Karl Marx's Critique of Capitalism and Human Alienation

Karl Marx: A Critical Analysis (1818-1883)

Karl Marx's work critically analyzes bourgeois capitalist society, its production model, and the interpretation that society holds regarding reality, human beings, and their history. His primary aim is to move philosophy beyond the mere interpretation of the world, seeking instead to transform this unfair, unequal, and exploitative world for the majority of humanity.

For Marx, the human being is the fundamental principle of society and the subject of history. Therefore, the study of humanity must form the basis of any theoretical conception of the world and history.

Key Features of the Marxist Conception of Humanity

• The human being is a natural being, but possesses no fixed or innately given nature; rather, humanity must be made and realized.
• Work, or productive activity, is the very essence of being human. The concept of praxis (productive activity) lies at the heart of both humanity and reality.
• The human being is a social animal who exists and is constituted within society. Social relationships are what make the human being a historical being.

Understanding Alienation in Capitalism

However, in the capitalist world, most human beings are alienated; that is, they are not masters of their own lives. According to Marx, the concept of alienation (or "dispossession") signifies that human beings have lost themselves, losing the freedom to decide and shape their own destiny.

Economic Alienation: The Alienation of Labor

All forms of human alienation, according to Marx, stem from economic alienation, specifically the alienation of labor. A select few own the means of production, while the majority must sell their time to earn an income. For these workers, labor is merely a means to meet their basic needs, to sustain their existence. The activity undertaken by the worker is not truly their own, but rather belongs to the capitalist.

The alienation of labor manifests in two key aspects:

• An alienation of the worker's own activity.
• An alienation of the worker from the product of their labor. This product belongs to the capitalist, who treats human beings as mere means to improve their beneficial calculations.

Social Alienation: Class Conflict

Marx also distinguishes social alienation, which derives from the inevitable division of society into warring classes. Private property creates the fundamental differences between those who own the means of production (the bourgeoisie or capitalists) and the proletariat. Inevitably, a clash arises between the interests defended by these classes, leading to relationships between unequal beings within society.

Political Alienation: State and Civil Society

There is also political alienation, resulting from the division between civil society and the state.

Religious and Philosophical Alienation

Every religion has a close relationship with the sociopolitical and economic system in which it arises. Religion often serves to stabilize the system by distorting reality and offering a promised world where justice and equality supposedly prevail. This is the meaning of the famous phrase, "Religion is the opium of the people" – it prevents the poorest from reacting and responding, forcing them to resign themselves and wait for the world offered by religious doctrine.

Philosophical alienation is another type of alienation, as it is limited to merely addressing reality, and often interprets it falsely.