Radikalismus als soziale Pathologie: Plessner und Lukács über krankhafte Dynamiken in Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft – mit einem Ausblick auf den libertären Autoritarismus

Abstract

Radicalism as Social Pathology: Plessner and Lukács on Dynamics of Community and Society, with an Outlook on Libertarian Authoritarianism. This article analyses social radicalism as a form of social pathology by bringing Helmuth Plessner’s critique of community into dialogue with Georg Lukács’ theory of reification. It argues that modern societies are shaped by a structural tension between community and society, each producing distinct pathological dynamics: radicalized community leads to exclusion and the suppression of individuality, while modern society generates alienation and objectification. Plessner’s defence of distance and plurality is contrasted with Lukács’ diagnosis of capitalist reification, revealing complementary pathologies of modernity. The article further shows how these tensions persist in contemporary forms of libertarian authoritarianism, understood as a radicalized notion of individual freedom emerging from frustrated autonomy. In this figure, the pathologies of community and society converge, pointing to the enduring relevance of Plessner’s diagnosis for contemporary crises of social integration.