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Herbert Marcuse

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The Aesthetic Dimension: Toward a Critique of Marxist Aesthetics Paperback – June 15, 1979

by Herbert Marcuse (Author, Translator), Erica Sherover (Translator)

4.5 22 ratings

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Developing a concept briefly introduced in Counterrevolution and Revolt, Marcuse here addresses the shortcomings of Marxist aesthetic theory and explores a dialectical aesthetic in which art functions as the conscience of society. Marcuse argues that art is the only form or expression that can take up where religion and philosophy fail and contends that aesthetics offers the last refuge for two-dimensional criticism in a one-dimensional society.

Review

"His insights are genuine and his ... work, with its discussions of 18th and 19th century literature (by implication transferable to other modes of art) has a prophetic quality that suggests new generations will look at the Marxian model as a quaint artifact." – Publishers Weekly

"Marcuse has written a study of aesthetics that will be central to intelligent discussion of this subject for some time. It is one of those profound books which simply must be taken into account." – Theory and Society

About the Author

Best known as author of One-Dimensional Man and Eros and Civilization, Herbert Marcuse (1896-1979) was a founder of the Frankfurt School of critical theory. He was until his reitrement professor of philosophy as the University of California, San Diego.

Print length

88 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Beacon Press
Publication date

June 15, 1979
Dimensions

5.6 x 0.3 x 8.4 inches
ISBN-10

0807015199
ISBN-13

978-0807015193
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Beacon Press (June 15, 1979)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 88 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0807015199
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0807015193
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.6 x 0.3 x 8.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #409,130 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #483 in Communism & Socialism (Books)
- #708 in Modern Western Philosophy
- #1,056 in Political Philosophy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 22 ratings

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samba

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2014

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time for a return to marcuse

One person found this helpful

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Glenn Russell

Penetrating insights on the subject of aesthetics

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2013

In his philosophical work Eros and Civilization, Herbert Marcuse outlines his vision of a non-repressive society, where Eros is seen as a liberating and constructive power and how history is a fight against the repression of our instincts. And why are our instincts repressed? In our modern capitalist system, according to Marcuse, this suppression is done in the name of progress and performance. Marcuse's aesthetics is an extension of this worldview. I would like to cite a number of quotes from The Aesthetic Dimension and offer a brief commentary on how, in my view, Marcuse's ideas relate to current day American society.

Marcuse writes: "The truth of art lies in its power to break the monopoly of established reality to define what is real. In this rupture, which is the achievement of the aesthetic form, the fictitious world of art appears as a true reality." Think of the advertisements one sees on television. Basically, all the ads are presenting a set, fixed view of what is real and what we as consumers should value - new fancy cars, new colorful cellphones, new drugs to keep us young and happy. Now think of some great American novels: Babbitt, Sister Carrie, Revolutionary Road, A Fan's Notes, A Thousand Acres, The Sportswriter. We have to admit: the reality presented in these novels is quite different than the reality of the advertisers; in a word, the fictional world of the novelist's art is more real.

Along the same lines, here is another quote: "Compared with the often one-dimensional optimism of propaganda, art is permeated with pessimism, not seldom intertwined with comedy." Again, think of some contemporary writers, Jane Smiley, Joyce Carol Oats, Richard Ford, Cynthia Ozick, for example. Marcuse's description fits quite well - the world presented in the novels and stories of these writers is, indeed, permeated with pessimism (alienated suburbanites, battered children, suicides, unbearable memories, etc. etc.) and also intertwined with a healthy dose of comedy.

Herbert Marcuse writes: "In this sense art is "art for art sake" inasmuch as the aesthetic form reveals tabooed and repressed dimensions of reality: aspects of liberation." I couldn't agree more: our exposure to such art and literature is liberating - the more we are given an opportunity via art to see the dark, repressed dimensions of our world, the greater our freedom. Much better and more freeing than being glued to the pseudo-world of the television. To underscore this point, Herbert Marcuse writes: "Art's separation from the process of material production has enabled it to demystify the reality reproduced in this process. Art challenges the monopoly of the established reality to determine what is `real', and it does so by creating a fictitious world which is nevertheless "more real than reality itself"."

I would like to end by quoting the first few sentences of the last chapter, chapter V: "Aesthetic formation proceeds under the law of the Beautiful, and the dialectic of affirmation and negation, consolation and sorrow is the dialectic of the Beautiful. Marxist aesthetics has sharply rejected the idea of the Beautiful, the central category of "bourgeois" aesthetics. It seems difficult indeed to associate this concept with revolutionary art; it seems irresponsible, snobbish to speak of the Beautiful in the face of the necessities of the political struggle." Please take this quote as an invitation to order a copy of this small book and study the many penetrating observations and philosophical insights on the subject of aesthetics offered by Herbert Marcuse.

2 people found this helpful

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Panayotis ZAMAROS

Delving in the emancipatory aesthetic

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2005

Marcuse uses a critical approach, not to merely argue against a Marxist perspective on art, but rather to highlight the emancipatory potential in art. This is because its form is autonomous relative to a set of social relations, and insofar that `content becomes form' (p. 8), art is able to represent the prevailing and petrified un-freedom.

Against the perspective of a social construction of art, Marcuse capitalizes on the notion of "subjectivity" as the counter-force to ground his thesis. That is, `the radical qualities of art ... are grounded precisely in the dimensions where art transcends its social determination and emancipates itself from the given universe of discourse and behavior while preserving its overwhelming presence'. This is to say that art's emancipatory potential lies in its refusal to subjection, in its survival to preserve its subjectivity. Against maybe Adorno, for Marcuse this is the case because `art's separation from the process of material production' points to some unique qualities of art: its own language and dimension of affirmation and negation.

Despite the emancipatory potential, Marcuse is well aware that art cannot change the world but rather change consciousness, so as to hope for change the world: art is a means, and an effective one on condition that the tension between art and radical praxis is kept alive. This, however, should not be understood in a materialist sense, that the more emancipatory pieces of work are produced, the more likely to change the world is. Indeed, speaking of Goethe, Marcuse claims that `it is absurd to conclude that we need more Iphigenies' (p. 58) to express emancipatory humanism. Rather, this ideal transcends given praxis, along with social changes, hence a continuous need for such emancipatory art irrespective of materialist considerations.

If art for Marcuse fights reification, it also fights against the risk of "forgetting" by making the petrified world speak!This is to say, here is a worthy attempt to remind us of the importance of creativity in making a difference in our society!

12 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

pithy and to the point

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2000

Herbert Marcuse, original member of the so-called 'Frankfurt School', here presents a critique of Marxist aesthetics in one of his last books. Although only 72 pages long, the book is powerful in its argument against the orthodox Marxist view that 'art represents its the interests and world outlook of particular social classes.' Marcuse argues for the importance of art in itself, apart from its source, writing, 'the criteria for the progressive character of art are given only in the work itself as a whole: in what it says and how it says it.' He truly believes that art's place in the world is not to change the world directly but to influence how people perceive the world and thereby lead them to change it.
Marcuse also touches upon other aspects of aesthetics, like his belief in a constant standard allowing us to distinguish between high and low art and the question of the 'end of art' as posited by Bertolt Brecht and others. Nevertheless his main argument is most powerful: he ends the book by praising art's role in representing 'the ultimate goal of all revolutions: the freedom and happiness of the individual.'
Truly a valuable book for all students of art, aesthetics and philosophy.

29 people found this helpful

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