctiv.i Osnte
ofh is ocslesftre inds- andf isrtb iograph-eOr scarJ azsiw rote
that
hisr eVOlutioyn caornviicotsn werea lways storngetrh anh is
scholya armlbitniso. Althgohu hel ovde ande njoeyds cien­
tiftircu ths,h er egardtehde ma sa kindo fs pirituaamlm un­
itioinnh umnaiyt's fgihtf orl biertaio.n. .Th.e g uidgi nstar
1
2 EditorIsn't roduction
ofh iss tudiheass b eent os uppltyh ew orkresw itwh eaposn
int hec lassst rulgeg.( 1)
Buti na nohterm emoriaal rti,c lea fyeeawr sl at,eh res tat:e d
,T hel irbariaannd thteh eoriectiawne rea lawys storngeirn h im
thant hep arty poilticiana giaatntdo .r'( 2)Ob viouslbyo tha sesss­
mentcso ntamiunc ht rut,ha nd thiisst eilhnfi nst at tphuez ez l
inS zab6' rse aclh araecr.t
Thesceo ntrcatodriyt rendisnS zab6s' l ifcea nb ep artially
explnaeidb yh isp ersonlaq ualiitesa ndt hec ondtiiosn oft he
timeisn w hichhe l ievd.H ew aso ff raihle atlh,o fw eakn evrous
disptoosini, pao oro rat,oa rnd,a lhtougha ne xtremedliys cinpeldi
worekr,o rganicya ulnlablteof ulftihler oloef m assl eaedr.A ls,o
the nefeodra regulairn commea deh ima cecpta cviils ervice
postiioena ryl inl ifweh cih,a lthouhgahr dlayg anist hiinsc l­in
atinos, forcedh imt oa ssurteh ea uthoirei,sth oweverl ibertahle
Budapesctiy t counlcm iay habveee ,nt hahti s'd esirteoss erve
thec ausoef s ocialairsefm o r tthiem bee in(gis c!)l imitteotd h e
scholarly sttuhdemy o voefm e'n t3.) (
Stli,li tw oulbde a simlpifaitciotno e xplaiSnz ab6's reluctant
decsiiotno b ecomteh et heorceiatnia ndn ott hep olitilceaald eorf
thes oicasltim ovemenftr oms uchm otievs.H ew ishetdo bbeo t,h
and doesn ots eemt oh avee verf ulyl acqusiceedin t hef actth at
he walse sasn d lesasb lteo h armonitzhee sdei vergeinntte notnis.
A tt hee nd,h oweevr,h ea ccepttehda hte wanse ithoefrt he.m
Toa minore xtnetS zab6's bacgkrounadn dy outhd eifnedt he
outlnies ofh isf uutre.A st hey oungessto no fa ni mpoverished
smalle ntrepruerns'e family,a ssmiilatJeedw s frao pmro vincial
tow,nw ho loshti sf athears a chlid,h eh adt ol oofko ra job
prominsgi safei ncmoe; thes ooenr,t heb ett.e Crommericacla reers
musth avea ppearaesdu npromising praoftseprte hcetf sah ter's
failu;r meany flide,s sucha sg overnmenste vrice,w erev irtuya ll
colsedt oh im,e vent houghhe c hangehdi sn amef romS chlnegseir
tot he'H ungarnia-soudnign'S zab6 and becamae P rotesnttaw hlie
stiilnlh ist enes.( 4) Aftegrr adutaiofnr oms ecodnary school
(Gmynasi)u imnU ngvar( otdayU:z hgoro,d UkrianiaSnSR ),h e
matrictueldai n1 89a5t t heF acuyl otfL awa ndG overnmeinnt
Budape's,at typicaclh oicfeo ra poorb utt aelnteydo ungm an in
thostei ems.D urinhgi ss tudiSezasb 6 concentraontp eodl itical
scienacned econocms,i subjectthsaw te rer athepro oryl repr­e
senteidnt hec onservatifvaec luyt ofB udape.s Tthism ayh ave
bene oneo ft hem otivetsh ta suggestae df ews emesteinrV si enna
wherte hesdei spcliniesw eret auhgtb y soomfet heb es-tknown
econosmtiso ft hea ge.D urign hisye art her(e18 9-89)S zab6
attendtehdec oursoefK arlM enge,r tmhaei nr eprseenttiavoef
the'A usrtiasnc hool eocf onomsi'ac nd mae ticulmoeutsh odolo­
gis(t 5,)a ndo fT heodoIrna maS-trenegg,a uthoorf m ajowro rks
one conomihci sotrya nd,t oegthewri tEhu genv onP hilpiopvcih,
leadgi sntatiicsint aoft he uAs tor-Hungariamno nrachy.( 6)H e
learnmeudc ho fa cadecm eiconocms,ib utd idn otb ecome the
,p upilo'f e ithoefrh isV iennap roefsosrs.