Art and Utopia: The Marcusean Perspective

At times, in the following pages,,the criticism which will be directed at Professor Marcuse will be very sharp. Consequently, there are a few remarks which need to be made at the outset. To begin with, Marcuse’s work is grossly underestimated by many academicians who seem unable to comprehend that his extraordinary influence upon students and intellectuals (ranging from Jfrgen Habermas to Norman O. Brown) stems, in large part, from the alternative which he offers to the emptiness and sterility of contemporary philosophy and political science. In opposition to an often absurd, mundane, and &dquo;neutral&dquo; operationalist mentality, Marcuse has asserted the power of the critical intellect and the dialectical method. Indeed, in the present context, he attempts to prevent art from falling into a societal quietude reminiscent of classicism and/or the pedanticism of &dquo;art for art’s sake,&dquo; through his concern with the force of the imagination. But, perhaps, what is most important is that he has brought words like beauty, softness, and sensuality back to the political vocabulary. In contrast to those who fawn over the status quo