The conclusion of this line of thought seems to point towards an insoluble dilemma. But already the 1911 essay “On Poverty of Spirit”—a fusion between an autobiographical reflection on Lukács’ role in the suicide of Irma Seidler and an examination of theoretical issues—points towards a different conclusion: an emphatic rejection of an “ethics of duty”. Lukács argues that a formal, rule-based ethics leads into alienation from life. Even though the submission to “form” that is implicit in adopting a formalist ethics is the basis from which social life becomes possible in the first place, it keeps persons from having “human relationships”. As Lukács writes, “Form […] is like a bridge that separates” (1911b: 44). Lukács contrasts such an ethics with the ideal of “goodness” which represents “real life” rather than the “impure and sterile” life of most people. “Goodness” involves a rejection of rules as well as duties towards others in favor of pure actions that might be sinful, chaotic and futile. The soul of the good person, Lukács claims, “is a pure white slate, upon which fate writes its absurd command” (1911b: 48). This anti-consequentialist and anti-deontological ethics of pure action is finally developed into a conception of “works”. Only by sacrificing themselves for the sake of works, persons (or, as Lukács’ narrator rather claims, men) can empty themselves of the psychological content of everyday life and prepare themselves for the grace of goodness. This final line of thought already points towards a social utopia: by overcoming the alienated world of “mechanical forces” (1911b: 45) through works that transform life, we may recover a genuine community with and a direct knowledge of others wherein “subject and object collapse into each other” (1911b: 46). This vision of a final overcoming of alienation seems to lead out of the theoretical impasse of Lukács’ earlier position, but only at the price of endorsing ethical decisionism and messianism.