Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969)

still missing

Walter Benjamin (1892-1940)

That which is known or surmised about Benjamin's life and about the development of his thinking has already played a very conspicuous role in heated debates among his interpreters. Even basic documentation is far from complete. Some material has been lost, some of it is inaccessible, and the wealth of material now made readily available is the subject of continuing controversy. The many facts, documents, memoirs, letters, drafts available are so minutely examined, and each new statement, or discovery, so eagerly awaited because the picture we have is so strange, so complex and so riddled with tension. Benjamin's habits of secrecy and indirectness, together with the personal and political incompatibilities which surrounded him, and the profoundly original and experimental nature of his intellectual project have combined to keep almost every aspect of his life open to debate. There are few writers in whom the entanglements of 'life' and 'work' are so obvious, so important, and yet so elusive. There have been few thinkers in this century who have tackled so many of the most profound issues in such a searching, and suggestive way. Understanding his work involves understanding the life which he devoted to it; it is a collective labour which is still in process.

Jürgen Habermas (1929 - )

still missing

Axel Honneth (1949 - )

still missing

Max Horkheimer (1895-1973)

still missing

Otto Kirchheimer (1905-1965)

still missing

Leo Löwenthal (1900-1993)

still missing

Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979)

Herbert Marcuse gained world renown during the 1960s as a philosopher, social theorist, and political activist, celebrated in the media as "father of the New Left." University professor and author of many books and articles, Marcuse won notoriety when he was perceived as both an influence on and defender of the "New Left" in the United States and Europe. His theory of "one-dimensional" society provided critical perspectives on contemporary capitalist and state communist societies and his notion of "the great refusal" won him renown as a theorist of revolutionary change and "liberation from the affluent society." Consequently, he became one of the most influential intellectuals in the United States during the 1960s and into the 1970s. And yet, ultimately, it may be his contributions to philosophy that are most significant and in this entry I shall attempt to specify Marcuse's contributions to contemporary philosophy and his place in the narrative of continental philosophy.

As a member of the Institute for Social Research, Marcuse soon became deeply involved in their interdisciplinary projects which included working out a model for critical social theory, developing a theory of the new stage of state and monopoly capitalism, articulating the relationships between philosophy, social theory, and cultural criticism, and providing a systematic analysis and critique of German fascism. Marcuse deeply identified with the "Critical Theory" of the Institute and throughout his life was close to Max Horkheimer, T.W. Adorno, and others in the Institute's inner circle.

_One-Dimensional Man_ was followed by a series of books and articles which articulated New Left politics and critiques of capitalist societies in "Repressive Tolerance" (1965), _An Essay on Liberation_ (1969), and _Counterrevolution and Revolt_ (1972). "Repressive Tolerance" attacked liberalism and those who refused to take a stand during the controversies of the 1960s. It won Marcuse the reputation of being an intransigent radical and ideologue for the Left. _An Essay on Liberation_ celebrated all of the existing liberation movements from the Viet Cong to the hippies and exhilarated many radicals while further alienating establishment academics and those who opposed the movements of the 1960s. _Counterrevolution and Revolt_, by contrast, articulates the new realism that was setting in during the early 1960s when it was becoming clear that the most extravagant hopes of the 1960s were being dashed by a turn to the right and "counterrevolution" against the 1960s.