Hegel v Marx Alienation

Alienation is described as the separation from or lack of identification with one's society or state. It can also be considered the act of being an outsider. Both Marx and Hegel expect that some people in society will naturally become outsiders, but it's what should be done with them that is interpreted differently between Hegel and Marx. Hegel thinks that if someone is alienated from their society then it's their responsibility to get 'back in line'. This mostly clearly represents Hegel's political philosophy in which he explains that the individual exists for the state. Marx on the other hand interprets alienation as the beginning to a historical revolutionary period that will eventually lead towards communism. In this respect, the idea of individualism, or what becomes of the people who are alienated, is both necessary and good. This is especially true in the presence of industrialization when the individual feels extremely alienated from his work. In the capitalist's economic shift of industrialism, those working in factories no longer are craftsmen but are just people doing a seemingly unimportant, small task like putting the left eye ball on a doll in a toy factory assembly line.

An example that shows how alienation is represented in our society is the relationship between teachers and students. As a student you must complete assignments that a teacher assign. This in turn creates master slave relationship as the students have little control over what the master (teacher) makes them do. Because most assignments are created by teachers, they lack the desires of the students thus pushing them into a forced labor in which the students do not receive fulfillment of there desires, or see themselves in there product. Forced labor is one of Marx's four forms of alienation. Also, because students compete against each other for grades (teachers never give every one the same grade) they are estranged from each other and no longer view other students as fellow humans or friends. Because they feel separated from each other through the different grades that they receive, they no longer identify as a group but instead are alienated. However, some students may resist this temptation to be alienated by forming a group made up solely of students that share the same negative opinion of the master. In forming a group the students mutually recognize each other as they share similar interests. The teacher or the master, does not receive mutual recognition since he or she is quite different from the students.
After forming groups, according to Marx, the student could  seize the power from the teachers through a revolution which in economic terms would be called communism. This revolution would both satisfy the students' desires to eliminate the teacher's power and create an equality of all students that would negate the previous feelings alienation. Ideally this would create a society in which students no longer were alienated.
Relating this revolutionary Marxist and Hegelian idea to students and teachers could help explain why some students don't try, or care about their performance in school.

Heraclitus v Parmenides debate reflection

Today in class we debated the philosophies of Heraclitus and Parmenides. Since I was on the side of Heraclitus I will be discussing the major points of the Parmenides argument. In response to various examples of changing things in the everyday world, those on Parmenides' responded by saying that the surface of reality may change but the truths stay the same. An example of this is an apple being eaten. An apple is an apple before and after it's eaten even though it may look different. This change is not enough evidence for Parmenides to be convinced that the entire world is in constant flux. Just because the apple is now just a core of an apple, it hasn't changed from being an apple, the higher truth or idea. It is these ideas that are not changed through the passing of time, according to Parmenides. The changing of the seasons is another thing that has been constant throughout time. Though the leaves may fall at slightly different times in the season of Fall, the truth and descriptions of Fall such as colder weather, are met every year. On these ideas of constancy Parmenides bases his theory that the world and reality are represented eternally the same as their main ideas appear to us.

However, both Greek philosophers make great points and are recognized in Hegel's practice of historicism. These philosophies help form Hegel's theory of dialect which is a three step process in which the rational conceptual truths are synthesized by their opposites: 1) Thesis 2) Antithesis 3)Synthesis. Hegel brings about his theory of dialect by studying Plato, Heraclitus, and Parmenides through historicism, or the study and synthesis of previous philosophies. Dialect for Hegel more directly came from Heraclitus' idea of constant change (thesis), followed by Parmenides' idea of permanency in reality (antithesis), then Plato's combination of the two philosophies in his idea of a permanent mental world and a changing physical world (synthesis). In creating this theory of dialect Hegel appears to be anticipating a constant change in rational truths. Could Hegel  be referring to his own philosophy too? Is Hegel both clairvoyant and humble enough to say that an antithesis will eventually arise to oppose his philosophy and thus create a resulting synthesis that has higher truth than his own?

Further understanding of Hegel

Directions: find a source and explain how it helps you in your understanding of Hegel

Hegel website source

When reading this writing on Hegel it made some ideas of Hegel clearer to me. As described in the reading, Hegel's idea of how ideas such as cause and effect connect to each other is compared to a collection of organs in an organism. A cause and its effect depend on each other just as the heart and lungs depend on each other. In doing so they contribute to the overall function and operation of the whole body, or in this case Hegelian philosophy. This explains how Hegel's ideas largely build on each other. In creating a logic that is made of cause and effects, Hegel as made a base for his further studies which also argue the connection and dependence of ideas. In understanding that Hegel's work is mostly a compilation of things that depend on each other, it makes sense now how Hegel connects his ideas of logic, consciousness, and politics (master slave relationship).
I also found that Hegel's philosophy is centered around his goal of finding absolute knowledge and absolute ideas. This explains why Hegel spends so much time trying to articulate his ideas on desire and how these ideas lead to the negation of the desire for self consciousness. As we discussed in class, mutual recognition is what Hegel believes will bring absolute knowledge. According to Stephen Houlgate, who we studied in class, the idea of absolute knowing is what actually comes from total mutual recognition of every person in the world. After reading this article on Hegel I have now discovered one of Hegel's important points: true mutual recognition of everyone in the world is what leads to true absolute knowledge and understanding. Also, when ideas are connected they help form one, all inclusive, absolute idea.