Modern Science And Anarchism

by Pyotr Kropotkin

Modern Science and Anarchism is a book written by Peter Kropotkin, a Russian anarchist philosopher and scientist. The book was originally published in 1908 and explores the relationship between science and anarchism. Kropotkin argues that science and anarchism share a common goal of promoting human progress and freedom. He also critiques the prevailing scientific theories of his time, such as social Darwinism and eugenics, which he believes are used to justify oppressive social hierarchies. Kropotkin advocates for a more cooperative and egalitarian approach to science, one that prioritizes the well-being of all individuals and communities. The book is an important contribution to anarchist theory and remains relevant today in discussions about the role of science in society.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Science, History, Theory

98 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1901

About the author

Pyotr Alekseyevich Kropotkin, prince, Russian anarchist, and political philosopher, greatly influenced movements throughout the world and maintained that cooperation, not competition, the means, bettered the human condition.

Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (Пётр Алексеевич Кропоткин, other spelling: Pëtr Kropotkin, Pierre Kropotkine), who described him as "a man with a soul of that beautiful white Christ, which seems coming." He wrote many books, pamphlets and articles, the most prominent being The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops , and his principal scientific offering, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution . He also contributed to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition .

Reviews

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely skip the intro which is virtually unreadable and, in my view, quite pointless. Obviously, reading old beardy white dudes from the 1800s isn't everyone's cup of tea. Personally, if I had the time, I would make social media accounts for them so that I could entertain myself with 19th century flame wars and make it so others don't need to read 500 pages of this stuff. There are some real gems in here though. Depressing how little has changed in 200 years. But very interesting to understand how anarchist philosophy arose with scientific discovery and Kropotkin's scientific understanding of the way cells, organs, planets, stars.... everything individual and whole at the same time is meshed with his understanding of society. I think Kropotkin would have enjoyed Emergent Strategy.

[Zach Boyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compared to other communist, Kropotkin, seems rational and calm headed. Very good author, even if I disagree on his communist points.

[Benjamin Uke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by one of Russias earliest communist thinkers, Kropotkin expresses a worldview similar to Marx. Anarchism is a crisis philosophy, that gets adopted during stressful times to meet what feel like the practical demands of life. In this philosophers' eyes, all the world's societies area conflict between the local tight-knit community that settles its own disputes and an outside autocratic force that seeks to establish its authority over people.

Kropotkin was a man of his time and place, the time being pre-WWI, and the place being Czarist Russia, where the corrupt imperial officials where known for terrorizing the local peasant populace. (European anarchists, the eastern-European ones especially, and their general blue-collar focus has always come off a bit jarring. Where in Europe, those who become anarchists are usually doing so in the name of labor. In contrast anarchist communes in the US are often composed of artists and political activists, they tend to more approachable. Maybe that's just my two-bits).

Back to the matter at hand, this is a philosophical tract justifying anarchism by claiming it is applying scientific justification to it. Additionally, Kropotkin attacks the ideology of the day: that people need a strong state to keep them from turning into murderous monsters ('peace through power', you can see it touted by political figures every-time elections roll around). If you didn't know about the time and place, one might even call certain parts of it borderline libertarian.

Is it interesting? Yes, for me at least.
Useful, and true? Noooooooo.

[Rafael Almada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't let the name fool you, the modern science here is modern by the XIX century standard. Not a big issue in some cases, but a lot of the views that Kropotkin has of science are sadly a product of their time. Other than that, this is for a large part a sort of historical contextualization on the development of science and philosophy during the XVIII and XIX centuries, and I can't really attest to their accuracy. Kropotkin does attempt to make parallels into the development of anarchist theory, which I thought was interesting. My biggest criticism of the book is that it falls into a form of scientific realism or even scientism to some extent, again definitely a product of its time. Kropotkin definitely matured his view in later works.

[Panashe M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enlightened me on the history of Anarchism and it was interesting to see some of the very things he criticized still prevelant in society. What a difference a century makes, right?

[A. M. C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me lo compré en la Mostra del Llibre Anarquista de València porque por aquel entonces tenía fe en la ciencia y el progreso. Craso error. Especialmente teniendo en cuenta que la ciencia está en manos de los cuatro lunáticos de siempre.

La introducción, como recomienda la reseña más votada, me la salté porque era un galimatías.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bukunya sih oke, tapi banyak typo dan lupa kasih spasi.

[Aliza Izet Hidayat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice

[Panji · Rating 4 out of 5]

Setengah awal punya perasaan bercampur terhadap buku ini, namun setengah kedua kerasa keren banget.

Ilmu Pengetahuan Modern & Anarkisme menjelaskan berbagai hal dalam buku yang terbilang mungil dan singkat. Antara lain tentang dasar teori anarkisme yaitu "keyakinan" bahwa manusia menemukan idealnya sendiri ketika diberi kebebasan dan tidak diaturatur oleh negara. Di sisi lain, di buku ini kita juga paham bahwa pendapat ideologi kekirian itu anti agama juga bukan hal yang tidak ada dasarnya. Atau kalau beberapa teman kiri yang saya temui di socmed melihat bahwa semata-mata hanya orang yang beragama yang anti kiri, kenyataan bahwa hal yang sebaliknya juga terjadi, juga sulit dibantah sehingga rasanya kedua hal agak sulit untuk bertemu apalagi melihat bahwa kekirian ada berbagai macam modelnya.

Lainnya, ada satu poin dalam buku ini yang bikin tertarik untuk sedikit lebih mendalami ekonomi. Intinya, bukunya recommended. Edisi bahasa Indonesia yang saya baca pun juga bagus dan jelas terjemahannya, ditambah ada biografi Kropotkin sendiri yang bikin makin tertarik dengan yang bersangkutan.

[Matvey xd · Rating 3 out of 5]

even worse than conquest of bread tbh