Disposal – Part 1
- Anderson Cruz
- Jan 25, 2023
- 5 min read
Alienation is an illusion disguised as reality. It limits your field of vision as a result of what the other thinks...
Recently, I was asked if de-alienation is possible. An intriguing question that made me think more deeply about a topic addressed for so many years of history and thought by so many humans who sought the reason for the neglect of self-care: alienation.
I warn that this subject must be on the agenda every day, with questions that put our convictions in check and give us a shock of reality.
To talk about it, I beg the philosophical look in order to understand the meaning of this word in its practice, expanding our perception. Thus, we can define a congruent opinion that brings us clarity, after all, to think about alienation, it is necessary to move away from the risk of an alienated perspective.
Based on the concept mentioned in Social Sciences, an alienated person is:
The one who is alien to herself. She doesn't realize her own way of thinking and doesn't even reflect on her choices. He is indifferent to himself and, therefore, he becomes a slave to external suggestions that come through various means of communication.
Let's go further:
The reasoning effort – for her – is unthinkable. In addition, using your autonomy to find answers is a card out of the deck. He subjugates himself to the other who demonstrates authority in front of him. They feel inferior because they don't realize how addicted they are to the perception of others, because thinking alone would be suffering... Like a drug addict in the period of abstinence.
One of the main characteristics of an alienated person is the easy acceptance of a point of view from someone who presents persuasion in his words. For the alienated person, this point of view cannot be doubted and she is willing to defend it vehemently, if necessary.
Noteworthy:
If you agree with everything a person says, check that you are not already alienated.
I bring to this moment a thought by Michel Foucault. To substantiate his thesis, he recalled a dialogue in which Serenus asks Seneca for advice, who said something groundbreaking:
“Well, I'll give you the diagnosis that suits you, I'll tell you exactly how you are. But, in order to help you understand how you are, I will first give you the description of the worst state in which one could be, which is, in fact, the state in which one finds oneself who has not yet started the path of philosophy or the work of the practice itself. Anyone who has not yet taken care of themselves is in a state of stultitia”. (FOUCAULT, 1982).
From this dialogue, Foucault states that this state mentioned by Seneca is at the other pole in relation to the practice of the self. It would be as if you granted authority to the other person to decide your life without any intervention, but that at the end of it all you - even so - would be responsible for the ignorance present in your opinions.
Alienation is an illusion disguised as reality. It doesn't allow you to have a holistic view, but it limits your field of vision as a result of what the other thinks.
An alienated person does not think for himself.
“Stultitia” is a term originated in Latin. It is the same as “estultícia”, which means “stupidity”. So "stultus" means "stupid".”.
The stultus is the one who does not take care of himself, because his stupidity is enough to leave him on the sidelines of his own life. He prefers to be guided as if he were blind to the circumstances and his ignorance goes so far as to cause indignation in anyone who sees him speaking the words of someone other than himself.
He is not authentic. We can observe several stultus living in our society. We often find them by our side... Sometimes stultus are ourselves.
The stultus is definitely the alienated person.
But, is it possible for someone to be born alienated?
That question (believe me) has already been asked of me, and I have relished the opportunity. A question like this makes us step out of the comfort zone and think about what we may never have thought.
Clarifying what has already been said (as if it were necessary), for a person to be considered alienated he needs to give up his right of reasoning to force himself to believe in what the other says.
A newborn does not have a formed conscience, so it cannot reason. Therefore, he cannot give up what he does not have. Therefore, we are not born alienated, but we become so from our experiences.
These experiences have representations in us and their meanings influence our way of living. We go blindfolded until we accept that we need to see for our own eyes.
To understand the process of disalienation, Foucault identifies a problem, which is the immense difficulty for a person to move from ignorance to knowledge.
Since in the context we are reflecting on, one person is alienated from the other, then, to overcome ignorance, would another person be indispensable?
Is it possible for someone to disalienate by themselves?
While reflecting on this problem, in “The Hermeneutics of the Subject”, Foucault mentions the types of mastery and highlights the Socratic mastery. As he himself defined it, “the mastery of embarrassment and discovery, exercised through dialogue”.
For him, the other is necessary; and through his wise intervention, the stultus understands the object of his personal quest: his own self.
The other, in this case, cannot be an educator in his/her traditional way who passes on school knowledge. It cannot be a father or mother who teaches manners and customs according to their traditions, as there is no way to guarantee that children will follow their teachings. It will never be a religious reference, since its eyes point only to the inflexible convictions of its institution.
But, after all, who is this operator who rescues the one who is lost for life? Who is the liberator of the alienated being?
Foucault states quite clearly, agreeing with Seneca:
“He is the one who extends a hand to the stultus and pulls him to the other side, where taking care of himself would be the beginning of his new commitment. The operator who presents himself is, of course, the philosopher”. (FOUCAULT, 1982).
He is the one who brings provocations and takes stultus out of the field of ignorance, who doubts thoughts and questions limiting beliefs. Everything is based on understanding and dialogue is the means by which it happens.
Socratic mastery, as well as several philosophical currents, contemplates the art of philosophizing as a guide to reencounter with oneself. This is the path to self-reflection, doubt, self-questioning, reframing... Disalienation.
Is the other necessary for the disalienation to take place?
I say it depends on how alienated you are. We can ourselves – why not? – to be that “other” that leads us back to reality, because sometimes what we think is the result of an unwillingness to think intelligently.
What is certain is that philosophy teaches us a powerful question that protects us from the risk of alienation. Therefore, when there is a statement from someone who claims to be knowledgeable about a subject that you do not master, I advise you to ask the following provocative question:
“Based on what are you making such a statement?”.
Faced with this question, the other must present the foundation of his words. This foundation being proven, it will be unquestionable. Being originated from a personal experience (the famous achism), it will be an unproven belief and, therefore, subject to doubt.
The habit of questioning certain beliefs separates us from the majority.
We can address this topic in all areas, whether at work, religion, family, school and even friendships. But the important thing is to know how we are absorbing the information we receive.
To become alienated, dependence on the other is enough, but to become alienated, it is enough to allow your eyes to see what is behind the theater of life.
Anderson Cruz.
Writer, therapist and graduate student in philosophy.
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