关键词: 社会批判, 生命政治, 非压抑性文明, 满足的逻辑, 压抑性文明, 新人类

Abstract: Among contemporary Western critical theories of society, the critical theory developed by the Frankfurt School is unique because of its distinct political standpoint. As one of the most prominent members of the Frankfurt School, Marcuse produces his version of critical theory of society that outlines an alternative plan for radical social change under the guidance of his biopolitical conception. Combining the perspectives of Marxism, existentialism, Freudianism, the New Left and others alike, and referring to the experience of contemporary Western new social movements, Marcuse discusses the dialectics of liberation that the society transitions from repressive civilization to nonrepressive civilization. He regards biopolitics as the politicization of erotic energies and the resistance initiated by individual bodies and minds, and labels it “firstperson politics”. From this firstperson biopolitical perspective, Marcuse puts forward a theory of human liberation that is different from the classic Marxist theory, and thus to a certain extent, has influenced the New Left's theory of social change today. 

Key words: social criticism, biopolitics, non-repressive civilization, logic of satisfaction, repressive civilization, the new human beings