Gonzales, Timothy Joseph C.

4PHL1

On Herbert Marcuse’s Rejection on the Democracy in the Context of Philippine Society

Today

Abstract:

In the midst of the fast phased development of the advanced society that we have today, a
brand new wave of oppression and domination had started, and is need of a strong counter-action
and movement from the masses. Marcuse calls this problem as One-Dimensional Thought, where
individuals continue to follow and obey the rules and norms standardized by the society and
system without any opposition. One-Dimensional Thought not only affects individuals in their
encounter with people and from their respective community, it also disorients and prevents them
from grasping higher possibilities of truth especially in the field of politics here in the
Philippines, where people are stuck in the idea that Democracy is limited only to the formal
processes such as elections, and have not extended to the deeper essences of Democracy like
maintenance of equality among all people and preservation of freedom and justice in the face of
law. This study aims to connect Marcuse’s One-Dimensional Thought in the Philippine political
context, specifically on the idea of democracy in our country which is considered to be flawed
and inadequate. I argue that the rejection of the democracy through Marcuse’s concept on
negation as a primordial solution to the problems that our society continue to face today, as a
result of the lack of knowledge to the true meaning of what Democracy really is.

Keywords: Democracy, Oppression, Domination, Freedom, and One-Dimensional Man