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====== 8. Synthesis II: The Destruction of Reason - Gyorgy Lukacs ======


Ecology is not, as commonly understood, the study of Nature, but, the study of human being’s relationship with its environment. In other words, ecology and Nature cannot be thought independently from the human beings who depend on it.  Since we cannot completely separate ourselves from our world, there can be no objective science of Nature.  Rather we need to acknowledge and admit that Nature and ecology are social constructs and that any concern we have toward preserving conserving or sustaining Nature can only be accomplished through social engagement.

In the disquiet of climate change, there is a growing tendency to wish to reject modernity and to venerate “Nature” as a realm of truth beyond rationality.  But this is not a choice which is available, even to those who would most like to pursue it. As Donna Haraway so forcefully explores, we are in a “thick present” of technical and physical forces, of reason and that which defies reason, and we must learn how to navigate this experience without adequate knowledge.  

Rosa Luxemburg’s warning that modernity will either progress to socialism or collapse into barbarism, is often repeated today. But what happens when elements of the struggle for socialism are reappropriated for Fascism?  In “the Destruction of Reason”, Lukacs discusses how many of the insights of Marxism, denatured of their revolutionary commitment become weapons for reaction. In the face of the deligitimisation of reason and a romantic return to mysticism and belief, he affirms a critical commitment to reason. 

Applying feminist standpoint theory to Lukacs defence of reason, in this session we will practice some both-and dialectical thinking. We will test an unexpected synthesis in Federici’s movement-based critique as we examine how Nature is reproduced by human beings and vice versa, and how the conditions of the human beings involved determine the conditions we can expect from Nature. 

Preparatory reading for this session :
[[https://monthlyreview.org/2016/10/01/marxism-and-the-dialectics-of-ecology/|Marxism and the Dialectics of Ecology]] 

Main reading : Gyorgy Lukacs :{{ :georg-lukacs-the-destruction-of-reason-2.pdf |destruction of reason}}

extra reading Sandra Harding {{ :rethinking_standpoint_epistemology_what_is_strong_objectivity.pdf |"RETHINKING STANDPOINT EPISTEMOLOGY: WHAT IS "STRONG OBJECTIVITY?""}}

Lukacs on Hegel's Aesthetic : [[https://www.marxists.org/archive/lukacs/works/1951/hegels-aesthetics.htm|Hegel's Aesthetics]]
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