Young Abramowski and the Woman Question. Part I: the History of Women: Reconstruction

Abstract

The subject of the series of articles is Edward Abramowski’s early thought as expressed in his collected works written up to 1896. It focuses on the following questions: Did Abramowski notice the asymmetry in the positions of men and women? Did he consider it necessary to maintain the gender status quo or to liberate women?
The first article reconstructs, in the spirit of literal exegesis, what Abramowski wrote about the situation of women throughout history. The second article considers why Abramowski took this and not another position, and its interpretation is based on an analysis of the external determinants of Abramowski’s thought. The third article explains the meaning and function of Abramowski’s view in his time and distinguishes its supra-historical content.
The following arguments support the legitimacy of separating reconstruction from interpretation. Reconstruction (Part I) provides a basis for verifying theses and reasons that appear in interpretations (Parts II and III). None of the interpretations ends (Parts II and III) with the same knowledge that initiates it (Part I). Besides, the results of the two interpretations (Parts II and III) do not coincide. It is also important that the issues discussed in the articles are controversial. Abramowski is a leading fi gure in the history of the Polish socialist movement, Polish philosophy, sociology and psychology. He polarises the world of science but outside it, some circles also perceive him as a positive fi gure, while others as a negative one. The same applies to attitudes to the exploitation and liberation of women. Additionally, ‘young’ Abramowski is surprising, while his story about inter-sex relations is not predictable or obvious.