Page - 47 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

thematerialist view of history 47 this rule to all Second International theorists, the case of Otto Bauer being exemplary inthisregard. NotunlikeGramsciandLukács,Bauer stood fora tendency thataspired to creativeinterpretationsofMarxism–yethismethodofreadingthephilosoph- icalcontentofMarx’stheorywasclosertothe‘naturalists’thantotheir‘activist’ opponents.Bauerdedicatedrelatively little roomtothereceptionofMarxism inhisworks; itonly featuredinasporadicandrudimentaryfashionwithinhis literary output.6 To a certaindegree, his lackof philosophical educationwas decisive inthis.Beforewemoveon,weshouldbeclearthatasathinkerBauer wasnotof thesamestatureasMaxAdleror theneo-Kantians.The influential non-Marxistphilosophicalcurrentsofhis timeset the limitsofhisphilosoph- icalhorizon.Therewasanother factorno less crucial toBauer’s idiosyncratic reception ofMarxism.7 Hewasmainly interested in sociological and histor- icaldepictionsofsocialreality,andespeciallythepossibilityofusinghistorical analysis,basedonhistoricaldata, forresearchingtheoriginsanddevelopment of social phenomena; for gaining insight into the laws and internalmechan- ismsof socio-economicprocesses; and forexplaining thestructuralevolution ofsocieties.Thus,Baueronlysporadicallytookinterestinstrictlyphilosophical questions–hissolephilosophicalworkwasDasWeltbilddesKapitalismus(The WorldviewofCapitalism),publishedin1924,whichhewroteasaprisonerofwar inRussiafrom1916–17(itwaspublishedinananniversaryeditioninhonourof KarlKautsky’s 70thbirthday). It is impossible, then, to identifyphilosophical thoughtasanautonomousstrandofresearchinBauer’swork.Whileitappears onthemarginsofhishistoricalandsociologicalworks,itdoesnotformacoher- entoreven loosely connectedwhole.8Nordoes it containameta-theoretical layer. Therewas, however, a distinct turning point in Bauer’s reflections on Marxism. In the first phase, he reflected upon the scientific status ofMarx- ism,interpretationsofphilosophicalmaterialism,dialectics,epistemologyand 6 BauerwroteonMarxismmainlyon theoccasionof anniversaries, and, even then,not very much:his first andmost importantwork in this respect is the study ‘MarxismusundEthik’ (‘MarxismandEthics’, 1905–6). Further relevant texts are the article ‘DieGeschichte eines Buches’(‘HistoryofaBook’),publishedin1908forthe40thanniversaryofCapital, thearticle ‘MarxundDarwin’, published in 1909 for the50thanniversaryofMarx’s preface toCritique ofPoliticalEconomy, andthearticle ‘MarxalsMahnung’ (‘MarxasaWarning’),published in 1923forthe40thanniversaryofMarx’sdeath.AstotheworksofotherMarxisttheorists,only KarlKautsky’sTheEconomicDoctrinesofKarlMarxattractedhis interest– seeAlbers 1985, pp.69–70. 7 Thisquestionwillbediscussedcomprehensively later. 8 Albersalsonotesthisaspect inBauer’swork:seeAlbers1983,pp.98–9.