Marx and Alienation Essays on Hegelian Themes

by Sayers, Sean

• ISBN13: 9781137379856
• ISBN10: 1137379855
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-01-10
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Shortlisted for the Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Prize 2012
 
What does Marx mean by 'alienation'? What role does the concept play in his critique of capitalism and his vision of a future society?

Marx and Alienation deals in depth with some of the most important philosophical assumptions of Marx's work. It sets Marx's account of alienation and its overcoming in the context of the Hegelian philosophy from which it derives, and discusses it in relation to contemporary debates and controversies. It challenges other recent accounts of Marx's theory, and shows that knowledge of Hegel's philosophy is essential for an understanding of central themes in Marx's philosophy.

Marx and Alienation explains and discusses Marx's ideas in an original and accessible fashion and makes a major contribution to Marxist philosophy.

Author Biography

Sean Sayers is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kent, UK. He has written extensively on Marxist and Hegelian philosophy and his work has been translated into many languages. His books include Marxism and Human Nature (paperback 2007), Plato's Republic: An Introduction (1999), Reality and Reason (1990), Hegel, Marx and Dialectic (with Richard Norman, 1985). He is the founder and editor of the online Marx and Philosophy Review of Books.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
A Note on the Term 'Alienation'
Introduction
1. The Concept of Alienation: Hegelian Themes in Modern Social Thought
2. Creative Activity and Alienation in Hegel and Marx
3. The Concept of Labour
4. The Individual and Society
5. Freedom and the 'Realm of Necessity'
6. Alienation as a Critical Concept
7. Private Property and Communism
8. The Division of Labour and its Overcoming
9. Marx's Conception of Communism
Appendix: The 'Uplifting Influence' of Work and Industry
Bibliography
Index