Abstract

The critique of ideology is one of the most interesting theoretical development articulated by some members of the Frankfurt School during the '30s of the 20th century. Starting from the concept of «affirmative culture», which was crucial in the reflection of the young Marcuse, the essay analyzes the most original elements of this pattern, where the ideal of «transcendence from within» of the experience of late-capitalist societies is already developed. Nowadays, that same ideal is at the core of the debates concerning the foundations and instruments of a critical theory of society.