Understanding Marx's Theory of Alienation

Marx believes that under capitalism, man is alienated in four different ways. First, he says that man, as producers, is alienated from the goods that he produces, or the object. Second, man is alienated from the activity of labor to where the tools are taking control of the user. Third, man is alienated from himself through integrated social interaction. Finally, Marx believes that man is alienated from other workers because he experiences other workers as threats and competitors. In all of these forms of alienation, Marx views alienation as materialist, with labor at the center. Marx believes that his theory of alienation takes three faces: God, the State, and Money. Since Marx believes that emancipation means freedom, human emancipation is

Nietzsche broadens this explanation throughout his book On the Genealogy of Morals. Nietzsche’s problem is the origin of the moral standard of “good and evil.” He explains that the originally the standard of judgment was good and bad. Those with power were good and represented the noble morality. Those who were weak we thought to be bad and represented the slave morality. The slave morality emerges from those who are not able to act and who perceive the world as hostile and suffering. For this perception of the world, they believe that someone should be blamed. The slaves introspectively look at the world and present a new moral system of good and evil to judge the nobles by. The problem is that the deeper system of good and evil also reigns and restricts the lives of the slaves. Like Marx’s theory, the slave morality presents a creator who becomes alienated and controlled by his creation. The force that the slave creates is foreign to this world. Even though Nietzsche is impressed with the depth of the slave’s knowledge, he is disgusted that they are ruled by their creation. Within Nietzsche’s work, alienation is present through his belief of a theological prejudice that is outside of the world that rules the

To Marx, his theory of human nature is called species being. Species being describes human as social producers of goods. Based on his theory, humans do not work for their own survival or need, but rather they produce for the benefit of society. Given this, it is the human’s nature to build things even without others. As a part of species being, humans work and produce so that they could forge social connections. Marx specifies in his theory of alienation that species being is not about trading or making money, but rather social relationships. As Marx explains, the disruption from species being leads to man being alienated in labor through the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, but upon human emancipation, man can once again return to his original nature. Like Marx, Nietzsche has a belief in human nature that is disrupted in modern man. His theory of alienation describes a theory of human nature called the will to power. Nietzsche’s will to power is a creative force that man inflicts on others. The will to power is the main driving force in man that contributes to his ambitions and achievements. Nietzsche describes the will to power as “the essence of life” and “the instinct of freedom.” Nietzsche’s will to power can act as an isolating quality to overcoming his problem within his theory of alienation. The will to power is