Both slave and master embody Reason and Unreason together.

Evidence

But now essence and appearance, “is” and “ought,” confront each other in the conflict between actual forces and capabilities in the society. And they confront each other, not as Reason and Unreason, Right and Wrong—for both are part and parcel of the same established universe, both partaking of Reason and Unreason, Right and Wrong. The slave is capable of abolishing the masters and of cooperating with them; the masters are capable of improving the life of the slave and of improving his exploitation. The idea of Reason pertains to the movement of thought and of action. It is a theoretical and a practical exigency. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 535

Categorization

  • XREF: Foreshadows the later one-dimensionality thesis: where contradictions are flattened, the slave-master tension itself disappears as a thinkable object. — connects to: Hegel’s master-slave struggle frames identity and otherness as dialectical opposites that transform over time. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 202; The concept of ideology has always been shadowed by its opposite, Truth and Reason.

Broader Connections