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Found this link which related well to what we discussed in class today regarding socialism, Marx, and Bernie Sanders.

-Kimmy Leffler

HUMN 221- Group 1

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In “Estranged Labour,” Marx pulls no punches in his description of the plight of workers. He makes it very clear that he feels that the economic system in place in industrial Germany in the mid 19th Century has stripped workers of their humanity. He draws this conclusion from the realization that the economics of the time period considered workers to only be worth the value of their labor, that is the value of what they produced. Alone, this way of thinking about the worker would not be disastrous, but the economic system also gives nothing back to the workers; the workers do not choose how and when they labor and are kept subservient, in a state of slavery if you will, by their lack of access to capital, which is a feature of the economic system. By being reduced in such a way, the workers, according to Marx, lose their humanity and become alien.

However, Marx’s thinking is not entirely new itself. The Framers of the United States and those philosophers that inspired them, like Locke, attempted to address similar issues as Marx. For these political theorists, the issue of humanness, though, was not an economic issue, but rather a political one. The oppressive forces on humanity were not imbalanced economics, but imbalanced governing. The thought process is similar though; for the Framers, if individuals revolt and claim those political rights that they believe all individuals are entitled to, then a new balance will be set in place. Marx believes in a similar ideal; if the workers can rise up and claim their fair share of capital, then the economic system, and society in general, will also fall into balance.

Group 2

Karl Marx argues that the price of capitalism is dishonoring the value of human dignity and natural rights that belong to the people that compose the labor force. Marx illustrated the idea that working in such conditions leads to the dehumanization of workers in his first Economic & Philosophic Manuscript of 1844. He criticized the economic system of his time when he stated,

“Now, therefore, we have to grasp the intrinsic connection between private property, greed, the separation of labor, capital and landed property; the connection of exchange and competition, of value and the devaluation of man, of monopoly and competition, etc. – the connection between this whole estrangement and the moneysystem” (Marx, 1944). Marx argued that in a purely Capitalistic environment, workers are reduced to nothing more significant than profit machines, stripped of the power to live with the freedom every human deserves.

This reminded us of the the struggles women have experienced throughout the United States history. They too have shared this dehumanization when it came to being acknowledged as worthy of basic rights. In The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Elizabeth Cady Santon mimicked the structure of The Declaration of Independence in order to stress a need for change in the treatment of women in society. Women had no voice in their government, just like the people of the American Colonies has no say in their own regulation prior to the revolution. Santon essentially called for a cultural revolution because the living conditions placed upon women were so highly restrictive that their human dignity was ignored. Women’s sense of humanity was estranged because society

“Having deprived her of this first right of a citizedn, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides” (Santon, 1848).

Our group found it intriguing that even though these two documents appear to be unrelated, they share the common theme. Both documents demanded more humane treatment from the ruling power, whether it was the economic system or the government. We then discussed how those demands have and have not been met in the present day.

Group 6

“Alienation,” according to Marx, relates to the worker’s relationship with the products he creates.  One of Marx’s main ideas is that, through labor, the worker becomes a commodity amongst other commodities, which are really just the physical embodiment of the worker’s own labor.  Marx theorizes that the “worker puts his life into the object;” when he does this, his life belongs to the object rather than himself.  And this is why, “the devaluation of the world of men is in direct proportion to the increasing value of the world of things.”  When the worker produces these commodities, he puts a little of himself in each product, slowly losing himself, becoming a commodity himself; and, when he does this his labor, as well as himself, become external and independent of him–this is alienation.

Drawing upon three moralist philosophers that is John Locke, William Blake, and Pope Francis, we explore the role of good virtues of altruism in the pursuit of common good. We asked ourselves, “what are the roles of mercy, pity, peace, and love in a prosperous society?” to which a few strong answers emerged.

For John Locke, concepts of equality, of justice, and of respect are birthed by our love for one another. He claimed, “This equality of men by nature…that he makes it the foundation of that obligation to mutual love amongst men, on which he builds the duties they owe one another, and from whence he derives the great maxims of justice and charity” (Chpt. 2 Sec. 5). He goes on to paraphrase the Golden Rule of Christianity in which, “Do unto others as you would have them done unto you” when he stated, “…so that if I do harm, I must look to suffer, there being no reason that others should shew greater measure of love to me, than they have by me shewed unto them” (Chpt. 2 Sec. 5). This rule reinforces the notion that we are bound to each other by good actions else evil deeds, such as vengeance or wraith, would lead us to ruin. 

Pope Francis is then a believer of Locke’s principles as well. In his Papal Encyclical, he called for “social peace… stability and security” that is found through distributive justice (Chpt. 4, Passage 157). Virtues of mercy, pity peace, and love are contributive to the common good therefore it is quintessential to an equal society. If Locke’s philosophy rings true, then an equal society is a loving society. Furthermore, Pope Francis asks us to think of our climate and environmental problems of which are products of corporate greed and short-term thinking (Chpt. 1, Passage 25). The link we share with nature, ourselves, and with God is the earth we inhabit. Destroying what little we share is harmful to our greater good thus he (Pope Francis) calls on society to unify in said virtues before it is too late.

William Blake is another proponent for said virtues although he perceives love within humanity much differently than Locke. Through Songs of Innocence and Experience, we’re able to witness Blake’s philosophy of humanly love, of which is a spiritual and emotional bond we all share. It is feelings of compassion, and altruism that binds our society as opposed to Locke’s belief in equality. Locke agreed with a monetary system of trading, one that is a result of a surplus in resources, of which inequalities are a by-product. If he is a proponent of such inequalities then he is not a proponent of the love he claimed exists. Blake on the other hand, has humanist principles about him that is found throughout his works in experience. He perceived poverty as a result of greed in which the road to salvation is traveled only by those selfless.

All three philosophers are wise to their own end, but none have the solutions to societal woes because we are complicated creatures with dual complexes. The virtues we mentioned are difficult in practice especially on a large scale, but perhaps we should take a step back. Perhaps our practice of said virtues on a smaller scale, one that is the size of our daily lives, is the first step to finding the common good. 

Holy Thursday, also called Ascension Thursday, is a time where the church community comes together to take pity on the poor and hold a service for the impoverished children of London’s charity schools. Holy Thursday as depicted in the Song of Innocence seems to be an idealized take on the service portraying the impoverished children of England singing in unison with their “clean innocent faces.” Their song is a “harmonious thunder” and a “mighty wind”. Blake takes the same scene and questions its validity in his Songs of Experience. Blake ponders is that “trembling cry a song?” “Can it be a song of joy?” Blake questions the society that would allow it’s children to be subject to such harsh conditions,  despite the prima facie angelic scene described in the Song of Innocence. 

http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeV/Blake.htm

http://bahumuth.chaosnet.org/blake.html

http://www.swedenborg.com/emanuel-swedenborg/influence/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Swedenborg

The church that Swedenborg led, New Jerusalem Church, is the only church on record that is known to have had William Blake in attendance.  According to the Esoteric article, “Even when Blake seems to be making purely theological statements, there are inevitable links to be drawn to Swedenborg’s diatribe against the Christian Churches and the way they have duped man into spiritual inaptitude. This dimension is not always expressed with full clarity in Blake’s writing without familiarity with the source texts to which he alludes.” It also states: “There was a widespread tendency among Swedenborgians to turn their prophet’s teaching into a social gospel that fitted a radical and anticlerical outlook of the late eighteenth century.” This tendency can be identified in Blake’s writings throughout Songs of Innocence and Experience.

In an article on Swedenborgs influence, Blake was known to have created paintings based on the writings of Swedenborg. it also states that: “Blake was strongly attracted to Swedenborg’s vision of divine love pervading the universe and giving life to all of creation”. Blake owned several of Swedenborg’s major works and was attracted to the radical ideas and the romantic movement that were prevalent in Swedenborg’s writing. Both Swedenborg and Blake believed in the underlying spiritual force to the world but rejected the ritual and dogma of organized church. Blake still maintained christian values, which were heavy influences in his work but still possessed a opposition to the church and the clergy as he supported the ideas of the church but not the implementation, specifically because he disliked organization of the church.

 

 

William Blake published “Songs of Innocence” in 1789; child labor was very much exploited and lowly disputed against. Chimney sweeping child laborers specifically were subjected to low wages, deadly working conditions, and harsh punishments for not meeting standards. Blake was anti child labor. In his poem “The Chimney Sweeper”, Blake discusses his detest for the current regulations on child labor. Child labor laws of 1789 were inefficient to say the least. Children were allowed to work as young as eight years of age. One of the only restrictions was that the children must be washed once a week, and that they must not climb chimneys with a lit fire inside. Blake made note of this cruel abuse when he stated that “boys (and even girls) as young as five were apprenticed by their parents to master sweepers in what amounted to both child labor and involuntary servitude.” He compares the children to slaves by saying involuntary servitude because they are not able bodied for the work they are doing, nor are they able to decide their fate in this situation, as they are only children. Further into the poem, Blake continued on the severe working conditions. Young boys had to sleep on bags of ashes that they swept. He goes on to describe the narrow and soot filled chimneys as “black coffins” to imply digging themselves into an early grave and not living their lives as children should be. The children had high risk of getting trapped and choking to death in the chimneys. Finally, Blake brings into context the idea of a merciful angel bringing the child laborers to their early death. Death was something to look forward to when these children had such horrible lives. This mention of the angel really drives Blake’s point home, instilling in the readers a strong sensation of empathy for the poor children laboring themselves to death.

Him…..Adieu, Mister Philosopher, is it not true that I’m still the same as I was before?

ME – Alas! Yes it is, unfortunately.

HIM – Let’s hope I only have that misfortune for another forty years or so. He who laughs last laughs longest.

 

This is one of the few places in the book where the two actually come to agreement. Through much of the work, it was hard to tell what Diderot’s position was because whenever one character made a point that called an aspect of our lives into question, the other character would refute it. This passage, however, has finality.

This passage brings into question what good (if any) arguing these points actually does in the long run. One cannot change others to make them believe anything besides what they already believe.

group 4

In Rameau’s Nephew Diderot holds a conversation with a rather sordid character. During their conversations Rameau seems to have a very negative view of society. He points out that reputation and credit only have no intrinsic value, only the value that we place on them. This can apply to a lot of things in todays society as well. A good example of this is beauty standards, something that changes drastically throughout the ages and places value on certain looks that have no value on their own.

Rameau seems to contradict himself a lot in this passage. Throughout Diderot’s work he explains how he is jealous of the wealthy and the geniuses, while simultaneously saying that they are bad characters. However he later states that he is a genius and that he deserves to be rich, and so on. He clearly places a higher value on himself than those around him, and it appears to frustrate him to no end. Since no one else sees his value, he does not possess it.

This explains why he lies and cheats in order to survive, all that matters to him is the appearance of looking good. All he truly wants is credit, reputation seems to matter little to him, since most people with a good reputation have little to show for it.