Political crises pushed Marcuse toward Freud and a utopian radicalism

Evidence

It was not, however, until the disturbing implications of the Spanish Civil War and the Moscow purge trials that Marcuse began to read Freud seriously. A growing dissatisfaction with Marxism, even in its Hegelianized form, led him as it had Horkheimer and Adorno to examine the psychological obstacles in the path of meaningful social change. Whereas in their cases it strengthened a deepening pessimism and helped foster a retreat from political activism, in his, it led to a reaffirmation of the utopian dimension of his radicalism. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 367

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Robinson’s psychobiography of Marcuse and the broader question of why the Frankfurt School turned to psychoanalysis in exile. — connects to: Marcuse’s move from revolution to academia followed the failure of the German revolution; Marcuse’s early project merged Heideggerian phenomenology with Marx against Engels’ naturalism — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 274; The Institute’s turn to Freud’s pessimism grew from deepening political despair. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 363 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Marcuse’s rationalism and identity-thinking delayed his engagement with psychoanalysis #qualifies (0.85) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 365
• Heidegger’s Nazi affiliation routed Marcuse into the Frankfurt School. #complicates (0.75) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 14