Lukács in the 1920s and the 2020s: The practice and praxis of intellectual history. (April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Westerman, Richard
• Is Part Of: Thesis eleven. Volume 157:Number 1(2020)
• Page Start: 24
• Page End: 40
• Publication Date: 2020-04
• Subjects: Cambridge School -- Intellectual History -- Lukács -- Marxism -- Neo-Kantianism -- Reification; Social sciences -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; 301
• DOI: 10.1177/0725513620911798
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0725-5136

Abstract

This article examines different intellectual-historical approaches to the work of Georg Lukács, arguing that a methodology similar to that of the Cambridge School is, curiously, that most in line with Lukács's own approach. I begin with some general methodological comments on intellectual history, before showing that a proper appreciation of the discourses within which Lukács was situated is essential to understanding both the specifics and the overall project of History and Class Consciousness . Finally, I argue that situating thinkers like Lukács properly within their time does not reduce them to museum pieces; rather, by seeking to capture the alterity of the past without reducing it to familiarity, we may de-reify our own world-views.