Critique of Dialectical Reason: Difference between revisions

 

[[Leszek Kołakowski]] argues that the ''Critique of Dialectical Reason'' represents an abandonment of Sartre's original existentialism and that it absurdly depicts Marxism as "invincible". Kołakowski nevertheless considers the book an interesting attempt to find room for creativity and spontaneity within Marxism, noting that Sartre rejects the dialectic of nature and [[historical determinism]] while preserving the social significance of human behavior. Kołakowski criticizes Sartre for failing to explain how Communism could restore freedom. In his view, Sartre gives such a generalized account of revolutionary organization that he ignores the real difficulties of groups engaging in common action without infringing the freedom of their individual members. Kołakowski criticizes Sartre for introducing many superfluous neologisms, writing that aside from these he does not provide a genuinely new interpretation of Marxism; he sees Sartre's view of the historical character of perception and knowledge and its rejection of the dialectic of nature as stemming from the work of [[György Lukács]]. In his view, neither Sartre's view that freedom must be safeguarded in revolutionary organization nor his view that there will be perfect freedom when Communism has abolished shortages is new in a Marxist context, and Sartre fails to explain how either could have been brought about.<ref name="Kołakowski">{{cite book |author=Kołakowski, Leszek |title=Main Currents of Marxism |publisher=W. W. Norton |location=New York |year=2005 |pages=1171–1172 |isbn=978-0-393-32943-8 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}</ref>

 

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