ABSTRACT
The terms Entfremdung and Entausserung themselves evoke images: they suggest the separation of things which naturally belong together, or the establishment of some relation of indifference or hostility between things which are properly in harmony. The ‘Alienated Labor’ fragment contains Marx’s first recognizable attempt at a systematic theory of capitalism. The attempt fails because the philosophical concept of alienation is simply too vague and metaphorical to perform the explanatory function Marx tries to assign it. The attempt is of interest, however, because it already embodies ideas which are central to Marx’s mature theory of capitalist society. The concept of alienation is not original with Marx. His use of it in the early writings draws upon, and presupposes familiarity with, the philosophers through whom he acquired it, especially Hegel and Feuerbach. From the beginning, however, Marx’s views about the nature and causes of alienation differ decisively from theirs.
