tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425514987715337437.post4743162742141063037..comments2024-03-26T22:47:45.276-07:00Comments on Intro to Critical Reading: Art and MaterialismAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425514987715337437.post-83696863257092391202011-02-06T10:33:02.481-08:002011-02-06T10:33:02.481-08:00Marcuse's views of mass production are complic...Marcuse's views of mass production are complicated, and you may be oversimplifying them. I'm also not completely sure that he would have taken Whitman, operating over a century earlier, to be a true representative of "advanced industrial culture." Maybe surprisingly, I still liked your opening - because you do a good job of setting up a problem and/or area of inquiry from the very start.<br /><br />Accusing Marcuse of nostalgia is a very smart line of attack. There is a great danger of oversimplication when doing so: we need to remember that he does, in fact, believe that our society has enormous advantages over past societites, which need to be preserved and extended. But it is quite possible that he is nostalgic for some aspects of the past, even as he tries to defend against nostalgia. Related problems in Marcuse's thought are central to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Heidegger-Marcuse-Catastrophe-Redemption-History/dp/0415941784" rel="nofollow">this book</a>, which might be the best book on Marcuse's thought around.<br /><br />Re: the third paragraph. The core of your argument seems to be that Whitman would argue that he is not materialistic. You're right! However, just because *he* doesn't understand himself that way doesn't mean that *we* or *Marcuse* are obligated to agree. This is a class in *critical* reading. You might end up agreeing with Whitman's self-assessment - but you should be able to say why.<br /><br />Overall: I like a lot of the material here, but I don't like the organization (even after you changed it). It's not clear to me why we should just assume that Marcuse would find Whitman to be a member of "advanced industrial culture." It's also not clear to me why we should take Whitman's self-evaluation at face value. I think accusations of nostalgia are an excellent weapon against Marcuse's critique, but to use them well would require a much more reading of Marcuse's text. <br /><br />In short, you have some great ideas, but the execution isn't there yet; all of these ideas need a deeper, more critical exploration to work, despite their merit strictly as ideas.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425514987715337437.post-72687491896274170302011-02-06T09:48:01.192-08:002011-02-06T09:48:01.192-08:00I just did a little rearranging of the paragraphs,...I just did a little rearranging of the paragraphs, somehow they got mixed up in my posting this essay. If you read it before, I'm sorry. My bad.Kaelihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15760504545816770970noreply@blogger.com