Objectification

Objectification is a philosophical term and describes the process in which something becomes an object . The term plays an important role in dialectics , especially in Hegel and Karl Marx .

Objectification in Hegel and Marx

In Hegel's dialectical three-step (thesis-antithesis-synthesis), the spirit is objectified in the second step by confronting the products of its intellectual activity in the form of finished forms. Being-for-itself creates an external existence ( alienation ) through which it simultaneously divides and alienates itself from itself .

Karl Marx criticizes this model for the fact that it regards human activity in a purely abstract way as an activity of the mind, but not as a concrete activity or work . In contrast to Hegel's idealism , Marx, in his concept of dialectical materialism, conceives objectification as a socio-historical activity of man, as " objectified work ". He differentiates between the mere objectification of social labor activity (which is both inescapable and positive) and its alienation through capitalist relations of production .

Dialogic anthropology

In dialogical anthropology ( Kuno Lorenz ), objectification is understood as “semiotization”.