Karl Marx : Is Alienation A Systematic Result Of Capitalism?

In the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Karl Marx identifies a dichotomy that is created and bolstered by the capitalist mode of production. In this mode of production, the dichotomy presents itself in a division of labor that forms of two kinds of people: capitalists, the owners of the means of production, and laborers, those who work under the domain of the capitalist. Marx harshly criticizes this mode of production, arguing that it exploits the laborer and estranges him from himself and his fellow man. According to Marx, this large-scale estrangement is achieved through a causal chain of effects that results in multiple types of alienation, each contingent upon the other. First, Marx asserts that under capitalism, the laborer is alienated from his product of labor. Second, because of this alienation from his product, man is also alienated then from the act of production. Third, man, in being alienated both from his product and act of production, is alienated from his species essence, which Marx believes to be the ability to create and build up an objective world. Finally, after this series of alienations, Marx arrives at his grand conclusion that capitalist labor causes man to be alienated from his fellow man. In this paper, I will argue in support of Marx’s chain of alienations, arriving at the conclusion that laborers, under the capitalist mode of production, cannot retain their species essence and thus cannot connect with one another, and exist in a world

Alienation from oneself. This type of Alienation robs a person of all they can be and contribute in the world. As stated Marx believed that what we contribute to the world in terms of our work is part of our species essence or what makes us human. What we the people contribute to the world is a manifestation of our creativity and creativity is an essential part of human nature and our product based society. Many people are now alienated from their very human nature. People lose their sense of self and who they are. Based on Marx people live to work rather than work being an extension of our being. And in the end, we are not in control of our own

In terms of Marx’s theory of alienation, it is comprised of four parts. They are: alienation from the product, alienation from

Marx’s theory of alienation is the process by which social organized productive powers are experienced as external or alien forces that dominate the humans that create them. He believes that production is man’s act on nature and on himself. Man’s relationship with nature is his relationship with his tools, or means of production. Man’s relationship with himself is fundamentally his relationship to others. Since production is a social concept to Marx, man’s relationship with other men is the relations of production. Marx’s theory of alienation specifically

As human beings, one of the most fundamental aspects of our existence, according to philosopher Karl Marx, is the act of work. More specifically, it is the idea that work fulfills human being’s essence. Work, for Marx, is a great source of joy, but only when the worker can see themselves in the work they do, and when said worker wants to partake in the work they are performing. In the capitalist identity, workers are “a class of labourers, who live only so long as they find work, and who find work only so long as their labour increases capital” (Marx and Engel, 1946, pg. 116). Labourers were simply described as “a commodity” (Marx and Engel, 1946, pg. 117) by the ruling class; they are but pieces of a large, intricate gear system, all for the profit of those above them. In this, the worker loses touch with their essence. This concept is referred to, more or less, as alienation. Alienation is a form of separation of how one sees themselves, and how one sees themselves in what they do. Alienation, in many ways, relates to the idea of false consciousness. False consciousness, for Marx, revolves around the idea of misleading society; It is an ideological way of thinking in which no true perception of the world can be achieved. Both alienation and false consciousness delve into the notion of what constitutes true reality. Alienation describes how those that are controlled by the ruling class are subject to a form of disconnect, and false consciousness is a hierarchal idea in

Karl Marx is undeniably one of the most influential philosophical thinkers that emerged in the 19th century. His ideas were ignored during his time, however they’ve gained wide recognition in the years after his death and are still widely called upon today during many philosophical, social, and economic debates. Amongst his famous theories is his ideas on the morality of Capitalism as well as Socialism. However, a theory of his that reigns supreme in many different aspects of modern day society as well as the past is his theory of alienation. Marx’s feels that modern means of production under certain conditions could cause the collapse of the worker. They would ultimately loose control of their life as a result of losing control of their work. The four major works analyzed in class all seem to have a revolving major theme of alienation in some aspect that cripples man’s ability to be a productive and effective being in society. Candide by Voltaire, The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer, and The Colonizer and the Colonized by Albert Memmi all, in some way, effectively show the coupling theme of man’s alienation from society that reverts him to certain circumstances and in turn creates tension amongst the alienated man and the major portion of society that doesn’t endure alienation.

Karl Marx is viewed as arguably one of the most influential philosophers of his era. His way of looking at society through an alternative lens led him to develop theories that would help workers emerge from their classes and improve their lifestyle. He explained that the economic system was flawed and that the rise of capitalism would inevitably be the cause of society’s issues. However, out of all his theories, there is one that is still evident in today’s society, alienation. Marx argued that alienation was fueled by capitalism, as workers were manipulated in order to improve efficiency and increase productivity. The workers’ labour and the resulting products in fact belong to the capitalist. In Marx’ “Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844”, he broke alienation down into four parts; Workers are alienated from the products of their labour, workers are alienated from the labour process, workers are alienated from their species-being, and workers are alienated from other workers. These four parts explained the implications alienation had on each individual worker and it is seen as the reason why society has failed to break capitalism and create a “classless” society, where no person is born into a social class and where achievements and individuality are realized. Now the question lies, is the theory of alienation still relevant in the post-industrial world? The answer to that question is yes.

It has been argued that Karl Marx theory of alienation has lost relevance in contemporary society when understanding the relationship of the individual worker in a capitalist society. It is this statement being proposed by several sociologists who believe alienation being an empty statement in relation to contemporary society. However like many other sociological concepts this one is still contested which is why I will explore the theory of alienation and what effect it has on contemporary society, and argue that Marx’s theory of alienation still applies to the process of the owners of production exploiting the working classes. I will start by looking into the four different dimensions of alienation and how these relate to Marx’s critique of capitalist society, then relating this concept to modern society.

Karl Marx’s Theory of Alienation is the assertion that through Capitalist industrial practices, the worker will experience a series of feelings of disconnection from integral parts of the labour process and ultimately, from humanity itself. I will argue that this theory will be relevant as long as the reign of Capitalism dominates modern society. Marx advocates that the only way alienation can be alleviated is through the destruction of the current economic base which he predicts is an inevitable gravitation towards a classless, stateless society known as socialism.

This form of alienation, as described of Marx, revolves around the root idea that workers of a capitalist system are alienated from the production process as the product that is being created is not being produced in accordance to the workers own ideas “or to directly satisfy their own needs” (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2014, pg. 54). Furthermore, this essentially involves the workers (whom work for the capitalist); being paid wages

Alienation only beings to occur when individuals being to regard their own labor and as a result workers become hostile to their own society and life. Karl Marx identifies four different types of alienations that form within a capitalistic society. . The four types of alienation is the relationship of labor to the act of production within the labor process, the estrangement of the worker from the product of his work, the worker’s alienation from “species-being” and the alienation of man to man. To have a society in the state where it is alienating itself is potentially problematic for the overall wellbeing and future of the state. When people become estranged to life they will eventually realize that they are living a miserable life. This is unfortunately inevitable. Workers will soon realize that in a capitalistic society only prosperity owner’s benefit and will ultimately go against (become a rebel)

Topic: One of the essential elements to Marx’s alienation concept is that of people or workers being alienated from each other under capitalism, it is still relevant in explaining the problems of the modern world.

Much of Marx’s work was written in the midst of intense European industrialization in the 19th century. As division of labor and the capitalist system developed and expanded as a way to exploit workers for economic gain, Marx contemplated what role this transition had to play in the progression of human history. As an economic determinist, Marx believed that modes of production are key to changes in human history, such that labor, work, and the economic system have primacy over all other factors. Thus it is no surprise that Marx’s theory of alienation is

The theory of alienation developed by Karl Marx depicts the estrangement of people due to living in a capitalist system of production. Through the manuscript “Estranged Labor” from his Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Marx describes his theory of alienation and specifies on the four types of ways in which the worker is alienated. A vivid example of Marx’s theory of alienation can be seen through Charlie Chaplin’s comedy film Modern Times. In his film, the central idea of the theory of labor alienation and how the worker is affected by the alienation are depicted. The notion of alienation depicted in Marx’s “Estranged Labor” is also depicted in Chaplin’s Modern Times.

Before the industrial revolution, people were defined by their work. For example, a bread maker. They were in charge of the process of making bread, selling the bread and the profit. According to Marx, under capitalism the proletarian experienced “alienation.” This is where an individual is isolated from society, work and sense of self. Marx discussed four different types of alienation: alienation from product, process of labor, from species and of man from man (Murray, Lecture 3). The first being alienation from the product. In Marx’s time and today’s world, we engage in a lot of mass production in our capitalist system. People often are placed in positions where they are responsible for making a small part of the product or engage in a very specific task. Going back to the bread example, under capitalist system, a person may only be in charge of adding the flour to the machine and the rest of the work is done by the machine. The person is not involved in any other aspect of the work. Today many people work to make a produced that they do not own for other people to consume with the purpose of being to sell of that product and make the maximum amount of profit. But in today’s world, the profit is owned by the capitalist owner who is in charge of the production, and distribution of the product. The second type of alienation is the alienation from one’s own labor. Making products in the capitalist system puts people in a repetitive position. The laborers end up going through the motions they have one highly specialized job in production the whole product. The labor does not give input into the purpose design distribution or marketing of the product. Simply, the worker is a small piece of the puzzle. The third is the alienation from others. To Marx, this human essence was not separate from activity or work, but being separate from other human species. The fourth is alienation from man to man where the worker can’t connect to other worker. Workers compete with each other. A capitalist system sees the labor of the worker to a commercial commodity that can be traded in the competitive labor-market. It does not view labor as a constructive socioeconomic activity that is part of the collective common effort performed