In Philosophy of Right, Hegel argues that private property is an essential component of the expression of external freedom. In “Estranged Labor,” Marx argues that private property is the culmination of alienated labor and thus represents unfreedom. In this paper, we will discuss what Hegel means by external freedom, why such freedom is necessary, and why he considers the ability to accumulate and hold private property to be essential to such freedom. We will then discuss Marx’s notions that the need to acquire private property—as a natural consequence of alienated labor—represents unfreedom, and that the asymmetrical distribution of private property between the worker and capitalist drives the worker into slavery. In doing this, we will first
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Two natural questions arise, then: 1. Why does the individual need this external freedom; and 2. Why does this external freedom require private property?
According to Hegel, the answer to the first question lies simply in the fact that human beings are not just wills, but are also beings in the external world. He says, “The person must give himself an external sphere of freedom in order to have being as Idea. The person is the infinite will, the will which has being in and for itself, in this first and as yet wholly abstract determination. Consequently, this sphere distinct from the will, which may constitute the sphere of its freedom, is likely determined as immediately different and separable from it” (Philosophy of Right, §41). In order for the individual to exist not just in the abstract, she must be able to exert her will in the external world. And, as noted above, to exert her will in the external world is to impart her will to a thing—an object with no will of its own.
Finally, then, we have to understand why the ability to accumulate private property is necessary for an expression of external freedom. According to Hegel, private property is necessary because communal property does not allow the individual to express herself in
Two natural questions arise, then: 1. Why does the individual need this external freedom; and 2. Why does this external freedom require private property?
According to Hegel, the answer to the first question lies simply in the fact that human beings are not just wills, but are also beings in the external world. He says, “The person must give himself an external sphere of freedom in order to have being as Idea. The person is the infinite will, the will which has being in and for itself, in this first and as yet wholly abstract determination. Consequently, this sphere distinct from the will, which may constitute the sphere of its freedom, is likely determined as immediately different and separable from it” (Philosophy of Right, §41). In order for the individual to exist not just in the abstract, she must be able to exert her will in the external world. And, as noted above, to exert her will in the external world is to impart her will to a thing—an object with no will of its own.
Finally, then, we have to understand why the ability to accumulate private property is necessary for an expression of external freedom. According to Hegel, private property is necessary because communal property does not allow the individual to express herself in