Losing the fact-potential distinction makes thought submit to existing society

Evidence

Rooting his conception in Hegel’s dialectical philosophy, Marcuse insists on the importance of distinguishing between existence and essence, fact and potential, and appearance and reality. One-dimensional thought is not able to make these distinctions and thus submits to the power of the existing society, deriving its view of the world and mode of behavior from existing practices and modes of thought. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 40

Categorization

• DEFINE: Definitional grounding of one-dimensional thought as the loss of dialectical distinctions.
• XREF: Hegelian essence/appearance distinction here maps onto later critiques of algorithmic rationality flattening potential. — connects to: Industrial progress destroys the conception of the person as a bearer of reason; Philosophy’s task is resisting the status quo’s suggestive compulsion; Critical Theory grounds truth claims in possible futures rather than present facts — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 302 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• A claim’s falsity does not bar it from structuring thought #expands (0.85) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 179