Epicurus and Marx's View on Meaningful life

In Marx’s theory of “alienation” it highlights on his analysis of alienated labor carried out by political economy, and sees worker as a misery tool for commodity production .This paper will examine the contrasting perspective given by Marx and Epicurus for a good and meaningful life, and will suggest that Marx’s view is more persuasive than Epicurus, in particular because Marx’s concept relates to our contemporary social phenomena which are much more alike in what we are experiencing today. Indeed, this paper will emphasize two arguments which distinctly are different between Marx and Epicurus’ view on life. First, Marx’s sees the point of life has tied into some kinds of activity like work and materialistic consideration, where Epicurus focuses on one’s experience such as pleasure, contemplation and friendship. Secondly, Marx does not consider wisdom is important, where Epicurus thinks wisdom is a key to achieve happiness in life.

Marx’s view of alienation is a response to political economy and capitalism, and which has developed an important relation among human, production, and reality with human nature.

He sees workers choose work to maintain life; work is not a voluntary thing. People create products that do not belong to them, and they work to satisfy the other’s need (eg. factory owners), not their own, and were considered to be “forced labor”. Therefore, in a sense work becomes a way people disconnect from their human nature. (p. 51,52) The act of production in a way alienates workers from their activities. Workers are alienated from the object they were produced, the more productivity a worker achieves the more he or she loses the nature of human beings. Since the product is not the creation of their own, workers bec...

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...intain our basic living standards. I feel like we live the alienated social structure like Marx describes. Employer paid employees with rate in hours, working schedules; we have deadlines, and work objectives. Yet, we still spend most of our time at work and produce products or provide services which are not belonging to us.

Works Cited

Epicurus (1), "Letter to Menoeceus" in Jackman (ed), Phil 1100: The meaning of Life, Course Kit, York University 2013, pp. 25-26.

Epicurus (2), "Principle Doctrines" in Jackman (ed), Phil 1100: The meaning of Life, Course Kit, York University 2013, pp. 27-29.

Jackman, H. 2013 (1). "Karl Marx", Lecture Notes, York University, 2013.

Jackman. H. 2013 (2). “Epicurus”. Lecture Notes. York Univeristy. 2013

Marx, Alienated Labor. (1844). In Jackman (ed), Phil 1100: The meaning of Life, Course Kit, York University 2013, pp. 51-54