The Right to Get Lost

Approaches to Detachment as a Praxis of Existential Rebellion Against the Capitalist Impositions of Alienated Labor

Abstract

Drawing from a brief philosophical consideration of the relationship between Marx’s alienated labor and Max Weber’s Protestant ethic, we analyze their consequences for the life of the contemporary individual, addressing both Albert Camus’ theorizations on the absurd as well as Lobsang Castañeda’s on the mechanical man and on momentum sickness. Thus, we show how the capitalist impositions of civilizational functionality have led the humans of our time to a practical denial of the value of leisure, rest, and relaxation as indispensable conditions for wellbeing. In response to this problem, and in an attempt to rethink Camus’ acceptance of the absurd in political terms, we propose detachment as a praxis of existential rebellion and passive resistance, articulated through the concept of dwelling in this place. At an individual level, this constitutes a form of passive protest against alienated labor and the hegemonic discourse that justifies it.