In his written works, he criticized capitalism , modern technology, Soviet Communism , and popular culture , arguing that they represent new forms of social control. Between and , Marcuse worked in U. In the s and the s, he became known as the pre-eminent theorist of the New Left and the student movements of West Germany , France , and the United States ; some consider him "the Father of the New Left". His Marxist scholarship inspired many radical intellectuals and political activists in the s and s, both in the United States and internationally.
Marcuse's family was a German upper-middle-class Jewish family that was well integrated into German society. Marcuse's formal education began at Mommsen Gymnasium and continued at the Kaiserin-Augusta Gymnasium in Charlottenburg from to He would sit out his entire military service in Germany. While in Berlin, he managed to secure permission to attend lectures at the university of Berlin while still on active duty.
In , he attended the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin, taking classes for four semesters. In , he transferred to the University of Freiburg to concentrate on German literature, philosophy, politics, and economics.
Two years later he married Sophie Wertheim, a mathematician. He returned to Freiburg in to study with Edmund Husserl and write a habilitation with Martin Heidegger , which was published in as Hegel's Ontology and the Theory of Historicity Hegels Ontologie und die Theorie der Geschichtlichkeit. This study was written in the context of the Hegel Renaissance that was taking place in Europe with an emphasis on Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel 's ontology of life and history, idealist theory of spirit and dialectic.
In , Marcuse stopped working with Heidegger, who joined the Nazi Party in Marcuse understood that he would not qualify as a professor under the Nazi regime. The Institute deposited their endowment in Holland in anticipation of the Nazi takeover, so Marcuse never actually worked in the school there.
