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Alienation and Reification

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Handbuch Anerkennung

Part of the book series: Springer Reference Geisteswissenschaften ((SPREFGEIST))

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Abstract

This entry analyzes the concept of alienation, in the Marxian critical tradition and from the perspective of social psychology and philosophy. The related idea of reification is also unpacked. It then briefly discusses recent attempts to tie reification with recognition. Conceptual and normative challenges are also outlined which face any attempt to use these concepts as a fulcrum for social criticism of modern pluralistic social forms.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Some argue that the idea of alienation continues to be operative in Marx throughout his corpus (see, e.g., Fromm 1961, S. 51–52; Wendling 2009).

  2. 2.

    For a similar reconstruction of Marx’s argument see Brudney 2009, S. 143–160.

  3. 3.

    As several writers have remarked, attention to the idea of alienation waned noticeably in critical theory, sociology and psychology after the 1970s or so (see Kalekin-Fishman et al. 2015).

  4. 4.

    For skepticism about the usefulness of the concept, see Schacht 1970 and, in particular, Walter Kaufman’s Introduction to that volume.

  5. 5.

    For a view of alienation that departs from a Hegelian framework in favor of a Kantian one, see Forst 2017.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of the Liberal Arts, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, USA

    John Philip Christman

Authors
  1. John Philip Christman
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Correspondence to John Philip Christman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Philosophisches Seminar, Universität Münster Philosophisches Seminar, Münster, Germany

    Ludwig Siep

  2. School of Humanities & Languages, The University of New South Wales School of Humanities & Languages, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Heikki Ikaheimo

  3. Philosophisches Seminar, Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Philosophisches Seminar, Münster, Germany

    Michael Quante

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© 2019 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature

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Christman, J.P. (2019). Alienation and Reification. In: Siep, L., Ikaheimo, H., Quante, M. (eds) Handbuch Anerkennung. Springer Reference Geisteswissenschaften. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-19561-8_17-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-19561-8_17-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-658-19561-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-658-19561-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Referenz Sozialwissenschaften und Recht

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