The Research Of Marcuse's Social Critical Theory

Herbert Marcus is an important Western thinker as well as a leading figure of social criticism theorist in Frankfurt School.Marcus became a member of Frankfurt School in 1933 and since then he started to construct social critical theory under the influence of Horkheimer.Social critical theory originates from philosophy,and the rise of social critical theory is regarded as an introspection of modern philosophical circumstance and enlightenment thought.The enlightenment ideology that has advocated by capitalist society since Renaissances,which under the banner of freedom,equality and philanthropism,gradually becoming a way to alienate people in modern times.Marcus' s social critical theory features obvious humanism due to his absorption of humanitarianism thought of early Marx,existentialist thought of Heidegger,negativity of Hegel and non-repressive view of civilization of Freud.Has been exploring the essence of human being all his life,Marcus' s enthusiastic analysis of proletarian revolution and “one-dimensional man” shows that he longs for seeking revolutionary body and anticipates ardently building an ideal society.Marcus pays attention to analyzing the psychological change of human mind,and he maintains the developed industrial society that making use of technological reason has already showed a tendency towards totalitarianism.The ruling class integrates all opposition in society by taking advantage of science and technology and abundant material needs,making man become one dimensional,which leads to overall alienation of developed capitalist society.Marcus' s social critical theory is feasible to some extent,and his criticism thought of technological reason is thought-provoking.Nevertheless,some misunderstandings of Marxism theory exist in Marcus' s theory.In Marcus' s later revolutionary theory,the historical subject status of proletariat is replaced by some marginal groups such as rebellious intellectuals,street bums,etc.,which deviates from Marxist theory and reveals the conservatism of his theory.This paper studies Marcus' s social critical theory from four aspects.The first chapter mainly concerns the rise of social critical theory and the establishment ofMarcus' s social critical theory on the basis of Horkheimer's critical theory.The second chapter focusing on expounding the source of Marcus' s social critical theory.Being influenced deeply by humanitarianism thought of early Marx,existentialist thought of Heidegger,dialectics thoughts of Hegel and non-repressive view of civilization of Freud,Marcus' s attention for man's living status and search for essence compose his theoretical theme and characterizes his thought with obvious humanism.The third chapter mainly discusses the basic paradigm of Marcus' s social critical theory.“One dimension” is a self made word by Marcus in the course of analyzing the developed industrial society,and people can understand the alienation of modern society from this term.The fourth chapter evaluates and analyzes Marcus' s social critical theory,and the author points out its rationality and irrationality.