Immediacy and Experience in Lukács' Theory of Reification

Metodo: International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy 9 (2):89-119 (2021)
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Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between consciousness and social existence in Georg Lukács’ early Marxist works through a consideration of his concept of reification. Understanding reification as the process underlying capitalist society’s immediate form of objectivity, I designate dereification as the cultivation of a mediated form of consciousness. In order to better understand the experiential aspects of this cultivation, I supplement my reading of Lukács’ theory of reification with attention to Walter Benjamin’s treatment of experience in capitalist society. I argue that Benjamin’s distinction between experience as the shock of isolated events [Erlebnis] and experience as a long-term practice [Erfahrung] helpfully illuminates Lukács’ conception of dereification, allowing us to see the latter as a long process of cultivation. This account ultimately leads to a consideration of the formal role played by the party—as the facilitator of the working class’s self-education—in Lukács’ philosophy of social praxis.

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Iaan Reynolds
Utah Valley University

Citations of this work

The Critique of Social Reason in the Popper-Adorno Debate.Iaan Reynolds - 2023 - History of the Human Sciences 36 (3-4):260-282.

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References found in this work

Phenomenology of Spirit.G. W. F. Hegel & A. V. Miller - 1807 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 10 (4):268-271.
Reification: A New Look at an Old Idea.Axel Honneth & Martin Jay - 2009 - Political Theory 37 (2):310-313.
Marxism and philosophy.Karl Korsch - 1970 - New York,: M[onthly] R[eview Press.

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