Herbert Marcuse

Herbert Marcuse was a German-American philosopher and social critic who was associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. He was born in Berlin in 1898 to a Jewish family and studied philosophy, literature, and economics at the University of Berlin and the University of Freiburg. He received his PhD in 1922 under the supervision of Martin Heidegger. He joined the Institute for Social Research in 1932 and became one of its leading members, along with Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Walter Benjamin. He fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and moved to the United States in 1934, where he worked as a researcher and lecturer at various universities, including Columbia, Harvard, Brandeis, and California San Diego. He also worked for the Office of Strategic Services (the precursor of the CIA) during World War II, analyzing Nazi ideology and culture. Marcuse's main philosophical contributions were his critiques of capitalism, modern technology, Soviet communism, and mass culture. He argued that these forms of social organization and domination created a one-dimensional society that repressed human potential and freedom. He advocated for a radical transformation of society based on a synthesis of Marxian and Freudian theories, as well as existentialism, phenomenology, and aesthetics. He also supported various social movements and causes, such as feminism, ecology, pacifism, civil rights, student protests, and anti-war activism. He became known as the "father of the New Left" and influenced many intellectuals and activists in the 1960s and 1970s. Marcuse died of a stroke in Starnberg, Germany in 1979 at the age of 81. He was buried in Berlin next to his second wife Inge Neumann. His legacy continues to inspire scholars and activists who seek to challenge the status quo and envision a more humane and democratic society.