On Thu, Nov 6, 2025 at 05:41 PM, Mark Baugher wrote: > > To Andrews, the scholar did not have one good idea or make one useful > contribution; there is nothing to learn from Marcuse's work on advanced > industrial society, postwar technology, or consumer culture. > > Please spare me. If Andrews showed the slightest mastery of the body of > work that he dismisses, I'd be inclined to take his critique seriously. >
"advanced industrial society, postwar technology, or consumer culture" are catchy abstractions. But the burden of proof is on fans of Marcuse to show that he had something solid to say about them. (I've read plenty of Marcuse, but that is irrelevant.) Mainly, though, Marcuse was an anti-communist anti-capitalist. He studied under Heidegger for years until just before Heidegger got cozy with the Nazis; he worked for years in the anti-communist Frankfurt Institute; and he did anti-communist work for the U.S. government ( https://rgu.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/MAPOLS-405.pdf ) until 1951. The last item upsets Marcuse fans. They dwell on his intelligence analysis work against the Nazis during World War Two. They omit that he kept doing intelligence analysis work against the Soviet Union for the U.S. government during its post-WW2 "Cold War." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#39147): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/39147 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/116120596/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
