Georg Lukács Reconsidered : Critical Essays in Politics, Philosophy and Aesthetics

Georg Lukács stands as a towering figure in the areas of critical theory, literary criticism, aesthetics, ethical theory and the philosophy of Marxism and German Idealism. Yet, despite his influence throughout the twentieth century, his contributions to the humanities and theoretical social sciences are marked by neglect. What has been lost is a crucial thinker in the tradition of critical theory, but also, by extension, a crucial set of ideas that can be used to shed new light on the major problems of contemporary society. This book reconsiders Lukács’ intellectual contributions in the light of recent intellectual developments in political theory, aesthetics, ethical theory, and social and cultural theory. An international team of contributors contend that Lukács’ ideas and theoretical contributions have much to offer the theoretical paucity of the present. Ultimately the book reintegrates Lukács as a central thinker, not only in the tradition of critical theory, but also as a major theorist and critic of modernity, of capitalism, and of new trends in political theory, cultural criticism and legal theory. > Contents 6 Contributors 8 Introduction: Recovering Lukács’ Relevance for the Present 12 Part I: Lukács’ Philosophical Legacy 22 Chapter 1 Lukács and the Dialectic: Contributions to a Theory of Practice 24 Chapter 2 Lukács and the Recovery of Marx after Marxism 44 Chapter 3 Georg Lukács’ Destruction of Reason 61 Chapter 4 Revolutionary Dialectics against “Tailism”: Lukács’ Answer to the Criticisms of History and Class Consciousness 76 Part II: Extending Aesthetic Theory 84 Chapter 5 The Theory of the Novel and the Concept of Realism in Lukács and Adorno 86 Chapter 6 Time—The Corrupting Principle: A Short Apology for Georg Lukács’ Poetics of the Novel 110 Chapter 7 Art’s Struggle for Freedom: Lukács, the Literary Historian 121 Chapter 8 The Modern Meaning of Georg Lukács’ Reconstruction of Walter Scott’s Novels of Premodern Political Ethics 139 Part III: Perspectives on Critical Theory 160 Chapter 9 Back to History? Reinterpreting Lukács’ Early Marxist Work in Light of the Antinomies of Contemporary Critical Theory 162 Chapter 10 Reification and its Critics 183 Chapter 11 Returning to Lukács: Honneth’s Critical Reconstruction of Lukács’ Concepts of Reification and Praxis 206 Chapter 12 Living Form and Living Criticism 222 Chapter 13 Ontology and Totality: Reconstructing Lukács’ Concept of Critical Theory 240 Index 262 A 262 B 262 C 262 D 262 E 262 F 262 G 262 H 262 I 263 K 263 L 263 M 263 N 263 O 263 P 263 R 263 S 263 T 263 W 264 Georg Lukacs stands as a towering figure in the areas of critical theory, literary criticism, aesthetics, ethical theory and the philosophy of Marxism and German Idealism. This book explores contemporary insights into the work of Georg Lukacs in political theory, aesthetics, ethics and social and cultural theory. Edited By Michael J. Thompson. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.