"The actuality of the revolution: this is the core fo Lenin's thought and his decisive link with Marx." This essay on Lenin, which appeared in 1924, was intended to head off the massive criticism leveled at Lukacs History and Class Consciousness by Communist Party leadership. It was a period in which Lukacs was decisively influenced by Lenin and by Rosa Luxemburg, and his intellectual development proceeded concretely toward a political (Marxist-Leninist) interpretation of history and of literature.In a postscript (1967) Lukacs remains essentially unchanged in his view of Lenin as a practitioner whose theoretical superiority lay in his ability to assess the sociohistorical uniqueness of any given situation that required action. Looking back, Lukacs regards the book as a document of the mid-twenties―of how a number of Marxists of the period saw Lenin's personality and mission and his place in world events. Ideas in the book were determined by the concepts of the period, its prejudices, illusions, and extravagances. Nevertheless, the book established certain spiritual verities in perceiving Lenin as the active-practical sage who had a skillfull tactical grasp of realpolitik which was neither empirical nor dogmatic but the culmination of a theoretical attitude. "His life was one of permanent action, of continuous struggle in a world in which he was profoundly convinced that there was no situation without a solution, for himself or his opponents. The leitmotiv of his life was accordingly: always be armed ready for action―for correct action." Lukacs further notes that an essential dimension of Lenin's activism was unceasingly self-education and constant openness to the lessons of experience. Lukacs also emphasizes a number of points in the book that remain methodologically valid, including criticisms of Lenin's behavior which were implicit and accurate critiques of Stalin's later development and the increasing bureaucratization and mechanization of the party.

Lenin: A Study on the Unity of His Thought (The MIT Press)

Politics & Social Sciences

György Lukács

Philosophy

The MIT Press

History and class consciousness: Studies in Marxist dialects

Social Sciences

Merlin Press

Lukac's long suppressed, but most famous work of Marxist theory. "It is one of the indispensable works of the twentieth century" - Raymond Williams. Influential on the '68 uprisings. New reprint.

History & Class Consciousness

History

Historical Study & Educational Resources

The Merlin Press

Essays on Thomas Mann

Arts & Photography

Stanley Mitchell (Translator)

History & Criticism

Soul and Form

This collection of literary essays, which first appeared in Hungarian in 1910 when the author was only twenty-five, and in German the following year, was Georg LukÃ¡cs' first published book. Many of the themes that dominate his later work are already to be found in these youthful writingsâ€”the idea of totality, the nature of form, the role of essayist and critic, the significance of gesture.

Literature & Fiction

Merlin Press Limited

History and Class Consciousness

Verso

History and Class Consciousness: Studies in Marxist Dialectics is a 1923 book by the Hungarian philosopher Georg Lukács, in which the author re-emphasizes the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's influence on Karl Marx, analyses the concept of "class consciousness", and attempts a philosophical justification of Bolshevism.\nLukács attempts a philosophical justification of Bolshevism, stressing the distinction between actual class consciousness and "ascribed" class consciousness, the attitudes the proletariat would have if they were aware of all of the facts. Marx's idea of class consciousness is seen as a thought which directly intervenes into social being. Claiming to return to Marx's methodology, Lukács re-emphasizes the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's influence on the philosopher Karl Marx, emphasizes dialectics over materialism, makes concepts such as alienation and reification central to his theory, and argues for the primacy of the concept of totality. Lukács depicts Marx as an eschatological thinker. He develops a version of Hegelian Marxism that contrasted with the emerging Soviet interpretations of Marxism based on the work of the philosopher Georgi Plekhanov and the dialectics of nature inspired by the philosopher Friedrich Engels.\nWhile reading, it is important to note that later in his life Lukács believed he misunderstood Marx's conception of alienation and conflated it with Hegel's conception. It is important to understand, too, that Lukács believed orthodox marxism "refers exclusively to method." As such, this book should not be read to keep one foot into the ivory tower but to understand this as another addition to a long historical conversation had on the philosophical implications of class consciousness, not so much a radical history of it as the title may be interpreted as.

History and Class Consciousness: Studies in Marxist Dialectics (Radical Reprint)

Pattern Books

Die Theorie des Romans. Ein geschichtsphilosophischer Versuch über die Formen der grossen Epik. (Livre en allemand)

Unknown

The Theory of the Novel A Historico-Philosophical Essay on the Forms of Great Epic Literature

The Theory of the Novel: A Historico-Philosophical Essay on the Forms of Great Epic Literature

Poetry

Aakar Books

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Books by György Lukács