Editing One-Dimensional Man

{{Short description|1964 book by Herbert Marcuse}}
{{Infobox book 
| image         = One-Dimensional Man, first edition.jpg
| caption       = Cover of the first edition
| author        = [[Herbert Marcuse]]
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = 
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| subjects      = [[Capitalism]], [[communism]], [[democracy]], [[industrialization]]
| publisher     = [[Beacon Press]]
| pub_date      = 1964
| media_type    = Print
| pages         = 257
| isbn          = 0-415-07429-0
| isbn_note     = (2. ed.)
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
}}
{{Frankfurt School}}

'''''One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society''''' is a 1964 book by the German–American [[philosopher]] and [[Critical theory|critical theorist]] [[Herbert Marcuse]], in which the author offers a wide-ranging critique of both the contemporary [[Capitalism|capitalist society]] of the [[Western Bloc]] and the [[communist society]] of the [[Soviet Union]], documenting the parallel rise of new forms of [[social repression]] in both of these societies, and the decline of revolutionary potential in the West. He argues that the "advanced [[industrial society]]" created [[False consciousness|false needs]], which integrated individuals into the existing system of production and consumption via [[mass media]], [[advertising]], industrial management, and contemporary modes of thought.<ref name = Kellner>{{cite book | last1 = Kellner | first1 = Douglas| title = Herbert Marcuse, One-dimensional Man: Studies in Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society | chapter = Introduction to the Second Edition | publisher = Routledge | year = 1991 | location = London | pages = xi | isbn = 978-0-415-07429-2}}</ref>

This results in a "one-dimensional" universe of thought and behavior, in which aptitude and ability for [[critical thinking|critical thought]] and oppositional behavior wither away. Against this prevailing climate, Marcuse promotes the "great refusal" (described at length in the book) as the only adequate opposition to all-encompassing methods of control. Much of the book is a defense of "negative thinking" as a disrupting force against the prevailing [[positivism]].<ref name = Kellner />

Marcuse also analyzes the integration of the industrial [[working class]] into capitalist society and new forms of capitalist stabilization, thus questioning the [[Marxism|Marxian]] postulates of the revolutionary proletariat and the inevitability of [[Crisis theory|capitalist crisis]]. In contrast to [[orthodox Marxism]], Marcuse champions non-integrated forces of [[minority group|minorities]], outsiders, and radical [[intelligentsia]], attempting to nourish oppositional thought and behavior through promoting radical thinking and opposition. He considers the trends towards [[bureaucracy]] in supposedly Marxist countries to be as oppositional to freedom as those in the capitalist West.<ref name = Kellner /> ''One-Dimensional Man'' bolstered Marcuse's fame as a contemporary [[Western philosophy|Western philosopher]].<ref name="McLellan">{{cite book |author=McLellan, David |title=Marx |publisher=Fontana |location=Glasgow |year=1975 |page=81 |isbn=0-333-63947-2 }}</ref>

==Summary==
Marcuse strongly criticizes [[consumerism]] and modern "[[industrial society]]", which he claims is a form of [[social control]]. Marcuse argues that while the system the West lives in may claim to be [[Democracy|democratic]], it is actually [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]]. A form of [[technological rationality]] has imposed itself on every aspect of [[culture]] and [[Politics|public life]], and has become [[Hegemony|hegemonic]]. Through our identification with this [[Cultural hegemony|hegemonic ideology]] of [[Modern industrialized country|modern industrial society]], this [[ideology]] doesn't only represent a form of "[[false consciousness]]", yet rather has succeeded in becoming [[reality]]. 

Modern industrial societies have furthermore created an "[[affluent society]]", which in increasing comfort have disguised the [[Exploitation of natural resources|exploitative]] nature of the system, and have therefore strengthened means of domination and control. Modern "affluent society" therefore limits opportunities for political revolution against capitalism.

Marcuse contends that in contemporary [[Consumerism|consumer societies]], a select few wield the power to shape our conceptions of freedom by offering us the means to purchase our own happiness.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Marcuse | first1 = Herbert | title = One-dimensional Man: studies in ideology of advanced industrial society | chapter = Introduction to the Second Edition | publisher = Routledge | year = 1991 | location = London | pages = 3 | isbn = 978-0-415-07429-2}}</ref> In this state of "unfreedom",<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Marcuse | first1 = Herbert | title = One-dimensional Man: studies in ideology of advanced industrial society | chapter = Introduction to the Second Edition | publisher = Routledge | year = 1991 | location = London | pages = 1, 7 | isbn = 978-0-415-07429-2}}</ref> consumers act irrationally by working more than they are required to in order to fulfill actual basic needs, by ignoring the psychologically destructive effects, by ignoring the waste and environmental damage it causes, and by searching for social connection through material items.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Marcuse | first1 = Herbert | title = One-dimensional Man: studies in ideology of advanced industrial society | chapter = Chapter 1 | publisher = Routledge | year = 1991 | location = London | isbn = 978-0-415-07429-2}}</ref>

It is even more irrational in the sense that the creation of new products, calling for the disposal of old products, fuels the economy and encourages the need to work more to buy more. An individual loses his humanity and becomes a tool in the industrial machine and a cog in the consumer machine. Additionally, advertising sustains consumerism, which disintegrates [[societal demeanor]], delivered in bulk and informing the masses that happiness can be bought, an idea that is psychologically damaging.

There are alternatives to counter the consumer lifestyle. [[Anti-consumerism]] is a lifestyle that demotes any unnecessary consumption, as well as unnecessary work, waste, etc. But even this alternative is complicated by the extreme interpenetration of advertising and [[commodification]] because everything is a commodity, even those things that are actual needs.

==Reception== 

The critical theorist [[Douglas Kellner]] asserted that "One-Dimensional Man" stands out as a paramount work of the 1960s and remains one of the most subversive literary contributions of the twentieth century. Despite its pessimism, represented by the citation of the words of [[Walter Benjamin]] at the end of this book that "''Nur um der Hoffnungslosen willen ist uns die Hoffnung gegeben''"<ref>W. Benjamin, Goethes ''Wahlverwandtschaften, Gesammelte Schriften I.1'', Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 201.</ref> ("It is only for the sake of those without hope that hope is given to us"<ref name = Marcuse>{{cite book | last1 = Marcuse | first1 = Herbert | title = One-dimensional Man: Studies in Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society | publisher = Routledge | year = 1991 | location = New York | pages = 261 | isbn = 978-0-415-07429-2}}</ref>), it influenced many in the [[New Left]] as it articulated their growing dissatisfaction with both capitalist societies and Soviet communist societies.<ref name = Kellner />

Marcuse praised [[Paul Mattick#World War II and after|Paul Mattick's critique of the book]].

The philosopher Ronald Aronson wrote in 2014 that ''One-Dimensional Man'' is more prescient than Marcuse could have ever realized and that it is more relevant than ever.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Aronson|first=Ronald|date=17 November 2014|title=Marcuse Today|url=https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/ronald-aronson-herbert-marcuse-one-dimensional-man-today|journal=Boston Review}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Repressive desublimation]]
* [[Totalitarian democracy]]
* [[Minority rights]]
* [[J. L. Talmon]]
* ''[[Drux Flux]]'', an animated short inspired by ''One-Dimensional Man''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nfb.ca/film/drux_flux_en|title=Drux Flux|last=Ushev|first=Théodore|year=2008|work=Animated short|publisher=National Film Board of Canada|access-date=29 December 2009}}</ref>
*''[[Unflattening]]'', a scholarly graphic novel expanding on many ideas from ''One-Dimensional Man''.
* [[Critical theory]]
* [[Criticism of capitalism]]
* [[Inverted totalitarianism]]
* [[Superficiality]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote|Herbert Marcuse}}
* [http://www.marcuse.org/herbert/pubs.htm#odm Bibliographic listing] including reviews and courses using the book
* [http://www.marcuse.org/herbert/pubs/64onedim/odmcontents.html Full text on-line] at marcuse.org

{{Herbert Marcuse}}
{{Social philosophy}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1964 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Books critical of capitalism]]
[[Category:Beacon Press books]]
[[Category:English-language non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Frankfurt School]]
[[Category:Sociology books]]
[[Category:Works by Herbert Marcuse]]