“Past continuous”: Philosophy in Hungary before and after the political turn

Abstract

Ten years have elapsed since the radical political turn in East Europe. Time enough to acquire a historical perspective from which to assess the changes that have taken place in Hungarian philosophy following the political changes. Those looking from the outside frequently take it as a matter of course that just as the political collapse was sudden and unex pected, the liberation of philosophy happened at one stroke too. There is no denying the fact that the institutional system was altered in a relatively short period: philosophy departments gained the right to decide about their curricula; subsidization of favored themes was replaced by a competition system, philosophers who had been removed for political reasons were rehabilitated, etc. However important these provisions were, they did not by them selves bring about substantive changes. Profound transformations in philosophy cannot happen overnight, and the fact that they have definitely taken place by the end of this decade shows that they must have been underway for some time. L?szl? Sz?kely in his paper presents a particular reconstruction of this long underground process. Based on his personal memories, the whole story is shown through the lenses of the 'Luk?cs Circle' in Szeged. Pictured from this perspective, George Luk?cs' work appears as the main, if not the only, alternative to so-called 'Bolshevik-type Marxism'. However, what makes history so fascinating is that one and the same period of time can, even should be, seen from different angles. Living in Budapest and attending the university there, the editors of this issue witnessed an intellectual transformation process signifi cantly different from that experienced by L?szl? Sz?kely. We do not mean to deny Luk?cs' impact on Hungarian philosophy (and broader spiritual life). It is to be admitted that, in some respects,