Which one of the following is a claim that the author attributes to Marcuse?

Minerva on September 18, 2019

Why A?

I directly eliminated A because of lines 20-25. Isn't the author saying Marcuse's View is that people remain unsatisfied?

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SamA on September 19, 2019

Hello @Minerva,

I think I see why you are confused about answer choice A. It comes down to the difference between a false feeling of satisfaction and actual satisfaction.

According to Marcuse, advertisers manipulate real human needs, creating "psychological associations" between these needs and their consumer products. People might think they are satisfied when they buy these products, but Marcuse says they are not. According to line 25, "the consumer remains at some level unsatisfied." This is why answer choice A is correct.

Identifying details like this can be difficult. Pay attention to line 21. Marcuse implies that the false needs are replaced by false satisfaction, distracting people from their true need for fulfillment.