Herbert Marcuse — Quote from An Essay on Liberation
“The so-called consumer society and the politics of corporate capitalism have created a second nature of man which ties him libidinally and aggressively to the commodity form.”
An Essay on Liberation (1969)
Concepts: freedom, alienation, conformity
Resonant Quotes
- “In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us: Make us you...” — Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov Marcuse's analysis of consumer capitalism as creating a 'second nature' that binds people to commodities perfectly re...
- “Ideology is a specious way of relating to the world. It offers human beings t...” — Václav Havel, The Power of the Powerless Both theorists describe how systemic forces create false consciousness that feels authentic to the individual while s...
- “Nothing has ever been more insupportable for a man and a human society than f...” — Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov Marcuse's concept of libidinal ties to commodity forms provides a psychoanalytic explanation for Dostoevsky's insight...
- “To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture. The Antillean who wants...” — Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks Both reveal how dominant systems create internalized subjugation—Marcuse through commodified desire binding us to cap...
- “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convi...” — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism Marcuse's 'second nature' tied to commodity form creates subjects analogous to Arendt's totalitarian ideal—both descr...
- “Beginning to think is beginning to be undermined. Society has but little conn...” — Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus The 'worm' Camus identifies becomes Marcuse's 'second nature'—both describe how the capacity for authentic thinking i...
- “I may not have been sure about what really did interest me, but I was absolut...” — Albert Camus, The Stranger Both reveal how external forces can obscure authentic selfhood, with Camus's individual confusion about desire parall...
- “Modern man, freed from the bonds of pre-individualistic society, which simult...” — Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom Both analyze how modern capitalism creates psychological bondage that masquerades as freedom, with Marcuse extending ...