ESTRANGEMENT
Contributions in Philosophy Language and Value Charles L. Todd and Russell T. Blackwood, editors Inquiries into Medieval Philosophy: A Collection in Honor of Francis P. Clarke James F. Ross, editor The Vitality of Death: Essays in Existential Psychology and Philosophy Peter Koestenbaum Dialogues on the Philosophy of Marxism Society for the Philosophical Study of Dialectical Materialism John Somerville and Howard L. Parsons, editors The Peace Revolution: Ethos and Social Process John Somerville Marx and Engels on Ecology Howard L. Parsons, editor and compiler The New Image of the Person: The Theory and Practice of Clinical Philosophy Peter Koestenbaum Panorama of Evil: Insights from the Behavioral Sciences Leonard W. Doob Alienation: From the Past to the Future Ignace Feuerlicht The Philosopher's World Model Archie J. Bahm Persons: A Comparative Account of the Six Possible Theories F. F. Centore Science, Animals, and Evolution: Reflections on Some Unrealized Potentials of Biology and Medicine Catherine Roberts The Philosophy of Human Rights: International Perspectives Alan S. Rosenbaum, editor
ESTRANGEMENT Marx's Conception of Human Nature and the Division of Labor ISIDOR WALLIMANN Foreword by Gunter W. Remmling CONTRIBUTIONS IN PHILOSOPHY, NUMBER 16 Greenwood Press Westport, Connecticut London, England
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Wallimann, Isidor, 1944- Estrangement: Marx's conception of human nature and the division of labor. (Contributions in philosophy; no. 16 ISSN 0084-926X) Bibliography: p. Includes index. l. Marx, Karl, 1818-1883. 2. Man. 3. Division of labor. 4. Alienation (Philosophy) I. Title. B3305.M74W34 335.4' 12 80-929 ISBN 0-3 13-22096-4 (lib. bdg.) Copyright 1981 by Isidor Wallimann All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 80-929 ISBN: 0-3 13-22096-4 ISSN: 0084-926X First published in 198 1 Greenwood Press A division of Congressional Information Service, Inc. 88 Post Road West, Westport, Connecticut 06881 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Copyright Acknowledgments The publishers listed below kindly gave me permission to reprint from the following sources: Grundrisse: Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy, by Karl Marx, translated by Martin Nicolaus. New York: Random House, Inc., 1973. Translation and Foreword Copyright 1973 by Martin Nicolaus. Notes Copyright 1973 by Ben Fowkes. The Ethnological Notebooks, by Karl Marx, transcribed and edited with an introduction by Lawrence Krader. Assen: Van Gorcum & Co., 1974, 1974 by Lawrence Krader. Collected Works, Vols. 3, 4, 5, 6, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. New York: International Publishers Co., Inc., 1975-1 976. Reprinted by permission of International Publishers Co., Inc., Copyright 1976. Critique of the Gotha Programme, by Karl Marx. New York: International Publishers Co., Inc., 1938. Copyright 1938 by International Publishers Co., Inc. The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State: In the Light of the Researches of Lewis H. Morgan, by Frederick Engels. New York: International Publishers Co., Inc., 1942. Copyright 1942 by International Publishers Co., Inc. Alienation: From Marx to Modern Sociology, by Joachim Israel. Copyright 1971 by Allyn and Bacon, Inc., Boston. Reprinted with permission.
To my mother and in memory of my fat her
CONTENTS Foreword by Gunter W. Remmling Preface Introduction Abbreviations xi xv xvii xxiii 1. ISSUES AND PROCEDURES 3 2. MARX'S CONCEPTION OF HUMAN NATURE 11 MAN VERSUS ANIMAL: THE BIOLOGICAL MODEL 11 THE BEHAVIOR OF INDIVIDUALS CHANGES: THE HISTORICAL MODEL HUMAN NATURE AND MARX'S DEFINITION OF MAN AS SPECIES-BEING DISCUSSION 14 16 17 3. ESTRANGEMENT: THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING COERCED INTO SELLING ONE'S LABOR POWER 25 WAGE LABOR: THE COERCION TO GIVE UP ONE'S WILL AND CONTROL OVER ONE'S BODY 27 THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING COERCED INTO SELLING ONE'S LABOR POWER 30
viii CONTENTS ESTRANGEMENT FROM THE PRODUCT OF ONE'S LABOR THE WORKER'S ESTRANGEMENT FROM THE ACT OF PRODUCTION AND FROM HIMSELF ESTRANGEMENT FROM NATURE ESTRANGEMENT FROM THE SPECIES AND FROM MAN ESTRANGEMENT OF THE CAPITALIST THE CAPITALIST'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE WORKER A COMMENT ON MARX'S TERMINOLOGY: ENTAUSSERUNG, ENTFREMDUNG, ALIENATION 31 32 34 35 37 38 40 4. THE NATURE OF CAPITALIST SOCIETY AND ECONOMY LABOR THEORY OF VALUE, SURPLUS VALUE SURPLUS VALUE AND EXPLOITATION DISCUSSION THE INABILITY TO APPROPRIATE ONE'S PRODUCT OF LABOR AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 62 S. MARX'S EVALUATION OF THE CONDITION OF MAN IN PRECAPITALIST SOCIETIES 71 THE DELINEATION OF THE CAPITALIST MODE OF PRODUCTION COMMUNITIES IN WHICH PROPERTY WAS HELD IN COMMON COMMUNISTIC SOCIETIES BASED ON THE GENTILE ORGANIZATION MARX'S USE OF THE TERM "PRIVATE PROPERTY" 47 47 57 60 71 73 76 81 6. THE DIVISION OF LABOR AND ITS CENTRALITY FOR MARX'S THEORY OF ESTRANGEMENT INVOLUNTARY DIVISION OF LABOR INVOLUNTARY DIVISION OF LABOR AND ITS CENTRALITY TO THE THEORY OF ESTRANGEMENT 7. TRUE COMMUNISM AND ITS BASIS ON A VOLUNTARY DIVISION OF LABOR TRUE COMMUNISM COMMUNISM AS THE ELIMINATION OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE GROUP THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL DISCUSSION MARX'S DEFINITION OF HUMAN NATURE RECONSIDERED 89 94 % 99 100 106 109 115 122
CONTENTS ix 8. IS ESTRANGEMENT LIMITED TO CAPITALIST SOCIETIES? 129 ESTRANGEMENT AND PRECAPITALISTIC, NON- PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES I29 DISCUSSION 136 IS MARX AN ANTI-INDUSTRIALIST ROMANTICIST? 137 9. THE SCOPE AND APPLICABILITY OF MARX'S THEORY OF ESTRANGEMENT 147 THE QUESTION OF BEING MORE OR LESS ESTRANGED 150 WHAT MARX CALLS ESTRANGEMENT: A CAUSE OF CERTAIN IDENTIFIABLE BEHAVIOR OR ATTITUDES? 155 ESTRANGEMENT AS AN OBJECTIVELY DEFINED CONCEPT 160 10. CONCLUSIONS 165 ESTRANGEMENT AND THE ABOLITION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY A NOTE ON THE APPLICABILITY OF MARX'S THEORY OF ESTRANGEMENT 169 171 Selected Bibliography Index 177 191