Herbert Marcuse

This series provides a forum for the critical review of enduring issues concerning ethics and society. The text of the debate between Herbert Marcuse and Sir Karl Popper which follows in this volume raises many important issues. The crucial issues between the two participants are (1) their anthropological-axiological positions with respect to the “nature” of man, society, and the practical functions of democracy as a mode of self-government; (2) the conceptions of science and of philosophy which lie behind each thinker’s claims with respect to these; and (3) their respective conceptions of the means required and feasible for attaining their respective social goals. The remarks which follow will attempt to focus upon, and deal critically with, the problems implicit in these three areas.

In this concise and startling book, the author of "One-Dimensional Man" argues that the time for utopian speculation has come. Marcuse argues that the traditional conceptions of human freedom have been rendered obsolete by the development of advanced industrial society. Social theory can no longer content itself with repeating the formula, "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs," but must now investigate the nature of human needs themselves. Marcuse's claim is that even if production were controlled and determined by the workers, society would still be repressive--unless the workers themselves had the needs and aspirations of free men. Ranging from philosophical anthropology to aesthetics "An Essay on Liberation" attempts to outline--in a highly speculative and tentative fashion--the new possibilities for human liberation. The "Essay" contains the following chapters: A Biological Foundation for Socialism?, The New Sensibility, Subverting Forces--in Transition, and Solidarity.