Theories of Alienation : Critical perspectives in philosophy and the social sciences

The original papers which appear in this volume were initially presented in a series of sessions of the Ad Hoc Group on Alienation Theory and Research at the 1974 World Congress of Sociology in Toronto, Canada. This group was organized by the editors as a result of their longstanding research and teaching interest in the field. The purpose of the Toronto sessions was to provide an international forum where scholars and researchers could come to­ gether for a personal exchange of ideas and research findings. To our know­ ledge this was the first forum of its kind concerned specifically with aliena­ tion theory and research. More than fifty theoretical and empirical papers from thirteen countries and several overlapping disciplines were organized into panels and workshops during the span of four days. The response to these sessions indicates that interest in the study of alienation by philosophers and social scientists continues unabated. The Toronto sessions were organized largely around a fundamental concern for further theoretical development and conceptual clarification in the alienation field. The papers selected for this volume reflect this thematic concern. Although many excellent empirical papers were presented, it was generally felt that meaningful empirical research would benefit from a continued elaboration and refinement of alienation theory. The present collection is consequently geared to problems of meaning, theory, and method. Considerable emphasis is also placed on a critical evaluation of the alienation theme as it has evolved from social philosophy to empirical social research. Front Matter....Pages I-XXV Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Alienation as a Concept in the Social Sciences....Pages 3-37 Front Matter....Pages 39-39 Alienation and Reification....Pages 41-57 Using Marx’s Theory of Alienation Empirically....Pages 59-74 Front Matter....Pages 75-75 Some Problems of Reification in Existential Psychiatry: Conceptual and Practical Considerations....Pages 77-102 The Tantalus Ratio....Pages 103-130 Front Matter....Pages 131-131 Alienation the ‘Is-Ought’ Gap and two Sorts of Discord....Pages 133-150 Mediation and Psychic Distance....Pages 151-167 On ‘Alienation’: An Essay in the Psycholinguistics of Science....Pages 169-187 Individual Alienation and Information Processing: a Systems Theoretical Conceptualization....Pages 189-223 Front Matter....Pages 225-225 Work or Life....Pages 227-244 Political Powerlessness as Reality....Pages 245-261 Front Matter....Pages 263-263 Empirical Alienation Studies: An Overview....Pages 265-305 Evolution of the theory and concept.- Alienation as a concept in the social sciences.- Extensions and reformulations in Marxist analysis.- Alienation and reification.- Using Marx's theory of alienation empirically.- Psychiatric approaches.- Some problems of reification in existential psychiatry: conceptual and practical considerations.- The Tantalus Ratio. A scaffolding for an ontological personality theory.- New conceptual and theoretical approaches.- Alienation, the 'is-ought' gap and two sorts of discord.- Mediation and psychic distance.- On 'alienation': an essay in the psycholinguistics o