Labriola, Antonio

Labriola, Antonio
(1843–1904)
   One of the most prominent Marxist philosophers of the late 19th century, Antonio Labriola was the son of a schoolteacher from Cassino (Campania). A brilliant student who won prizes for essays on Spinoza and Greek interpretations of Socrates’s thought before he was 30 years old, Labriola became ordinario (full professor) of history in 1877. Labriola’s conversion to socialism was a slow process. The seemingly scientific approach of Marxism to social questions, his disgust at the increasingly corrupt form of parliamentary democracy practiced in liberal Italy, contacts with workers’study groups, and the intolerance of right-wing students toward his ideas (Labriola was forced to abandon a course on the French Revolution in February 1889 by riotous students) were the chief factors that led him to embrace the socialist cause, which can be dated to a speech he gave to a study group of Roman workers in June 1889.
   In the 1890s, Labriola established an international reputation as a Marxist theorist. Between April 1895 and 1897, he published three long essays on historical materialism in the journal Devenir Social, edited by the French theorist Georges Sorel. In these essays, Labriola introduced the notion of Marxism as a practical doctrine—a guide to understanding historical development rather than a dogma—that would later be taken up by Antonio Gramsci. In Italy, the same essays were edited for publication by Benedetto Croce, and they had an enormous influence on Croce’s early thought.
   Despite his doctrinal flexibility, Labriola was hostile to the reformism of Filippo Turati. He opposed the Partito Socialista Italiano/Italian Socialist Party’s (PSI) collaboration with the forces of Italian liberalism and evinced at times an intemperate hostility toward the Italian bourgeoisie. Paradoxically, however, he supported the imperialist adventures of the Italian state in Libya and East Africa, arguing somewhat coldly that imperialism was a necessary stage in the development of European capitalism, from which Italy could not refrain without condemning itself to social backwardness. Labriola died of throat cancer in 1904.

Historical Dictionary of Modern Italy. . 2007.

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  • Labriola, Antonio — ▪ Italian philosopher born July 2, 1843, Cassino, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies [Italy] died Feb. 12, 1904, Rome, Italy       philosopher who systematized the study of Marxist socialism in Italy. The first in his nation to expound orthodox Marxism …   Universalium

  • Labriola, Antonio — (1843–1904)    Labriola is noteworthy as the first “professorial Marxist” or academic Marxist, who made a significant contribution to Marxist theory, and influenced the Italian socialist movement, directing it away from syndicalism and toward… …   Historical dictionary of Marxism

  • Labriola, Antonio — See Marxism ( …   History of philosophy

  • Labriola, Antonio — ► (1843 1904) Filósofo italiano. Autor de Ensayos sobre la concepción materialista de la historia …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Labriola, Antonio — (Cassino, Frosinone 1843 Roma 1904) filosofo …   Dizionario biografico elementare del Novecento letterario italiano

  • Labriola — Labriola, Antonio …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Labriola — Antonio Labriola Antonio Labriola (* 2. Juli 1843 in Cassino; † 12. Februar 1904 in Rom) war Professor der theoretischen Philosophie an der Universität in Rom. Er gilt als einer der ersten und einflussreichsten italienischen Marxisten. Seine… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Antonio Labriola — (* 2. Juli 1843 in Cassino; † 12. Februar 1904 in Rom) war Professor der theoretischen Philosophie an der Universität in Rom. Er gilt als einer der ersten und einflussreichsten italienischen Marxisten. Seine Werke und Ideen prägten unter anderem… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Antonio Labriola — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Escuche este artículo (info) Descárgal …   Wikipedia Español

  • LABRIOLA (A.) — LABRIOLA ANTONIO (1843 1904) Généralement considéré comme le premier marxiste italien, Antonio Labriola, né à Sangermano, fut l’élève, à Naples, de Bertrando Spaventa. Son premier écrit, Contro il ritorno di Kant propugnato da E. Zeller (1862),… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

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