An exponent of the Frankfurt school of critical philosophy, [Herbert] Marcuse [1898–1979] became a major influence on the New Left. He argues that capitalism enslaves individuals through advertising and consumerism. (Author Note from The Reader's Catalog)

"...Having become a member of the Social Democratic Party while a student at the University of Freiburg, Marcuse joined the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research in 1932 and became its most widely read spokesperson. He fled to Geneva in 1933 when Hitler came to power, then went to the United States in 1934, where he taught at Columbia University and became a US citizen in 1940. His Reason & Revolution, written in 1941, made an important contribution to the understanding of Hegel and his influence on Marx.

An intelligence analyst for the U.S. Army during World War II, he headed the Central European Section of the Office of Intelligence Research after the war. He returned to teaching in 1951 at Columbia and Harvard, Brandeis University (1954–65), and the University of California at San Diego (1965–76), where after retirement he was honorary emeritus professor of philosophy until his death.

A Hegelian-Freudian-Marxist, Marcuse highlighted the cultural forms of repression and the role of technology and the expansion of the production of consumer goods in the maintenance of the stability of capitalism. Marcuse observed that Post-War prosperity had managed to keep the masses intellectually and spiritually captive and his later works are permeated with pessimism. Although a open critic of the established order, Marcuse did not applaud the 1968 demonstrations by students, many of whom were his readers, believing the demonstrations to be misguided: “I still consider the American University an oasis of free speech and real critical thinking in the society,” he said. “Any student movement should try to protect this citadel . . . [but] try to radicalise the departments inside the university.”

Among his major writings are Reason and Revolution (1941), Eros and Civilisation (1955), One-Dimensional Man (1964) and Studies in Critical Philosophy (1972)." (from marxists.org)