Reason and Revolution: Hegel and the Rise of Social Theory - Softcover

Herbert Marcuse

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0391029991 ISBN 13: 9780391029996

Publisher: Humanities Press, 1989

Synopsis

A masterful interpretation of Hegel's philosophy in its bearing on European thought from the time of the French Revolution to the present. Professor Marcuse presents an extensive analysis of Hegel's system, placing special emphasis upon his earlier writings. These writings throw new light on the origin and structure of the dialectic logic, causing Hegel's philosophy to appear in a different aspect. Its basic concepts reveal a concrete historical content and a critical and destructive impact which is not concealed even by Hegel's later acceptance of the Prussian state. The relation between Hegel and Marx thus becomes much closer and more essential than in the traditional interpretation. The author goes on to demonstrate this relation through an analysis of the fundamental principles of Marx's dialectic theory of society, and verifies his conclusions by examining the development of post-Hegelian social and political theory. Finally, he deals with the place of Neo-Hegelianism in the rise of modern authoritarianism. First published in England in 1940, the reissue of this book includes an Epilogue, written in 1954, in which the author briefly analyses developments and changes in social and political theory, occasioned by the challenge which the Soviet Union presents to our philosophy of society and the individual.

About this title

About the Author

Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979) was a philosopher, sociologist, and political theorist. He studied at the University of Berlin and the University of Freiburg, and became a crucial figure in the Frankfurt School of social theory. He left Germany in the 1930s and settled in the United States, where he would spend much of his life and taught at many of the country's greatest schools and universities. He is the author of One-Dimensional Man, Eros and Civilization, and many other books.

Edition details

• Publisher: Humanities Press
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0391029991
• ISBN 13: 9780391029996
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 448