# The Frankfurt School - Herbert Marcuse & Bryan Magee (1977)  👤 [Philosophy Overdose](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7q-GcHyjCHkTpXCUTLzy7Q) 🔗 [Watch video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U23Ho0m_Sv0) ## Summary This video features an interview with the political theorist Herbert Marcuse, a key figure of the Frankfurt School. He discusses the origins of the school, which was formed to re-examine Marxist theory in light of its failure to predict the rise of fascism instead of communism in the West. Marcuse explains the Frankfurt School's main critiques of orthodox Marxism, including its overemphasis on economics at the expense of creating a qualitatively different life, its neglect of the individual, and its lack of a libertarian dimension. He details their effort to integrate Freudian psychology with Marxism to better understand individual consciousness and repression. Marcuse also reflects on his unexpected role as an intellectual mentor to the New Left of the 1960s, offering sharp criticisms of the movement's anti-intellectualism and unrealistic strategies, while also affirming its core motivations. The discussion covers the Frankfurt School's major thinkers, the importance of aesthetics in imagining liberation, and Marcuse's view on the radical potential of the women's liberation movement. ## Key points - The Frankfurt School emerged from the need to understand why Western capitalist societies produced fascism rather than the predicted communist revolutions. Its key figures included Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Herbert Marcuse. - Marcuse argues that he did not "mentor" the student movements of the 1960s but rather articulated ideas that were already "in the air," driven by a protest against societal inequality, destructiveness, racism, and sexism. - He criticizes the New Left for its anti-intellectualism, unrealistic revolutionary language, and its tendency to treat Marxist theory as a static "fetish" rather than re-examining it for contemporary society. - The Frankfurt School sought to correct orthodox Marxism by focusing on creating a "qualitatively different" socialist society, where life is not defined by alienated labor, rather than just focusing on economic productivity. - They integrated Freudian psychology with Marxism to understand how the ruling system manipulates not just consciousness but also the subconscious, addressing Marxism's traditional neglect of the individual. - Marcuse defends remaining a Marxist, stating that core concepts like the concentration of economic power and the fusion of economic and political power have been corroborated, even if other aspects required revision. - The core project of the Frankfurt School was "Critical Theory"—a deep, interdisciplinary investigation into "what has gone wrong" in Western civilization that led to dehumanization and destructiveness despite technological progress. - Aesthetics (art, literature, music) are considered vital because they can express truths and present images of liberation that are repressed in ordinary reality. - Marcuse sees the women's liberation movement as having a strong radical potential, suggesting that the deployment of "feminine qualities" like non-violence and tenderness could create a society that is the antithesis of patriarchal domination. ## Technical terms - **[[Frankfurt School]]**: A school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, founded in Frankfurt. Its thinkers, including Marcuse, Horkheimer, and Adorno, developed "Critical Theory" to re-examine Marxist thought in the context of 20th-century societal changes. - **[[New Left]]**: A broad political movement in the 1960s and 1970s that focused on issues such as civil rights, feminism, anti-war protests, and social justice, for which Marcuse became a major intellectual figure. - **[[Critical Theory]]**: The philosophical approach of the Frankfurt School. It involves a critique of society and culture, applying knowledge from social sciences and humanities to reveal and challenge power structures, rather than simply understanding or explaining society. - **[[Alienation]]**: A concept from Marx describing the estrangement of individuals from their work, their own humanity, and each other under capitalism. Marcuse notes that the term has been expanded and trivialized in modern usage. - **[[Reification]]**: The error of treating abstract concepts or social relations as if they were concrete, material things. Marcuse accuses parts of the New Left of reifying Marxist concepts, using them as rigid dogmas instead of as dynamic tools for analysis. - **[[Eros and Thanatos]]**: In Freudian theory, these are the primary life and death drives (transcribed as "errors and predators"). Marcuse explains that these drives develop within a specific social framework, which allows Freudian psychoanalysis to be married to Marxist social analysis. ## Conclusion Herbert Marcuse provides a compelling overview of the Frankfurt School's intellectual project, positioning it as a vital critical update to a Marxist tradition that had failed to account for the complex realities of the 20th century. He defends the school's core ideas and its synthesis of Marxism and Freudianism while simultaneously offering a sharp critique of the New Left movement he helped inspire. The interview underscores the Frankfurt School's central mission: to relentlessly investigate "what has gone wrong" in modern society and to keep the "images of liberation" alive through critical thought and an appreciation for aesthetics.