Study On Thought Of Alienation Of Technology By Marcuse

Marcuse as a representative figure of the critical theory of Frankfurt school, hold highthe banner of critical social theory, whose broad and profound thought, known as the"Twentieth Century thought library" has influenced a whole era. Technology alienationthought is the key component in Marcuse’s theory, which is thought to bear great theoreticaland practical significance on China’s socialist modernization construction.Marcuse assumes that the alienation of technology is the alienation of people. In his view,the main cause of alienation is the rationality of technology which digests and constrainsone’s negativity and criticalness, and loses the critical spirit. Fictitious demand makes peoplesee satisfying material desire as the major content of social life. Living for consumingcommodity, people lose human nature; converting everything into the market value, peopleare driven by the material desire, and become slaves to commodity. The rationality oftechnology leads to the rationality of politics, making rationality of technology as a main toolto serve the ruling class, and control people. The one-dimensional man is, in essence, a newalienation in the course of developing a social ruling system on the basis of technicalrationality, the opposing force, the opposing force of the ruling class, who attempts tocentrifuge the society and control people’s thoughts through technical rationality. In hisopinion, the two-dimensional thoughts, criticizing, opposing, and surpassing reality, should bepromoted instead of the one-dimensional thought, approving of, affirming and maintainingreality. The solution to alienation is to liberate the Eros. Marcuse regards the liberation oflabor as the foothold of the liberation of the Eros liberation, attempting to progress a “Utopianrevolution” on the modern society through the" great refusal", and establish an ideal societybeing full of freedom, but without depression.Obvious limitations can be found in Marcuse’s technological alienation: First, the overallopposition of one-dimension is questionable. One-dimensional man and one-dimensionalsociety are rational and progressive when they are seen as a kind of existence. Second, it isnot comprehensive for him to simply attribute the spiritual pain of people to the materialprosperity of the society. The development of human and society is not individual and sole, but social. It is in the certain system of social relation and society, so it can not be enclosed,instead, it is the unity of environment and itself. The last but not the least, he believed that theliberation of Eros is the fundamental way to eliminate alienation. Only after the liberation ofEros, can civilization develop to a higher free stage; only after the elimination of depressionin human instinct, can human civilization advance and develop. The thought is untenable forit is against Marx’s theory of human liberation and social progress.