نظریه فرهنگ و عقلانیت در اندیشه هربرت مارکوزه

مسئله عقلانیت ابزاری و تکنولوژیکی، امروزه به‌عنوان یکی از مهم‌ترین مسائل و مشکلات جامعه مدرن معرفی شده است به‌گونه‌ای که فرهنگ صنعتی شده به‌شدت تحت تاثیر این عقلانیت قرار گرفته است. یکی از مهم‌ترین منتقدان چنین فرهنگی هربرت مارکوزه است. مارکوزه تلاش دارد ضمن مفصل بندی مفاهیمی مانند عقلانیت ابزاری و تکنولوژیکی و پیوند فرآیندهای صنعتی شدن سرمایه داری متاخر، نشان‎ دهد که چگونه این عقلانیت با استفاده از مازاد سرکوبی که برای شکل گیری تمدن ضروری است، اصل واقعیت را بر جهان حاکم کرده و با شکل دهی به نیازهای کاذب در قالب صنعت فرهنگ، به انقیاد گروه‎ های مختلف اجتماعی بپردازد. به باور مارکوزه، صرف تاکید بر عقلانیت تکنولوژیکی و تبعات آن در جامعه معاصر نمی تواند منجر به رهایی انسان و به تعبیر وی لوگوس زندگی باشد و نیازمند نوعی پراکسیس اجتماعی برای مقابله با آن هستیم. همچنین وی با تاسی از فروید، تلاش دارد تا با فراتررفتن از مفهوم نیاز و تبیین میل در مفصل بندی جامعه معاصر، مسیر مارکس برای مقابله با فرهنگ جامعه معاصر را گسترش دهد. در این جستار کوشش‎‎ شده تا ضمن توصیف و تبیین مفهوم عقلانیت ابزاری و تکنولوژیکی و تاثیرات آن بر فرهنگ معاصر، به بررسی ریشه های تاریخی و فکری چنین عقلانیتی پرداخته و نشان داده شده که مارکوزه راه برون‌رفت از این وضعیت را چه چیزی می داند. از همین رو، تلاش شده تا ضمن معرفی اندیشه های وی، مهم‌ترین نظریه پردازانی که بر اندیشه مارکوزه تاثیر گذاشته اند، ازجمله هایدگر، مارکس، فروید و هوسرل، به نقد صنعت فرهنگی پرداخته شد که تمام عرصه های زندگی روزمره ما را تحت سلطه خود درآورده است.

culture and rationality in herbert marcuse’s thought

extended abstract 1- introduction herbert marcuse, a preeminent political philosopher of the 20th century, left an indelible mark on social theories. shaped by the harrowing aftermath of the first world war, he became acutely aware of issues surrounding violence and humanitarian concerns, including the burgeoning awareness of environmental issues. marcuse’s distinctive contribution lies in his fusion of phenomenology and social philosophy, a synthesis that illuminates his analysis. upon emigrating to the united states, the conflagration of the second world war significantly influenced his intellectual evolution. it led him to scrutinize the technology-driven, consumer-centric american society through the lens of technological and instrumental rationality, a concept initially expounded by max weber decades earlier. in marcuse’s perspective, technological rationality serves as a yardstick for evaluating individual rationality. he posits that both people and their society are subjugated and manipulated by technology, which not only supplants human efforts across industries but permeates all aspects of life. consequently, instrumental rationality, technological rationality, their interplay with culture, and the intricate connections that society and culture establish through instrumental rationality constitute the focal points of analysis within the culture industry (german: kulturindustrie), a pivotal concept for marcuse and other luminaries of the frankfurt school. this study delves into marcuse’s viewpoints and theories regarding the repercussions of instrumental rationality in culture and human existence, which he coins as the logos of life. it also seeks to dissect his critique of the culture industry, rooted in the notion of technological domination, heavily influenced by martin heidegger’s insights. lastly, the study investigates the impact of sigmund freud’s concept of desire in marcuse’s articulation of technological rationality and its interaction with contemporary culture.2- theoretical framework herbert marcuse posits that reason operates through universal concepts, serving as the framework for organizing the boundless flow of human experience into a coherent and intelligible world. however, he acknowledges a longstanding philosophical insight dating back to plato, which recognizes the inherent incompleteness in the ordering function of reason. philosophers have thus sought to identify and elucidate the specific nature of this incompleteness. according to marcuse, concepts cannot be entirely reduced to particular instances. they possess a transcendent quality that is perceived by the experiencing subject as a sense of imperfection or incompleteness. therefore, he attributes this aspect to the realm of imagination rather than immediate perception, contending that only the imagination possesses the capacity to project beyond the given reality towards an ideal form. in marcuse’s framework, the imagination assumes a crucial role in rationality by directing the subject towards an existing, albeit unrealized, dimension of the experiential world. drawing upon hegelian terminology, he views the tension between the real and the ideal as the essence of the negative. consequently, the imagination is both a psychological faculty and a wellspring of creative insights into reality. by ascribing a cognitive function to the imagination, marcuse establishes a connection between ontology and psychology, rooted in sigmund freud’s theory of the imagination, a link he endeavors to develop further in his work, eros and civilization.