XI. Alienation and Emancipation

Drawing on Marx, Rosa offers a radical critique of alienation and defends the possibility of emancipation. Rosa’s critical theory may benefit from building on both Marx’s conception of labour and Habermas’s conception of language. When we work, we raise four fulfilment claims [Erfüllungsansprüche]: (1) purposiveness, (2) co-operativeness, (3) creativity, and (4) createdness [Erschaffenheit]. When we speak, we raise four validity claims [Geltungsansprüche]: (1) truth, (2) correctness, (3) sincerity, and (4) comprehensibility. When we resonate, we raise four self-actualization claims [Selbstverwirklichungsansprüche]: (1) af←fection, (2) e→motion, (3) adaptive transformation, and (4) constitutive uncontrollability.