Hegel, Marx and social theory

Reason and revolution

pp. 130-153

in: Douglas Kellner, Herbert Marcuse and the crisis of Marxism, Berlin, Springer, 1984

Abstract

Reason and Revolution (hereafter R&R) contains Marcuse's most detailed analysis of the Hegelian and Marxian philosophies, and provides, in effect, a historical-theoretical foundation for critical theory by tracing the rise of critical social theory in the nineteenth century and by articulating its basic presuppositions. The book was received as an important interpretation of Hegel, Marx, and the rise of social theory, and it remains today one of the best works on the topic.¹ Marcuse emphasizes the critical-revolutionary elements in Hegel taken over by Marx, arguing that the Marxian theory is the authentic continuation and development of Hegel's philosophy. He also attempts to show that Hegel's thought is incompatible with the contemporary fascist ideas and theories of the authoritarian state which many associated with Hegel. Marcuse combats the interpretations of Hegel as a proto-fascist thinker by positing the Hegelian and Marxian theories as "negative philosophy' which is rational, critical and subversive of conformist thinking and contrasting it with the "positive philosophy' that arose after Hegel's death and which "undertook to subordinate reason to the authority of established fact' (R&R, p. xv).