Shlomo Avineri – författare

In the last decade much contemporary political and moral thought has been devoted to the debate between communitarianism and individualism. While individualists advocate the notions of rights, neutrality, and impartiality, and see society as a voluntary association for mutual advantage, communitarians argue that individuals are never detached from their society, culture, and history and that if they are to be properly understood they must first be examined in these contexts. Moreover communitarians claim that individualism makes it impossible to achieve a genuine community which can offer its members a just distribution of goods and morally meaningful life. The essays collected in this volume reflect the many facets of this debate and examine its implications for the political arena. They cover a wide spectrum of thought and opinion and include work by Ronald Dworkin, Marilyn Friedman, David Gauthier, Amy Gutmann, Will Kymlicka, Alasdair MacIntyre, David Miller, Robert Nozick, John Rawls, Michael Sandel, Charles Taylor, and Michael Walzer.

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a new exploration of Karl Marx's life through his intellectual contributions to modern thought"A perceptive and fair-minded corrective to superficial treatments of the man."—Jonathan Rose, Wall Street JournalKarl Marx (1818–1883)—philosopher, historian, sociologist, economist, current affairs journalist, and editor—was one of the most influential and revolutionary thinkers of modern history, but he is rarely thought of as a Jewish thinker, and his Jewish background is either overlooked or misrepresented. Here, distinguished scholar Shlomo Avineri argues that Marx’s Jewish origins did leave a significant impression on his work. Marx was born in Trier, then part of Prussia, and his family had enjoyed equal rights and emancipation under earlier French control of the area. But then its annexation to Prussia deprived the Jewish population of its equal rights. These developments led to the reluctant conversion of Marx’s father, and similar tribulations radicalized many young intellectuals of that time who came from a Jewish background.Avineri puts Marx’s Jewish background in its proper and balanced perspective, and traces Marx’s intellectual development in light of the historical, intellectual, and political contexts in which he lived.About Jewish Lives:Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present.In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award.More praise for Jewish Lives:“Excellent.” – New York times“Exemplary.” – Wall St. Journal“Distinguished.” – New Yorker“Superb.” – The Guardian

This new exploration of Marx as a Jewish thinker presents “a perceptive and fair-minded corrective to superficial treatments” of his life and work (Jonathan Rose, Wall Street Journal).A philosopher, historian, sociologist, economist, current affairs journalist, and editor, Karl Marx was one of the most influential and revolutionary thinkers of modern history. But he is rarely thought of as a Jewish thinker, and his Jewish background is either overlooked or misrepresented. Here, distinguished scholar Shlomo Avineri argues that Marx’s Jewish origins made a significant impression on his work. Marx was born in Trier, then part of Prussia, and his family had enjoyed full emancipation under earlier French control of the area. But then its annexation to Prussia deprived the Jewish population of its equal rights. These developments led to the reluctant conversion of Marx’s father, and similar tribulations radicalized many other Jewish intellectuals of that time.Avineri puts Marx’s Jewish background in its proper and balanced perspective, and traces Marx’s intellectual development in light of the historical, intellectual, and political contexts in which he lived.

For eighteen centuries pious Jews had prayed for the return to Jerusalem, but only in the revolutionary atmosphere of nineteenth-century Europe was this yearning transformed into an active political philosophy: Zionism. In The Making of Modern Zionism, the distinguished political scientist Shlomo Avineri rejects the common view that Zionism was solely a reaction to anti-Semitism and persecution. Rather, he sees it as part of the universal quest for self-determination. In sharply-etched intellectual profiles of Zionism's major thinkers from Moses Hess to Theodore Herzl and from Vladimir Jabotinsky to David Ben Gurion, Avineri traces the evolution of this quest from its intellectual origins in the early nineteenth century to the establishment of the State of Israel. In an expansive new epilogue, he tracks the rise of religious Zionism since the 1970s, explaining its pernicious effect on the nation that secular Zionism created. The result is a book that enables us to understand, as perhaps never before, one of the truly revolutionary ideas of our time.

Ever since the discovery of Marx's Early Writings, most of the literature concerned with Marx's intellectual development has centred around the so-called gap between the 'young' Marx, who was considered to be a humanist thinker, and the 'older' Marx, who was held to be a determinist with little concern for anything outside his narrow theory of historical materialism. Dr Avineri claims that such a gap between the 'young' and 'older' Marx did not exist. He supports his claim by a detailed study of the whole corpus of Marx's writing on social and political thought.

This study in English of Hegel's political philosophy presents an overall view of the development of Hegel's political thinking. The author has drawn on Hegel's philosophical works, his political tracts and his personal correspondence. Professor Avineri shows that although Hegel is primarily thought of as a philosopher of the state, he was much concerned with social problems and his concept of the state must be understood in this context.

Moses Hess is a major figure in the development of both early communist and Zionist thought. The Holy History of Mankind appeared in 1837, and was the first book-length socialist tract to appear in Germany, representing an unusual synthesis of Judaism and Christianity that showed the considerable influence upon Hess of Spinoza, Herder and Hegel. In due course many of Hess's ideas would find their way into the work of Karl Marx, and into subsequent socialist thought. The distinguished political scientist Shlomo Avineri provides the first full English translation of this text, along with new renditions of Socialism and Communism, A Communist Credo; and The Consequences of a Future Revolution of the Proletariat. All of the usual reader-friendly series features are provided, including a chronology, concise introduction and notes for further reading, in a work of special relevance to students of politics, modern European history, and the history of Zionism.

Moses Hess is a major figure in the development of both early communist and Zionist thought. The Holy History of Mankind appeared in 1837, and was the first book-length socialist tract to appear in Germany, representing an unusual synthesis of Judaism and Christianity that showed the considerable influence upon Hess of Spinoza, Herder and Hegel. In due course many of Hess's ideas would find their way into the work of Karl Marx, and into subsequent socialist thought. The distinguished political scientist Shlomo Avineri provides the first full English translation of this text, along with new renditions of Socialism and Communism, A Communist Credo; and The Consequences of a Future Revolution of the Proletariat. All of the usual reader-friendly series features are provided, including a chronology, concise introduction and notes for further reading, in a work of special relevance to students of politics, modern European history, and the history of Zionism.

Theodor Herzl had been a successful Viennese journalist and a less successful playwright with no political ambitions. That changed in 1896, when he published The Jewish State. In response to the wide resonance that the book received, Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897, which founded the Zionist Organization in order to establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, recognized and guaranteed by public international law. As he transformed himself in just a few years from fin-de-siècle writer and editor into the leader of an international political movement, Herzl learned politics and diplomacy on the run. And while he was not the first to call for the establishment of a Jewish nation-state, his activity was crucial in creating the institutional and organizational structure which helped to bring the idea of a Jewish state to the attention of world leaders and international public opinion. In his efforts to gain broad support for his vision, Herzl met with the Ottoman Sultan; the German Emperor Wilhelm II; Pope Pius X; British, Russian, and German ministers; as well as an enormous number of other government and public opinion leaders of most European countries. By the time of his early death in 1904 at the age of forty-four, Herzl had transformed Jewish public discourse and made the idea of a Return to Zion into a reality, albeit still a weak one, in world politics. In this concise, illuminating biography, the renowned Israeli political scientist and public intellectual Shlomo Avineri portraits Herzl’s intellectual and spiritual odyssey from a private and marginal individual into a Jewish political leader and shows how it was the political crisis of the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg Empire, torn apart by contending national movements, which convinced Herzl of the need for a Jewish polity. Drawing extensively on Herzl’s diaries as well as his published works, Avineri tells the story of how Herzl became, with the Zionist movement that he founded, a player in international politics, and how he harnessed the power of the word to his goals as no other statesman before him had done. Combining a visionary idea with practical action, Theodor Herzl fashioned the policies and institutions that paved the way for the Jewish state.

Theodor Herzl had been a successful Viennese journalist and a less successful playwright with no political ambitions. That changed in 1896, when he published The Jewish State. In response to the wide resonance that the book received, Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897, which founded the Zionist Organization in order to establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, recognized and guaranteed by public international law. As he transformed himself in just a few years from fin-de-siècle writer and editor into the leader of an international political movement, Herzl learned politics and diplomacy on the run. And while he was not the first to call for the establishment of a Jewish nation-state, his activity was crucial in creating the institutional and organizational structure which helped to bring the idea of a Jewish state to the attention of world leaders and international public opinion. In his efforts to gain broad support for his vision, Herzl met with the Ottoman Sultan; the German Emperor Wilhelm II; Pope Pius X; British, Russian, and German ministers; as well as an enormous number of other government and public opinion leaders of most European countries. By the time of his early death in 1904 at the age of forty-four, Herzl had transformed Jewish public discourse and made the idea of a Return to Zion into a reality, albeit still a weak one, in world politics. In this concise, illuminating biography, the renowned Israeli political scientist and public intellectual Shlomo Avineri portraits Herzl’s intellectual and spiritual odyssey from a private and marginal individual into a Jewish political leader and shows how it was the political crisis of the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg Empire, torn apart by contending national movements, which convinced Herzl of the need for a Jewish polity. Drawing extensively on Herzl’s diaries as well as his published works, Avineri tells the story of how Herzl became, with the Zionist movement that he founded, a player in international politics, and how he harnessed the power of the word to his goals as no other statesman before him had done. Combining a visionary idea with practical action, Theodor Herzl fashioned the policies and institutions that paved the way for the Jewish state.

The first biography in more than a generation of the father of modern political Zionism and in effect the state of Israel.Drawing extensively on his diaries as well as his published works, this intellectual biographical follows Herzl's transformation from a private person into the founder and leader of a political movement which made the quest for a Jewish state into a player in international politics. Contrary to the conventional view which saw the Dreyfus affair as the trigger for Herzl's loss of belief in the promise of Jewish emancipation, Avineri shows how it was the political crisis of the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg Empire, torn apart by contending national movements, which convinced Herzl of the need for a Jewish polity.In response to the wide resonance for his 1896 THE JEWISH STATE, Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897, which established the World Zionist Organization with its representative and elected institutions; this in turn became the foundation for Israel's democratic political system. In his efforts to gain international support for a Jewish state, Herzl met with the Ottoman Sultan, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, Pope Pius X, British, Russian and German ministers, as well as an enormous number of other government and public opinion leaders of most European countries. By the time of his early death in 1904 at the age of 44, Herzl succeeded in putting Zionism on the map of world politics, no longer an esoteric idea held by a small group of Jewish intellectuals in Eastern Europe.

Chaim Arlosoroff (1899-1933), socialist Zionist leader and theorist, was born in Russia and educated in Germany. He was one of the leaders of the Labour Zionist Party, Mapai and, following his emigration to Palestine in the 1920s, he became the head of the political department of the Jewish Agency for Palestine – the ''Foreign Minister'' of the Jewish state-in-the-making.His reputation grew rapidly and his many articles and speeches were soon treated as blueprints for the socialist ideals of a Jewish state. He was bitterly opposed to the Revisionist principles of Jabotinsky and his movement. At the age of thirty-four, Arlosoroff was assassinated while walking with his wife along the beach in Tel Aviv. His murder marked a turning point in modern Zionist history, polarizing attitudes between left and right-wing Zionists in Palestine and the Diaspora, and creating an ideological rift parallel only to the impact of the Dreyfus Affair on French Politics. After his death, Arlosoroff became a symbol of the socialist Zionist movement. He was an intellectual of the first order and an original social thinker. He had a number of books to his name in such fields as socialist and anarchist thought, economic history, Jewish social studies, financial theory and social analysis. His writings and ideas set the scene for the final struggle towards and independent Jewish state in Palestine and time has proved him to be extraordinarily prophetic.

The essays included in this volume are based on papers delivered at the International Symposium on Varieties of Marxism, held at the Van Leer Jerusalem Foundation on June 16-19,1974, and dedicated to the memory of George Lichtheim. When the idea of such a symposium was first raised, the organizers planned to have George Lichtheim as one of the main speakers at the event. In our last and brief meeting in London, I suggested this to him and Lichtheim gave his consent to attend the symposium, though at that time no date was yet fixed. His tragic death a few months later left a gap not only in the program of the symposium but in Marxist studies generally; it was felt that per­ haps one way of paying tribute to his contribution to the study of a subject so near to his mind would be to name the symposium in his memory and devote an introductory paper to an attempt at an intel­ lectual portrait of George Lichtheim as an historian of ideas. The volume as published includes all papers delivered at the sym­ posium, with the excep,tion of the papers of J. L. Talmon (Jerusalem) on 'Marxism and Nationalism' and Gajo Petrovic (Zagreb) on 'Yugo­ slav Marxism'. Appended is also a short obituary written by me on Lichtheim for the journal Political Science published by the American Political Science Association.

The essays included in this volume are based on papers delivered at the International Symposium on Varieties of Marxism, held at the Van Leer Jerusalem Foundation on June 16-19,1974, and dedicated to the memory of George Lichtheim. When the idea of such a symposium was first raised, the organizers planned to have George Lichtheim as one of the main speakers at the event. In our last and brief meeting in London, I suggested this to him and Lichtheim gave his consent to attend the symposium, though at that time no date was yet fixed. His tragic death a few months later left a gap not only in the program of the symposium but in Marxist studies generally; it was felt that per­ haps one way of paying tribute to his contribution to the study of a subject so near to his mind would be to name the symposium in his memory and devote an introductory paper to an attempt at an intel­ lectual portrait of George Lichtheim as an historian of ideas. The volume as published includes all papers delivered at the sym­ posium, with the excep,tion of the papers of J. L. Talmon (Jerusalem) on ''Marxism and Nationalism'' and Gajo Petrovic (Zagreb) on ''Yugo­ slav Marxism''. Appended is also a short obituary written by me on Lichtheim for the journal Political Science published by the American Political Science Association.