Research On Lukacs’s Materialization Theory

As a well-known contemporary Marxist theorist, Lukacs has beenadhering to his ideas, and his philosophical theory focusing on materialization receivesthe most attention, which is the theme of his book titled “History and ClassConsciousness”. As Lukacs’s materialization theory was put forward, great impactsand numerous controversies were aroused in the international fields of Marxist theories.As regards the research on materialization, Lukacs considered that the essence ofmaterialization consisted in that products of labor controlled and dominated people asthings different from people to make them enslaved by materials, while materializationphenomena would become more universal and profound in the20thcentury. In fact,Lukacs criticized the capitalist society in his discussions of materialization theory whichhas much in common with Marx’s alienated labor theory. Based on overall dialectics,Lukacs systematically discussed materialization theory with dialectics of historicalmaterialism, whose transformational critical thinking impose significant far-reachingimpacts on subsequent Western Marxism.This paper is divided into four chapters to analyze Lukacs’s materializationtheory. Chapter1is the origin of Lukacs’s materialization theory, where background,theoretical origins and formation process of the theory are analyzed. Besides, basicconditions and causes of the formation of the theory are explored. Chapter2is aboutimplications and characteristics of Lukacs’s materialization theory. In this chapter,essence, construction method and theoretical characteristics of the materializationtheory are summarized to acquire the construction method for this theory and evolutionof its logic thinking. In Chapter3, Lukacs’s materialization theory is compared withMarx’s theory of alienation, so as to attempt to distinguish their similarities anddifferences to objectively analyze limitations of the materialization theory. In Chapter4,the value of Lukacs’s materialization theory is discussed to analyze its historical status and contributions. In combination with the way of thinking of the theory and actualsituation of the modern society, an attempt is made to approach practical problemsencountered during the development of contemporary society in China from theperspective of “materialization theory”.Marxist philosophy is both a methodology and an outlook. To study materializationtheory, research ideas and value orientations of Lukacs’s materialization theory areanalyzed based on origin of Western Marxist philosophy, thus obtaining the subtleties ofLukacs’s ideas. Lukacs’s materialization theory is compared with Marx’s theory ofalienation in detail from the perspective of concept, logical evolution and methodology,etc, which is helpful for objectively evaluating historical contributions of thematerialization theory. Lukacs’s materialization theory is summed up, in hope that adeeper understanding on implications of Marxist theories may be acquired whileknowing about Lukacs’s theories. By introducing his theories as guiding ideology,practical solutions to problems about harmonious coexistence of China’s socialdevelopment with human are provided by integrating theories with practices.