A Study Of Marcuse 's Technical Thought

Herbert Marcuse is a representative of western Marxism, and also a western radical social critic. He puts the humanistic philosophy into western Marxist philosophy, opens a new road for western Marxist philosophy. Marcuse lived in a Western society which was in a transformation of economic development, the experience of living in the United States let him witness the developed capitalist society which was developed in economic, politic and culture.Based on the highly developed industry society, he studied Marx’s Alienation theory, Lukacs’ s reification thinking, Overall theory, at the same time he was affected by the Humanistic thoughts when he learned from Heidegger, he putted forward his unique Technology philosophy thought. His technology thought succeeds the reality of Marxism, which is different from Heidegger who sees technology as an abstract logical concept. Marcuse put technology on the base of the strong real life world and combined the philosophy with social reality life, which reflects in his analysis of humanistic spirit: he stresses that the liberation of human nature. Capitalist production mode, political system and cultural education developed gradually and became mature, and were readily accepted by people. Marcuse criticized bourgeois by using the technology in the field of economic dominance, making the ruling area extends to the political, cultural, ideological, and other fields by language analysis of technical rationality. In the political realm, the bourgeoisie use the technical rationality to create a new totalitarian society, which all the society trend to integration and all the people live in a condition of being controlled; in the field of culture and thought, people are satisfied with the rich life of modern society, all senior culture does not have its previous transcendence and superiority, and trends to become commercialization and philistinism in order to cooperate with today’s advanced society, and loses its characteristics of criticism and challenges to social development. Marcuse proposed technical rationality that the rule of man is based on the rule of human’s spirit to reach for the rule of people themselves. The prevailing positivism and analytic philosophy imposed on people with non critical acceptance of the fact, which made people cannot criticize and select with the existing social rationally,thus lose the people themselves’ negative thinking method. This made the whole society to be a “one-dimensional society” which is called “rich and developed society” by people, at the same time the society become a “sick society”, people’s thinking became “one-dimensional thinking”, and people became “one-dimensional people”.Facing the one-dimensional society ruled by technical rationality, Marcuse didn’t limit to simple critique, and proposed to transcend the one dimensional society, “Marcuse’s ultimate ideal is transcending the “one-dimensional society” forming by ideological technological rationality, by dialectical, abstract and utopian rational criticism”. Creating a new view of technology which means by aesthetics of technology, changes the technical way of being and achieves the liberation of technology and comprehensive nature of human.Marcuse’s technology philosophy thinking is based on concerning about the social reality activity, criticize in the field of economy, politics, ideology and culture under the condition of technology rationality in the dominant status, and put forward a social reform road. But He did not find the real revolutionary forces, and he thought only a minority of intellectual revolution can solve the technical rational rule dilemma, and then turned to the aesthetic and cultural, he tried to use the abstract method of technical aesthetics to achieve man’s complete liberation. This “Individual sensibility- instinct liberation and the establishment of a new view of technology as a social revolutionary ideas and approaches, is one-sided” made his utopian vision can’t be realized finally. Modern research of Marcuse’s thinking should use dialectical methodology combined with reality, his proposing of technical rational criticism and one-dimensional view has important guiding significance to the development of modern society, at the same time his way to solve modern problem by using sensitivity and art is inadequate and defective.