The Rationalism of Georg Lukács
Political Philosophy and Public Purpose Series Editor: Michael Thompson This series offers books that seek to explore new perspectives in social and political criticism. Seeing contemporary academic political theory and philosophy as largely dominated by hyperacademic and overly-technical debates, the books in this series seek to connect the politically engaged traditions of philosophical thought with contemporary social and political life. The idea of philosophy emphasized here is not as an aloof enterprise, but rather a publically-oriented activity that emphasizes rational reflection as well as informed praxis. Titles include: János Kelemen THE RATIONALISM OF GEORG LUKÁCS
The Rationalism of Georg Lukács János Kelemen University ELTE Budapest, Hungary
the rationalism of georg lukács Copyright János Kelemen 2014 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-37281-9 All rights reserved. First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN: 978 1 137 37025 9 PDF ISBN: 978-1-349-47633-6 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. First edition: 2014 www.palgrave.com/pivot
To my daughter Ágnes
Contents Preface Acknowledgments viii ix Part I To Supervise the Existence of Reason 1 Introduction: Language, Science, and Reason 2 2 Labor and Language: Lukács s Ideas on Language 17 3 Lukács s Conception of Science 45 3.1 Philosophy of science and its critique in History and Class Consciousness 46 3.2 The problem of science in The Specificity of the Aesthetic 58 4 Lukács s Rationalism: In Defence of The Destruction of Reason 70 Part II Problems of Literary History and Aesthetics 5 Art s Struggle for Freedom: Lukács, the Literary Historian 85 6 Lukács and Fülep: Two Hungarian Critics of Benedetto Croce 107 vi
Contents vii 7 Lukács and the Art of Film: On a Chapter of his The Specificity of the Aesthetic 116 Bibliography 132 Index 140
Preface The chapters in this book are based on my earlier studies of Georg Lukács, which have been published at various times and in various places since 1987. I have expanded and rewritten these essays, frequently altering the manner and process of reasoning whilst remaining faithful to the original message. The issues I have tried to treat in them were more or less neglected at the time of their appearance. And this is still true. In spite of the extensive reception of Lukács s oeuvre and its influence on the thinking of several generations in the past, we still have certain areas of his thought which are left undiscussed. For example, relatively little is known and appreciated, his conception of language and of scientific knowledge, or his early works in literary and theatre criticism. I think, therefore, that the essays included in the volume, and revised in the light of recent developments, may lend themselves even now to fill such lacunae. And I hope they also show that Lukács, the champion of reason, still has much to say to us. viii
Acknowledgments The chapters Lukács s Ideas on Language (Chapter 2), Philosophy of Science and Its Critique in Georg Lukács s History and Class Conscousness (Section 3.1), The Problem of Science in The Specificity of the Aesthetic (Section 3.2), and Art s Struggle for Freedom: Lukács, the Literary Historian (Chapter 5) were originally published in the following volumes: Ferenc Kiefer (ed.), Hungarian Linguistics. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1982; Judith Marcus, Zoltán Tar (eds), George Lukács: Theory, Culture. Nerw Brunwick; Oxford: Transaction Publishers, 1989; Ernest Joós (ed.), George Lukács and His World. New York: Peter Lang Verlag, 1987; Michael Thompson (ed.), Georg Lukács Reconsidered: Critical Essays in Politics, Philosophy and Aesthetics. London; New York: Continuum (Bloomsbury Publishing Plc). I am indebted to the publishers Benjamin Publishing Company, Transaction Publishers, Peter Lang Verlag, and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for their kind permission to republish them. The chapter Lukács and Fülep: Two Hungarian Critics of Benedetto Croce (Chapter 6) appeared in the journal Il Veltro Rivista della civiltà italiana [Roma, 1 2 Anno XXXVII, Gennaio Aprile 1993]. ix
x Acknowledgments The chapter Lukács Rationalism: In Defence of The Destruction of Reason (Chapter 4), which in certain sense contains the main argument of the book, was published (with the title In Defence of The Destruction of Reason) in LOGOS [7:(1) Paper kelemen.htm. (2008)]. I am indebted to the editors of these journals, Virginia Cappelletti and Michael J. Thompson, for granting me the permissions to republish them here. The chapter Lukács and the Art of Film, co-authored by Judit Bárdos, was written for the following volume: Jeff Bernard, János Kelemen (1990), Zeichen, Denken, Praxis Österreichisch, Ungarische Dokumente zur Semiotik und Philosophie (Wien: Institut für Sozio Semiotische Studien). My particular thanks are due to Judit Bárdos, who kindly agreed to include our common article into this volume. I am also grateful to Ágnes Kelemen, Andrew Gane, József Nagy and Szabolcs Pogonyi whose indispensable help was essential in checking and editing the final version of the text.