Paper presentation at Historical Materialism Istanbul Conference 2026.
Abstract:
Throughout the 1960s, Georg Lukács set himself the objective of writing an ethics from a Marxist perspective—a project that remained unfinished at his death in 1971. The preparatory work for this ethics, which soon developed into an independent and monumental study, The Ontology of Social Being, contains several references to the projected ethical theory. Moreover, in various published and unpublished writings from the 1960s, Lukács offers indications of the conceptual framework of his Marxist ethics. However, the philosopher’s deteriorating health and the extensive editorial work related to The Ontology of Social Being prevented him from realizing his ethical project.
This paper aims to interpret Lukács’s unfinished ethical project through the lens of Douglas Moggach’s conceptualization of post-Kantian perfectionism. According to Moggach, Marx advances a perfectionist ethical theory insofar as he emphasizes the fulfillment of the intrinsic capacities of human beings. This theory is post-Kantian in that it centers on rational self-determination or autonomy, distinguishing it from pre-Kantian forms of paternalism, while also being characterized by a labor-centered and historical orientation.
I will argue that Lukács’s later attempts to construct an ethics based on the dialectics of causality and teleology, his engagement with Aristotle and Stoicism, his critique of Kantian ethics, and his critical appropriation of Hegelian philosophy align closely with what Moggach describes as “Marx’s historical perfectionism.” I will also examine the extent to which Lukács contributes to Marxian ethical theory through his appropriation of a non-Marxist philosopher: the ontological framework of Nicolai Hartmann.