单向度及乌托邦的可能性:赫伯特·马尔库塞对当代转型的贡献

One-Dimensionality and the Possibility of Utopia:The Contribution of Herbert Marcuse to a Transformation of the Present

本文以《单向度的人》~①一书作为切入点来说明马尔库塞著作对当代批判理论带来的重要影响。单向度通过揭示现有社会结构得以维持、合法化以及稳定的各种力量,证明它已成为一个与批判理论相关的基本概念。但是,批判理论主要的兴趣在于那些能够否定甚至颠覆性地规避体制并且有助于解放的力量。哈贝马斯在《交往行为理论》中发展了一个交往理解的模型,作为批判理论的新基础;由此他提供了批评理论的一个决定性的维度,而这个维度在今天的社会现实中举足轻重。比如跨国社会运动将数字技术的应用和反对公司资本主义的街头游行联系起来。~②通过强调美学形式的乌托邦前景,一种政治形式在超越了日常生活中的单向度的美学领域~③中也得到更好的发展。本文从以下几个方面展开讨论:讨论马尔库塞作品中解放与单向度之间的关系;说明单向度对当代社会生活的塑形;通过讨论哈贝马斯著作的中心内容来提出坚持用辩证视角的原因,因为它让批判单向度和争取社会的根本转型成为可能;从社会运动和美学领域的现有例证中,揭示单向度受到怎样的挑战和颠覆;根据马尔库塞批评理论的相关研究,得出简要结论。

Taking "The one-dimensional man" as a starting point, I would like to show in the following what an important contribution the work of Herbert Marcuse can make to a critical theory of the present. More than 50 years after its first publication, this book seems more relevant than ever. It allows us to understand how domination is exerted and maintained in late capitalism that is today organized according to neoliberal principals. It also allows us to ask if there can be alternatives to this society. To date,one-dimensionality has proven itself to be a relevant basic concept of critical theory that first of all analyses society critically as it is, by revealing the forces that sustain,legitimize and stabilize the existing structures. However, critical theory is primarily interested in those forces that can negate and subversively circumvent the system and can contribute to emancipation. Therefore, Marcuse thought dialectically, criticizing late capitalistic society from the background of unrealized utopian possibilities and seeking escape routes. His central theme from the thirties to the end of his life was the question of how liberation can be made possible and a utopian condition can be realized that stands beyond the oppression of the given order.This questioning is, however, no longer central in more recent critical theory. For example, Jurgen Habermas scarcely mentioned Marcuse and his utopian vision in"Theory of Communicative Action",which was published two years after his death,although he knew his work well. Instead, he develops a model of communicative understanding as a new basis of critical theory. Communicative rationality is formally defined. It follows procedures. However, there is no more space in his approach for the power of negativity, which Marcuse and also Adorno felt committed to. Saying this, however, in Habermas a decisive dimension of critical theory is lost which still has a place in social reality today. For example, transnational social movements that link the use of digital technologies with street protests challenge corporate capitalism and call for a utopian alternative. Besides, a form of politics is further developed in the field of aesthetics that transcends the one-dimensionality of everyday life as well by highlighting the utopian promise of the aesthetic form.In order to view these connections more closely and to show how important Marcuse’s critical theory is for an analysis of the present, I will firstly discuss the relationship between liberation and one-dimensionality in his work. Then I will show that one-dimensionality shapes the social life of the present. By discussing central aspects of Habermas’ s work,I will make the case for maintaining a dialectical perspective because it gives the chance to criticize one-dimensionality and to strive for a radical transformation of society. In current examples from social movements and from the field of aesthetics, I will show how one-dimensionality can be challenged and overcome. A short conclusion follows on the relevance of Marcuse’s critical theory.