3. In Marx's published writing, where psychological
phenomena are mentioned that have been cited as
evidence of Marx's belief in the importance of the
doctrine of alienation, despite his refusal to use the
early language of alienation, Marx explains these
phenomena as a consequence of private property in
the instruments of production. But in his early Eco-
nomic-Philosophical Manuscripts (written before 1847),
he asserts that alienation is the cause of private prop-
erty. This would make a psychological phenomenon
responsible for the distinctive social processes of capi-
talism whose developments the mature Marx regarded
as having causal priority in explaining social psycho-
logical change.
