Stanislaw Brzozowski

Stanisław Brzozowski was a Polish philosopher, writer, publicist, literary and theatre critic of the Young Poland era. He was a supporter of historical materialism and the creator of the philosophy of labour. He was known mainly as the author of Legend of Young Poland and the first Polish intellectual novel, Flames. He drew his inspiration from Marx, Nietzsche, Bergson, Sorel and Kant. He opposed the 19th-century positivism and utilitarianism. As a publicist, he was associated with the left wing. He developed an original philosophical concept based on work. According to him, it is through work that we transcend the Kantian limit of unknowability of the world, changing it. He was accused by Vladimir Burtsev of collaborating with the Okhrana, the tsarist political police. He underwent a civil trial, which remained unresolved. Due to his deteriorating health, he permanently left Poland and died in Florence in 1911. He was buried at the Trespiano Cemetery. His most important works include Legend of Young Poland (1909) and Ideas: Introduction to the Philosophy of Historical Maturity (1910).