ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews one of the gnoseo-sociological reasons for the distinctive character of Hungarian Marxism. Since the various forms of collective egocentricity — sociocentricity, ethnocentricity, Eurocentricity — are factors of ideological distortion, the centrality of a given socio-historical context can help produce nonideological, demystifying awareness. Two important factors converge with the preceding ones as instruments of decentration: the paradoxical situation of Hungarian nationalism and the religious dualism. Like the ambiguous nature of Hungarian nationalism, religious dualism promoted in certain milieus relativistic forms of sociological thinking. The destinies of the Hungarian psychoanalytic school offer a good example of the cultural dualism. Even in the most reactionary moments of Hungarian history, Budapest managed to preserve some freedom of expression — the preliminary condition of an intellectual life which remained brilliant even in the stuffy political climate under Horthy. The Hungarian people are in the center of Europe, isolated from the surrounding peoples and languages.
