Publication Details

Abstract

In his article dedicated to the SO1!1 birthday of the academician Ladislav Szántó the author evaluates his lifetime work. In the first part he depicts the interesting life path of Ladislav Szántó, who, formerly a prisoner of war in the World War I, became a revolutionary, a Marxist and a member of the All-Union Communist Party (of Bolshevicks). In the second part the author presents a sketch of a profile of L. Szántó’s ideas. The work of Ladislav Szántó excels in the Marxist high-principled attitudes, in an uncompromising attitude to the deviations from Marxism-Leninism and in a masterful- command of the dialectical method. The author analyzes in a detailed way the important essay of L. Szántó For a Philosophy Connected with Life (1961). The ideas expressed here may be considered as the "philosophical testament“ of Ladislav Szántó. The further part is devoted to a brief evaluation of Szántó’s two important books: The Economy of Two Worlds, and a collection of essays What Do We Need? In the conclusion the author points to the pioneer importance of Ladislav Szántó’s work for the development of Marxist-Leninist thinking in Czechoslovakia. He concludes his paper about the work of Ladislav Szántó by his word: "The October Socialist Revolution has marked my life path once for ever."