Critique of one-dimensional society must stand outside it yet remain historically grounded

Evidence

An attempt to recapture the critical intent of these categories, and to understand how the intent was cancelled by the social reality, appears from the outset to be regression from a theory joined with historical practice to abstract, speculative thought: from the critique of political economy to philosophy. This ideological character of the critique results from the fact that the analysis is forced to proceed from a position “outside” the positive as well as negative, the productive as well as destructive tendencies in society. Modern industrial society is the pervasive identity of these opposites—it is the whole that is in question. At the same time, the position of theory cannot be one of mere speculation. It must be a historical position in the sense that it must be grounded on the capabilities of the given society. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 95

Categorization

• XREF: Bridges to the Frankfurt School chapter on why the critique of instrumental reason must proceed dialectically from a standpoint Adorno admitted was theoretically unclear. — connects to: Transcendent critique loses force as society grows more one-dimensional — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry: Selected Essays…, 50; A critique of modernity that stays within modernity’s framework only reinforces it; Postmodernism abolishes the inside-outside distinction that modernism still presupposed — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 259 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Transcendent critique loses force as society grows more one-dimensional #qualifies (0.85) — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 50
• Postmodernism abolishes the inside-outside distinction that modernism still presupposed #contradicts (0.85) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 259
• A critique of modernity that stays within modernity’s framework only reinforces it #corroborates (0.80)
• Postmodernism theory cannot produce a stable inside-outside position for its own observers #contradicts (0.80)
• Reading a society’s direction requires informed detachment #expands (0.75) — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 734