The Practical Essence Of Man: The 'activity Approach' In Late Soviet Philosophy: Historical Materialism Volume 108
By (Author) Vesa Oittinen
Edited by Andrey Maidansky
Haymarket Books
Haymarket Books
10th October 2017
United States
General
Non Fiction
197
Paperback
204
Width 154mm, Height 230mm
For the first time, this book presents to Western readers a current in the late Soviet philosophy of the 1960s and 1970s known as the 'activity approach'. It had to some degree a counterpart in so-called cultural-historical psychology, but whilst the work of Vygotsky and Leontyev was received in the West decades ago, its sibling in philosophy has remained virtually unnoticed. Started by Evald Ilyenkov in the early '60s, the activity approach soon became an intellectual mode, leading to several different interpretations of human activity and challenging Marx and Lenin.
Vesa Oittinen is Professor at the Aleksanteri Institute of the University of Helsinki. His research focuses on the history of modern philosophy, especially German, Scandinavian, and Russian philosophy. Andrey Maidansky, Ph.D. (1993), Professor, Belgorod State University, Russia, published monographs and articles on Spinoza, Marx, and Soviet philosophy, and the anthology Spinoza: Pro et contra (St Petersburg: RHGA, 2012).