Autonomy in the Balance

In my study, I examine the relationship between the aesthetic thinking of György Lukács and the modern autonomy of art. I claim that artistic autonomy is a broader and more fundamental problem than the related issue of artists’ creative freedom. That is why I am not researching Lukács’s cultural policy activities, but rather the appearance of the issue of autonomy itself in the philosopher’s thinking. In my study, I argue that Lukács’s philosophy of art (from his very early writings on) is not only in contact with the problem of autonomy due to the condemnation of certain groups of works based on heteronomous aspects, but also because his aesthetic framework theory itself is fundamentally born as a critique of modern artistic autonomy. The evaluation criteria themselves include a critique of autonomy. Lukács’s aesthetic rationalism and classicism, his radical rejection of the art of signifiers, and his demand for metaphysical depth can all be traced back to the way he tries to deal with the controversial attempt of modern art: the social utilization of art for its own purposes. I conclude my study by proving that Lukács tries to carry out his entire critique of autonomous art from the point of view of aesthetic autonomy, so in the end he creates an equally contradictory narrative.