法兰克福学派的媒介理论具有否定性、悲观性、宏观性和思辨性等特点。积极意义上的评价是相当有限的,本雅明可算是一个特例。本雅明以一种开放和宽容的立场来看待机械复制时代和大众媒介。麦克卢汉虽未与他有直接的师承关系,但他的理论却与本雅明的美学思想有着某种精神上的渊源关系。在麦克卢汉那里,我们可以看到他对本雅明的三点继承和发展:一是对“媒介”概念的理解;二是对媒介社会的乐观态度;三是日渐明显的技术论倾向。 The Frankfurt School’s media theory is negative, pessimistic, macroscopic and speculative. Positive evaluation is quite limited, Benjamin can be a special case. Benjamin viewed the era of mechanical reproduction and the mass media in an open and tolerant position. Although McLuhan does not have a direct relationship with him, his theory has a certain spiritual relationship with Benjamin’s aesthetic thought. At McLuhan, we can see his three-point succession and development of Benjamin: one is the understanding of the concept of “medium”; the other is optimism about the media society; and the third is the increasingly obvious tendency toward technology.