An Essay on Liberation

In this concise and startling book, the author of One-Dimensional Man argues that the time for utopian speculation has come. Marcuse argues that the traditional conceptions of human freedom have been rendered obsolete by the development of advanced industrial society. Social theory can no longer content itself with repeating the formula, from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs, but must now investigate the nature of human needs themselves. Marcuse's claim is that even if production were controlled and determined by the workers, society would still be repressiveunless the workers themselves had the needs and aspirations of free men. Ranging from philosophical anthropology to aesthetics An Essay on Liberationattempts to outlinein a highly speculative and tentative fashionthe new possibilities for human liberation. The Essaycontains the following chapters: A Biological Foundation for Socialism?, The New Sensibility, Subverting Forcesin Transition, and Solidarity.