hegel and marx on alienation a thesis

149 Pages·2008·0.57 MB·English

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 :

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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.
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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
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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.

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To my parents…

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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
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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
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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

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