Karl Marx: Anthropology, Alienation, and Capitalism
Anthropology According to Karl Marx
According to Marx, man is a natural, material being, similar to animals, but in open construction. Man is, above all, an active being, and this activity takes place at work. Unlike animals, man can interpret, use, and reconstruct nature. Animals use; men create. We call this act productive work, the practice by which man relates to nature. Work is also the activity that relates man to others, demonstrating that man is a social being. However, the essence of man being work does not mean that this is fixed and immutable, but is governed by the historical situation in which economic organization is located. Here, we see that man is historical. The relationship between man and man, and man and nature, arises from the economic organization, is expressed historically, and conditions all political, social, and moral issues. Marx speaks of Homo Faber, referring to the evolution of man. This concept leads to the theory of alienation, highlighting the condition of man when separated from nature, i.e., in society.
Marx admired Feuerbach but realized that he was wrong because he did not conceive of the human being apart from their relations with the past (historical context). Marx shows man as he is: a being who is socially and historically constructed through work.
Marx’s Theory of Alienation
- Religious Alienation: God is an illusion, and religion serves as the “opium of the people,” creating illusions of a different world.
- Philosophical Alienation: Similar to religious alienation, it’s a distinct conception of the world. It’s another way of interpreting reality, which Marx attributes to philosophers and their theories, using elaborate language.
- Political Alienation: Arises from the interest in changing people’s rights at an abstract level. These rights, in practice, are often fake and favor the wealthy rulers.
- Social Alienation: Caused by politics, it separates the bourgeoisie and proletarian classes. Man recognizes the unity of human beings because of the class struggle.
- Economic Alienation: The principal form of alienation, inherent in the capitalist system. The product of human labor becomes capital, creating wealth that is not imposed on the producer, who is salaried and dispossessed of their product, leading to dehumanization. The capitalist system seeks to turn man into a commodity.
Value, Labor, and Fetishism
We must distinguish between use value, related to needs, and exchange value, made through repeated abstraction of its use value (money). The value of goods no longer depends on their usefulness but on the amount of work invested. Once goods are converted into money, the idea of the work involved is lost, producing what Marx called the fetishism of commodities; money becomes a value in itself.
Marx stated that if work becomes a commodity whose value depends on the market situation, man himself becomes a commodity that is bought and sold.
Forms of Alienation in Work
- Man is alienated from the product of their work: When a person sells their work in exchange for a salary, the product does not belong to them.
- Alienation occurs in the very act of production: The worker does not belong to himself. Work enslaves.
- Alienation in working conditions: Mechanical work can be monotonous and humiliating, yet profitable.
- Man is alienated from nature: Considering work as a necessity, nature is viewed solely as a resource.
- Man is alienated from other men: The proletariat sees others as mere competitors. This alienation affects not only the worker but also the employer, who loses the sense of unity.