Reason and reification: a study on Max Weber in History and Class Consciousness, by Georg Lukacs

Author(s)

Mariana Oliveira do Nascimento Teixeira

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2010-03-24

Examining board members

Marcos Nobre; Luiz Sergio Repa; Josué Pereira da Silva

• Advisor: Marcos Nobre

Abstract

History and Class Consciousness, a book published by Georg Lukacs in 1923, was the subject of intense debates throughout the twentieth century because of the originality with which the Hungarian philosopher dealt with a hot topic in Marxist theory: the issue of consciousness. One of the controversial aspects of Lukács' approach to this problem is the combination of Marx's theory with elements of different methodological frameworks. This study aims to assay a case of this kind of combination: the appropriation made by Lukacs of elements present in the work of Max Weber. We focus more precisely on the way Lukács articulates the Weberian thematic of the rationalization of the world in the developing of the concept of reification, which is the central concept of History and Class Consciousness. We seek to clarify the nature of this relationship in order to answer the following questions: s the work of Lukacs an "eclectic" theoretical framework in which different conceptual traditions (those of Marx and Weber) are juxtaposed in a fortuitous or contingent way? From what point of view Lukacs combines these theoretical orientations? To answer these questions, we analyze the approaches and the detachments between the focused concepts, identifying the aspects of Weber's work on rationalization which are present in the lukacsian concept of reification, and what aspects were discarded by Lukacs. The conclusion reached here is that Lukacs appropriates the Weberian theme of rationalization from a specific point of view - his reading of Marx's theory as a theory that some of view of totality. Lukacs grants this Weberian theme thereby a new status and creates his own and original theoretical structure, in which rationalization enables the generalization of fetishism and alienation for the different areas of cultural life. (AU)