Dialectic of Herbert Marcuse

Patrick Gamsby is scholarly communications librarian and cross appointed to the Department of Sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

• PrefaceAcknowledgments Introduction: Forgetting MarcuseChapter 1: The Long Dialogue of the Frankfurt SchoolChapter 2: The Camouflage of Critical Theory Chapter 3: Hope in One-Dimensional ManChapter 4: Beyond One-DimensionConclusion: Remembering MarcuseBibliographyAbout the Author

Patrick Gamsby’s uplifting work is an introduction to the debates about whether political praxis and social change are imminent or even possible in an advanced technological society. The Dialectic of Herbert Marcuse provides a clear and accurate textual account of Frankfurt school writings about positivism. It highlights Marcuse’s thoughts about the concepts of negation and critique, and provides an in-depth analysis of the Frankfurt School’s dialectical method that is at the core of their contribution to philosophy and social thought. Through impressive primary document research on the correspondence between and about Habermas, Adorno, Horkheimer, and Marcuse, Gamsby demonstrates that key members of the Frankfurt School stood together with an element of hope in their critique of contemporary society. Gamsby’s documentary portrait of Marcuse’s engagement in teaching and campus life at Brandeis is a wonderful inspiration to future generations.