Ernst Block and the Utopian Hope of Modernity

Abstract

In the present paper, the influence of Ernst Bloch, one of the most important thinkers of western Marxism, is analysed, particularly because of the revival of his thought lately. The role assigned by the author to utopia as an element that puts modernity into action depending on teleological hope is studied. In addition, the influence of psychoanalysis on Bloch’s thought and his intellectual relations with contemporary philosophers are analysed, along with the critical readings that can be done from the present perspective.