ALIENATION AND LABOR IN THE THOUGHT OF KARL MARX, MAX WEBER, AND HANNAH ARENDT (GERMANY)

In an effort to discover the implications of their views regarding the desirability and possibility of overcoming alienation in modern society, a study of alienation and labor in the thought of Karl Marx (1818-1883), Max Weber (1864-1920), and Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) was carried out. It was argued that, while the term "alienation" is broad and has become a catchword for many ills of modern society, it offers a special form of insight into a wide range of problems and is still useful in a critique of modernity. Alienation is not just a general, abstract concept, but denotes definite, concrete conditions of existence for human beings. The young Marx and Arendt made extensive use of the term. Weber did not; however, it was shown that his writings have an affinity with those of Marx and Arendt which can best be described by the concept. The similarities as well as the differences among the views of the three thinkers were explicated, and the failings of each were also pointed out. The study demonstrated that Marx contributes much of value regarding alienation in the economic sphere. And, while Arendt's concept of world alienation is useful in understanding totalitarian domination, her ideas about the relationship of religion and sociology to alienation, as well as alienation with the economic sphere itself, are not as useful as those of Marx and Weber. Even though he does not adequately deal with the possibility of totalitarian abuses of power, the study maintained that Weber's discussion of politics is the most useful of the three.;It was concluded that, in order to understand alienation in modern society, one must use the insights of all three thinkers: Marx, regarding the domination and superfluity of workers engendered by the capitalist mode of production; Weber, regarding the alienating consequences of the "disenchantment of the world" and the rationalization process, bureaucratic domination, the consequences of the loss of economic status, and the necessity for politics; and Arendt, regarding world alienation and totalitarian domination.