What does it mean to be alienated? How Hegel understood alienation was "the failure of the will of the individual to identify with the larger will of the society." I take it as the opposite of Hegel's idea of mutual recognition. One alienated himself or herself from society when he or she rejects or thinks the ideas of society are meaningless to him or her. I've felt like that before, not necessarily that the ideas were meaningless but that they weren't part of who I am. Kind of like they don't apply to me, because I don't believe in the idea. Hegel views the unifying of society as a necessary condition for happiness, and alienation is necessary condition for unhappiness. Even though, some feel that we are bounded by society we aren't really. If you follows society's rules and morals is capable of becoming happy, because there are people that recognize you and that look up to you for what you do.
In class we mentioned the quote, "what bounds you gives you freedom." If one conforms and does what society expects of him or her they are rewarded with the freedom to assert themselves in the society. We are giving opportunities that others that alienate themselves from society aren't given. Here is where the whole idea with mutual recognition comes in. If you alienate yourself you destroy the purpose of mutual recognition and you destroy the possibility of it happening. You are not able to recognize yourself and in turn you don't exists in the minds of others, as Hegel's philosophy of mutual recognition goes. Why would anyone try to alienate themselves from society when unifying with society brings about one's own happiness and recognition?
I would politely disagree with you, and say that alienation is not a purpose by any means but rather a consequences of this disconnect between our own will and society's will. Homosexuals, for instance, often feel alienated from society not because they directly choose to do so but because the majority of our world (unfortunately) opposes their most fundamental belief. That is to say, in our world right now, homosexuals do not get satisfaction from society's recognition of them, because society does not recognize them! However, I think that as society starts to understand that it is not a personal decision but a genetic thing that leads to homosexuality, hopefully the LGBT population will feel more welcomed and less alienated. I chose this argument because I believe that it fits with the idea of alienation, especially since there's so much bullying happening right now against gay/lesbian teens.
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