In The Wager of Lucien Goldmann, Mitchell Cohen provides the first full-length study of this major figure of postwar French intellectual life and champion of socialist humanism. While many Parisian leftists staunchly upheld Marxism's'scientificity'in the 1950s and 1960s, Lucien Goldmann insisted that Marxism was by then in severe crisis and had to reinvent itself radically if it were to survive. He rejected the traditional Marxist view of the proletariat and contested the structuralist and antihumanist theorizing that infected French left-wing circles in the tumultuous 1960s.Highly regarded by thinkers as diverse as Jean Piaget and Alasdair MacIntyre, Goldmann is shown here as a socialist who, unlike many others of his time, refused to portray his aspirations for humanity's future as an inexorable unfolding of history's laws. He saw these aspirations instead as a wager akin to Pascal's in the existence of God. “Risk,” Goldmann wrote in his classic study of Pascal and Racine, The Hidden God, “possibility of failure, hope of success, and the synthesis of the three in a faith which is a wager are the essential constituent elements of the human condition.” In The Wager of Lucien Goldmann, Cohen retrieves Goldmann's achievement—his “genetic structuralist” method, his sociology of literature, his libertarian socialist politics.Originally published in 1994.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

motw/The Wager of Lucien Goldmann - Mitchell Cohen.pdf

The Wager of Lucien Goldmann (Princeton Legacy Library (1896))

Cohen, Mitchell(Author)

Princeton University, Department of Art & Archaeology

Princeton, N.J, Chichester, England, 1994

United States, United States of America

Text is Free of Markings, PT, 1994

Princeton, N.J, New Jersey, 1994

Princeton Legacy Library, 1994

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Includes bibliographical references and index.

In The Wager of Lucien Goldmann, Mitchell Cohen provides the first full-length study of this major figure of postwar French intellectual life and champion of socialist humanism. While many Parisian leftists staunchly upheld Marxism's "scientificity" in the 1950s and 1960s, Lucien Goldmann insisted that Marxism was by then in severe crisis and had to reinvent itself radically if it were to survive. He rejected the traditional Marxist view of the proletariat and contested the structuralist and antihumanist theorizing that infected French left-wing circles in the tumultuous 1960s.
Highly regarded by thinkers as diverse as Jean Piaget and Alasdair MacIntyre, Goldmann is shown here as a socialist who, unlike many others of his time, refused to portray his aspirations for humanitys future as an inexorable unfolding of historys laws. He saw these aspirations instead as a wager akin to Pascals in the existence of God. Risk, Goldmann wrote in his classic study of Pascal and Racine, The Hidden God, possibility of failure, hope of success, and the synthesis of the three in a faith which is a wager are the essential constituent elements of the human condition. In The Wager of Lucien Goldmann, Cohen retrieves Goldmanns achievementhis genetic structuralist method, his sociology of literature, his libertarian socialist politics.
Originally published in 1994.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In The Wager of Lucien Goldmann, Mitchell Cohen provides the first full-length study of this major figure of postwar French intellectual life and champion of socialist humanism. While many Parisian leftists staunchly upheld Marxism's "scientificity" in the 1950s and 1960s, Lucien Goldmann insisted that Marxism was by then in severe crisis and had to reinvent itself radically if it were to survive.
He rejected the traditional Marxist view of the proletariat and contested the structuralist and antihumanist theorizing that infected French left-wing circles in the tumultuous 1960s. In fact, the popularity of such trends in the Left Bank was one reason why Goldmann's own name and work were eclipsed - this despite the acclaim of thinkers as diverse as Jean Piaget and Alasdair MacIntyre, who called him "the finest and most intelligent Marxist of the age."
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As Cohen shows in this brilliant reconstruction of Goldmann's life and thought, he was a socialist who, unlike many others of his time, refused to portray his aspirations for humanity's future as an inexorable unfolding of history's laws, but saw them rather as a wager akin to Pascal's in the existence of God. "Risk," Goldmann wrote in his classic study of Pascal and Racine, The Hidden God, "possibility of failure, hope of success, and the synthesis of the three in a faith which is a wager are the essential constituent elements of the human condition." In The Wager of Lucien Goldmann, Cohen retrieves Goldmann's achievement - his "genetic structuralist" method, his sociology of literature, his libertarian socialist politics.

The description for this book, The Wager of Lucien Goldmann: Tragedy, Dialectics, and a Hidden God, will be forthcoming.
**
From Library Journal
Goldmann (1913-70) was a major French Socialist writer and thinker of the postwar period. Though nominally an adherent of Marxism, he was critical of many of its views, and he wrote extensively on the boundaries between literature and sociology. Cohen's book is partly biographical (Part 1 focuses on Goldmann's life and intellectual development), partly analytical (Part 2 delineates his philosophical background; Part 3, his own thought). What emerges is a portrait of a brilliant mind at work, grappling with the problems of human existence and our place in history. Though Goldmann has been criticized at times for obscurity and for his dependence on Marxist terminology, his contribution to 20th-century thought is evident. A welcome addition to any collection containing Goldmann's works or emphasizing Western European intellectual history.
Terry Skeats, Bishop's Univ., Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"Without question one of the most stimulating works in intellectual history and theory to appear in the last two decades.... In examining the origins of Goldmann's ideas, the theorist's preoccupations ... and the enduring significance of his work, Cohen demonstrates a rare, broad-ranging mastery of theory and an ability, like that of Goldmann himself, to uncover the essential historical and social message located within the works of an individual author." --*Choice *

Contents 7
Acknowledgments 9
A Note on Titles, Abbreviations, and Language in the Text 13
Introduction Eppur si muove? 17
Part One GENESIS 27
1 A Youth in Romania 29
2 Homeless 54
Part Two THE PHILOSOPHICAL BACKGROUND 77
3 A Short History of Method 79
4 Lukács, Marxism, and Method 106
Part Three FAITHFUL HERESY, TRAGIC DIALECTICIAN 129
5 The Dialectics of Lucien Goldmann 131
6 From a Hidden God to the Human Condition 168
7 Existentialism, Marxism, Structuralism 215
8 The Hidden Class: Goldmann’s Unwritten Politics 264
9 Between Yes and No 297
Abbreviations Used in the Notes 305
Notes 307
Select Bibliography 345
Index 357

A detailed study of a major figure of post-war French intellectual life, who was a champion of socialist humanism. The text explores Goldmann's major achievements: his genetic structuralist method, his sociology of literature and his libertarian socialist politics.

Mitchell Cohen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [331]-342) And Index.

2025-10-27