First published in 1964, this classic text uses the concept of 'world visions',
first elaborated in the early work of Georg Lukacs, as a tool whereby the simila
rities between Pascal's Pensees and Kant's critical philosophy are contrasted wi
th the rationalism of Descartes and the empiricism of Hume. For Lucien Goldmann,
a leading exponent of the most fruitful method of applying Marxist ideas to lit
erary and philosophical problems, the 'tragic vision' marked an important phase
in the development of European thought from rationalism and empiricism to the di
alectical philosophy of Hegel, Marx and Lukacs. Here he offers a general approac
h to the problems of philosophy, of literary criticism, and of the relationship
between thought and action in human society.
