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Humanism and Socialism
The relationship between humanism the rational, secular expression of the ideals of the democratic revolution and scientific socialism. Notes, index.
169 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
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About the author
George Novack
47 books22 followersLeftist political activist and Marxist theoretician.
He attended Harvard University, earning a B.A. in 1926, and an M.A. in 1927. He was on a successful track in the publishing business, when the beginning of the Great Depression radicalized him. He joined the Trotskyist Communist League of America in 1933 and was a member of the National Committee of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) from 1940 to 1973.
In 1937-40 Novack served as the secretary of the American Committee for the Defence of Leon Trotsky. This body initiated the celebrated 1937 Dewey Commission that inquired into the charges made against Trotsky in the Moscow show trials, and found the Moscow trials to have been a complete frame-up.
George Novack was not one of the 18 SWP leaders imprisoned in World War II under the Smith Act, but he played a major role in the defense campaign.
Novack produced a number of books on various aspects of Marxism: An Introduction to the Logic of Marxism, America's Revolutionary Heritage, Democracy and Revolution, Empiricism and Its Evolution, Humanism and Socialism, The Origins of Materialism, Polemics in Marxist Philosophy, Revolutionary Dynamics of Women's Liberation, and Understanding History, Marxist Essays.
He attended Harvard University, earning a B.A. in 1926, and an M.A. in 1927. He was on a successful track in the publishing business, when the beginning of the Great Depression radicalized him. He joined the Trotskyist Communist League of America in 1933 and was a member of the National Committee of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) from 1940 to 1973.
In 1937-40 Novack served as the secretary of the American Committee for the Defence of Leon Trotsky. This body initiated the celebrated 1937 Dewey Commission that inquired into the charges made against Trotsky in the Moscow show trials, and found the Moscow trials to have been a complete frame-up.
George Novack was not one of the 18 SWP leaders imprisoned in World War II under the Smith Act, but he played a major role in the defense campaign.
Novack produced a number of books on various aspects of Marxism: An Introduction to the Logic of Marxism, America's Revolutionary Heritage, Democracy and Revolution, Empiricism and Its Evolution, Humanism and Socialism, The Origins of Materialism, Polemics in Marxist Philosophy, Revolutionary Dynamics of Women's Liberation, and Understanding History, Marxist Essays.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 27, 2021
If you are expecting a thorough examination of the philosophy of humanism and its relation to socialism, turn the other way. To me, this reads like a text written for and by trotskyists with the purpose of supplying talking points when engaging with humanist and existentialist thinkers.
Reading a text like this made me realize why people don't like Marxists. It felt like the examples from anthropology and philosophy he selected were cherry picked for his argument. In the section where he describes different types of humanism there are few citations and each section is mostly describing his own philosophy.
There are a few gems here. As someone interested in Marxism and Humanism, it helped clarify my thoughts a bit, but I can't really see me recommending this text to anyone.
Reading a text like this made me realize why people don't like Marxists. It felt like the examples from anthropology and philosophy he selected were cherry picked for his argument. In the section where he describes different types of humanism there are few citations and each section is mostly describing his own philosophy.
There are a few gems here. As someone interested in Marxism and Humanism, it helped clarify my thoughts a bit, but I can't really see me recommending this text to anyone.
July 5, 2012
This was worthwhile to read. Although it is a bit dated given the subsequent fall of the USSR, the analysis and commentary applies in a new sort of way to the world of today. The author both praises the virtues of the Russian Revolution and pre-Stalinist Soviet Union and criticizes the bureaucratic state perversion of socialism and oppression of Stalinism. The author does a good job of putting the Marxist perspective in a historical setting and contrasts the Marxist perspective, which he identifies as humanist, with other forms of humanism, which often miss the mark in providing a real alternative to the dominant capitalist world, but rather seek to reform it only to perpetuate it along with its inevitable negative consequences.
I am certainly not a dogmatic Marxist, but I do advocate for democratic socialism and economic democracy. In any case, my perspective draws much from Marxist critique of capitalism and the socialist alternative to it that it calls for. So I found this book as a useful addition to my developing thoughts about this.
The Chapters are:
1. The Labor Theory of Human Origins
2. The Emergence of Society, Speech, and Thought
3. The Role of Creative Practice
4. Progress: Reality or Illusion?
5. The Road to Freedom
6. Varieties of Humanism
7. Revolutionary Socialist Humanism
8. Socialism and the Meaning of Life
I am certainly not a dogmatic Marxist, but I do advocate for democratic socialism and economic democracy. In any case, my perspective draws much from Marxist critique of capitalism and the socialist alternative to it that it calls for. So I found this book as a useful addition to my developing thoughts about this.
The Chapters are:
1. The Labor Theory of Human Origins
2. The Emergence of Society, Speech, and Thought
3. The Role of Creative Practice
4. Progress: Reality or Illusion?
5. The Road to Freedom
6. Varieties of Humanism
7. Revolutionary Socialist Humanism
8. Socialism and the Meaning of Life
June 29, 2025
Novack explains that Marxism came out of the humanist tradition, which is quite important, as today many "leftists" seem to be centered not on humans, but on "the planet," which they see humans as responsible for destroying. Having started on this road he continues with what is unique about human beings. He discusses Engels' labor theory of human origins, and the emergence of society, speech, and thought.
He discusses whether progress is real or an illusion. And he winds up with socialism and the meaning of life. A good introductory work, with many issues that one can follow up on. Let me here recommend a Novack work that has helped create a new book--Labor, Nature, and the Evolution of Humanity: The Long View of History.
He discusses whether progress is real or an illusion. And he winds up with socialism and the meaning of life. A good introductory work, with many issues that one can follow up on. Let me here recommend a Novack work that has helped create a new book--Labor, Nature, and the Evolution of Humanity: The Long View of History.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews