Essays on the Materialistic Conception of History

Antonio Labriola (1843-1904) was an Italian Marxist theoretician. Although an academic philosopher and never an active member of any Marxist political party, his thought exerted influence on many political theorists in Italy during the early 20th century. In 1861, he entered the University of Naples. Upon graduating, he remained in Naples and became a schoolteacher. During this period, he pursued an interest in philosophy, history and ethnography. The early 1870s saw Labriola take up journalism and his writings from this time express liberal and anticlerical views. Although he had been critical of liberalism since 1873, his move towards Marxism was gradual. Amongst his works are Essays on the Materialistic Conception of History (1896) and Socialism and Philosophy (1897).