On the New Adventures of the Dialectic

Abstract

Abstract Though qualitatively different, Sartre's Critique of Dialectical Reason, Lukács' Ontology, Adorno's Negative Dialectics, and Kosik's Dialectics of the Concrete are equally important attempts to formulate the new adventures of the dialectic. In terms of their scope, Lukács’ and Sartre's works are most similar. Both attempt to reconstitute a comprehensive philosophical system. Kosik's and Adorno's works are rather collections of closely related essays devoted to the formulation of problems. This difference turns up in matters of style, also. The slow-moving sentences of the first two authors contrast sharply with Adorno's and Kosik's more insightful, pointed and “quotable” statements. But there is a striking similarity between Lukács' and Kosik's works, when viewed from the perspective of the antinomy of “naivete” and “reflexivity.”