Abstract
This entry analyzes the concept of alienation, in the Marxian critical tradition and from the perspective of social psychology and philosophy. The related idea of reification is also unpacked. It then briefly discusses recent attempts to tie reification with recognition. Conceptual and normative challenges are also outlined which face any attempt to use these concepts as a fulcrum for social criticism of modern pluralistic social forms.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
For a similar reconstruction of Marx’s argument see Brudney 2009, S. 143–160.
- 3.
As several writers have remarked, attention to the idea of alienation waned noticeably in critical theory, sociology and psychology after the 1970s or so (see Kalekin-Fishman et al. 2015).
- 4.
For skepticism about the usefulness of the concept, see Schacht 1970 and, in particular, Walter Kaufman’s Introduction to that volume.
- 5.
For a view of alienation that departs from a Hegelian framework in favor of a Kantian one, see Forst 2017.
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Christman, J.P. (2021). Alienation, Reification and Recognition. In: Siep, L., Ikäheimo, H., Quante, M. (eds) Handbuch Anerkennung. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-19558-8_17
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