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But does dignity apply to Marx? In his 1844 Manuscripts Marx, influenced by the

writings of a religious writer, Ludwig Feuerbach, discussed the concept of alienation.
He argued that uniquely in capitalist society, workers become alienated from their
true human nature, which is to find human fulfilment in their work. This is not due to
the technology of the factory, but to the fact that as a class the workers have no
ownership and therefore no control over the “means of production”. This separates
or alienates workers -
• from the products they make, over which they have no ownership or control;
instead, the products come to exercise control over them

• from the work they do, which is mentally and/or physically debilitating
• from their fellow-workers, also merely appendages of the machine
• from their own human nature and dignity.

Alienation destroys the workers’ capacity for community and free and creative work,
which Marx believes is essential to human self-realisation and well-being. Under the
social and property relations of capitalism, work doesn’t do this. On the contrary, it
destroys the worker’s very spiritual existence.

And, as Rousseau said, if society conflicts with the inner life, it's society that must
change.