The Concept of Alienation

Paper Summary:

The paper first examines the transition from traditionalism and modernism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the emergence of capitalism. Both Rousseau and Marx underscored the importance of the individual, free will and the concept of alienation as the important characteristics that defined modern society between the 18th and 19th centuries. This paper takes an in-depth look at "The Origin of Civil Society" and "The Communist Manifesto," and provides a comparative analysis of Rousseau's and Marx's points about modernism, centering the discussion on each author's interpretation of the concept of alienation as the prevalent human condition in capitalist societies.

From the Paper:

" Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries signified the period wherein a transition from traditionalism and modernism emerged. Within these periods, Western society gave birth to new ideologies, which demonstrated humanity's gradual subsistence to individualism and assertion of one's free will. With the advent of a new socio-economic order--that is, capitalism and inherently, modernism--Western society changed radically. What was once a society dominated by Christian traditions, beliefs, and principles was gradually replaced with the empirical and rational nature of modernism. Social institutions' power and influence gradually weakened, as people became more assertive of their individualism, gaining more recognition of their importance as members of the society than the institutions' influence."

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