BOOKS
151
humanity to an "obj ectively" hi gher stage of development, the evil of
the moment can be perceived as universa l good . T o accept the Jacobin
Terro r, the Napo leoni c di cta torship, the sacrifi ce of individua ls and
the debasement o f man , one has onl y to perceive them as hi storical
necessities. Was no t the Jacobin tyrann y necessa ry to pro tect society
from attempts to restore feuda li sm ? Did it not establish the modern
state? Was no t the Napoleoni c di cta torship necessary to protect the
state from the backwa rdn ess of the masses?
One of the few rese rvation s one might have about Mr. Living–
stone's translati on is tha t hi s decision to transla te
Entausserung
by
"externa li za ti on ," in stead of by the accepted "ali enation, " might
obscure a point crucia l to the continuity of Lukacs' argument. To
make th e transition from subj ective to o bj ective idealism, the individ–
ual had to rea lize tha t th e " pos itive," a li en wo rld was the product of
pas t human a{:tivity and tha t thi s a li ena ted rea lity was the founda tion
of hi s existence as an indi vidua l and the onl y possible fi eld for his
acti vity. T hi s en abl ed con sciou sness to try and overcome its conflict
with the "alread y es ta blished, a li en wo rld" by seeking to expl ain it in
the context of the "who le hi stori cal development of humanity."
If
the
individua l had found tha t he could "con struct hi s own rea lity on his
own , by virtue of hi s own activity," o r if humanity had
m erely
externali zed itself, there would have been no p robl em and no tragic
confli ct.
Mo reover, it is precisely beca use the confli ct rema ins unresolved,
because rea lity rema in s a li en , tha t Lukacs had to reassert Marxi sm at
the end of
The Y oung H ege l.
Whil e con sciousness consol ed itself in its
own constructi o n s, whil e it wa ited on hi story, whose providential
progress "good o f evil sh all p roduce / And evil turn to good," exploita–
tiOl~ ,
ali ena ti on and oppression rema ined present realiti es.
If
reality
had been ali ena ted by human acti vity, it could be changed by human
acti vity. T wo decades after the Russ ian Revo luti on , man 's real ali ena–
ti on in the rea l wo rld could onl y be overcome by changing reality.
As
H istory and C lass Consciousn ess
ma rks Lukacs' conversion to
Marxi sm, so
The Y ou ng H ege l
ma rks hi s pa inful transition to the
more sober reaffirma ti on o f Ma rxi sm in
Ex istent ialisme au Marxisme.
Mr. Li vingstone's extremely readabl e transla ti on of
The Young H egel
has given the En gli sh- spea king wo rld no t onl y the document of an era,
but also a human document-the record of a
crise de conscience.
EVE TAVOR
