Alienation And Freedom / Edition 1

by Richard Schmitt

Overview

Alienated lives are incoherent and lack meaning-more profoundly so when questions about meaning are no longer taken seriously. Alienation is pervasive in our society where wealth, comfort, diversion, and "fun" are more important than lives that make sense. Alienation and Freedom develops the concept of alienation more concretely than other books on the subject by using not only philosophical but also literary texts as its guides. It documents how our social system fosters alienation and thereby limits our freedom.

Author Biography: Richard Schmitt is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Brown University. He now teaches at Assumption, Becker and Worcester State Colleges as an adjunct. Born in Germany, of Jewish parentage, he arrived in the U.S. in 1946. Best known for his introductory texts to Heidegger and to Marx and Engels, he has written widely about Existentialism and Political Philosophy. Alienation-a topic at the intersection of Existentialism and Political Philosophy-has been a lifelong concern of his.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900813328538
Publication date:	08/21/2002
Pages:	156
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Richard Schmitt is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Brown University. He now teaches at Assumption, Becker and Worcester State Colleges as an adjunct. Born in Germany, of Jewish parentage, he arrived in the United States in 1946. Best known for his introductory texts to Heidegger and to Marx and Engels, he has written widely about existentialism and political philosophy. Alienation--a topic at the intersection of Existentialism and Political Philosophy--has been a lifelong concern of his.

Table of Contents

	Preface	vii
1	Alienation and Freedom	1
	Alienation	1
	Freedom	12
	Some Serious Reservations	14
	Notes	16
2	The History of the Concept of Alienation	17
	Rousseau	18
	Kierkegaard	23
	Marx	29
	Nietzsche	32
	Is Alienation Real?	37
	Summary	40
	Notes	40
3	Alienation and the Human Condition	41
	Misunderstandings of Alienation	41
	Alienation and Its Precondition	45
	Alienation and Specific Life Tasks	52
	Recognition Is Central to Being Oneself	68
	Who's to Blame? Alienation and Luck	75
	What, Then, Is Alienation?	76
	Notes	78
4	The Social Roots of Alienation	79
	Emma Bovary: Life in the Market Society	81
	That Was Then	92
	Summary	109
	Notes	111
5	Alienation Limits Freedom	113
	Conceptions of Freedom	115
	External and Internal Constraints	117
	No Freedom for the Alienated	120
	Examples of Alienation	120
	A Serious Objection	123
	The Difficulty of Choosing One's Own Good	125
	Capitalism and Political Freedom	130
	Conclusion	133
	Notes	134
	References	135
	Recommended Reading	141
	Index	143