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How do new forms of social control under capitalism foreclose the possibility of social critique? In episode 156 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a deep dive into Herbert Marcuse’s 1964 classic, One-Dimensional Man. Marcuse analyzes how 1950s conformism narrows the private space of human thinking, turning us into one-dimensional beings. Your hosts talk about Marcuse’s diagnosis of life under capitalism, and his assessment of how analytic philosophy’s obsession with formal logic encourages conservatism and prevents us from subversive thought. In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts discuss what freedom looks like for Marcuse and how critical Marcuse would be of Overthink.

Works Discussed:Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional ManStephen Whitfield, “Refusing Marcuse: 50 Years After One-Dimensional Man”Paul Mattick, “One Dimensional Man In Class Society”

Highlight: False Needs

* Marcuse writes about a classic Marxist distinction between real/vital needs and false needs

* Real needs are objectively necessary for humans, e.g. food, shelter, and social contact

* False needs include a new phone or clothing from a specific brand

* The difference between real and false needs is not always evident to us

* We just experience all our needs as the same type of need

* Many of our false needs come from external forces that are serving other interests

* Advertising for a company will make us want that object, which ultimately benefits the company and not us

* Then, the false needs that have been fed to us distract from other, more substantive criticisms