February 23, 2005
On Herbert Marcuse
As a Germanist, an object of perennial fascination for me is the influence of emigre German intellectuals (fleeing the Nazis) in the US--a topic that has reemerged recently with all the literature about Leo Strauss. A similar figure, though ideologically opposed, is Herbert Marcuse, who became famous in the late 60s as the intellectual "father" of the New Left. He even had the honor of being publically denounced by such defenders of virtue as Spiro Agnew (who, in great form, couldn't pronounce Marcuse's name). Marcuse, it seems, was actively corrupting the youth of San Diego (he had already been forced out of Brandeis University in Boston).
There's an interesting student documentary about Marcuse called "Herbert's Hippopotamus" that I found via the Marcuse family website. There's some great footage on Ronald Reagan's tenure as governer of California and his battle with the campus Left.
There is also a link to an amusing article published in Playboy magazine (in 69) describing one of Marcuse's speaking engagments that takes full advantage of the comic potential--an old-fashioned philosopher with a strong German accent being seen by New Lefters as some kind of orgiastic guru.