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 similarities between Pascal s "Pensees" and Kant s critical philosophy are contrasted with 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 literary and philosophical problems, the tragic vision marked an important phase in the development of European thought from rationalism and empiricism to the dialectical philosophy of Hegel, Marx and Lukacs. Here he offers a general approach to the problems of philosophy, of literary criticism, and of the relationship between thought and action in hu-man society."