PHILOSOPHY SECTION - Dr. James Liotta, Professor of Philosophy

Reading Aid and Study Questions

1. HEGEL'S ALIENATION
   1. How, according to Hegel, is the loss of independence a form of alienation?
   2. How does one become self-alienated?
   3. What does Hegel mean by alienation being a form of surrender?
   4. What relationship, if any, do the following words have with alienation: RENUNCIATION, RELINQUISHMENT, SUBORDINATION, DEPENDENCE?
   5. How does one overcome alienation? Acculturation?
   6. How do possessions and wealth relate to alienation?
   7. Describe how modern technology - i.e., credit cards and TV shopping - contribute to forms of alienation.
   8. What are the basic differences, if any, between Hegel's "First Sense of 'Alienation'" and his "Second Sense of 'Alienation'"?

2. MARX-ALIENATION
   1. How does Marx view ownership of property and how can it lead to "self-existence" or the lack of it?
   2. What is the role of labor in the process of Self-Realization?
   3. What, then, happens to the person who works in a factory (assembly line work), where he/she procures the same object all day?
   4. Describe "man as a Social Being" according to Marx.
   5. How can mass production of produce lead to alienation for the worker?
   6. What is the role of money in creating and sustaining alienation?
   7. Under what circumstances does one's labor become "alienated"?
   8. Why and how can Egoism lead to one person being alienated from another?

3. ERICH FROMM AND ALIENATION
   1. How has technology separated man from nature?
   2. Labor-productivity-exploitation- how do these three lead to alienation?
   3. How does Fromm perceive "alienation from oneself"? What is the role of Mass Man in this process?
   4. What are the criteria of a "unique and induplicable identity"? ...of "Selfhood"?
   5. How does the individual become alienated from the work he/she does?
   6. What is alienated consumption? What would unalienated consumption be?
   7. Do you agree or disagree with Schacht's concluding remarks of Fromm's view of Alienation?
   8. Think about the person who is Black, Chicano, poor, etc.- how do the aspects of alienation which Fromm describes apply to such persons?

Annotated Bibliography
There are many possible sources that could be included. These are only some of those which we believe to be helpful.

• The Courage To Be. Paul Tillich. A fascinating discussion of the need for the courage to be in spite of alienation. Based in liberal Christian theology and existential philosophy.

• Marx's Concept of Man. Erich Fromm. Includes primary material from the work of Marx as well as substantial section by Fromm.

• The Necessity of Art. Ernst Fisher. A Marxist critique of art. A readable book with a clear position on the purpose and validity of art.

• Escape from Freedom. Erich Fromm. Originally published by Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Good for literature.

• The New Left Reader. (ed.) Carl Oglesby. Lots of good material on the so-called "new left." An excellent introduction by Oglesby.

• One Dimensional Man, Eros & Civilization. Herbert Marcuse. Provocative and powerful analysis of contemporary society.

• The Beautifying Ones Are Not Yet Born. Armah. Alienation in modern Africa. A great novel full of sounds and smells. Organic, depressing, hopeful. A plea for courage and faith.

• Catcher in the Rye. J. D. Salinger. If you haven't read it, do!

• The Stranger. Albert Camus. A classic picture of alienated man - a novel.

• Death of a Salesman. Arthur Miller. A play about the American dream.

• High School. Weisman. A film. CSUDH has a copy. See it in conjunction with your reading of Mills.

• The Search For Meaning in Life. Victor Frankl. Part of this book is a description of life in the concentration camps of World War II. Part is a psychological analysis of the author's experience as a prisoner.

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