Abstract

CAN MARXISM BE REDEEMED? LESZEK KOŁAKOWSKI VS. THEODOR W. ADORNO In the first part of his essay Mateusz Piotrowski reconstructs the critique of the Frankfurt School offered by Leszek Kołakowski in his Main Currents of Marxism. Piotrowski juxtaposes Adorno’s rebellious messianism and Kołakowski’s theodicy based on the idea of homeostasis. Part two introduces the concept of “philosophy of labor” derived from the works of not only Kołakowski but also Stanisław Brzozowski and Marek Siemek. Because it treats history as a “human deed” it may seem opposed to theological thinking. From a certain perspective, however, human endeavors may be seen as erecting a “church of human brotherhood”, i.e. constructing an “earthly absolute”. Finally, Piotrowski delineates a vision of materialism which – if it is to overcome the tension between Adorno’s utopian thinking and Kołakowski’s anti-utopianism – must work out new principles of rationality.