Beyond the performance principle: an analysis of the influence of the Hegelian dialectic on Marcuse's immanent critique in Eros and civilization

Abstract

The objective of this research is to understand Hegel's influence on Eros and Civilization, based on an analysis of the conceptions of dialectics, negativity and immanent criticism, as mobilized by Marcuse in this work in order to think about overcoming the principle of performance. The hypothesis that guides this research is that the framework of analysis of the Hegelian dialectic is continually mobilized by the author on the path that leads him to Eros and civilization - something that can be observed in the mobilization of elements of the dialectic of modal categories in the transition between the two parts of the work - even if the author departs from Hegel at some points. The first of them, already evident in Reason and Revolution, corresponds to a materialist inflection, mediated by Marx, which replaces Hegel's ontological focus with the task of understanding and engaging in social reality. The second concerns the incorporation of the instinctual dimension in the analysis of this reality, via Freud, in Eros and civilization. With this in mind, this work will be carried out in two stages. In the first one, the aim is to analyze the model of immanent criticism resulting from the rescue that Marcuse makes of Hegel, mediated by Marx, in the book of 1941 and in the preface of 1960. Then, we will analyze how this model operates in Eros and Civilization.