(1996)
Paul Alexander Juutilainen
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON HERBERT MARCUSE
prepared by Harold Marcuse for a screening of the video
"Herbert's Hippopotamus,"
UC Santa Barbara, 4/16/97
for detailed information about Herbert, visit www.marcuse.org/herbert
Born 1898 in Berlin, well-to-do family
served in WWI; not combat, but "wiping horses' asses" for infantry in Berlin (pre-automobile age!)
participated briefly in 1918 German revolution which brought an end to WWI
1918-1922: graduate school in German literature, Ph.D. Univ. of Freiburg in 1922
1922-1928 worked as a bookseller in Berlin
1928: my father born in Berlin; Herbert went to Freiburg as an assistant to the philosophy professor Martin Heidegger. (One of my dissertation advisors (M. Geyer) turns out to have been Heidegger's nephew!)
Project: critique of existing Marxism as rigid orthodoxy; need to focus on the INDIVIDUAL
concern with individual liberation, personal well being, personal contribution to social transformation
1933: Institut fur Sozialforschung (Institute for Social Research) in Frankfurt
develop new theory of state and economy, beyond what Marx had foreseen
use of Freud; later (after move to US) called CRITICAL THEORY
Heidegger (120% Nazi) warned him; fled Germany to Geneva, Paris, finally NYC
December 1942: joined the Office of War Information as a senior analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence
report "Presentation of the Enemy:" proposed ways that the mass media of the Allied countries could present images of German fascism
March 1943: Office of Secret Services (OSS), identified Nazi and anti-nazi people and groups,
drew up plan for "denazification"
1945-1951: worked at US State Dept. after OSS dissolved
1952-53, Columbia University; 1954-55 Harvard. Grant to study Soviet Marxism (COLD WAR)
1955: Eros and Civilization: synthesis of Marx and Freud, sketched non-repressive society
anticipated values of 1960s counterculture (UTOPIAN VISION)
1958: Soviet Marxism. argued that the Soviet Union was not the realization of Marx' theory.
Pointed to "liberalizing trends" ultimately realized under Gorbachev in 1980s
1958-65: Prof. of Political Science at Brandeis (memories of visits of grandpa's house in Newton, Mass.)
1964 most important work: One Dimensional Man. critiqued both capitalist and communist societies
"advanced industrial society" creates false needs
MASS MEDIA, ADVERTISING, INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT:
integrate individuals into the existing system of production and consumption
championed non-integrated forces of minorities, outsiders, radical intelligentsia
1965: essay "Repressive Tolerance" in book Critique of Pure Tolerance (w/ Barrington Moore)
Brandeis didn't renew his contract, was recruited by UC San Diego-already 67 years old!!
retired in 1976
1960s: achieved world renown as "the guru of the New Left "
1969: An Essay on Liberation (gave me a copy in 1977 when I was studying German)
1972: Counterrevolution and Revolt
1970s: traveled widely, work was often discussed in the mass media
became one of few American intellectuals to gain mass attention.
1978: The Aesthetic Dimension offered "answer" to where non-manipulated consciousness might come from: culture and "high art," which often contained powerful critiques of the status quo
Never an advocate of violent demonstrations, esp. on campuses: US universities (called them "oases of free speech")
Student movements should try to protect this citadel, and radicalize the departments from within (faculty complacency)
Paul.Alexander.Juutilainen.-.Herbert's.Hippopotamus.(a.movie.on.Herbert.Marcuse).(1996).rm 
Much recommended!
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