Marian Massonius
Encyclopedia
Piotr Marian Massonius was a Polish
philosopher and teacher
who was born into a family of expatriates during the Partitions of Poland
.
at the Warsaw University and then abroad, where he took up philosophical and pedagogical studies at various German universities, mainly in Leipzig
. He became one of the representatives of the Warsaw
school of Positivism
who formed a common front against Messianism
together with the Polish Neo-Kantians.
Before Poland's return to independence
, Massonius wrote for the Polish-language St. Petersburg weekly Kraj and contributed to the Polish-language periodicals Głos, Tygodnik Ilustrowany, Wisła, Gazeta Warszawska and Gazeta Polska. In 1897-1914 he served on the editorial board of Przegląd Filozoficzny (The Philosophical Review). In 1906 Massonius was elected to Russia's first National Duma
. In 1906-14 he lectured at Warsaw's Flying University
, and in 1920-32, as a professor he conducted courses in philosophy and pedagogy at Stefan Batory University in Vilnius
, then part of the Second Polish Republic
; in these, he focused on epistemology and aesthetics
. He became dean
of the Humanities
Department there. His writings included a collection of philosophical essays, and Polish translations of Western philosophers such as Kant
, Tardieu
and Schopenhauer.
On 21 September 1920, in Poznań
, Massonius published an essay "On Bolshevism", including observations on the 1847 Communist Manifesto of Marx and Engels. As one of the first Polish scholars following the 1917 Russian Revolution, he warned that communist ideology was merely a tool that enabled the Bolsheviks to assume the political role of a new ruling class in Russia
n society. Workers and peasants – Massonius wrote – were to become an embellishment for the commissars corresponding roughly to the former Tsarist governors, heads of administrative districts (volost
s), prosecutors, heads of treasury offices, directors of school departments, etc. The new ruling elite, comprising members of the Cheka
(Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counterrevolution and Sabotage) and Red Army
officers, regarded as the "right-thinking", had only one thing in common as in every oligarchy
, and that is, they all represented communist clubs formed in every Soviet town. These clubs constituted the actual, though unofficial government, or rather the body overseeing the activities of the official government. From the very beginning the aim of the revolutionaries was not to bring about Marxist equality among the classes, but to create a new privileged class of their own. Civil equality was never their goal, it was only an object of subversive political manipulation justifying the means, he explained.
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
philosopher and teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
who was born into a family of expatriates during the Partitions of Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
.
Life
Massonius studied lawLaw
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at the Warsaw University and then abroad, where he took up philosophical and pedagogical studies at various German universities, mainly in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. He became one of the representatives of the Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
school of Positivism
Positivism
Positivism is a a view of scientific methods and a philosophical approach, theory, or system based on the view that, in the social as well as natural sciences, sensory experiences and their logical and mathematical treatment are together the exclusive source of all worthwhile information....
who formed a common front against Messianism
Messianism
Messianism is the belief in a messiah, a savior or redeemer. Many religions have a messiah concept, including the Jewish Messiah, the Christian Christ, the Muslim Mahdi and Isa , the Buddhist Maitreya, the Hindu Kalki and the Zoroastrian Saoshyant...
together with the Polish Neo-Kantians.
Before Poland's return to independence
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
, Massonius wrote for the Polish-language St. Petersburg weekly Kraj and contributed to the Polish-language periodicals Głos, Tygodnik Ilustrowany, Wisła, Gazeta Warszawska and Gazeta Polska. In 1897-1914 he served on the editorial board of Przegląd Filozoficzny (The Philosophical Review). In 1906 Massonius was elected to Russia's first National Duma
State Duma of the Russian Empire
The State Duma of the Russian Empire was a legislative assembly in the late Russian Empire, which met in the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg. It was convened four times between 1906 and the collapse of the Empire in 1917.-History:...
. In 1906-14 he lectured at Warsaw's Flying University
Flying University
Flying University was the name of an underground educational enterprise that operated from 1885 to 1905 in Warsaw, the historic Polish capital, then under the control of the Russian Empire, and that was revived between 1977 and 1981 in the People's Republic of Poland...
, and in 1920-32, as a professor he conducted courses in philosophy and pedagogy at Stefan Batory University in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, then part of the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
; in these, he focused on epistemology and aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
. He became dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
of the Humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
Department there. His writings included a collection of philosophical essays, and Polish translations of Western philosophers such as Kant
KANT
KANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...
, Tardieu
Tardieu
Tardieu may refer to:* André Tardieu was three times Prime Minister of France and a dominant figure of French political life in 1929-1932....
and Schopenhauer.
On 21 September 1920, in Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, Massonius published an essay "On Bolshevism", including observations on the 1847 Communist Manifesto of Marx and Engels. As one of the first Polish scholars following the 1917 Russian Revolution, he warned that communist ideology was merely a tool that enabled the Bolsheviks to assume the political role of a new ruling class in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n society. Workers and peasants – Massonius wrote – were to become an embellishment for the commissars corresponding roughly to the former Tsarist governors, heads of administrative districts (volost
Volost
Volost was a traditional administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe.In earlier East Slavic history, volost was a name for the territory ruled by the knyaz, a principality; either as an absolute ruler or with varying degree of autonomy from the Velikiy Knyaz...
s), prosecutors, heads of treasury offices, directors of school departments, etc. The new ruling elite, comprising members of the Cheka
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
(Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counterrevolution and Sabotage) and Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
officers, regarded as the "right-thinking", had only one thing in common as in every oligarchy
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
, and that is, they all represented communist clubs formed in every Soviet town. These clubs constituted the actual, though unofficial government, or rather the body overseeing the activities of the official government. From the very beginning the aim of the revolutionaries was not to bring about Marxist equality among the classes, but to create a new privileged class of their own. Civil equality was never their goal, it was only an object of subversive political manipulation justifying the means, he explained.
Works
- Marian Massonius, Szkice estetyczne (Sketches in AestheticsAestheticsAesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
), 1884 - Marian Massonius, Über den kritischen Realismus, 1887
- Marian Massonius, Racjonalizm w teorii poznania Kanta (RationalismRationalismIn epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...
in Kant's Theory of Knowledge), 1898 - Marian Massonius, Rozdwojenie myśli polskiej (Duality of Polish Thought), 1901
- Marian Massonius, translations of, and prefaces to, works by E. Tardieu, A. Schopenhauer and E. Dubois-Reimond.
- Doc drDoctor (title)Doctor, as a title, originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre . It has been used as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread...
Marian Massonius, Dzieje Uniwersytetu Wilenskiego 1781-1832 (History of Wilno University). Notatki z wykładow w roku akademickim 1924–1925 (Notes of lectures in academic year 1924–25), ToruńTorunToruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, 2005. - Prof. Marian Massonius, "O bolszewizmie" (On Bolshevism). Lecture presented at PoznańPoznanPoznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, August 21, 1920, in the "Głosy na czasie" (Voices of Our Time) series, no. 45, Poznań, Księgarnia św. Wojciecha, 1921, pp. 8-19, 40-42, 56-64.