Georg Lukacs’s Philosophy of Praxis : From Neo-Kantianism to Marxism

Georg Lukács’ early Marxist philosophy of the 1920s laid the foundations of Critical Theory.

However the evaluation of Lukács’ philosophical contribution has been largely determined by one-sided readings of eminent theorists like Adorno, Habermas, Honneth or even Lukács himself.

This book offers a new reconstruction of Lukács’ early Marxist work, capable of restoring its dialectical complexity by highlighting its roots in his neo-Kantian, 'pre-Marxist' period. In his pre-Marxist work Lukács sought to articulate a critique of formalism from the standpoint of a dubious mystical ethics of revolutionary praxis.

Consequently, Lukács discovered a more coherent and realistic answer to his philosophical dilemmas in Marxism.

At the same time, he retained his neo-Kantian reservations about idealist dialectics.

In his reading of historical materialism he combined non-idealist, non-systematic historical dialectics with an emphasis on conscious, collective, transformative praxis.

Reformulated in this way Lukács’ classical argument plays a central role within a radical Critical Theory.