| This question <96|96> overall <95|98> Gog: <96|96>. graded A– |
| Question 195: What does it matter whether exploitation follows from alienation, or alienation follows from exploitation? (Define these terms.) |
| [96] Gog: alienation and exploitation Alienation involves the distancing of oneself from society. I will use a cobbler and then a factory owner as examples. Originally a cobbler would have seen the leather turned into the finished product of a shoe, thereby seeing the value he provides to society by means of the shoe. However, in a shoe factory, a worker performs only a fraction of the work necessary to produce the product. In addition, it is likely he would not even see the finished product. Therefore, he does not feel any ownership in creating the shoe; consequenlty, he does not feel the same sense of value the cobbler does. |
| Another form of alienation involves the factory owner and his workers. In a workshop the owner would probably know all the people that worked for him. In a factory, there are so many workers, it is likely the owner would not know any of them. Because of this, their value is placed only on their productivity at producing shoes, and not on any inherent human values by the owner. Conseqeuntly, the owner is alienated from the working class. |
| Exploitation involves the use of people for selfish purposes. Since the owner does not feel a human connection with his workers, there is a tendency to exploit those workers to produce a maximum profit. This form of exploitation only further distances the worker and the owner. Also, since the worker does not feel the sense of social value, he is more likely to allow this exploitation. |
| Therefore, depending on who is being alienated from what, and who is being exploited, the alienation could either precede or succeed exploitation. |
| Hans: You should have tied this “distancing from society” in with the fetish-like character of commodities. |
|
|
|||||