Marx's theory of alienation
Karl Marx's theory of alienation describes the estrangement of people from aspects of their human nature as a consequence of the division of labor and living in a society of stratified social classes. The alienation from the self is a consequence of being a mechanistic part of a social class, the condition of which estranges a person from their humanity.
19th-century German intellectual Karl Marx (1818–1883) identified and described Entfremdung (alienation of labor) as Laborers not owning the products they labor to create.
Strikers confronted by soldiers during the 1912 textile factory strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, United States, called when owners reduced wages after a state law reduced the work week from 56 to 54 hours
Philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) postulated the idealism that Marx countered with dialectical materialism.
Philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–1872) analysed religion from a psychological perspective in The Essence of Christianity (1841) and according to him divinity is humanity's projection of their human nature.
The division of labour is the separation of the tasks in any economic system or organization so that participants may specialize (specialisation). Individuals, organizations, and nations are endowed with or acquire specialized capabilities, and either form combinations or trade to take advantage of the capabilities of others in addition to their own. Specialized capabilities may include equipment or natural resources as well as skills. Training and combinations of equipment and other assets acting together are often important. For example, an individual may specialize by acquiring tools and the skills to use them effectively just as an organization may specialize by acquiring specialized equipment and hiring or training skilled operators. The division of labour is the motive for trade and the source of economic interdependence.
Visiting a Nail Factory by Léonard Defrance (18th century)
Sir William Petty
Fable of the Bees by Bernard Mandeville
Facsimile of the first page of du Monceau's introduction to Art de l'Épinglier, with "division de ce travail" highlighted