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REVIEW
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pivot of dialectical thought. Now, we read in Marcuse's "Philosophy
and Critical Theory," an article published in 1937:
But what if the evolution foreseen by Critical Theory doesn't take
place, if the forces which should bring about change are repulsed
and seem to be beaten? To the extent that the truth of the theory
itself is not weakened by the fact, it can be seen in a new light,
illuminating new aspects of its subject. Many facets of the theory
thus take on a different weight, giving it more distinctly the char–
acter of a critioal theory....
Like philosophy, critical theory is opposed to any justice which
accepts reality as it is, to any complacent positivism; but, con–
trary to philosophy, it develops its goals only on the basis of the
actual tendencies of the social process. Thus it does not fear being
reproached as utopian, as ideas of new orders customarily are.
If
truth is not realizable within the existing social order it will always
appear utopian to that order. Such a transcendence doesn't speak
against its truth, but for it. For a long time the utopian element
has been the only progressive element
in
philosophy; hence con–
structs of a better State, of the greatest possible pleasure, of
perfect happiness, of eternal peace, etc. . . . The stubbornness
born of a partisanship to the defence of truth against all appear–
ances has been replaced today in philosophy by extravagance
[schrullenhaftigkeit]
and unlimited opportunism. Critical theory
remains faithful to such stubbornness in so far as it is a real quality
of philosophical thought. The current situation displays it even
more conspicuously; retreat has come at a moment when economic
conditions for the transformation had been realized. . ..
I have quoted this long passage because it indicates clearly
the effect of the victory of National Socialism and Stalinism on the
evolution of Marcuse's thought (and probably on that of the entire
Frankfurt School). The defeat of progressive forces may have
rendered official philosophy completely reactionary, but it brought
"critical theory" back to Utopia, from a going beyond philosophy to
progressive positions within philosophy.
Did Marcuse and the Frankfurt School go over to Ernst Bloch's
position? Not completely, because Bloch continued to develop an
optimistic utopianism while Marcuse, Horkheimer and Adorno ap–
plied themselves to the criticism of existing social reality and the
cultural life, while pointing out the retrograde aspects of the rational–
ism of earlier periods. Without denying the existence of a connection
between Bloch's position and that of the Frankfurt group, one could
