Alienation
Marx's Conception of Man in a Capitalist Society

Bertell Ollman (Author)

9780521290838, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 January 1977

360 pages
20.8 x 13.9 x 2.4 cm, 0.5 kg

' … as authoritative and comprehensive a study as any I have read. But the striking originality of the book lies in its method, in the preliminary alanysis which Ollman undertakes to study Marx's 'peculiar' use of terms.' Science and Society

In this book, the most thorough account of Marx's theory of alienation yet to have appeared in English, Professor Ollman reconstructs the theory from its constituent parts and offers it as a vantage point from which to view the rest of Marxism. The book further contains a detailed examination of Marx's philosophy of internal relations, the much neglected logical foudation of his method, and provides a systematic account of Marx's conception of human nature. Because of its almost unique concern with helping readers understand Marx's unusual use of language, Alienation has proven very popular in university courses on Marxism on both undergraduate and graduate levels. The first edition was widely reviewed, and in this new edition Professor Ollman replies to his critics in 'More on internal relations,' published here as Appendix II. In addition to this new appendix the author now provides a more systematic discussion of Marx's theory of ideology, elements of which were formerly dispersed throughout the book. He also attempts to set the treatment of political alienation within the broader framework of Marx's theory of the state as a model of how an approach based on internal relations can be used to integrate various apparently contradictory interpretations of Marx's views.

Part I. Philosophical Introduction: 1. With words that appear like bats
2. Social relations as subject matter
3. The philosophy of internal relations
4. Is there a Marxian ethic: 5. Dialectic as outlook
6. Dialectic as inquiry and exposition
Part II. Marx's Conception of Human Nature: 7. Powers and needs
8. Natural man
9. Species man
10. Relating man to objects: orientation, perception
11. Appropriation
12. Nature as evidence
13. Activity, work, creativity
14. Man's social nature
15. The character of the species
16. Freedom as essence
17. Man, classes, people
Part III. The Theory of Alienation: 18. The theory of alienation
19. Man's relation to his productive activity
20. Man's relation to his product
21. Man's relation to his fellow men
22. Man's relation to his species
23. The capitalist's alienation
24. The division of labor and private property
25. The labor theory of value: labor-power
26. Value as alienated labor
27. The metamorphosis of value
28. The fetishism of commoditites
29. Class as a value relation
30. State as a value relation
31. Religion as a value relation
32. Marx's critique of bourgeois ideology
Part IV. Conclusion: 33. A critical evaluation
Appendices.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD]