Hegel and Marx on Alienation a Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School of Social Sciences of Middle East Technical University By
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HEGEL AND MARX ON ALIENATION A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY SEVGİ DOĞAN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY FEBRUARY 2008 Approval of the Graduate School of (Name of the Graduate School) Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. Prof. Dr. Ahmet İnam Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts of Philosophy. Assist. Prof. Dr. Barış Parkan Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assist. Prof. Dr. Barış Parkan (METU, PHIL) Assist. Prof. Dr. Elif Çırakman (METU, PHIL) Assist. Prof. Dr. Çetin Türkyılmaz (Hacettepe U., PHIL) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Sevgi Doğan Signature : iii ABSTRACT HEGEL AND MARX ON ALIENATION Doğan, Sevgi M.A., Department of Philosophy Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Barış Parkan February 2008, 139 pages Is alienation a process of self-discovery or is it a loss of reality? The subject of this thesis is how alienation is discussed in Hegel and Marx’s philosophies in terms of this question. In Hegel’s philosophy, alienation is part of the process of self- creativity and self-discovery. For Marx, it is the result of the capitalist mode of production. While Hegel explains the existence of the human being through focusing on its ontological dimension, Marx evaluates the term alienation in terms of the economic dimension which he claims that Hegel ignores. The understanding of these philosophers about how they make understandable the process, circumstances and results of alienation is significant for the subject of this thesis. The thesis concludes that, Marx, in spite of his criticisms of Hegel is closer to Hegel than is thought. An additional claim is that Marx’s criticisms of Hegel complement Hegel’s philosophy rather than overcoming it. The supporting analysis of the thesis is the discussion of whether Marx’s criticisms related to Hegel’s understanding of alienation as abstract, mystifying, and nonsense are right or wrong. Hegel’s conception of alienation has thus been examined by way of Marx’s criticisms. Keywords: Alienation, Hegel, Marx, dialectic, Geist, labour, objectification, externalization, Feuerbach. iv ÖZ Hegel ve Marx’ta Yabancılaşma Doğan, Sevgi Yüksek Lisans, Felsefe Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Assist. Prof. Barış Parkan Şubat 2008, 139 sayfa Yabancılaşma kendini keşfetme süreci midir yoksa gerçekliğin bir yitimi midir? Bu soru etrafında bu tezde işlenecek konu yabancılaşmanın Hegel ve Marx’ın felsefelerinde nasıl algılandığıdır. Hegel felsefesinde yabancılaşma kendini yaratma ve keşfetme sürecidir. Marx için ise yabancılaşma kapitalist tarzı üretim biçiminin bir sonucudur. Hegel insanın varoluşunu ontolojik boyutunu gözeterek serimlemeye çalışırken, Marx, yabancılaşma kavramına Hegel’in göremediğini düşündüğü ekonomik boyutuyla başka bir yerden bakar. Bu filozofların yabancılaşmanın sürecini, koşullarını ve sonucunu nasıl anlamlandırmaya çalıştıkları tezin konusu açısından önemlidir. Dolayısıyla tezin asıl savı, Marx’ın bütün eleştirilerine rağmen Hegel’e tahmin edilenden daha yakin olduğudur. Aynı zamanda diğer savım ise Marx’ın eleşitirilerinin Hegel’ı aşmak yerine onu tamamladığıdır. Marx’ın Hegel’in yabancılaşma anlayışına dair, bu anlayışın soyut, mistik ve anlaşılmaz olduğu yönündeki eleştirilerinin doğruluğunun ya da yanlışlığınının ortaya koyulması savın destekleyici çözümüdür. Bundan dolayı Hegel’in yabancılaşma kavramı Marx’in eleştirileri üzerinden anlaşılmaya çalışılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Yabancılaşma, Hegel, Marx, diyalektik, Geist (Tin), emek, nesneleşme, dışavurum (dışlaşma), Feuerbach v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like particularly to thank my supervisor Assist. Prof. Baris Parkan for her professional guidance, her encouragements and insight throughout the research. Also I am deeply indebted to her for her psychological support. I also would like to thank Assist. Prof. Elif Çırakman and Assist. Prof. Çetin Türkyılmaz, who are the members of the jury, for their guidance, advice, and criticisms. Besides I am also very grateful to Assist. Prof. Paul McLaughlin who taught me how to read and evaluate Marx in standing critiques viewpoint. I would like to thank Assist Prof. Enver Orman for his advice and comments about the Hegel Chapter. I would like to thank many people who supported me both mentally and emotionally. Here, my sincere thanks are to my family (in particular to my sister and brother) who believed in and encouraged me to conclude this study and to my friends especially to Yasemin Makbule Erdoğmuş and Zeliha Burcu Yılmaz whose company and continuous support is unforgettable. Here also I would like to thank Yasemin Sancar, Razan Orpak and Şafak Tan for their psychological support. vi To my parents… vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM…………………………………………………………………….iii ABSTRACT...……………………………………………………………………..iv ÖZ...………………………………………………………………………………..v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………...vi DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………vii TABLE OF CONTENTS...……………………………………………………...viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………1 2. HEGEL ON ALIENATION……………………………………………16 2.1 Introduction……………………………………………………..... .16 2.2 Geist………………………………………………………………17 2.2.1 Dialectic: the movement of Geist…………………………….20 2.2.1.1 History of dialectic……………………………………21 2.2.1.2 Dialectic in Hegel………………….……………….....24 2.2.1.3 Dialectic as a method………………………………….29 2.2.1.3.1 Dialectic in the Phenomenology of Spirit……..31 2.2.2 Actualization of Geist………………………..………………33 2.2.3 Geist as mind: the relation of Geist to the transcendental I….37 2.2.3.1 Hegel’s departure from the transcendental idealism……44 2.2.4 Geist as spirit: the living Geist………………………………48 viii 2.2.4.1 Desire……………………………………………………49 2.2.4.2 Recognition…………………………………………......49 2.2.4.3 Work or labour……………….………………………..51 2.2.4.4 Intersubjectivity…………………………………………55 2.3 Alienation in Social substance……………………………………..58 2.4 The meaning of alienation in the Phenomenology…………………62 2.5 Overcoming alienation: being at home………………………….....63 3. MARX ON ALIENATION……………………………………………….72 3.1 Introduction……………………………………………………......72 3.2 Marx and the Young Hegelian………………………………….....74 3.2.1 Feuerbach……………………………………………………..79 3.2.2 Marx’s positive and negative critique of Feuerbach………….83 3.2.3 Marx’s idea on Religious and political Alienation……………88 3.3 Marx’s relation to Hegel……………………………………………89 3.3.1 Labour or work………………………………………………..90 3.3.2 Ontological: the difference between Hegel and Marx………..93 3.3.2.1 Inversion of Hegel…………………………………….93 3.3.2.2 Marx’s distinction between objectification and alienation………………………………………………………………..96 3.4 Economical critique of Marx……………………………………100 3.4.1 Alienation from the product of labour……………………103 ix 3.4.2 Alienation from the labour process………………………10 6 3.4.3 Alienation from human nature, from species being………107 3.4.3.1 Arendt’s criticism of Marx ………………………….110 3.4.3.2 Sayers on Marx...……………………………………111 3.4.4 Alienation from fellow human beings……………………113 3.5 Marx’s relation to Hegel reconsidered: overcoming alienation and feeling at home……………………………………………………………114 4. EVALUATION…………………………………………………………120 REFERENCES…………………………………….……………………………133 x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Alienation is a central concept in contemporary thought about the human being and her/his place in the world. After the works of Hegel and Marx, the concept of alienation has occupied a significant place in theology, sociology, philosophy, literature and psychology. When we glance at the vast body of literature about the subject, we notice that in various ways novels, poetry, drama, art, theology and philosophy are centrally interested on alienation. The concept of alienation is usually associated with Karl Marx and his critique of capitalism. It is also held by many to be prominent only in early Marx’s writings when he was under the influence of Hegel. Therefore, it is also held to be a somewhat mystical concept because of its Hegelian roots which the later Marx is said to have dissociated himself from. The topic of this thesis is Hegel’s account of alienation and its effects on Marx’s philosophy. The main problem of my thesis is to understand exactly what Hegel meant by ‘alienation,’ but the best way to bring out what is distinctive in Hegel’s approach is to deal with Marx’s approach to alienation. Thus my purpose is to expound the concept of alienation in terms of its importance for the philosophy of 1 Hegel, what Marx understood from Hegel’s account of alienation, how he criticized it and whether his criticisms were right. To this end, I will first examine the concept of alienation in Hegel’s writings (such as Phenomenology of Spirit, etc.). In so doing, I will pay close attention to identifying the specific use of terminology in the text, so that I can later be able to clarify exactly where and how Marx’s usage of this term is influenced by and differs from Hegel’s philosophy. Then I will turn Marx’s criticism of Hegel (especially in the 1844 Manuscripts). While I attempt to explore and evaluate some factors