Title: The future of alienation /
Authors: Schacht, Richard, 1941-
Publisher: University of Illinois Press,
Year: 1994
Subjects: Alienation (Philosophy); Alienation (Social psychology)
Abstract: "'Alienation' may no longer be the buzzword it was a generation ago, but its central themes remain contemporary concerns: the character and meaning of our work lives, forms of power and powerlessness, questions about norms and normlessness, the individual's relation to social institutions. Richard Schacht has long argued that alienation theory can shed important light upon aspects of light in the modern world and upon our human predicament. The essays here call for a rethinking of a variety of forms of alienation in light of contemporary dynamics and a clearer understanding of the dialectic of human selfhood and social participation. They call for a renewed interest in alienation theory; they counter the myth that, with the collapse of the Soviet empire, Marx's thinking has been 'refuted'; and they argue for an enhanced sensitivity to the problem of how we describe, interpret, and evaluate the world around us in light of the complexity and diversity that alienation theory reveals" -- Back cover.
Contents: 1. Varieties of Alienation: Alienation, the "Is-Ought" Gap, and Two Sorts of Discord -- 2. Alienation and Economic Life: Economic Alienation, with and without Tears -- 3. Alienation and Normative Theory: The Case of Marx -- 4. Alienation as Powerlessness: On Power and Powerlessness -- 5. Alienation as Normlessness: Doubts about Anomie and Anomia -- 6. Alienation and Social Life: Social Structure, Social Alienation, and Social Change -- 7. Alienation as Self-Alienation: Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and the Future of Self-Alienation.