Herbert Marcuse

The tradition of modern liberalism can be criticized for obligating individuals to renounce, and remain
estranged from, who it is that they essentially are

In Eros and Civilization, Herbert Marcuse puts forward a blazing critique of the tradition of modern
liberalism. He employs key Freudian concepts and delves into their biological necessities in order to
synthesize them with Marxs theory of how the lives of the proletariat are dictated by the needs of the
bourgeoisie. The main objective of this conjunction is to elucidate how the contemporary capitalist
tradition, with modern liberalism as its cornerstone, is organized along the performance principle. For
Marcuse, this principle is a repressive force which ultimately leads to alienation in the individual. Freud
purports that a civilized society is predicated upon the fact that human beings have to repress their
instinctual needs and sublimate them in line with the reality principle. Although this establishes a
universal code of conduct and, in effect, allows society to function in harmony, it is a repressive force.
The price of civilization for Freud is, thus, repression and the sacrifice of the primary sexual drives of an
individual. Marcuse builds upon this repressive force of civilization as purported by Freud but asserts
that while the reality principle and sublimation (to some extent) are instrumental for the progress and
development of the society as a whole, civilization is not founded entirely upon relationships of
domination, unfreedom and surplus repression caused by social domination. Marcuse attempts to
juxtapose the Freudian notion of organized domination with the Marxist theory of estrangement and
highlights the fact that the existing capitalist social structure originates because of the performance
principle which promotes delayed satisfaction rather than immediate gratification, work in place of play
and productiveness as a substitute for receptiveness. The performance principle is an offshoot of the
reality principle and aims to manipulate individuals and turn them into the functional tools working to
satisfy the interests of the bourgeoisie. Marcuse criticizes the current educational system and blames it
for producing a subservient working class molded to be dominated by the capitalists. He further argues
that while an adults day is measured in terms of mere labor hours, and modes of entertainment are
also controlled by the bourgeoisie, individuals become the apparatus for the capitalists to realize their
needs. The individual has no actual control over his life and is simply a means to meet the ends
determined by the ones in power.