We are publishing here for the first time a talk that Herbert Marcuse delivered at Stanford University on April 1, 1966, as part of a two-day conference on Paul A. Baran, entitled "Baran and American Radicalism Today"—commemorating the second anniversary of Baran's death (on March 26, 1964). The talk was transcribed from a recording from the conference made available to us by Baran's son, Nicholas Baran. Various editorial annotations have been added in the form of endnotes.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

It is understandable that the prospects for a "scientific" ethic should be dismissed, but the real test seems to be whether ethics can at least to some extent be articulated through citing evidence for hypotheses without relying on intuitions (fundamental beliefs thought by intuitionists not to require any justification). The case against intuitionism is spelled out with no fewer than nine major objections to such a methodology. Part 1 demonstrated that positive normative sociology (which asserts moral norms and values such as sympathy or justice) is mired in intuitionism, but need this be the case? Best caring sociology is sketched using not only a rigorous justification of hypotheses, but a system whose general ideas logically flow from a single normative imperative: the best caring principle. The key to the success of best caring is animal absolutes, e.g., that for all sentient beings, pain feels bad, and this affords affective cognition of bad in sentient beings' lives. Best caring forms a kind of liberation sociology (which is argued to be a better global label than critical theory among other possibilities), but without the moral relativity and total animal neglect of Feagin and Vera, and with a better explication as to why a holistic descriptive focus is most salutary for social science. Best caring promotes individual rights, a firm commitment to nonharming, and anti-exploitation including for animals. Indeed, the

ConstellationsVolume 1, Issue 1 p. 116-143 A History of the Doctrine of Social Change Herbert Marcuse, Herbert MarcuseSearch for more papers by this authorFranz Neumann, Franz NeumannSearch for more papers by this author Herbert Marcuse, Herbert MarcuseSearch for more papers by this authorFranz Neumann, Franz NeumannSearch for more papers by this author First published: December 1994 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8675.1994.tb00008.xCitations: 1Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume1, Issue1December 1994Pages 116-143 RelatedInformation

Herbert Marcuse, Juergen Habermas, Heinz Lubasz and Telman Spengler

In taking a position towards terrorism in West Germany, the Left must first ask itself two questions: Do terrorist actions contribute to the weakening of capitalism? Are these actions justified in view of the demands of revolutionary morality? To both questions I must answer in the negative. The physical liquidation of single individuals, even the most prominent, does not undermine the normal functioning of the capitalist system itself. On the contrary, it strengthens its repressive potential without (and this is the decisive point) either engendering opposition to repression or raising political conscious-

In the framework of this journal, the full-length acknowledgement and review of a book with pure philosophical intentions is justified by the central position that the dialectic occupies within Marxism, and through the insights which could be obtained if one considers contemporary philosophy from a dialectical perspective relating philosophy to contemporary society, and to the entire socio-historical situation. Moreover, it is not a question of analyzing Marck's examinations of individual systems of modern philosophy, and his reactions to them. Instead, it ought to be asked whether and to what extent the basic problem of the dialectic is developed in these works, and whether a “cross-section of current philosophy, from the viewpoint of the problem of the dialectic,” is at all possible.

To attempt a fundamental definition of the concept of labor appears superfluous because there is a tacit agreement in economic theory to avoid a "definitional" concept of labor as such and to conceive of labor only as economic activity: the praxis within the economic dimension. "The general concept 'labor' has received such an indeterminate content through its ordinary uses that it is hardly possible to unequivocally demarcate it. It is precisely this situation that gives the representatives of economics the right to utilize a specific economic concept of 'labor' that is not derived from a general concept of 'labor' but, rather, through another procedure."

I believe we all agree that, in terms of the original or even the expanded concepts of Marxian theory, determining the content of the present historical period and particularly the developments of late capitalism presents certain difficulties. Rather, we can do so, but only at the risk of generating additional difficulties. If the same theory can equally well deal with the development A as well as non-A, prosperity as well as crisis, revolution as well as the absence of revolution, or the radicalization of the working-class as well as its integration into the existing system, then although this may indicate the validity of the theory, it also indicates its indifference.

It is appropriate to begin with a preliminary outline of the topic. Historical Materialism makes its appearance in the intellectual context of Marxism which comes about, not as a scientific theory or a system of truths whose significance lies in their correctness as knowledge, but as a theory of social activity and historical action. Marxism is the theory of the proletarian revolution and the revolutionary critique of bourgeois society. It is a science to the extent that the revolutionary activity which it seeks to bring about and direct requires the comprehension of its historical necessity and of the validity of its own nature.

The review of One Dimensional Man, written under the pseudonym of Karl Miller (Monthly Review, June 1967) would not deserve a reply, were it not for the fact that it appeared in Monthly Review, a magazine devoted to the development of independent socialist thought. In my view, this task demands the rebuttal of all attempts to stifle socialist thought by the uncritical use of concepts inadequate to the understanding of prevalent social forces and tendencies. I have been anxious to see a critique of One Dimensional Man which would have shown that I was wrong, that I overrated the cohesion and power of advanced capitalism and underrated the strength and the prospects of the opposition. Karl Miller offers the caricature of such a critique: he misrepresents my position, builds up straw men which he then violently attacks, pours out angry invective instead of engaging in a substantial discussion.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

Nous présentons ci-dessous la traduction, par Mme F. Châtelet, d'un chapitre du dernier ouvrage d'H. Marcuse. Dans les premières pages de ce chapitre, Vauteur rappelle quelques-uns des résultats acquis dans les chapitres précédents : la société industrielle contemporaine, en particulier dans ses secteurs les plus avancées, aux U.S.A., a développé un appareil technique qui devrait permettre la libération de Vhomme de la servitude, tant à Végard des instruments de son travail qu'à celui des contrôles sociaux.

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