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ALIENATION: A CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS*
301
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ALIENATION: A CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS 303
this fact and attempted to solve it. In this analysis, then,a considera-
tion will be made of the linguistic question.
3. The EpistemologicalModel
As a means to settlingthe linguisticquestion the following epis-
temological model is proposed. A synthesisis made of Austin's (1971)
theoryof speech acts, a traditional distinctionin the theoryof mean-
ing between sense and reference,and Anderson's (1963) realist ontol-
ogy. Here Austin's (1971) epistemological distinctions between locu-
tionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary is given an ontological
basis not found in Austin's writingsand not elaborated by later fol-
lowers of his ideas in the mainstream of linguistic philosophy. In
fact, contemporary philosophy has largely ignored the ontological
assumptions made in its epistemology.3By contrast the epistemologi-
cal model proposed here is based on the assumption not only that
ontologyis logically prior4to epistemology,but that this ontology to
be compatible with a scientificdiscipline must be a realist ontology.
Anderson's (1963) philosophy meets this,criteria. The broad tradi-
tional distinctionin philosophybetween sense and referenceis taken
here to be synonymouswith connotation and denotation, respective-
ly, and these two aspects are linked with what Austin calls the
locutionary force of a word.
The interrelationshipof these positions can be diagrammed as
follows:
EPISTEMOLOGICAL MODEL
WORD
Austin's K ('ALIENATION') Linguistic
speech-actsl questions
ILL
|OCTIONARY OCUTIONARY PERLOCUTIONARY1
rl FORCE FORCE | FORCE |
IREFERENCE
REFERENCE SNE
ENSria e.g., NORMATIVE
Traditional Empirical
theoryof questions
meaning QUALITIES RELATIONS QUALITIES RELATIONS|
Anderson's
OntologyI
L_ |STRICT|EXTENDED'|
3 An influentialexample here is the use theoryof meaning, an epistemolgicalposi-
tion influencedgreatlyby Austin's philosophy.See Parkinson, G.H.R.(ed.), The Theory
of Meaning.
4 If X is logicallyprior to Y. then all Y are X (YaX) but not all X are Y (XoY).
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ALIENATION: A CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS 305
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ALIENATION:A CONCEPTUAL
ANALYSTS 307
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ALIENATION: A CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS 309
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7. Critical Considerations
1. Alienation as a Metaphor
Feuer (1965) and Horton (1964) argue that 'alienation' has meta-
phorical meaning, that as a figure of speech, it is transferredto a
class of facts to which it properly does not denote. Horton asserts,
"Alienation for Marx and anomie for Durkheim were metaphors for
a radical attack on the dominant institutionsand values of industrial
society."n Feuer argues, "'Alienation' thus leads a distinctive emo-
tive-dramaticmetaphor to experiences of social frustration.It im-
poses on them the metaphor of the prophets who failed."29In this
analysis, it has been argued, 'alienation' does have a legitimate deno-
tation and connotation with qualities and relations within the indivi-
dual, and within his milieu. It is no mere metaphor,but a relational
fact. Marx undoubtedly used metaphors when speaking of alienation
to give the term an illocutionaryforce, (the case of 'malignant form'
is an example); however,this is not to say that 'alienation,' per se, is
a metaphor,or that its locutionaryforce is metaphorical.
2. The rejection of the concept 'alienation'
Feuer's, (1965) claim, however, is seen to be strongerthan Hor-
ton's (1964). For him 'alienation' is no more than a metaphor, and
should thus be dispensed with. He elaborates, "The history of the
concept 'alienation' suggests, however, that what it says can be bet-
ter said without it; human self-destructivebehaviour is better dealt
with without this metaphor."30And again he contends, "Alienation
has a way of eluding a fixed set of dimensions because it is as multi-
potential as the varietyof human experience."31Kaufman (1965) also
joins Feuer (1965) in the call for the elimination of the term. Never-
theless these reasons for the discarding of the term are far fromcon-
clusive. 'Alienation' does not elude a fixed set of dimensions; if this
were the case it would have to be concluded 'alienation' had neither
a sense nor a reference.Although the investigationof 'alienation's'
sense and referencerevealed it to be a broad term and broadness.
per se, of a concept neitherprejudices its meaningfulnessand use in
logically informativepropositions,nor its use as a classifactoryterm
in descriptiveand analysis. What does remain to be done in sociology
is the systematic implementationof more specific terms to denote
varieties of alienation, and spell out their relation to the broader
parent term.
28 Horton, J., "The Dehumanization of Anomie and Alienation: A Problem in the
Ideology of Sociology," p. 283.
29 Feuer, L. "What is Alienation?The Career of a Concept," p. 145.
30 Feuer, L. Ibid., p. 145.
31 Feuer, L., Ibid., p. 140.
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ALIENATION:A CONCEPTUAL
ANALYSIS 313
creative and free being. Simmel, on the other hand, was more con-
cerned with objectification, a necessary consequence, it was hypo-
thesized, of a money economy. Alienation for Simmel was the rela-
tionship between the individual and society. As the values of the col-
lectivity(society) are often in conflict with those of its constituent
parts (individuals), society often opposes the individual as an alien
force. Similarly,a comparison of Fromm (1956, 1960) and Mills (1961,
1969), exemplifiesthis same point. For Fromm (1956, 1960) the ethical
and the sociological are coextensive. Unalienated existence entails
the developmentof relatedness in the form of 'love' and the 'produc-
tive orientation.'This type of relatedness,it is argued, is a good, and
distinct from submission (masochism) and domination (sadism.)
The basis for this ethical proposition is Fromm's scientificethic of
'humanistic psychoanalysis.' Here an investigation is made of what
Fromm calls the 'human situation' and 'man's needs,' and from these
factual questions it is concluded that the unalienated existence is also
the good existence. Mills (1961, 1969), on the other hand, saw the
change from the public to the mass society as a condition leading to
meaninglessness and estrangement.This was considered a sociologi-
cal fact and no attempt was made to spell out the nature of unalien-
ated existence and why it can be considered a good.
It is clear then that alienation either has explicit evaluative im-
port (Marx, Fromm et al.) or implicit evaluative import (Simmel,
Mills et al.), Propositions incorporatingthe term can thus be seen to
raise both sociological and ethical considerations. Yet this coexten-
tionality should not blind one to the fact of autonomy. The failure
to see this distinctioncould lead to an argumentfor the rejection of
the concept from sociology. Israel (1971), for example, in not taking
cognizance of this fact, contends that as "Theories of alienation are
often anchored in normative theories that can be seen as unrealistic
in the sense that they do not sufficientlytake into account existing
social conditions . ."I'" (my emphasis), then the concept must be
disbanded from sociology. Yet Israel (1971) commits the error of
asserting that the sociological import in the concept is 'anchored,' or
in some way dependent, upon the ethical; that 'alienation' cannot
have a sociological meaning independentof its ethical meaning.
An underlyingassumption in much of the debate on values, is
that the ethical considerations have only an illocutionaryforce: that
a normative assertion is no more than the subjective (emotive, com-
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ANALYSIS 315
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PHILOSOPHY ANDPHENOMENOLOGICAL
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ANALYSIS 319
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ALIENATION: A CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS 321
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