''An Essay on Liberation'' is a 1969 book by the

Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School (german: Frankfurter Schule) is a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1929. Founded in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933), dur ...

philosopher

Herbert Marcuse Herbert Marcuse (; ; July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a German-American philosopher, social critic, and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at the Humboldt University ...

Summary

Marcuse argues that advanced industrial society has rendered the traditional conception of human freedom obsolete, and outlines new possibilities for contemporary human liberation.

Publication history

''An Essay on Liberation'' was first published by

Beacon Press Beacon Press is an American left-wing non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is known for publishing authors such as James B ...

in 1969.

Reception

The author Brian Easlea writes that Marcuse, having in the past been attacked by Marxists for his "quite unambiguous indictment of science and perhaps feeling that he had directed too much attention away from the rulers of advanced industrial society", apparently "reversed direction" in ''An Essay on Liberation'' by endorsing science and technology as "great vehicles of liberation".

References

Bibliography

;Books * * 1969 non-fiction books Beacon Press books Contemporary philosophical literature English-language books Frankfurt School Social philosophy literature Works by Herbert Marcuse {{critical-theory-stub