Seeing whole: The old Lukacs's philosophy of art-history (Georg Lukacs)

In this thesis I uncover the hidden structure of Georg Lukács's (1885–1971) later Aesthetics (Die Eigenart des Ästhetischen, 1963). I argue that the interest of this work lies in its treatment of a single problem, the problem of the objectivity of the aesthetic experience.; On a proper reading of Lukács's work three different solutions emerge to this problem. These three solutions, as well as Lukács's formulation of the question can all be shown to be based on visuality. I argue that both Lukács's early and later aesthetics was directly inspired by the visual arts in practical and theoretical ways. Far from being obsolete, Lukács's aesthetic theory raises important theoretical questions about the relationship of theory and criticism in art-history, and about the nature of aesthetic explanation directly linking his thought to mainstream efforts in the philosophy of art-history. The larger theoretical interest of the question of objectivity as construed by Lukács lies in opening new ways for exploring the problem whether the relationship between objectivity and visuality is a necessary one within aesthetic theory. I also show that the question of objectivity as formulated in Die Eigenart des Ästhetischen is a reformulation of the central question of Lukács's early aesthetics, the so called Heidelberg Aesthetics (1912–1914). Understanding the link between Lukács's later work and his early aesthetics has important implications for interpreting Lukács's oeuvre as a whole. Based on this connection I argue that the real continuity of Lukács's thought lies in his concern with strictly aesthetic problems that are not reducable to his interest in literary criticism, cultural theory or Marxism. Lukács's Marxism both in its inspiration and development is informed and conditioned by aesthetics.