Anarchist against Violence. Gustav Landauer's Subversion of the Rational Paradigm

Anatole Lucet (1)

1 TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique

At the end of the 19 th century, violent attacks by so-called anarchists gave the anarchist movement an increased amount of publicity. In the meantime, the success of "scientific socialism" promoted rationality to the rank of a new political doctrine. This article analyses the joint criticism of violence and materialism in the discourse of Gustav Landauer (1870-1919). The German philosopher and revolutionary made an original contribution to anarchism in theorising its incompatibility with violent means of action. He also made a crucial move for the theory of ideas in affirming that reason was not the solution, but often the cause of violence.

Mots clés: Marxism; Historical Materialism; Community; Materialism; Mysticism; Prefigurative Politics; Gustav Landauer; Anarchism; Spirit; Political Violence

Domaines: Philosophie; Science politique

Anatole Lucet. Anarchist against Violence. Gustav Landauer's Subversion of the Rational Paradigm. Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence, 2019, Counter-Enlightenment, Revolution, and Dissent, III (2), pp.105-122. ⟨10.22618/TP.PJCV.20204.1.201007⟩. ⟨hal-02509397⟩