All social theory presupposes the judgment that life ought to be made worth living

Evidence

To investigate the roots of these developments and examine their historical alternatives is part of the aim of a critical theory of contemporary society, a theory which analyzes society in the light of its used and unused or abused capabilities for improving the human condition. But what are the standards for such a critique? … 1. the judgment that human life is worth living, or rather can be and ought to be made worth living. This judgment underlies all intellectual effort; it is the a priori of social theory, and its rejection (which is perfectly logical) rejects theory itself; 2. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 87

Categorization

• DEFINE: Grounds critical theory’s normative baseline in the a priori value judgment — essential for understanding how Marcuse justifies critique.
• QUESTION: The claim that rejecting this judgment ‘rejects theory itself’ is a strong, contestable move worth chasing — is nihilism really self-consistent?