Marcuse’s central commitment was belief in the primacy of correct theory over practice.

Evidence

Along with this attitude went an acknowledgment of the necessity of voluntarism and praxis. Still, like the other members of the Frankfurt School, Marcuse felt that the senior partner in the relationship between theory and practice was clearly the former: “Theory will preserve the truth even if revolutionary practice deviates from its proper path. Practice follows the truth, not vice versa.” 178 Even in his later years, when unlike Horkheimer and Adorno he was to look favorably on activist protest, at no time did Marcuse abandon this faith in the primacy of correct theory. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 295

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the general Frankfurt School theory/practice tension — critical theory’s insistence that theory leads praxis, elaborated throughout the tradition (e.g., Horkheimer’s ‘Traditional and Critical Theory’). — connects to: Marcuse retained a faith in reason’s realization that the others lacked. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 271; Marcuse justified government war work by treating theory-practice unity as utopian — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 297
• ADDENDUM: Relevant to the essays on sacrifice as care of the dead? No — this is about theory/praxis, not corpses. No addendum applies.