Written in 1970 by a prominent Marxist philosopher and student of Georg Lukács, this book argues that alienation is the central idea in all of Karl Marx's work. To distinguish Marx's original concept from its use by other writers over the years, the topic is approached in three different ways. First, the origin of the idea of alienation is discussed along with an analysis of the way Marx structured it into a theory. Then alienation is explored beyond its political aspect, (...) as it has been used in economics, ontology, moral philosophy, and aesthetics. The contemporary usefulness of the term is covered in the last section of the book, which concludes that current debates about the individual in society and the role of education can be fruitfully discussed in terms of alienation. (shrink)

István Mészáros; IX—Metaphor and Simile: Preliminary Notes to a Discussion of Norms and Values, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 67, Issue 1, 1 J.

István Mészáros; IX—Metaphor and Simile: Preliminary Notes to a Discussion of Norms and Values, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 67, Issue 1, 1 J.

"Not only profound in its analysis, but also so passionately inspired by sympathy for the downtrodden and their struggle for liberation..." --Daniel Singer, The Nation "This is an important book, heavy in size and tone. It belongs in every serious library." --Choice --This text refers to an alternate edition.

In Marxism, the material base of society is responsible for a number of structural restraints on the appearance, functioning, and evolution of the superstructure. At the same time, the superstructure, too, and especially ideology, exercises considerable influence on developments in the base, and in certain conditions can prove decisive in transforming the relations that constitute the base. While history is radically open ended and, therefore, nothing is absolutely certain, knowledge of such conditions is a necessary first step toward a socialist (...) reordering of society. (shrink)

Three studies examined how members of a national group react to in-group wrongdoings. We expected that perceived in-group moral superiority would lead to unwillingness to repair the aggression. We also expected that internal-focused emotions such as group-based guilt and group-based shame would predict specific, misdeed-related reparative intentions but not general approach motivation toward the victim groups. In Study 1, facing the in-group’s recent aggression, participants who believed that the Hungarians have been more moral throughout their history than members of other (...) nations, used more exonerating cognitions, experienced less in-group critical emotions and showed less willingness to provide reparations for the members of the victim group. Study 2 and Study 3 confirmed most findings of Study 1. Perceived in-group moral superiority directly or indirectly reduced willingness to provide either general or specific reparations, while internally focused in-group critical emotions predicted specific misdeed-related reparative intentions but not general approach motivation. The role of emotional attachment to the in-group is considered. (shrink)

O presente trabalho expõe algumas investigações acerca da mercantilização da educação brasileira e a perda (ao nosso ver) do caráter emancipatório que a educação deve possuir. A proposta atual de captura da educação pelo capital ocasiona o distanciamento das esferas públicas, quando não a sua condescendência, na deterioração de uma proposta formativa contrária aos projetos de conformação, passividade e de hedonismo que orientam a educação especialmente escolar no mundo atual. Para acompanhar essa crítica, nos valemos da economia conceitual aberta por (...) István Mészáros, uma das inúmeras vozes que, na atualidade, construíram críticas contundentes para uma revalorização dos processos formativos, mais humanos e empáticos aos outros. Os mecanismos de contrainternalização na lógica formativa deve produzir uma educação efetivamente aberta às diferenças humanas, que reposicionem os valores cidadãos para que dialoguem, decisivamente, a fim de uma emancipação das inteligências e instauração de equidades ou igualdades, acenando para a cunhagem de sujeitos livres e que se entendam como atores ético-políticos. Assim, essa proposta de pesquisa intenta argumentar junto à recortes de realidades que nos interpelam a uma decisiva análise e crítica frontal quanto a necessidade de se reposicionar a formação humana no século XXI. Palavras-chave: Emancipação; Liberdade; Contrainternalização. Education as a real practice of freedom from István Mészáros Abstract: The present work exposes some investigations about the commodification of Brazilian education and the loss (in our view) of the emancipatory character that education must have. The current proposal to capture education by capital causes the distancing of the public spheres, if not their condescension, in the deterioration of a formative proposal contrary to the projects of conformation, passivity and hedonism that guide education, especially school in the current world. To accompany this criticism, we make use of the conceptual economy opened by István Mészáros, one of the many voices that, today, have built strong criticisms for a revaluation of formative processes, more humane and empathetic to others. The mechanisms of counter-internalization in the formative logic must produce an education that is effectively open to human differences, which reposition citizens' values ​​so that they dialogue decisively, in order to emancipate the intelligences and establish equities or equality, waving to the coinage of free and independent subjects. understand themselves as ethical-political actors. Thus, this research proposal intends to argue with the cuts of realities that challenge us to a decisive analysis and frontal criticism regarding the need to reposition human formation in the 21st century. Keywords: Emancipation; Freedom; Counterinternalization. L'éducation comme véritable pratique de la liberté de István Mészáros Résumé: Le présent travail expose quelques investigations sur la marchandisation de l'éducation brésilienne et la perte (selon nous) du caractère émancipateur que l'éducation doit avoir. La proposition actuelle de capter l'éducation par le capital provoque l'éloignement des sphères publiques, sinon leur condescendance, dans la détérioration d'une proposition formative contraire aux projets de conformation, de passivité et d'hédonisme qui guident l'éducation, notamment scolaire dans le monde actuel. Pour accompagner cette critique, nous nous appuyons sur l'économie conceptuelle ouverte par István Mészáros, l'une des nombreuses voix qui, aujourd'hui, ont construit des critiques fortes pour une revalorisation des processus formatifs, plus humains et empathiques envers les autres. Les mécanismes de contre-intériorisation dans la logique formative doivent produire une éducation effectivement ouverte aux différences humaines, qui repositionne les valeurs des citoyens pour qu'ils dialoguent de manière décisive, afin d'émanciper les intelligences et d'établir des équités ou des égalités, saluant les monnaie de sujets libres et indépendants se comprennent comme des acteurs éthico-politiques. Ainsi, cette proposition de recherche entend argumenter avec les coupures des réalités qui nous interpellent à une analyse décisive et une critique frontale quant à la nécessité de repositionner la formation humaine au 21e siècle. Mots-clés: Émancipation; Liberté; Contre-intériorisation. Data de registro: 03/03/2022 Data de aceite: 17/05/2022. (shrink)

O presente trabalho expõe de que forma a educação pode ser utilizada como ferramenta emancipatória para a superação do capital, tendo como base teórica o pensamento de István Mészáros. O principal objetivo dos que lutam contra a sociedade mercantil, a alienação e a intolerância, é a emancipação humana. Objetivo este alcançado quando o ser humano finalmente compreende, seja teoricamente ou na prática, todas as características de funcionamento de sua sociedade e de seu gênero, de tal forma que a luz científica (...) não seja algo que o cegue, mas que o faça ver onde seus olhos não alcançam. Tendo em vista o objetivo de transformar qualitativamente as condições objetivas da reprodução social, István Mészáros entende que há a necessidade de reconquistar o controle do capital enquanto estrutura, e não enquanto instância personificada do sistema capitalista e também transformar progressivamente as consciências. Considera-se então que para trabalhar as consciências, de acordo com o autor, fica evidente a relação entre educação e trabalho: uma vez que, cabe à educação elaborar tantas estratégias apropriadas, elaboradas e adequadas para transformar as condições objetivas de reprodução, como para a automudança consciente dos indivíduos chamados a concretizar a criação de uma ordem social metabólica radicalmente diferente, esta seria o socialismo. (shrink)

Resumo: Neste trabalho discute-se a crítica de István Mészáros à Lógica de Hegel. Aponta-se como o marxismo realiza a crítica aos pontos de partida e de chegada da Ciência da lógica, quais sejam, o pensamento sem pressupostos e o círculo auto-constituído da Lógica. Com isso, indica-se a diferença entre os modos hegeliano e marxista de conceber o enraizamento do conhecimento no processo de vida real. Discute-se ainda como István Mészáros realizou uma dura crítica à hipostasiação do método dialético em G. (...) Lukács, crítica esta que se apóia na rejeição de um método que deixa de prestar contas ao ser e que, por isso, acaba lidando com a identidade entre conhecimento e ser como uma mera postulação abstrata.: This paper discusses István Mészáros critique of Hegel’s Logic. We point out how Marxism criticizes the presuppositionless thinkingand self-constituted circle of reasoning of the Science of logic. We thereby show the difference between the Hegelian and Marxist ways of conceiving the rooting of knowledge in the process of real life. We also discuss how Mészáros made a scathing critique of the hypostatization of dialectical method in Lukács work. This critique is based on the rejection of a method that fails to be accountable to the real world and therefore ends up treating the identity of knowledge and being as a mere abstract postulation. (shrink)

Na obra o autor consegue reforçar a ideia de que o desenvolvimento do pensamento de Lukács ocorre a partir dos acontecimentos históricos-sociais em que vive e é por isso que no início, quando jovem, seus escritos são caracterizados como idealistas e, mais tarde, com seu amadurecimento intelectual, se tornam mais materialistas. Inclusive foi esse mesmo processo histórico-social que acarretou em penalizações a sua dialética. José Paulo Netto escreve o texto de Apresentação do livro e diz o seguinte: “à concepção de (...) dialética e de totalidade de Lukács sempre faltaram [...] suportes históricos (sócio-materiais) para que a categoria de mediação fosse plenamente saturada de concreção, o que vulnerabilizou [...] a própria categoria de totalidade concreta” (p. 21). (shrink)

Resenha do livro de István Mészáros, A Educação para Além do Capital.

_A Critical Sense_ brings together in a single volume the leading figures of contemporary radical theory. Moving freely between philosophy, politics and cultural studies, it offers a fascinating overview of the lines of thought of today's intellectual left. Marxism, feminism, psychoanalysis and critical theory, literary studies, deconstruction, pragmatism, postcolonial and queer theory are discussed in a series of interviews from the journal _Radical Philosophy_. Those interviewed are: Judith Butler Cornelius Castoriadis Drucilla Cornell Axel Honneth Istvan Meszaros Edward Said (...) Renata Salecl Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Cornel West Slavoj Zizek For those unfamiliar with the often daunting work of some of today's most important thinkers, _ACritical Sense_ will offer an ideal introduction; for those already acquainted with the writings of the theorists interviewed here, the collection will throw new - and often surprising - light on familiar ground. (shrink)

When the existing order cannot offer a solution, the solution to climate crisis must come from the radical left, and this is precisely why Karl Marx’s idea of ecosocialism is more important than ever. In this context, it is worth revisiting not only the legacy of István Mészáros’s theory of ‘social metabolism’ and that of his successors – who can be categorised as comprising the ‘metabolic rift school’, which includes John Bellamy Foster, Paul Burkett, and Brett Clark –, but also (...) Karl Marx’s own theory of metabolism. In order to highlight the contemporary importance of Marx’s theory of metabolism after its long suppression in the twentieth century, this paper aims at classifying the three different levels of Marx’s concept of ‘metabolic rift’, which also entails clarifying three different levels of ‘metabolic shift’ as the theoretical foundation for updating Marx’s theory of postcapitalism in the age of global ecological crisis. (shrink)

_A Critical Sense_ brings together in a single volume the leading figures of contemporary radical theory. Moving freely between philosophy, politics and cultural studies, it offers a fascinating overview of the lines of thought of today's intellectual left. Marxism, feminism, psychoanalysis and critical theory, literary studies, deconstruction, pragmatism, postcolonial and queer theory are discussed in a series of interviews from the journal _Radical Philosophy_. Those interviewed are: Judith Butler Cornelius Castoriadis Drucilla Cornell Axel Honneth Istvan Meszaros Edward Said (...) Renata Salecl Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Cornel West Slavoj Zizek For those unfamiliar with the often daunting work of some of today's most important thinkers, _ACritical Sense_ will offer an ideal introduction; for those already acquainted with the writings of the theorists interviewed here, the collection will throw new - and often surprising - light on familiar ground. (shrink)

Georg Lukács's recently discovered defense of Geschichte und Klassenbewusstsein, written in 1925 or 1926 in reply to critical attacks by László Rudas and Abram Deborin, is of a piece with that earlier work and his Lenin of 1924. In its emphasis on the pivotal role and absolute authority of the Communist Party as the incarnation of the class consciousness of the proletariat, it is Leninist to the core. For many contemporary Marxist theorists, including the Lukács disciple István Mészáros, such an (...) apotheosis is precisely what is dead in Lukács's thought. (shrink)

Georg Lukács’s recently discovered defense of Geschichte und Klassenbewusstsein, written in 1925 or 1926 in reply to critical attacks by László Rudas and Abram Deborin, is of a piece with that earlier work and his Lenin of 1924. In its emphasis on the pivotal role and absolute authority of the Communist Party as the incarnation of the class consciousness of the proletariat, it is Leninist to the core. For many contemporary Marxist theorists, including the Lukács disciple István Mészáros, such an (...) apotheosis is precisely what is dead in Lukács’s thought. (shrink)

As John Bellamy Foster writes in his foreword to the present book, “István Mészáros is one of the greatest philosophers that the historical materialist tradition has yet produced. His work stands practically alone today in the depth of its analysis of Marx’s theory of alienation, the structural crisis of capital, the demise of Soviet-style post-revolutionary societies, and the necessary conditions of the transition to socialism. His dialectical inquiry into social structure and forms of consciousness—a systematic critique of the prevailing forms (...) of thought—is unequaled in our time.” Mészáros is the author of magisterial works like Beyond Capital and Social Structures of Forms of Consciousness, but his work can seem daunting to those unacquainted with his thought. Here, for the first time, is a concise and accessible overview of Mészáros’s ideas, designed by the author himself and covering the broad scope of his work, from the shortcomings of bourgeois economics to the degeneration of the capital system to the transition to socialism. (shrink)

There are few books in any language which attempt to survey the whole range of Lukács' work. English readers may, therefore, consider themselves fortunate to have available the present volume and, doubly fortunate, to have forthcoming in late 1970 or early 1971 yet another book by one of the present contributors, István Mészáros, titled the Life and Work of Georg Lukács. The work under review is based on a series of lectures in 1968 at the Graduate School of Contemporary European (...) Studies at the University of Reading. The Introduction by Parkinson is largely expository and concentrates on Lukacs' celebrated Geschichte und Klassenbewusstsein. The individual essays which follow are critical examinations of Lukács' views in the fields of philosophy, sociology, and literary criticism. The essays are generally of a high caliber and the differences which the authors express in relation to various aspects of Lukács are themselves testimony to the complexity and depth of his thought. The most comprehensive, and, in many ways, the most interesting approach to Lukács is in the lead-off essay by Mészáros which, in the context of dealing with his concept of the dialectic, seeks to disclose the basic structure of Lukács' thought and to establish its continuity from the young Lukács to the mature Lukács. Mészáros finds from the very beginning not only a revolutionary turn in Lukács' structure of thought, but along with it--or within it--or perhaps even conditioning it--a complex and far-ranging "ought". The "ought-ridden" character of Lukács' thought, Mészáros claims, is both the source of some of his great intellectual achievements and of some of his great failures, particularly when he substitutes ideology and moral postulates for mediated, concrete reality. Those interested in the development of the concept of the dialectic from Hegel to Marx and from Marx to the present will find Mészáros' discussion of Lukács' categories of "totality" and "mediation" informative and thought-provoking. H. A. Hodges examines Lukács' critique of philosophical irrationalism and singles out for special study his comments on the degree to which Dilthey and Mannheim contributed toward this trend. Parkinson, in addition to writing the introduction, has an essay on the nature of Besonderheit, the central category of Lukács' aesthetics. He translates Besonderheit as "speciality" or "the special." Roy Pascal digs into Lukács' concept of totality as developed in the Ästhetik and as applied in his critique of Walter Scott and of Kafka. In addition, there is an essay by David Craig on how, in Lukács' view, history molds literature, and another essay by Stanley Mitchell on Lukács' concept of the "beautiful." All in all, while the book does not represent a definitive or inclusive introduction to the work of Lukács, it does constitute an important landmark in presenting many important dimensions of his thought, as well as some highly critical appraisals of its validity and importance.--H. B. (shrink)

Recenzio Kiraly V. Istvan Death and History c. konyverol.

This paper is an introduction: in particular, to algebras of relations of various ranks, and in general, to the part of algebraic logic algebraizing quantifier logics. The paper has a survey character, too. The most frequently used algebras like cylindric-, relation-, polyadic-, and quasi-polyadic algebras are carefully introduced and intuitively explained for the nonspecialist. Their variants, connections with logic, abstract model theory, and further algebraic logics are also reviewed. Efforts were made to make the review part relatively comprehensive. In some (...) directions we tried to give an overview of the most recent results and research trends, too. (shrink)

Intercultural Pragmatics studies how language systems are used in social encounters between speakers who have different first languages and cultures, yet communicate in a common language. The field first emerged in the early 21st century, joining two seemingly antagonistic approaches to pragmatics research: the cognitive-philosophical approach, which considers intention as an a priori mental state of the speaker, and the sociocultural-interactional approach, which considers it as a post factum construct created by both speaker and hearer though conversation. Istvan Kecskes, (...) an early proponent of intercultural pragmatics, was among the first to propose merging the two to form the socio-cognitive approach now core to the field. In Intercultural Pragmatics, the first book on the subject, Kecskes establishes the foundations of the field, boldly combining the pragmatic view of cooperation with the cognitive view of egocentrism in order to incorporate emerging features of communication. He argues that people cooperate by generating and formulating intention that is relevant to the given actual situational context. At the same time, however, because of their egocentrism they activate the most salient information to their attention in the construction and comprehension of utterances. Within this approach, interlocutors are considered as social beings searching for meaning with individual minds embedded in a socio-cultural collectivity, and intention is a cooperation-directed practice that is governed by relevance which depends on actual situational experience.Intercultural pragmatics is a rapidly-growing field, and the only subfield of pragmatics to incorporate features of intercultural interaction into mainstream pragmatics. This volume offers both a valuable synthesis of current research and a new way to think about pragmatics. (shrink)

Completed in 1983, this work culminates nearly half a century of the late Alfred Tarski's foundational studies in logic, mathematics, and the philosophy of science. Written in collaboration with Steven Givant, the book appeals to a very broad audience, and requires only a familiarity with first-order logic. It is of great interest to logicians and mathematicians interested in the foundations of mathematics, but also to philosophers interested in logic, semantics, algebraic logic, or the methodology of the deductive sciences, and to (...) computer scientists interested in developing very simple computer languages rich enough for mathematical and scientific applications. The authors show that set theory and number theory can be developed within the framework of a new, different, and simple equational formalism, closely related to the formalism of the theory of relation algebras. There are no variables, quantifiers, or sentential connectives. Predicates are constructed from two atomic binary predicates (which denote the relations of identity and set-theoretic membership) by repeated applications of four operators that are analogues of the well-known operations of relative product, conversion, Boolean addition, and complementation. All mathematical statements are expressed as equations between predicates. There are ten logical axiom schemata and just one rule of inference: the one of replacing equals by equals, familiar from high school algebra. Though such a simple formalism may appear limited in its powers of expression and proof, this book proves quite the opposite. The authors show that it provides a framework for the formalization of practically all known systems of set theory, and hence for the development of all classical mathematics. The book contains numerous applications of the main results to diverse areas of foundational research: propositional logic; semantics; first-order logics with finitely many variables; definability and axiomatizability questions in set theory, Peano arithmetic, and real number theory; representation and decision problems in the theory of relation algebras; and decision problems in equational logic. (shrink)

The paper discusses the category of one of the most fundamental expressions of agency, those movements of agents that are actions. There have been three dominant views of action since the 1960s: 1. the Causal Theory of Action, 2. the Tryings/Willings view, and 3. Agent Causation. These views claim that actions are: 1. events of bodily movements which have the right causes; 2. specific types of mental events causing events of bodily movements; 3. instances of the causal relationship between agents (...) and events of bodily movements. Among other arguments, a specific interpretation of the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs has been taken by defenders of the Tryings/Willings views and Agent Causation to support their main claims. The paper argues that these three views mischaracterise actions of bodily movements. It argues for this by highlighting some implausible claims and problems of the three views; by offering an interpretation of the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs that does not lend support to these views; and finally, by providing an alternative view of actions. This view is the Pluralist View according to which agents’ movements are the activations of agents’ abilities to move. (shrink)