Herbert Marcuse

The One Dimensional Man by
Herbert Marcuse
Born in 1898 in Berlin
• Served in World War I with the German army
• He went to the University of Freiburg to pursue his studies
• Marcuse became a member of the Social Democratic Party while he still was a
student
Marcuse received his Ph.D. in Literature in 1922
• He conducted philosophical research in the University from 1922-1932
• Marcuse founded the Institute for Social Research in 1923 (Frankfurt Institut fur
Sozialforschung) Frankfurt School
• Marcuse came to the U.S. in 1934 why?
• Taught at Columbia University and became a citizen in 1940
He was an intelligence analyst for the U.S. Army during WWII
• Returned to teaching in 1951
• Columbia and Harvard (1951-1954)
• Brandeis University (1954-1965)
• UCSD (1965-1976)
• Marcuse died on July 29, 1979, Starnberg , West Germany
Herbert Marcuse
Major Writings
• Eros and Civilization (1955)
• One-Dimensional Man (1964)
• Counterrevolution and Revolt (1972)
• Studies in Critical Philosophy (1972)
Herbert Marcuse
Marcuse Speech at Berlin University
Frankfurt School Included a number of talented theorists
such as T.W. Adorno, Erich Fromm, Walter Benjamin, and
Jurgen Habermas
• Neo-Marxist Theory based on Marxism and Hegelian
philosophy
• Questioned Why class consciousness didnt develop as
predicted by Marx
• Utilized also the insights of psychoanalysis, sociology,
existential philosophy, and other disciplines.
Herbert Marcuse
Critical Theory Approach of the Frankfurt School
• Critical of what?
• Capitalism
• Not solely as a source of economic
exploitation
• But as a source of cultural domination
• Is society doing the best it can?
• On what basis can you criticize?
Herbert Marcuse
One Dimensional Man Written in the 1950s and
1960s
• Published in 1964
• Powerful critique of new modes of
domination and
control
• Is it still relevant today?
• Perhaps even more so
Herbert Marcuse
Technological Rationality Classical liberalism
fostered the ideal of individual rationality over
superstition and irrationality
• Human thought must now be rational, means-
ends, technical, operationalized, etc.
• The political and economic system relies on
and fosters this type of technological
rationality
Herbert Marcuse
Totalitarian Individuals are profoundly integrated
into consumer capitalist thought and behavior
mechanics of conformity
• Necessary for the smooth functioning of this
one-dimensional society
• Critical thought is undermined by the advances
engendered by the development of modern
industry and technological rationality
Herbert Marcuse
TotalitarianMan has freedom in his inner
consciousness but
• Man is integrated into society and thus has the
same standards as society
• Man sees society outside himself and evaluates
it
based on its own standards
• Man becomes alienated from his individuality
• The greater the mass culture, the less
individuality available
Herbert Marcuse
Totalitarian We dont have the freedom to be critical
of this
system because we are so immersed in it
• Values, aspiration, ideals that dont fit are
repressed
• Robs humans of their individuality in order to
make production more efficient
• Decreases the amount of freedom available for
individuals
Herbert Marcuse
FreedomEconomic, Social, and Political freedoms

are
highly touted but are actually subtle instruments
of domination How so?
• We think we are free, but only within the
parameters imposed by technological rationality
for instance
• We have economic choice in the marketplace
• but we cant not engage in economic competition
Herbert Marcuse
Freedom We have political choice in elections

• but only between preordained options
• We have freedom of thought
• but only within the parameters of the mass
culture in which we are indoctrinated
• We have sexual freedom
• but limited to the range of advice offered in
Cosmopolitan
Herbert Marcuse
One-Dimensional
One dimensional man thinks only in what
one dimension?
• The satisfaction of needs through
technological rationality
• Individual critical thought must now be
repressed so it wont interfere with incredible
capitalist successes
Herbert Marcuse
False Needs
For Marcuse, commodities and consumption play a
far greater role in contemporary capitalist
society than that envisaged by Marx
• Perpetuate toil, aggression, misery, injustice by
ensuring we are all concerned with relaxing,
having fun, behaving, and, above all, consuming
in accordance with mass ideals
• Examples?
Herbert Marcuse
Created Needs
Needs are created for us
• Not the needs of earlier generations (food,
shelter, etc.)
• While we are not starving, we are not
necessarily free
• When you have more, you simply have more
(false) needs
• examples?
Herbert Marcuse
Very Rational Can’t distinguish between true
and false needs
• The more rational, productive, and technical.
• The more repressive
• And thus the more unimaginable the ability
to break this repression
Herbert Marcuse
Role of the Media
What is the role of the media?
• Primary means by which people are strategically
motivated
• Marcuse recognized the key role of television
even in 1964
• Consumerism, advertising, mass culture integrate
individuals into and stabilize the capitalist
system mass cool
• Also creates hostility to oppositional thought or
action examples?
Herbert Marcuse
Political Freedom
Democracy based on manipulation
• Rather than address big issues like wealth
generation and distribution
• Construct political needs in incremental amounts
which politicians are in a position to satisfy
examples?
• Attacks on feminism/welfare, WTO, etc.
• Keeps the public servile but remote from the
political process
Herbert Marcuse
Justice
Concerns for justice in modern society have been
eclipsed by our immersion in a cycle of need
creation and satisfaction
• Exchange freedom for increases in living
conditions
• Progress is often fueled by exploitation,
repression, and destruction
• People dont want fairness,
• They want TVs
Herbert Marcuse
Progress
Progress is not just in itself
• To be just, progress must move towards just
ends
• The just ends of progress means moving
towards satisfying the vital needs of everyone
Herbert Marcuse
Commodification of life
The emphasis on technological rationality
encourages us to think about everything in these
terms, even ourselves
• This commodification of life becomes very
Self-Repressive
• Controlled by our need to satisfy false needs
• How do we commodify ourselves and our lives?
Herbert Marcuse
Self-Repressive
Why are you in school?
• What drives your dating habits?
• If you now think of these things solely in
instrumental terms, this will set the tone for
the rest of your life
• Cycle of rationalization and domination
• If you driven by social status and money, both
your freedom and your critical potential is
diminished
Herbert Marcuse
Redemption?
How can we escape this cycle?
• What areas of life are not so easily colonized by
this totalitarian technological rationality?
• Marcuse argues we must go back to a pre-rational
realm
• Emphasize intrinsic desires (sexuality) and aesthetics
(nature, art)
• Me the only justifiable foundation for ones life is
neither politics nor religion but aesthetics
Herbert Marcuse
QuestionsIs the mind of men is becoming
increasingly dominated by one dimensional
thought?
• To what degree are we aware of this process?
• Are we better off not knowing is ignorance
bliss (the Matrix)?

Herbert Marcuse

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The One Dimensional Man by

FreedomEconomic, Social, and Political freedoms

Freedom We have political choice in elections

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