Research On The Thought Of Marcuse's One-Dimensionality

Herbert Marcuse, a famous philosopher and political thinker in contemporary America, who was also the significant representative figure of Frankfurt School, Freudism and Marxism. He wrote the book "One Dimensional Man" in which he exposed deep and criticized severely on the social ideology of capitalist society. By analyzing and criticizing the fields of politics, life, language, ideology and culture, Marcuse considered the developed industrial society would suppress people's dimensions of negativity, critique and transcendence, which made developed industrial society turned to a " one-dimensional society" and its people became 'one-dimensional men". One-dimensional man lacks the dimensions of creativity, negativity, critique and revolutionary, who just perpetuates obedience and numbly approve others' opinion."One Dimensional Man" provided Frankfurt School with important theory resource and made Marcuse world famous in1960s. Marcuse was named "the farther of the new left" by medias and became one of the most effective intellectuals in America and Europe ever since. We can better understand the circumstances of inhumanity in capitalist rule by studying the "one dimension" theory of Marcuse which offers us a magic mirror to expose capitalist's false prosperity.On the way to search " Two-dimension", the first thing occurred to Marcuse was the revolutionary theory of Marx which was no longer appropriate for the developed capitalist system at that moment. Therefore, he made a start point of social reality, trying to find out a real way to achieve the freedom and liberation of human beings, and hoped thaf "one-dimensional man"would turn to " Two-dimensional man". After put into practice, his theory of " Great Abnegation" was failed. Later, he turned his perspective to the fields of art and esthetics. The Critical functions of art and esthetics gave a heavy shock to this society which was full of affirmative thinking just in time. Ever since, the esthetics had been given a special heavy responsibility that resemble history. People are pursuing beauty, which actually represents they are pursuing happiness. Therefore, Marcuse believed that beauty is the way must be passed to get happiness. In some aspects, Marcuse's pursuits of art and aesthetics are worth of our applauses and compliments. While, on the aspects of liberating human beings and achieving human beings'free development, we can not say he pointed out a realistic way. Anyway, the endeavor that he put on the way to search " Two-dimension" deserves our respect and compliments. In addition, the utopian theory and dream that he created are still worth of our deeper thinking and research.