Karl Marx: life, theory, and intellectual legacy

Karl Marx

One of the philosophical concepts which managed to mark the world and its history through its deep political, social and economic implications is represented by Karl Marx's principle of alienation. A very harsh interpretation of the social and economic reality which he lived in, this theory was the basis for new political ideologies which, unfortunately, latter in time led to consequences that Marx would have surely disapproved of.

While his view was socialist, the philosopher also supported the existence of a political democracy. On the one hand, the individual had to be helped in his endeavours and be provided with all his rights and liberties. On the other hand, the individual had to assert his freedom through the exercise of his rights. In other words, humans must be aware of their own condition as well as of the world which surrounds them and the facts which occur, decide what are the best actions to be performed and last, but not least perform them.

Alienation, definition

The alienation is a process through which things which belong together through their nature get to be separated. The term is used in order to describe the actions through which a relation of antagonism is created between entities which would normally coexist in peace and harmony.

Marx applies this concept in a specific area and he states that what occurs in today's world is a general estrangement of the people caused by the capitalistic society. In order to better understand how this occurs, we must first analyze what human nature is.

Human nature

Marx speaks about species -being when referring to the human nature. Already from the construction of the expression which includes a gerund one can suppose the dynamic character of this nature. In fact, people are through their nature free and endowed with reason. Not only are they capable of clear judgement, but they also have the power to create / manufacture things. It is their nature which makes humans want to create items which they will afterwards use in order to satisfy precise needs, whether these are basic or more elevated. In order words work is considered partially synonymous with creation and it is a purpose in itself. In addition to bringing pragmatic advantages, the process of work/creation allows for the individual to express himself (his ideals, desires and beliefs) and his nature (that of a creator).

Capitalist reality

However, the contemporary reality is pretty much the opposite of this ideal situation. People no longer work because they want to, they work because they have to. This happens because society has been divided into two categories. On the one hand, there are those who own the means of production, the capitalists. On the other hand, there are those who are without property (the proletariat).

The proletariat works for the capitalists who only care about their well being. Capitalism occurs as a new form of slavery. Workers have a large number of liberties, but their work is so hard, the work conditions so miserable, and the earnings so minuscule that they become too tired to wonder about their rights and liberties. They perform work not as they like it, or when they like it, but as it is imposed to them, because this is the only way in which they can survive.

Taking all these elements into consideration, it is safe to say that work (labour) is no longer an expression of the individuals' nature. On the contrary it goes against the human as an individual, hence it works against his own nature. In other words, labour in the capitalist society creates an antagonism between man and his nature.

Alienation- types

The alienation process is so complex that it reaches all the aspects of life. There are four types of alienation which can be noticed in the work of Marx. The first type, that can be considered the most general expression of the theory is the alienation of the individual (defined as worker) from his own nature, that is from his species-being. The second one is the alienation which occurs between the workers. The robot like working conditions, as well as the competition which occurs between the individuals in order to get working positions cause the relation between workers to be purely mechanic, instead of being social.

A third type of alienation is the one between the worker and the product, that is the result of his work. The worker not only has no control upon the final result of his work, but he has no authority on the production either. Hence, the fourth type of alienation, that between the worker and the production. Taking into account all the sides of the problem, it is easy to see the final result which is a dramatic loss of meaning (a very personification of the alienation concept).

Taking the analysis to a deeper level, it must be underlined that it is not only the proletariat which undergoes this phenomenon. The capitalists are equally affected and estranged. It is true that they are the ones who enjoy a large number of commodities, but just as the everyday events demonstrate it, they are unable to find happiness. However, under the circumstances of the early capitalist society, the manner in which alienation was undergone by these two classes was different. For the proletariat, it represented a negation of their own nature. For the capitalists, this very estrangement was perceived as their power and although corrupt, as their nature. Naturally, their positions were in opposition as well since the capitalists wanted to preserve its condition (therefore being conservative) while the proletariat wanted to change it (therefore being destructive).

Influences on Marx's theory

Marx was influenced in the conception of his theory by the works of other philosophers, such as Hegel and his disciple Feuerbach. The latter for example also spoke of alienation, but interpreted it from the perspective of the relation between the humans and God. In his book, "The essence of Christianity " he claims that God is a mere projection of those characteristics which are fundamentally human.." In religion man necessarily places is nature out of himself. God is his alter ego, his other lost half." (Feuerbach, 195). The process of alienation is thus one through which people take their attributes and transfer them to an ideal and idealized entity. The concept of species-being is also to be found in the works of Feuerbach who asserts that the alienation that people perform through religion prevents them from realizing their very own "species -being." Another influence from Feuerbach can be seen in Marx's conception that the characteristics of the species-being can be observed in the individual's actions, (that is work). Since the species-being's fundament is the free and conscious activity, the reality of the capitalist society demonstrates how labour turns humans against their very nature: "The object of labour is, therefore, the objectification of man's species life: for he duplicates himself not only, as in consciousness, intellectually, but also actively, in reality, and therefore he contemplates himself in a world that he has created. In tearing away from man the object of this production, therefore, estranged labour tears from his species life, his real objectivity as a member of the species and transforms his advantage over animals into the disadvantage that his inorganic body, nature, is taken away from him" (Marx,114).

As far as Hegel is concerned, one of his theses was that the truth can only be personal, that is "subjective." Therefore, the world is a mere reflection of one's self-awareness. The fight to achieve and understand an objective truth is in fact of alienation of the human nature. As opposed to this belief, Marx stated that the external world, that is the objectively existing one is also part of the human nature. The whole idea of Marx's work is to discover which is the best way to create the perfect relation of balance between man and the world he lives in.

While Hegel focused more on the concept of Spirit, Marx wished to underline the social dimension of the issue. Alienation is not a question of metaphysics, but rather the result of the relations between people at social level. In addition, human nature can not exist outside a context, that is, outside a social environment. Different societies influence the individuals ad their development differently.

The roots. Feudalism.

Man differs from the animal through his consciousness and through his creation. While the animals do nothing but repeat the laws and patterns of nature, humans change nature through their actions and supported by their will. In feudalism, there still were not enough technological inventions to allow man to control nature. Since land was the source of production par excellence, people used to define themselves in relation to it. The property of land defines the status of a man. Those who own it make others work it in order to survive. People are dominated by land, which is owned by other people. Obviously, the social relationships are those of domination and subordination. Nevertheless, the relations between the workers are maintained open. In relation to one another the peasants are still people and not tools as in the capitalist view.

Capitalism - characteristics

What capitalism changed were the relations between people and the means of production. Until the birth of capitalism, the workers naturally considered themselves to be the rightful owners of the things that they produced. However, by the nineteenth century, the only thing that they get in exchange for their work is money. This is a paradigmatic change, since work becomes a mere product on the market.

The situation changes even more and workers are no longer able to decide upon where, when and how to do their work. All these aspects are decided and regulated by those who own the production means, that is the people who have large financial resources. Another change which occurs is represented by the relation between man and machine. If until then, the machine was a mere tool that man could use in order to make his work easier, the new mechanic character of labour transforms men themselves into tools. The worker performs his tasks together with the machines. From the general perspective, he is nothing but a tool. The fact that he is "alive" is irrelevant.

The division of labour

The division of labour existed even before capitalism in the sense that different people dedicated themselves to various types of works. The novelty that capitalism brought about was the division within each sector of production, a division which was more than detailed. This meant that people had to choose a single aspect of the work production process and become highly specialized in it "While the social division of labour subdivides society, the detailed division of labour subdivides humans, and while the subdivision of society may enhance the individual and the species, the subdivision of the individual, when carried on without regard to human capabilities and needs, is a crime against the person and humanity" (Braverman). Since the capitalist own the means of production, that is, the means of subsistence for the workers, it is safe to say that the lives of the workers depend completely on the existence of capitalism.

The situation become seven more dramatic if we are to consider that the worker is not important as a person, but as a sort of machine which fulfils a task, independently of his will and desires. Since work has been divided, one worker can not be considered a producer. A mass of workers is needed in order to achieve the final result, therefore the workers become important as a community (while of course loosing their individual value).

The alienation of the worker from his own species-essence/species-being

Marx defines human nature as species-essence or species-being. The synonymy relation between the expressions allows us to assume that essence and being are the same thing, whereas being is a synonym of doing. Man defines himself not only through himself, but most of all through his actions of creation. And most of the time this creation is directed at our environment. In other words, people's labour is, by nature, a purpose in itself, meant to allow man to express his power and creativity.

Such a situation is impossible if man can not decide upon any of the labour's characteristics (when, where, how, why). The market mechanism in capitalist societies is the following one: a rich elite has the property of the production means. The rest of the people use these production means in order to produce items which they can not use. Instead they receive money and they can use these money in order to buy the things they created in the first place.

The more they produce, the less they will be able to consume. In this manner, work becomes something against the nature of the worker. He no longer invests his creative energy, because it would be useless. Work is a mechanic action, done only for a financial reward. All the "sacred" meaning has been lost, putting man in an antagonistic position regarding his own nature.

The alienation between workers

The resources are more and more limited. Under these circumstances competition occurs between the workers who need to make sure they get a position which will allow them to survive. The normal relationships between humans can no longer be controlled, but are imposed by the mechanisms of the market. The most important aspect of Marx's theory is, under these circumstances, the one according to which the workers no longer act as "people," but as individual tools which are part of a bigger work organ. This very status is the one that will impose their relationships.

It may be argued that people have often demonstrated their solidarity when creating labour unions or when going on strike, but individualism becomes more and more present as the market conditions and the competition become harsher. It is more convenient for the capitalists to have a market where there is an exceeding workforce because this allows them to pay the workers less while earning more themselves. Therefore, the consequence is just a further alienation between individuals. Just like in a vicious circle, the more the workers produce, the poorer they become while the rich get even richer. It is true that the living standard of the workers has increased massively ever since the birth of capitalism. But it is just as true that the differences between proletariat and capitalists have been constantly growing as well.