Alienation And Freedom

After a brief introductory chapter, Alienation and Freedom provides a concise summary of the history of the concept of alienation in order to provide preliminary insights into the concept of alienation and to raise some fundamental questions about it. The systematic account of alienation, in the chapter that follows, answers these questions. The possibility of alienation flows from the ambiguous nature of human beings who, insofar as we are animals, are governed by accidents and by incomprehensible events that shape our lives, but who, insofar as we are thinking beings, ask questions (and try to answer them) about the coherence and meaning of our individual and collective existence. It is difficult to find meaning in such a life that is often opaque and propelled by unforeseen events. But some societies make it easier to find meaning in one's life; they equip individuals better to challenge the ambiguity of the human condition. The market society in which we live makes it extremely difficult to escape alienation. That is the burden of chapter four; chapter five, finally, demonstrates that a society that encourages alienation severely limits the freedoms of its members. Read more