Does Capitalism and the Culture Industry Create False Needs? A study of Marcuse, Adorno, and Horkheimer

• Author: Erbi Ago
• Position: Tirana Business University
• Pages: 88-92

ISSN 2410-3918 Academic Journal of Business, Administration, Law and Social Sciences Vol 1 No 2

Acces online at www.iipccl.org IIPCCL Publishing, Tirana-Albania July 2015

88

Does Capitalism and the Culture Industry Create False Needs? A study of

Marcuse, Adorno, and Horkheimer

Erbi Ago, GDL, LPC

Tirana Business University

Abstract

e world as we know it nowadays has evolved into an entity characterized by dierent political

and economic systems. Each of these systems aects human mentality in a certain way. When

focusing on capitalism and its culture industry, one cannot help but notice the dierent needs

that are created as a result of dierent components of this system. To achieve an understanding

of the needs, or rather, false needs created by the culture industry, a study of the latter would

be provided at rst. Furthermore, this paper aims at understanding whether it is only capitalism

that creates a culture of false and unnecessary needs, in order to create a studying basis for future

analysis where other systems could be analyzed and compared to the it. While implementing these

societal analyses, it can then be possible to implement positive aspects of other systems, at least

theoretically, into the capitalist system, providing therefore an economic system without false

needs. e framework of this paper was characterized by the analysis of the three main minds

that aected the Frankfurt School approach. Marx, Weber, and Lukacs’ theories were analyzed and

their eect to the critical theorists was compared with the main works of Adorno, Marcuse and

Horkheimer. Marx’s theory of commodity fetishism; Weber’s instrumental action and reasoning;

and Lukacs’ reication of consciousness were all concepts that aected the latter thinkers in one

way or another, allowing them to create a pivotal change in the academic and scholarly thinking

on capitalism. In essence, this paper will describe, list, and analyze the aspects of capitalism that

create our false needs.

Keywords: Capitalism, Economy, Politics, Psychology, Society.

Introduction

Many scholars have considered Herbert Marcuse’s Eros and Civilization as the most

signicant work in the study of the capitalist culture industry and its false needs, together

with eodor Adorno’s and Max Horkheimer’s Dialectic of Enlightenment (Katz, 1982,

151 & Durham-Peters, 2003, 66). ese works represent a stepping stone as well as an

important development in the formation of the Critical eory focused on the human

capitalist interests (Outhwaite, 1988, 5-8). ese theories came to be in the early 20th

century. However, whether a theory is right or wrong is a subject that should always be

studied. It is important to see whether what a theory claims is true. On this point, this

paper will examine whether the culture industry creates false needs; arguing that it does

in fact do so, supporting the theories of the previously mentioned proponents.

is analysis will focus on scholars such as Marx, Weber, and Lukacs, who really gave

what could be considered the start of this theory. is will allow pointing out what the