The Crisis of Contemporary Dasein and the Catastrophe of Human Existence in the Early Writings of Marcuse

Abstract

This article examines several specific moments in Herbert Marcuse’s early work by identifying a recurring theoretical concern that, according to our interpretation, underlies his broader philosophical project: the characterization of the crisis of human existence in capitalist societies. First, we analyze the essay On Concrete Philosophy (1929), in which Marcuse reformulates the very nature of philosophy in terms of a concrete philosophy and, in doing so, develops an analysis of the alienation and reification of contemporary Dasein. Second, we examine the young philosopher’s reading of the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, in which he finds a philosophical grounding for this crisis, interpreting and articulating it in ontological terms. Marcuse develops this account through a consideration of the Marxian concept of labor and its contrast with the concrete form it assumes under existing social conditions: alienated labor. We argue that these two moments are crucial to understanding how the young Marcuse conceives and articulates the crisis of contemporary existence. We further propose that some of the ideas emerging from Marcuse’s reflections on existence during this particular period can be understood as significant anticipations of positions he would later develop in his mature works.