Georg Luk�cs's Philosophy of Praxis: From Neo-Kantianism to Marxism

Georg Lukács' early Marxist philosophy of the 1920s laid the foundations of Critical Theory. However the evaluation of Lukács' philosophical contribution has been largely determined by one-sided readings of eminent theorists like Adorno, Habermas, Honneth or even Lukács himself. This book offers a new reconstruction of Lukács' early Marxist work, capable of restoring its dialectical complexity by highlighting its roots in Lukács' 'pre-Marxist' period.

Transitioning from the Hegelian tradition, he sought to resolve the incompatibilities within his philosophical thought through an individual process, or praxis. Consequently, Lukács discovered a more coherent and realistic answer to his philosophical dilemmas in Marxism. In his reading of historical materialism he combined non-idealist, non-systematic historical dialectics with an emphasis on conscious, collective, transformative praxis. Reformulated in this way Lukács' classical argument plays a central role within a radical Critical Theory.