Marcuse, Herbert

German-born US political philosopher. His theories combining Marxism and Freudianism influenced radical thought in the 1960s and 1970s. He preached the overthrow of the existing social order by using the system's very tolerance to ensure its defeat; he was not an advocate of violent revolution.

Marcuse was born in Berlin and became an influential member of the Frankfurt School. In 1934 he moved to the USA as a refugee from Hitler's Germany and taught philosophy at several universities, including Columbia 1934–40, Brandeis 1954–65, and the University of California at San Diego 1965–79. He wrote several books, including Eros and Civilization (1955) and One-Dimensional Man (1964).