ABSTRACT
Alienation can exist because we have bodies burdened by necessity and mind that desire freedom. This duality of human nature makes it possible for humans to be alienated but does not give rise to alienation in all cultures. It receives different interpretations in different times and places. The European Middle Ages were well acquainted with the experience of what we call alienation, but they had a different name for it. Social systems matter to alienation in another way. Unless they have already given up, and live aimlessly from day to day, or claim to have overcome alienation because they live according to their own life plan, persons struggle against the precondition of alienation and try to make sense of life in spite of it. Self-esteem also becomes firmer when one shows courage and stoicism in great crises, when one learns to be resilient amidst the setbacks of one's existence.
