"Every process which arises from our physical being and is related to it, is an event which lies outside of our volition. Every social process, however, arises from human intentions and human goal setting and occurs within the limits of our volition. Consequently, it is not subject to the concept of natural necessity. … We are here stating no prejudiced opinion, but merely an established fact. Every result of human purposiveness is of indisputable importance for man's social existence, but we should stop regarding social processes as deterministic manifestations of a necessary course of events. Such a view can only lead to the most erroneous conclusions and contribute to a fatal confusion in our understanding of historical events. It is doubtless the task of the historian to trace the inner connection of historical events and to make clear their causes and effects, but he must not forget that these connections are of a sort quite different from those of natural physical events and must therefore have quite a different valuation."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Social activistsImmigrants to the United StatesSocial anarchistsHistorians from GermanyNon-fiction authors from Germany
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Ch. 1 "The Insufficiency of Economic Materialism"
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rudolf_Rocker
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Rudolf Rocker
Rudolf Rocker (25 March 1873 – 19 September 1958) was an anarcho-syndicalist anarchist, writer, historian and prominent social activist. He was the partner of Milly Witkop.
40 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Rudolf Rocker →
Related Quotes
"For two decades the supporters of Bolshevism have been hammering it into the masses that dictatorship is a vital nece…"
"I am an Anarchist not because I believe Anarchism is the final goal, but because there is no such thing as a final goal."
"The deeper we trace the political influences in history, the more are we convinced that the "will to power" has up to…"
"However fully man may recognise cosmic laws he will never be able to change them, because they are not his work. But …"
"No thinking man in this day can fail to recognise that one cannot properly evaluate an historical period without cons…"
"The will to power which always emanates from individuals or from small minorities in society is in fact a most import…"
"The view which sees in every capitalist only a profit machine may very well meet the demands of propaganda, but it is…"
"Because of his social position there are left no limits to the power lust of the modern capitalist. He can interfere …"
"This Caesarean madness stops at no barrier. Without compunction it rides roughshod over those achievements of the pas…"
"For the machine, because of the way it is built, can work only in a given direction, no matter who pulls its levers."