Alienation and Freedom

by Schmitt, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780813365886
• ISBN10: 0813365880
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-08-01
• Publisher: Westview Pr

Summary

After a brief introductory chapter,Alienation and Freedomprovides a concise summary of the history of the concept of alienation in order to provide preliminary insights into the concept of alienation and to raise some fundamental questions about it. The systematic account of alienation, in the chapter that follows, answers these questions. The possibility of alienation flows from the ambiguous nature of human beings who, insofar as we are animals, are governed by accidents and by incomprehensible events that shape our lives, but who, insofar as we are thinking beings, ask questions (and try to answer them) about the coherence and meaning of our individual and collective existence. It is difficult to find meaning in such a life that is often opaque and propelled by unforeseen events. But some societies make it easier to find meaning in one's life; they equip individuals better to challenge the ambiguity of the human condition. The market society in which we live makes it extremely difficult to escape alienation. That is the burden of chapter four; chapter five, finally, demonstrates that a society that encourages alienation severely limits the freedoms of its members.

Author Biography

Richard Schmitt is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Brown University. Born in Germany of Jewish parentage, he arrived in the United States in 1946. Best known for his introductory texts on Heidegger, Marx, and Engels, he has written widely about existentialism and political philosophy

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Alienation and Freedom	p. 1
Alienation	p. 1
Freedom	p. 12
Some Serious Reservations	p. 14
Notes	p. 16
The History of the Concept of Alienation	p. 17
Rousseau	p. 18
Kierkegaard	p. 23
Marx	p. 29
Nietzsche	p. 32
Is Alienation Real?	p. 37
Summary	p. 40
Notes	p. 40
Alienation and the Human Condition	p. 41
Misunderstandings of Alienation	p. 41
Alienation and Its Precondition	p. 45
Alienation and Specific Life Tasks	p. 52
Recognition Is Central to Being Oneself	p. 68
Who's to Blame? Alienation and Luck	p. 75
What, Then, Is Alienation?	p. 76
Notes	p. 78
The Social Roots of Alienation	p. 79
Emma Bovary: Life in the Market Society	p. 81
That Was Then	p. 92
Summary	p. 109
Notes	p. 111
Alienation Limits Freedom	p. 113
Conceptions of Freedom	p. 115
External and Internal Constraints	p. 117
No Freedom for the Alienated	p. 120
Examples of Alienation	p. 120
A Serious Objection	p. 123
The Difficulty of Choosing One's Own Good	p. 125
Capitalism and Political Freedom	p. 130
Conclusion	p. 133
Notes	p. 134
References	p. 135
Recommended Reading	p. 141
Index	p. 143
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