About the author
German philosopher, economist, and revolutionary (1818–1883). These early notebooks, unpublished in his lifetime and rediscovered in the twentieth century, contain the young Marx's humanist account of alienation — how labour under capitalism estranges workers from their product, their activity, their fellows, and their own human nature. They reshaped twentieth-century Marxism by revealing a philosophical, humanist core beneath the later economics of Capital.
Synopsis
Early Marx writings on alienated labor, private property, human nature, and capitalism.
Core passage idea
Paraphrase · Public domainMarx argues that alienated labor separates the worker from the product, the process, others, and himself.
This shows Marxism as a theory of human alienation, not only class conflict or economics.
To avoid a bubble
Pair with liberal and conservative accounts of work, property, and responsibility.
Reading note
A good bridge from simple socialism to deeper Marxist theory.
Best paired with
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations.