The Philosophy Of Praxis

The Philosophy Of Praxis
Author :
Publisher : Verso Books
Total Pages : 273
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781781681725
ISBN-13 : 1781681724
Rating : 4/5 (25 Downloads)

Synopsis The Philosophy Of Praxis by : Andrew Feenberg

The early Marx called for the “realization of philosophy” through revolution. Revolution thus became a critical concept for Marxism, a view elaborated in the later praxis perspectives of Lukács and the Frankfurt School. These thinkers argue that fundamental philosophical problems are, in reality, social problems abstractly conceived. Originally published as Lukács, Marx and the Sources of Critical Theory, The Philosophy of Praxis traces the evolution of this argument in the writings of Marx, Lukács, Adorno and Marcuse. This reinterpretation of the philosophy of praxis shows its continuing relevance to contemporary discussions in Marxist political theory, continental philosophy and science and technology studies.

Confronting Reification

Confronting Reification
Author :
Publisher : BRILL
Total Pages : 338
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9789004430082
ISBN-13 : 9004430083
Rating : 4/5 (82 Downloads)

Synopsis Confronting Reification by :

In Confronting Reification, an international team of scholars examines the work of the Hungarian philosopher, Georg Lukács, and the relevance of his concept of reification.

The Devil in History

The Devil in History
Author :
Publisher : University of California Press
Total Pages : 334
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780520282209
ISBN-13 : 0520282205
Rating : 4/5 (09 Downloads)

Synopsis The Devil in History by : Vladimir Tismaneanu

The Devil in History is a provocative analysis of the relationship between communism and fascism. Reflecting the author’s personal experiences within communist totalitarianism, this is a book about political passions, radicalism, utopian ideals, and their catastrophic consequences in the twentieth century’s experiments in social engineering. Vladimir Tismaneanu brilliantly compares communism and fascism as competing, sometimes overlapping, and occasionally strikingly similar systems of political totalitarianism. He examines the inherent ideological appeal of these radical, revolutionary political movements, the visions of salvation and revolution they pursued, the value and types of charisma of leaders within these political movements, the place of violence within these systems, and their legacies in contemporary politics. The author discusses thinkers who have shaped contemporary understanding of totalitarian movements—people such as Hannah Arendt, Raymond Aron, Isaiah Berlin, Albert Camus, François Furet, Tony Judt, Ian Kershaw, Leszek Kolakowski, Richard Pipes, and Robert C. Tucker. As much a theoretical analysis of the practical philosophies of Marxism-Leninism and Fascism as it is a political biography of particular figures, this book deals with the incarnation of diabolically nihilistic principles of human subjugation and conditioning in the name of presumably pure and purifying goals. Ultimately, the author claims that no ideological commitment, no matter how absorbing, should ever prevail over the sanctity of human life. He comes to the conclusion that no party, movement, or leader holds the right to dictate to the followers to renounce their critical faculties and to embrace a pseudo-miraculous, a mystically self-centered, delusional vision of mandatory happiness.

History and Class Consciousness

History and Class Consciousness
Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
Total Pages : 412
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0262620200
ISBN-13 : 9780262620208
Rating : 4/5 (00 Downloads)

Synopsis History and Class Consciousness by : Georg Lukacs

This is the first time one of the most important of Lukács' early theoretical writings, published in Germany in 1923, has been made available in English. The book consists of a series of essays treating, among other topics, the definition of orthodox Marxism, the question of legality and illegality, Rosa Luxemburg as a Marxist, the changing function of Historic Marxism, class consciousness, and the substantiation and consciousness of the Proletariat. Writing in 1968, on the occasion of the appearance of his collected works, Lukács evaluated the influence of this book as follows: "For the historical effect of History and Class Consciousness and also for the actuality of the present time one problem is of decisive importance: alienation, which is here treated for the first time since Marx as the central question of a revolutionary critique of capitalism, and whose historical as well as methodological origins are deeply rooted in Hegelian dialectic. It goes without saying that the problem was omnipresent. A few years after History and Class Consciousness was published, it was moved into the focus of philosophical discussion by Heidegger in his Being and Time, a place which it maintains to this day largely as a result of the position occupied by Sartre and his followers. The philologic question raised by L. Goldmann, who considered Heidegger's work partly as a polemic reply to my (admittedly unnamed) work, need not be discussed here. It suffices today to say that the problem was in the air, particularly if we analyze its background in detail in order to clarify its effect, the mixture of Marxist and Existentialist thought processes, which prevailed especially in France immediately after the Second World War. In this connection priorities, influences, and so on are not particularly significant. What is important is that the alienation of man was recognized and appreciated as the central problem of the time in which we live, by bourgeois as well as proletarian, by politically rightist and leftist thinkers. Thus, History and Class Consciousness exerted a profound effect in the circles of the youthful intelligentsia."

Georg Lukàcs' Marxism

Georg Lukàcs' Marxism
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 305
Release :
ISBN-10 : LCCN:65000898
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (98 Downloads)

Synopsis Georg Lukàcs' Marxism by : Victor Zitta

Georg Lukács’s Philosophy of Praxis

Georg Lukács’s Philosophy of Praxis
Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages : 267
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781474267472
ISBN-13 : 1474267475
Rating : 4/5 (72 Downloads)

Synopsis Georg Lukács’s Philosophy of Praxis by : Konstantinos Kavoulakos

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.

Critical Theory: A Very Short Introduction

Critical Theory: A Very Short Introduction
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 161
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780190692698
ISBN-13 : 0190692693
Rating : 4/5 (98 Downloads)

Synopsis Critical Theory: A Very Short Introduction by : Stephen Eric Bronner

Critical theory emerged in the 1920s from the work of the Frankfurt School, the circle of German-Jewish academics who sought to diagnose -- and, if at all possible, cure -- the ills of society, particularly fascism and capitalism. In this book, Stephen Eric Bronner provides sketches of leading representatives of the critical tradition (such as George Lukács and Ernst Bloch, Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse and Jurgen Habermas) as well as many of its seminal texts and empirical investigations. This Very Short Introduction sheds light on the cluster of concepts and themes that set critical theory apart from its more traditional philosophical competitors. Bronner explains and discusses concepts such as method and agency, alienation and reification, the culture industry and repressive tolerance, non-identity and utopia. He argues for the introduction of new categories and perspectives for illuminating the obstacles to progressive change and focusing upon hidden transformative possibilities. In this newly updated second edition, Bronner targets new academic interests, broadens his argument, and adapts it to a global society amid the resurgence of right-wing politics and neo-fascist movements.

Georg Lukács and the Possibility of Critical Social Ontology

Georg Lukács and the Possibility of Critical Social Ontology
Author :
Publisher : BRILL
Total Pages : 469
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9789004415522
ISBN-13 : 9004415521
Rating : 4/5 (22 Downloads)

Synopsis Georg Lukács and the Possibility of Critical Social Ontology by : Michael J. Thompson

Georg Lukács was one of the most important intellectuals and philosophers of the 20th century. His last great work was an systematic social ontology that was an attempt to ground an ethical and critical form of Marxism. This work has only now begun to attract the interest of critical theorists and philosophers intent on reconstructing a critical theory of society as well as a more sophisticated framework for Marxian philosophy. This collection of essays explores the concept of critical social ontology as it was outlined by Georg Lukács and the ways that his ideas can help us construct a more grounded and socially relevant form of social critique. This work will of special interest to social, moral and political philosophers as well as those who study critical theory, social theory and Marxism. It is also of interest to those working within the area of social ontology. Contributors include: Mario Duayer, Andreas Giesbert, Christoph Henning, Antonino Infranca, Reha Kadakal, Endre Kiss, Michael Morris, Michalis Skomvoulis, Matthew J. Smetona, Titus Stahl, Thomas Telios, Michael J. Thompson, Murillo van der Laan, Miguel Vedda, Claudius Vellay.

A Defence of History and Class Consciousness

A Defence of History and Class Consciousness
Author :
Publisher : Verso
Total Pages : 196
Release :
ISBN-10 : 1859843700
ISBN-13 : 9781859843703
Rating : 4/5 (00 Downloads)

Synopsis A Defence of History and Class Consciousness by : Georg Lukacs

This work is commonly held to be the foundational text for Western Marxism. As Stalinism took over in Russia, Lukacs was subjected to attacks for deviation. In the 1920s he wrote this response.