Abstract
Georg Lukács belongs among the most authentic, original and creative Marxist thinkers in the twentieth century. To be authentic in the Marxist tradition means to be praxis-oriented; and engaged in changing the world, which, to be sure, involves a rich network of theoretical mediations — from discussion of the most abstract methodological and anthropological grounds to elaborating most specific projects of radical restructuring individual societies and communities. However, for thought to be praxis-oriented means that it must, in the first place, be critical. Social structures, political institutions, patterns of social behavior, the world of culture will not be regarded as a given object of detached contemplation, of mere impartial description, of value-free analysis and explanation, of mere understanding. The entire social world, including that part of nature that has been transformed into our immediate environment, will be seen as a human product, therefore as a phase of history, as an incomplete work that both fulfills and frustrates human aspirations, in which, alongside of forms of life that are indispensable for any meaningful human future, there are also glaring limitations that cripple the best human efforts, that cause continuing human suffering, and which therefore wait to be more or less urgently overcome.
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Notes
Istvan Mészáros, Lukács’ Concept of Dialectics, London, Merlin Press, 1972, p. 125–6.
A modern drama fejlodesenek tortenete (History of the Development of Modern Drama), 2 vols., Budapest, Franklin 1911.
Lukács, Die Seele und die Formen, Berlin, Egon Fleischel & Co., 1911. (A lelek es a formak, Budapest, Franklin, 1910).
Die Theorie des Romans. Ein geschichtsphilosophischer Versuch über die Formen der grossen Epik. Berlin, Paul Cassirer, 1920.
Die Seele und die Formen, London, Merlin Press, 1971. p. 189.
Op.cit. p. 54.
I. Mészáros, p. 50.
History and Class Consciousness, London, The Merlin Press, 1971 (Geschichte und Klassenbewusstsein, Berlin, Malik-Verlag, 1923).
Op.cit. ‘Reification and the Consciousness of the Proletariat’, pp. 83–223.
‘N. Bucharin: Theorie des historischen Materialismus’, Archiv für die Geschichte des Sozialismus und der Arbeiterbewegung, 1925.
‘Blum: Declaration’ (Oj Marcius), 1929.
Der junge Hegel. Über die Beziehungen von Dialektik und Ökonomie, Zürich & Wien, Europa Verlag, 1948.
Existentialisme ou marxisme?, Paris, Nagel, 1948.
Die Zerstörung der Vernunft, Berlin, Aufbau-Verlag, 1954.
Essays über Realismus, Berlin, Aufbau-Verlag, 1948; Deutsche Realisten der 19 Jahrhunderts, Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag, 1948; Balzac und der französische Realismus, Berlin, Aufbau-Verlag, 1952; Der russische Realismus in der Weltliteratur, Berlin, Aufbau-Verlag, 1952; Probleme des Realismus, Berlin, Aufbau-Verlag, 1955.
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Gespräche mit Georg Lukács, Hans Heinz Holz, Leo Kofier, Wolfgang Abendroth, ed. by Theo Pinkus, Reinback: Rowohlt, 1967; ‘An Interview with G. Lukács: On his life and work’, New Left Review, London, 1971.
‘What is Orthodox Marxism?’, History and Class Consciousness, p. 23.
The Ontology of Social Being, 3. Labour, London, Merlin Press, 1980, pp. 85–88.
‘Postscriptum 1957 zu Mein Weg zu Marx’ (Georg Lukács, Schriften zur Ideologie und Politik, Neuwied und Berlin, Luchterhand, 1967, p. 657).
Ibid. p. 720–721.
‘Preface to the new edition’, History and Class Consciousness, p. XXVIII.
Ibid. p. XXX.
Ibid. p. XXXVII.
Ibid. p. XXXVIII.
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© 1988 D. Reidel Publishing Company
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Marković, M. (1988). The Critical Thought of Georg Lukács. In: Rockmore, T. (eds) Lukács Today. Sovietica, vol 51. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2897-8_2
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