Exploring Ecological Art on the Basis of Marcuse’s Ecological Aesthetic Thought

Abstract

Regarding the practical study of Marcuse’s aesthetic thought, current scholars have neglected the phenomenon to a certain extent, failing to fully incorporate his ecocritical thought and comprehensively recognize the practical value of his aesthetic dimension. Marcuse points out that consumer society and technological abuse have led to aesthetic deprivation, indirectly exacerbating the ecological crisis, and emphasizes the functions of artistic emancipation, such as negativity and prediction, which constitute the prerequisites for the ecological revolution. On this basis, he further elaborates the specific path for the organic integration of ecology and aesthetics, i.e., reconstructing the concept of ecological rationality, promoting the philosophy of life, emphasizing the aesthetics of nature, cultivating aesthetic sensibilities, exploring new forms of aesthetics, and establishing new aesthetic values.