Abstract
History and class consciousness is considered, consensually, as one of the main foundations of Western Marxism. Similarly, its contribution to the genesis of critical theory cannot be despised. The present article aims at pointing out how some of the decisive concepts of the theoretical structure of the Frankfurt School were developed in 1923 by Georg Lukács. It emphasizes specially the concepts of reification and rationalism. Following a trail opened up by Karl Marx, History and class consciousness considers reification the central phenomenon of capitalist society. Rationalism, for its turn, is exposed through two articulated dimensions: the sphere of thought – specially in science and philosophy –, and in the domain of material life, such as economic rationality.
Georg Lukács; History and Class Consciousness; Critical theory; Rationalism; Reification