
“This is a lovingly and comprehensively researched introduction to Ilyenkov’s thought, history and influence that will pique the interest of non-scholars and scholars alike”
Dom Taylor, Marx and Philosophy Review of Books.
In the era of alt-truth, disinformation and scepticism about the very possibility of knowledge, the work of a defiant Soviet thinker is attracting growing interest. Evald Ilyenkov’s dialectical approach to philosophy from Spinoza to Hegel and Marx made him a target for persecution by the bureaucratic Stalinist authorities of his day.
The re-discovery of his original texts, suppressed or harshly redacted during his lifetime, is giving rise to an enhanced view of his contribution. Finding Evald Ilyenkov draws on the personal experiences of researchers in the UK, Denmark and Finland. It traces Ilyenkov’s impact on philosophy, psychology, politics and pedagogy and how it continues to be relevant in the light of today’s crises.
ISBN: 978-1-916031-81-4 | 64 pages | 2019
Re-print now available for only £5 plus postage
Reviews
“It cannot be emphasised enough, then, that Lotz’s booklet is a fine introduction to Ilyenkov and hence a welcome addition to the growing literature on that mighty thinker.”
Jason Devine
Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal
“The Theses insisted that Marxism is not a holy writ, handed down from on high, but a living theory of knowledge that is to be developed as the material world it engages with develops.”
Barry Healy in Green Left
“This call for a return to Ilyenkov is welcome”
Dom Taylor for Marx & Philosophy
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