Immediacy and experience in Lukács's theory of reification

Abstract

A BSTRACT . This paper studies the relationship between consciousness and social existence in Georg Lukács’ early Marxist works through a consideration of his concept of reifcation. Understanding reifcation as the process underlying capitalist society’s immediate form of objectivity, I designate dereifcation 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 reifcation 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 dereifcation, 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.