Eros, Marxism, Beauty

Eros and Civilization can be understood as Marcuse's attempt to supply Marxism with a Psychological theory--a Dialectics of Egoism, in which Dialectical Materialism and Egoism are interpreted as the Freudian concepts Eros and Narcissism, respectively.  Accordingly, his project inherits one of the flaws of Freud's model--an abstraction from the role of Beauty in the myth of Narcissus, as has been previously discussed.  Now, Beauty is systematically related to Eros, and is a cardinal topic in any Aesthetic theory.  So, that flaw is more consequential for Marcuse than it if for Freud.  For, the purported comprehensiveness of Marxism requires accommodation of the relation between Dialectical Materialism and Beauty, as well as an integration of Aesthetic theory into Social theory.