The Critical Thought of Georg Lukács

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.