Marx on Alienation - Essay Example

Karl Marx (1818-1883) is a philosopher who uses Hegelian philosophy as his framework. As reflected in his writings, he is more of a social and economic analyst than a philosopher. He digs deeper into Hegel’s work and critiques the work to advance his materialist theory ad Hegel was an idealist. Marx’s Critique of Hegel’s Dialectic and General Philosophy contained in the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts (1844) is the clearest expression of his theory of alienation. Hegel in his dialectics believed that history was manifestation of the movement of spirit acting “behind the backs” of actors in history but Marx was of the view that this “spirit” was just the human activity itself. Hegel’s “spirit” represents totality of human life activity but which is always in contradiction with what it has itself produced, and which confronts it as something alien hence for him, “labor is the essence of man” (Gardiner 266). The problem is that Hegel only recognizes mental labor since men are thinking beings. On the other hand, Marx believes the essence of man is material labor and alienation results from man’s relationship with the products of his labor. Marx recognizes four kinds of alienation: alienation from product of his work; alienation from the activity of production leading to ‘loss of self’; from his species-being and alienation from other men. This paper will discuss these forms of alienation as depicted by Marx and gaining insights from Hegel’s philosophy which forms the basis of Marx’s work. The paper will also evaluate which of his ideas are valuable and which are not giving reasons why. The Hegel’s concept of alienation from which Marx borrows from is based on man as a self-conscious being. That is, man knows the existence of other things but he does not relate to them objectively but only in the abstract form since they are just imagined things of philosophical mind which according to Hegel is “nothing but the alienated world-mind thinking within the bounds of its self-alienation” (Gardiner 263). Man’s products in this case, are products of abstract mind (mental labor) and man is equated to self-consciousness. This self-consciousness is his alienation. But a being which does not have an object outside itself is not an objective being neither is it an object for a third being hence has no being for its object. In other words, it is a unique being since it is the only being in existence. It is a non-being hence unreal, imagined, an abstraction (p. 268). Knowing is thus crucial in Hegel’s philosophy as it makes men conscious of their existence and existence of other things. This enables the self-conscious man to recognize and supersede the spiritual world and accept his situation as his true existence; “being is at home in its other being as such” (p. 270). This same as being in self denial so as to overcome one’s suffering. This supersession is what Hegel refers as negation of negation leading to denial and preservation. The being thus is only what it is in relation to another. But for Hegel, this other being incorporates the other into itself hence it becomes its other and the movement is infinite (Hegel 93-95). Absolute knowledge in this case becomes the end of the movement for the mind’s real mode of existence is abstraction. Hegel’s philosophy thus reflects this alienation and overcomes it through reflection and accepting one’s condition. In other words, humanity creates itself. However, Marx does not agree with this view and believes that it is material labor that creates humanity. This is in agreement with Feuerbach materialist interpretation of Hegel’s philosophy. Marx opposes Hegel’s idea of negation of the negation which he considers a positive moment grounded in itself as the real movement and history of humanity (Fraser & Wilde 77). For Marx, true materialism involving relations between people is what makes the history of humanity. As such, Marx argues that the thoughts and abstract thinking given importance by Hegel is just the reflection of the real world. His theory is thus rooted in material conditions of human existence and not abstract ideas or logic as stipulated by Hegel. This is where capitalism as a mode of production (human activity) comes in resulting in alienation. Alienation for Marx, involves “transferring own labor into a power which rules them as if by a kind of natural or supra-human law” (Marx, Manuscripts 1844). He thus examines the direct relationship between worker and production as this relationship is what brings about alienated labor. In the capitalist mode of production, man exchanges his labor for wages since it is the capitalist who owns the means of production. Man no longer produces for own subsistence like in feudal societies or as animals and plants do. This is what differentiates men from other beings and makes them species-beings (Gardiner 267). Man as an objective being acts objectively hence objectivity is its essential being. Marx argues that “the objective products confirms its objective activity, its activity as an objective, natural being” (p.268) and a suffering being as such. While the worker produces wonderful things for the rich, he himself experiences privation and sometimes is replaced with machines hence is immiserated. The capitalists are always in pursuit of profit through surplus labor and continuous innovation of machinery (Marx & Mclellan 85). If laborers do not become appendages to machines, they are reduced to doing barbarous work. This human activity that is source of their livelihood thus contributes to their alienation in various ways. One of the ways alienation takes place is whereby laborers are separated from the products of their labor. Even Hegel recognizes the importance of labor as the essence of man and it is an activity for all objective beings confirmed by their objective products (Gardiner 268). However, in the capitalist system of production, the objects of production are appropriated by the capitalist. Work thus alienates workers from nature. Furthermore, they are property-less hence cannot produce objects for own use. Instead they work for propertied classes for wage in order to sustain themselves. Money thus becomes the most important thing and is not a product of their activity but a need necessitated by this mode of production. The worker helps create a world of objects but since he does not possess it, it dominates him. The second type of alienation is alienation from himself or his life activity. Work is external to the worker as it does not belong to him but to another and thus worker does not belong to himself either but to another (Gardiner 276). As such, it signifies loss of self as it is not a result of his creativity. Instead of being fulfilling to him, work becomes forced labor and a means to satisfy other needs other than basic human needs such as food. Work becomes self sacrifice for the laborer as he denies himself freedom and alienated from himself. For Marx, man is only freely active in his animal functions like eating, drinking and procreation. Man in this case is not free as his activity is a conscious life activity and not something he is determined to do. The alien character of work according to Marx is manifested when “labor is avoided like plague if there is no compulsion” (Gardiner 275). This activity is supposed to be a liberating affair but man is forced to follow laid down rules and procedures that hinder his mental and physical development. If man was performing this work to fulfill his own needs and not as a means to satisfy other needs, he would be very happy and work voluntarily. But since he does not appropriate the products of his labor, he is not willing to work and takes pride in resting. Marx considers this as self-alienation adopting Hegel’s logic which views mind as thinking within bounds of its self-alienation (p. 263). Just like nature is external to abstract thought hence loss of itself 9alienated abstract thought) so do workers self-alienate themselves form nature. The third type of alienation is alienation from ‘species-being.’ Naturalism puts man as a direct natural being and living natural being with powers and faculties and as an objective being it does produce objects from its environment or nature. This activity of man thus gives him his human identity as it is the sole purpose of his living. Plants and animals are beings but are not involved in this unique activity of humans of transforming inorganic matter to create things useful for survival hence differentiating himself from other beings (Gardiner 277). However, he does not do so only for himself but also others or the community as a whole. Nature is transformed as direct means of life and as material object and instruments of his life activity. By alienating man from nature and from himself (his practical activity), work alienates man from the species life into individual life. This is necessitated by the division of labor prevalent in modern capitalist system leading to specialization and individualism. One works for himself as a means to survival and not for others. Worker is thus estranged from source of identity and life purpose for human species as his life activity becomes only a means for his existence instead of the means of existence becoming his life activity or life purpose. Without labor, man would not exist but die due to lack of means of sustenance. Productive life is supposed to be species life but now it appears only as a means of life (p. 278). Instead of producing for own species, now man has to master standards of every species and not produce freely but according to laws of beauty. The fourth and final form of alienation is alienation of man from other men. This according to Marx is a direct consequence of the other three forms of alienation. In Hegel’s philosophy, it is apparent that an objective being has objects for it residing external to it and is itself an object for a third being otherwise no object would exists in the first place if that were not the case (Gardiner 268). As such, when a man confronts himself, he is confronting other men due to the relationship that exists. Marx thus argues that “the relationship of his work, product and himself, is also true of his relationship to other men, their labor and object of their labor” (Gardiner 279). This only means that self-alienation of a man from himself and nature also translates to self-alienation from other men. The product of his labor as well as his labor belongs to another person who must have more power than him hence dominates him and thus he considers this person alien. Due to this exploitative nature of capitalism whereby capitalist appropriates all the products of labor, the worker feels alienated and hateful to the whole system. The solution to this problem is thus abolishing private property so that alien beings do not control other people’s lives. Most of Marx’s ideas are valuable in understanding how humans relate to the world. The idea of a species-being who relates to nature through its practical activity or transformation of inorganic matter is helpful in understanding the essence of man as a human being with an identity as opposed to the abstract man created by Hegel. Hegel puts more emphasis on religion, abstract thought and knowledge but Marx acknowledges that religion is just a reflection of human alienation due to antagonistic social relationships especially in the capitalist mode of production. Marx also helps to understand that labor is not just a mental activity as stipulated by Hegel but a physical activity (Gardiner 275-277). However, in as much as Marx stresses on physical activity and transformation of inorganic matter as the essence of man, mental activity is also crucial in creating identity. The idea of alienation of men from their products and production activity is also helpful in understanding the antagonistic relationship that exists in capitalist system and the role of state, religion and civil society. Conclusion Marx adopts Hegel’s conception of alienation and uses his philosophical framework to advance his ideas. However, he gives much attention to materialism and reality than Hegel who relies more on abstract thought, knowledge and consciousness in his analysis. To Marx, human activity is the essence of man but the capitalist society based on private property has destroyed man’s essence and identity by alienating him from the products of his work, the work activity itself, from species-life and from other men. While Hegel believes transcending alienation can be achieved by supersession hence the being claims to be at home in his other being, Marx believes alienation can only be eliminated by removing the root cause of the problem which is private property by abolishing it. Woks Cited Fraser, Ian and Wilde, Lawrence. The Marx Dictionary. New York: Continuum International Publishers Group, 2011. Gardiner, Patrick L (ed). Nineteenth-Century Philosophy. New York: The Free Press, 1969. Hegel, Georg Wilhem Friedrich. The Logic: Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences. 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1874. Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. Trans. T.B Bottomore, in: Karl Marx. Early Writings. London, 1963. Read More