Roger Kimball: “Leszek Kolakowski and the Anatomy of Totalitarianism”

released 9/4/2006

Born in 1927 in Poland, Leszek Kolakowski grew out of his youthful Stalinism to become one of the most penetrating critics of Marxism. In his masterful three-volume Main Currents of Marxism, he concluded: “The self-deification of mankind, to which Marxism gave philosophical expression, has ended in the same way as all such attempts, whether individual or collective: it has revealed itself as the farcical aspect of human bondage.” Kolakowski’s diagnosis of the spiritual crisis of modernity goes far beyond his critique of Marxism; in a variety of books, essays, and public addresses, he regularly returned to the problem of modern culture’s denial of the sacred.

This essay by Roger Kimball, editor of The New Criterion, was written on the occasion of the release of a new edition of Main Currents of Marxism, and sets the arguments in that book in the wider context of Kolakowski’s other work. It was originally published in The New Criterion, June 2005, and is read by Ken Myers.

35 minutes

PREVIEW

The full-length track for this audio is only available to paid members and to listeners with a free Visitor’s Pass. If you are a member, log in here. If you would like a Visitor’s Pass, sign in here. You may purchase one of our complete memberships here. Happy listening!

More to hear . . .

In 1995 and 1997, Ken Myers interviewed historian John Patrick Diggins (1935–2009) about two of his books. In this Friday Feature, those conversations are re-presented. The books discussed are The Promise of Pragmatism: Modernism and the Crisis of Knowledge and Authority (University of Chicago Press, 1994) and Max Weber: Politics and the Spirit of Tragedy (Basic Books, 1996).

This feature is available to listeners with a Mars Hill Audio membership.

Related reading and listening

When language is weaponized — FROM VOL. 52 Jeffrey Meyers explains George Orwell‘s understanding of how language can be used as a weapon in totalitarian movements and regimes. (10 minutes)
Confronting the supremacy of science — Augusto Del Noce on the belief that science is the only true form of knowledge
The roots of American disorder — In this reading of an article from 2021 by Michael Hanby, the critique of Marxism in Augusto del Noce’s work is compared with texts from the American Founders. (79 minutes)
Augusto Del Noce’s critique of modernity — FROM VOL. 128 Physicist and mathematician Carlo Lancellotti discusses the life and work of twentieth-century Italian philosopher, Augusto Del Noce. (25 minutes)
When is civil disobedience necessary? — Douglas Farrow examines the relation between “the kings of the earth” and the law of Christ, particularly when governmental law is exercised without reference to natural or divine law. (49 minutes)
Power and paranoia — From our cassette tape archives, Daniel Chirot talks about political tyranny, and Daniel Pipes explains how conspiracy theories flourish. (31 minutes)
The negation of transcendence — Michael Hanby argues that our current civilizational crisis can be understood as a “new totalitarianism” that negates or disallows every form of transcendence. (32 minutes)
Explaining the totalitarianism of disintegration — Michael Hanby complements the analysis of modernity offered by Augusto Del Noce
Totalitarianism in a new mode — John Milbank on how liberalism has a marked tendency to become illiberal
Liberalism’s totalitarian logic — Antonio López on the logic of liberalism’s totalitarian tendencies
Skepticism and totalitarian drift — John Paul II on how a loss of confidence in the reality of truth accentuates the will to power
From Descartes to Nietzsche — Leszek Kolakowski on Cartesian rationality and modernity’s loss of meaning
Roger Kimball: “Josef Pieper: Leisure and Its Discontents” — Roger Kimball introduces listeners to Josef Pieper’s arguments about the nature of leisure, which are claims about the nature of philosophy and of human well-being. (34 minutes)