MARX'S THEORY OF ALIENATION

Marx's Theory of Alienation

Marx's Theory of Alienation

Karl Marx (1818-1883) grew up in Germany in same conservative and oppressive conditions under which German philosophers Kant and others had to live. Enlightenment had some liberating effects of German life, here and there, but most Germans were autocratic rulers, and idea of democracy was fought by all governments. Presence of police spies in major universities was the regular feature of German student life, and some students who attend lengthy prison terms for their political activism. As the student of law and philosophy at University of Berlin, Marx joined the political club advocating political democracy. Shortly after receiving his doctorate, however, his ideas went beyond just political reform. Your future friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels introduced him to socialist and communist ideas, i.e. ideas which evolved from mere social policy and economic reforms. For rest of his life Marx was devoted to project of radical restructuring of modern industrial society in socialist and communist lines. Eventually became most important theoretical and prominent leader of international labor movement growing.

From Marx participated in Revolution of 1848 as an influential newspaper editor (in the revolution that was defeated by royalists, and defeat that led to dozens of European liberals to emigrate to United States and other countries) found it is preferable to leave sweltering conditions and back to their homeland and go into exile. He spent rest of his life in London, powerhouse of advanced capitalism and modern industry. As one of organizers of movement of international working class found that most radical work had all sorts of moral questions about capitalism, and the series of utopian ideas of an ideal society of future, but no knowledge sound of how the capitalist economy actually works. Marx also discovered that his own understanding of economic issues was far from complete. Therefore embarked on the two decades long of what was then called "political economy" (sometimes also called “dismal science.")

Simply put Marx's theory of alienation is assertion that in modern industrial production workers under capitalism will inevitably lose control of his life to lose control over their work. Workers therefore cease to be autonomous beings in any meaningful sense. In pre-capitalist conditions of the blacksmith, for example, or the shoemaker would own his own shop, set your own hours, determine their own working conditions, form your own product, and have the say in how their product is sold or exchanged.

Marx's description, however, is very appropriate in the period of capitalist production, i.e. at the time when labor productivity is incomparably greater than in feudalism or slave societies, like ancient Greece or Rome. Crucial difference is that capitalist production for first time in human history has made substitution, for all practical purposes, natural world with man-made world. Whereas before civilization of human Industrial Revolution can still be seen as simply making inroads into large tracts of desert, 19th century moved rapidly towards the situation in which any part of globe can escape effects of industrialization ...