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Alienation according to Marx means that people are separated from their essential human powers, and values specific to humans. Marx theory of alienation has a long history and was influenced by Feuerbach, Hegel and the English Political Economy. The concept of ‘alienation’ provides the focal point of Marx’s critical interpretation of modern society, it is the main support of his critique of capitalism. Although it was originally thought that Marx’s concept of alienation was founded upon the premise that man is ‘naturally’ good, but corrupted by society, it is clear that to measure alienation primarily against a hypothetical state of nature means neglecting the most essential aspect of Marx’s writings; the historical nature of man.# The concept of alienation has vast and complex problems, because Marx takes his inspiration from so many areas, including law, economy and philosophy. The theory of alienation, and the factors that influence it have real significance in Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto. Karl Marx theory of Communism is based on historical analysis. History proved that capitalism is needed to create communism, because capitalism creates productivity, which needs labour. The conditions of labour for all across the world will be roughly the same and this creates the possibility of international solidarity to overthrow capitalism. Therefore capitalism creates the need for communism on a global scale. The 1840s saw economic alienation, because people did not have real control of their lives; although people could vote, this did not mean democracy in the work place. A man’s life activity was his work. Marx saw that there was the need to extend freedom and democracy into the economy of the labour process. According to Marx, the key quality of a human being is imagination, which humans can act upon. Human beings need to collectively control their own society and nature, but they have to want to do this. Under capitalism this kind of collective control isn’t possible, and individual potential is developed in a one-sided manner; material wants and needs outweigh spiritual needs and relationships of any kind. Politics can also create alienation, in the Prussian state, the people were alienated from their leaders, Hegel believed that this alienation served the common interests of the people, but Marx concurred that it only served the needs of the leaders. Political alienation is overcome by democracy, which makes the state accountable to its people. Philosophers, Hegel and Feuerbach each employed a notion of alienation in their individual accounts of human life.
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