A Study of the Significance of Lukács’ Totality Dialectics-A Discussion of the Influence to the Frankfurt School’s Negative Dialectics Thinking

Lukács believes that it is necessary to understand Marxist philosophy from a dialectical perspective. However, due to the profound influence of Hegel’s philosophy, he failed to fundamentally understand the ontological principles of human existence in the reality of Marxist dialectics. Lukács’ dialectics focuses on one dimension of methodology. Benefiting from Hegel philosophy, Lukács elevated the banner of dialectics to grasp the universality and truth of Marxist philosophy in a realistic manner. His theory of reification plays a positive role in deepening the understanding of abstract labor, helping to expose the irrationality of capitalist civilization, and became a powerful tool for Western Marxism to critique society. The Frankfurt School's negative dialectics has a dual dimension: on one hand, at the ontological level, it deconstructs totality with non-identity; on the other hand, at the epistemological level, it criticizes capitalist civilization from a non-identical perspective. From the debate between the “identity” and “non-identity” of total dialectics and negative dialectics, it can be seen that the development and ontological limitations of Western Marxist dialectics.