Jonathan Emmesedi

🧵 1/2

I've just finished reading Herbert Marcuse's "The Aesthetic Dimension: Towards a Critique of Marxist Aesthetics".

Marcuse makes a powerful case for the the autonomy of art, as neither an escapist refuge nor a simple tool or superstructural reflection of social forces, but as a radical emancipatory force in its own right.

Even though proponents of the orthodox Marxist aesthetics he criticizes must be as rare as hen's teeth today, his argument, mutatis mutandis, can still be read with profit today by all on the left.

I read it in hard copy, but it's short enough to read online as a PDF:

http://www.marginalutility.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/aesthetic-dimension-_-marcuse.pdf

The work was originally published in German under the title "Die Permanenz
der Kunst: Wider eine bestimmte Marxistische Aesthetik" in 1977.

In that same year....

#Philosophy #Aesthetics #Marcuse #FrankfurtSchool #CriticalTheory #Marxism #PhilosophyOfArt #LiteraryTheory

Jul 7 at 6:31pmWeb
Show threadJonathan EmmesediJul 7

🧵 2/2

....Marcuse engaged in a wide ranging discussion of the critical theory of the Frankfurt School and of his own work in an interview with Bryan Magee for the BBC series Men of Ideas:

The Frankfurt School - Herbert Marcuse & Bryan Magee (1977)
https://youtu.be/U23Ho0m_Sv0?si=DIXaREhZhMS9Q3zc

Of course Marcuse's claims can be questioned, but more than half a century later his ideas and those of his Frankfurt School colleagues remain a vital resource for critical engagement with society.

#Philosophy #CriticalTheory #Marcuse #HerbertMarcuse #PoliticalTheory #Marxism #NewLeft

The Frankfurt School - Herbert Marcuse & Bryan Magee (1977)

YouTube
Show threadNatsu no Courtneyyyy 🍉Jul 7
@jemmesedi Marcuse is a fascinating guy, isn’t he, says girl who has been putting off the work required to really read his writing.
Show threadJonathan EmmesediJul 7

@miasmicfungus

I still have to read "Eros and Civilization", but I found "One Dimensional Man" more accessible than a lot of Adorno.

In the Magee interview I've just posted he comes across to me as not only intellectually stimulating but likeable too.

Show threadJonathan EmmesediJul 7

@miasmicfungus

PS: Don't feel guilty about putting things off. I'm actually posting about Marcuse and Kpop because I'm procrastinating with regard to something important but utterly tiresome.

Show threadNatsu no Courtneyyyy 🍉Jul 7
@jemmesedi this state of mind is when I am often updating too, I fully understand.