Alienation and moral imperatives: A reply to Kanungo

Rabindra Kanungo's position that alienation at work can be eliminated within capitalism is critically evaluated. My argument is that Kanungo only emphasizes the psychological aspect of Marx's view of alienation. The failure to include the ontological element of alienation results in the confused position that alienation can be eliminated while workers are still being separated from their work by capital. The role that the right to private property plays in the maintenance of this separation is also seen to be a part of Marx's conception of alienation that is missing from Kanungo's analysis. The clarification of Marx's conception of alienation results in the position that organizations within capitalism cannot live up to the moral imperative to be socially responsible in removing alienation at work.Robert T. Sweet is an instructor of Philosophy at the University of Dayton. His research interests include: Marxist philosophy, business ethics, and philosophy of mind. HisMarx, Morality and the Virtue of Beneficence (Peter Lang), was published in November of 1991.