Abstract 

　　In the article, we reflect on why the philosophy of Edward Dembowski (1822–46), who has been described in historical literature as a Marxist avant la lettre, has theoretically unrealised potential. In order to achieve this goal, we will undertake a contextualist reading of Dembowski's published work, identifying in it a multiplicity of potentialities rather than the prospect of a one-sided development. Thus, we argue that there were at least four seeds that could have flourished in his intellectual biography: (1) Hegelian, (2) a critic of liberalism, (3) a utopian, and (4) a standard-bearer of the Polish revolutionary movement(s). We conclude by arguing that his specific socio-political position in the borderlands of East Central Europe prevented him from realising any of these potentials or developing a framework to unite them into a coherent theoretical position. 

　　Keywords: Creativity; Eclecticism; Polish History; Revolution; The Spring of Nations; Dialectic 

　　From: Critique 2024 52 (1) 

　　Editor: Wang Yi