Alienation: Difference between revisions
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== Alienation from Human Nature == | == Alienation from Human Nature == | ||
According to Marx, the distinct human ability is the ability to shape the world according to one's needs and desires. But in capitalist societies, labour is coerced and not done independently, thus it is not labour according to free human nature. And it is those who force labour that profit from it whereas the deprived ones are only exploited without benefits. Thus, the workers' human nature is neglected and they are alienated from it. As a conclusion a single worker cannot foresee the consequences of his/her labour or the side effects it might have on nature or on others. | According to [[Karl Marx|Marx]], the distinct human ability is the ability to shape the world according to one's needs and desires. But in capitalist societies, labour is coerced and not done independently, thus it is not labour according to free human nature. And it is those who force labour that profit from it whereas the deprived ones are only exploited without benefits. Thus, the workers' human nature is neglected and they are alienated from it. As a conclusion a single worker cannot foresee the consequences of his/her labour or the side effects it might have on nature or on others. | ||
Another factor is that, normally, demand controls production. In capitalist societies, there is an overproduction of goods which leads to a lack of enjoying the success of producing goods that others need. Instead, workers feel that their creativity and labour power is exhausted and redundant by the fact that they produce more than society can consume. | Another factor is that, normally, demand controls production. In capitalist societies, there is an overproduction of goods which leads to a lack of enjoying the success of producing goods that others need. Instead, workers feel that their creativity and labour power is exhausted and redundant by the fact that they produce more than society can consume. | ||
Revision as of 18:33, 16 January 2012
The Encyclopedia Britannica defines alienation as "the state of feeling estranged or separated from one’s milieu, work, products of work, or self." The term has been in use since Plato, but Karl Marx was the one to use it explicitly and defined alienation in detail in The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts in 1844. He names four aspects of alienation that become visible in a capitalist society:
Alienation from the Product of Labour
The worker is alienated from the products, because he/she does not invent them or exchange or use them. They are in the possession of the capitalist he/she works for. Although he/she might have the desire to own the products or work with them creatively, he/she will never be allowed, because they are not his/her. Thus, workers do not have any relationship to the goods they are working with. This is intensified by the fact that the harder they work, the more will the power and value of the system above them increase. The more effective they produce the lesser will their personal value be. With their creativity and labour power they increase the value of the product and the less they will be paid. Instead of fulfillment they become exhausted and are paid with an amount of money which can never have the same value as the effort they put into their labour.
Alienation from the Labour Process
The labour process is defined by the lack of control workers have over the work process. The workers' power is even turned into its opposite. Their creativity and power are turned into exhaustion and impotence. By dividing the labour into parts (Adam Smith's "division of labour"), the individual worker has less responsibility and decreases in value. Workers feel alienated from the labour process because it is fragmented into so many parts that they lose the overview of the overall production. The task itself becomes unchallenging and meaningless through the fragmentation. Thereby, a worker has no chance to identify with the end product.
Alienation from Human Beings
As a result of a class society, workers are also alienated from their fellow human beings. They see the products of their labour as something hostile and alien to them, something that is independent from them. In addition, they also only see their fellow beings in the products they use. They do not know each other personally but through their representation of different levels of production, the personification of capital, land or labour. Therefore, new products are not produced to meet our needs or enhance our development, but to evoke needs and exploit them for making more profit.
Alienation from Human Nature
According to Marx, the distinct human ability is the ability to shape the world according to one's needs and desires. But in capitalist societies, labour is coerced and not done independently, thus it is not labour according to free human nature. And it is those who force labour that profit from it whereas the deprived ones are only exploited without benefits. Thus, the workers' human nature is neglected and they are alienated from it. As a conclusion a single worker cannot foresee the consequences of his/her labour or the side effects it might have on nature or on others.
Another factor is that, normally, demand controls production. In capitalist societies, there is an overproduction of goods which leads to a lack of enjoying the success of producing goods that others need. Instead, workers feel that their creativity and labour power is exhausted and redundant by the fact that they produce more than society can consume.
Conclusion
As a conclusion it can be said that according to Marx's theory of alienation, workers in a capitalist, industrial class society are dehumanised and exploited and reduced to means of production without a right to individuality.
In terms of the concept itself, the Encyclopedia Britannica states that researchers tested the concept of alienation in urban areas and on assembly workers and got ambiguous results. Therefore, it should be used with caution but can still be helpful as a philosophical term.
Sources:
- Cox, Judy. "An Introduction to Marx's Theory of Alienation". International Socialism. Quarterly Journal of the Socialist Workers Party (Britain). Issue 79, 1998. http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj79/cox.htm Web. 06. Dec. 2011.
- Nielsen, Wayne. "Notes on Marx's Theory of Alienation". Mosaic 2,1 (1968). 123-129.
- "Alienation." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/15408/alienation>.
- "Modernization." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/387301/modernization>.