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Marx's Philosophical Writings: Alienation - Paper

Marx's Philosophical Writings: Alienation



The focus of Marx's philosophical writings is alienation. He
believes that social or psychological alienation arises out of economic or
material alienation. In other words, consciousness is determined by
material conditions, as opposed to the prevailing view of his day that said
that consciousness determines material conditions. Another way of saying
the same thing is, "Life is not determined by consciousness, but
consciousness by life." One's material conditions in life result from
one's labor. Concerning alienated labor, Marx said that,

...the worker is degraded to the most miserable sort of commodity; that the
misery of the worker is in inverse proportion to the power and size ...

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Marx sees material alienation as the cause of social or
psychological alienation. Material alienation he said is caused by the
existence of private property. Private property came into existence
through the (unequal) division of labor. Division of labor, therefore, is
the central idea on which Marx bases his arguments concerning the eventual
(inevitable) outcome of alienated labor.

Division of labor, in which the contradictions between the forces
of production, the state of society, and consciousness are implicit because
of the separation between intellectual and physical activity , according to
Marx, began with the family. Marx sees the source of the division of labor
as a result of the "natural division of labor in the family and the
separation of society into individual families opposed to one another..."
According to Marx,

The family, which to begin with is the only social relationship,
becomes later, when increased needs create new social ...

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"Marx's Philosophical Writings: Alienation." Essayworld.com. June 3, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Marxs-Philosophical-Writings-Alienation/46944.
"Marx's Philosophical Writings: Alienation." Essayworld.com. June 3, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Marxs-Philosophical-Writings-Alienation/46944.
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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 6/3/2006 01:27:48 AM
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1076
Pages: 4

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