Week 11 Quiz

Marcuse, Horkheimer, Adorno, Habermas

One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society (Marcuse)

critical analysis of advanced industrial societies, focusing on how they suppress individuality and critical thought through consumerism and technological rationality

• technological rationality is social control

• consumerism creates false needs

• one-dimensional thinking

  • negative thinking

technological rationality is social control (Marcuse)

• technological advancements perpetuate existing power structures

• technology is a mode of domination, shaping individual’s perceptions and behaviors to align with the interests of those in power

consumerism creates false needs (Marcuse)

• advanced industrial societies create false needs through mass media and advertising

• individuals are driven to consume products and services that reinforce the existing system of production and consumption

• consumerism integrates individuals into the system, making them complicit in their own domination

one-dimensional thought (Marcuse)

• critical and oppositional thinking is marginalized and co-opted

• conformist society that sustains status quo without questioning power

• potential for transformative social change is limited

the great refusal (Marcuse)

• a radical opposition to the dominant system to counter pervasive control

• promotes “negative” thinking and the role of marginalized groups in challenging and transforming societal structures

negative thinking/negation (Marcuse)

dialectics

1. thesis: existing idea or state

2. antithesis: negation or contradiction of thesis

3. synthesis: resolving conflict between thesis and antithesis by integrating them at a higher level

society has become one dimensional (Marcuse)

1. antithesis is actually part of the thesis (does not actually challenge/critique it)

2. synthesis is not a new thesis, simply an expression of the old thesis

According to Horkheimer and Adorno, how have rational systems of total administration affected people’s ability to reason?

total administration results in a pervasive control dictated by rationality; rationality has eclipsed reason.

rationality (Horkheimer/Adorno)

maximizing gains, minimizing losses (formal rationality)

reason (Horkheimer/Adorno)

our ability to think toward human freedom (substantive rationality)

What do Critical Theorists argue is needed to oppose the domination of (formal) rationality in society?

reemergence of reason, undistorted communication (Habermas)

culture industry (Horkheimer/Adorno)

• culture is not an integrating force

• culture is intentionally produced as an ideology that promotes false consciousness

• culture is a system of mass deception that obscures social inequality and creates distractions from oppression

culture is invested with interests (Horkheimer/Adorno)

culture system is an extension and expression of power relations

a culture industry produces a mass culture (Horkheimer/Adorno)

• culture is produced like commodities

• we are sold culture and we buy culture

In what way do critical theorists challenge Marx’s claim that the class that controls the means of production controls the means of mental production (Horkheimer/Adorno)?

• the superstructure becomes the primary means of domination

• the focus of domination is everyday experience and the human consciousness

consequences of the culture industry (Horkheimer/Adorno)

• we buy into our own domination with our free will

• we want to be dominated

• we freely participate in our own domination

What ideas are lost due to the culture industry (Horkheimer/Adorno)?

• freedom

• love

• beauty

• self-esteem

• humanity

• individuality

• independence

• criticism

• reality

objective knowledge (Habermas)

formed through systems of rationalization

• obtained through science and rational thought

• concerns the administration and control of society

• seeks to develop means to technical control over individuals

in tension with critical knowledge

critical knowledge (Habermas)

formed through interpersonal communication

• obtained through philosophy and dialogue

• concerns the understanding and emancipation of individuals

• seeks to raise consciousness and empower individuals

in tension with objective knowledge

life-world (Habermas)

social space where individuals engage in dialogue, exchange ideas, disagree, and develop consensus

• sustained by communicative action

• focus is social-integration and interrelation between individuals

communicative action (Habermas)

interaction where individuals engage in dialogue with the primary aim of achieving mutual understanding and consensus. emphasizes cooperation and collective agreement.

social system (Habermas)

society as an object external and constraining to individuals

• sustained by rationalization and the development of social structures

• system integration and the functioning of society is the focus of the social system

• strategic action is the primary type of interaction

What is the Habermas’ view of the agency-structure problem regarding the relationship between the life-world and the social system?

the goals of the life-world (domain of human agency) contradict the goals of the social system (domain of social structure)

colonization of the life-world (Habermas)

the social system and the life-world have developed separate processes and distinct interests

• the interests of the social system have become much more powerful and dominating than those of the life-world

consequences of the colonization of the life-world (Habermas)

• communication is rationalized and restricted

• social integration becomes increasingly a product of structural integration

• much of social interaction is accomplished through rational media ($, mass media, bureaucratic language)

• interpersonal relationships are fragmented

• individual action becomes focused on system goals

• socio-emotional ties are sacrificed

How can rationalization and colonization of human agency be reversed (Habermas)?

• reintegration, interdependence of the life-world and social system

• speech communities and public discourse about the goals of the social system

the public sphere (Habermas)

a realm within social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify social problems

• influences political action

• open access, rational debate

• form and create public opinion

characteristics of the public sphere (Habermas)

• orientation toward mutual understanding

• rational discourse

• absence of coercion

• consensus-oriented