Marx Study Essays - Marxist Theory, Antitheists, Karl Marx

Marx Study In Karl Marx's early writing on "estranged labour" there is a clear and prevailing focus on the plight of the labourer. Marx's writing on estranged labour is and attempt to draw a stark distinction between property owners and workers. In the writing Marx argues that the worker becomes estranged from his labour because he is not the recipient of the product he creates. As a result labour is objectified, that is labour becomes the object of mans existence. As labour is objectified man becomes disillusioned and enslaved. Marx argues that man becomes to be viewed as a commodity worth only the labour he creates and man is further reduced to a subsisting animal void of any capacity of freedom except the will to labour. For Marx this all leads to the emergence of private property, the enemy of the proletariat. In fact Marx's writing on estranged labour is a repudiation of private property- a warning of how private property enslaves the worker. This writing on estranged labour is an obvious point of basis for Marx's Communist Manifesto. The purpose of this paper is to view Marx's concept of alienation (estranged labour) and how it limits freedom. For Marx man's freedom is relinquished or in fact wrested from his true nature once he becomes a labourer. This process is thoroughly explained throughout Estranged Labour. This study will reveal this process and argue it's validity. Appendant to this study on alienation there will be a micro-study which will attempt to ascertain Marx's view of freedom (i.e. positive or negative). The study on alienation in conjunction with the micro-study on Marx's view of freedom will help not only reveal why Marx feels labour limits mans freedom, but it will also identify exactly what kind of freedom is being limited. Estranged Labour Karl Marx identifies estranged labour as labour alien to man. Marx explains the condition of estranged labour as the result of man participating in an institution alien to his nature. It is my interpretation that man is alienated from his labour because he is not the reaper of what he sows. Because he is never the recipient of his efforts the labourer lacks identity with what he creates. For Marx then labour is "alien to the worker...[and]...does not belong to his essential being." Marx identifies two explanations of why mans lack of identity with labour leads him to be estranged from labour. (1) "[The labourer] does not develop freely his physical and mental energy, but instead mortifies his mind." In other words labour fails to nurture mans physical and mental capacities and instead drains them. Because the worker is denied any nurturing in his work no intimacy between the worker and his work develops. Lacking an intimate relation with what he creates man is summarily estranged from his labour. (2) Labour estranges man from himself. Marx argues that the labour the worker produces does not belong to him, but to someone else. Given this condition the labourer belongs to someone else and is therefore enslaved. As a result of being enslaved the worker is reduced to a "subsisting animal", a condition alien to him. As an end result man is estranged from himself and is entirely mortified. Marx points to these to situations as the reason man is essentially estranged from his labour. The incongruency between the world of things the worker creates and the world the worker lives in is the estrangement. Marx argues that the worker first realizes he is estranged from his labour when it is apparent he cannot attain what he appropriates. As a result of this realization the objectification of labour occurs. For the worker the labour becomes an object, something shapeless and unidentifiable. Because labour is objectified, the labourer begins to identify the product of labour as labour. In other words all the worker can identify as a product of his labour, given the condition of what he produces as a shapeless, unidentifiable object, is labour. The worker is then left with only labour as the end product of his efforts. The emerging condition is that he works to create more work. For Marx the monotonous redundancy of this condition is highly detrimental because the worker loses himself in his efforts. He argues that this situation is analogous to a man and his religion. Marx writes, "The more man puts into God the less he retains in himself....The worker puts his life into the object, but now his life no longer belongs to him but to the object." The result of the worker belonging

The revolutionary war and its famous writers that effected it. Authors such as thomas paine, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry.

The revolutionary war and its famous writers that effected it. Authors such as thomas paine, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry. The Revolutionary War created the pathway to what we are now. We became independent and it gave us freedom from Britain's King. The war led us to the new life we wanted without control of outside countries. But without the encouragement of writers to help us in our time of need, things still would not have been that easy. Some of the great writers that influenced others to make history happen would be Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry. These men wrote articles that encouraged others to stand up for what they believed in, and they wrote remarkable speeches that helped us become who we are. They had the courage to write their thoughts into writing that inspired many to fight for what they believed in. Without the help of literature within the period of our time, maybe things would've gone differently.The winter of 1776 was a dreadful time for George Washington and his troops.English: This is a high-resolution image of the Un...They had little food, inadequate shelter, a nd many were deserting (Berstein 161). Into this horrible situation came Thomas Paine. In England, he had moved, without success, through several occupations. He then began to write essays supporting America's fight for independence, shortly after his arrival in 1774. In December of 1776, he started to write a series of articles entitled The Crisis. His words inspired many soldiers to enlist in the army and encouraged them to continue fighting. After the publication of his articles, the first anti-slavery movement, The American Antislavery Society, was found (Katz 1). His beliefs of universal order, in human perfectibility, and in the power of reason, guided him throughout his life to express himself and persuade others to fight for what they believed in. Yet Paine, a fuzzy historical figure of the 1700s, is remembered mostly for one or two...

A Response to Amess Fast Food Isnt to Blame Essay

A Response to Amess Fast Food Isnt to Blame - Essay Example It is apparent that the author considers that it is the people’s own fault why they end up with excessive fat deposits in their body. The opinion of the author as articulated in the essay is it is always up to people to choose what to purchase and eat. People get fat because of not being responsible for their own decisions. The blame should not be put on the fast foods but should be placed on the individuals. The entire portion of the article is dedicated on discussing Ames’s points of view regarding fast food and weight concerns. As stated, about two-thirds of American population is noted to be overweight (297). This is a very large number, indeed. But despite this huge recorded number, I definitely agree with that claim for this is supported by Flegal, Carroll, Odgen and Johnson (1723-1727). For them, the overweight in all sectors of American population remains to increase. Unfortunately, like just what Ames has pointed out in the article, majority of the Americans co nsider the fast food chains for being liable on why the population has become affected by more body fats or even making them obese. There are even two teenagers that have come up to a moment where they accuse McDonalds for the excessive fats deposits in their body. And certainly, as showed in the essay, it is one faulty accusation made by these people. As R.A. Ames (279) has expressed, people live in this free land in which individuals are not coerced to decide but everything is up to their own preferences. However, the author also has claimed that this freedom has to be accountable for whatever choices they make as well as whatever the outcome of that decision is. Freedom does not mean people have to put the blame on others when the outcomes of the decisions people make are something not expected and something not liked. For me, my stand is harmonious with Ames. I greatly tend to agree with that statement for the reason that people are what they eat. People are free individuals who are free to make their own choices. All the options can be seen right before people’s eyes but what they consider to do is always up to themselves like what they prefer, what they want to buy, and most especially what they want to eat. As argued by Ames (296), the food they prefer to have inside their stomachs are because of what individuals’ hands have inserted inside their mouths. I also consider this point proper because, like for example, there are various options on where people can eat. There are fast food chains, restaurants and even one’s home. Inside these mentioned places to eat, people are offered several options of food to choose from. There are many food choices. Nobody is forced to eat something they don’t want to. It is not the case that people are forced to eat the menus given by fast food. People are free to think carefully and most especially, they are free to be responsible for their own decisions. When individuals get fat, it is not t he fast food’s liability but it is them to blame for they choose to eat those foods. Just like what Freakonomics has articulated on correlation against causation, fast food is just correlated on why people get fat but it is certainly not the cause for there is another variable that causes why individuals become overweight. The cause is nothing but the people themselves for not being responsible for their own actions in terms of the food that they want to eat and for not being careful enough for their own bodies. In addition to that, Freakonomics has also highlighted that conventional wisdom