The Alienation of Modern Man

This intriguing work deals with the plight of the alienated individual, estranged from humanity and the surrounding world. It examines such questions as: Why do writers like Kafka, Thomas Wolfe, Rilke, and the existential philosophers, who portray man as a stranger in the world, have such a strong appeal?it caused by the increasing complication of our political life and by the growing separation between leaders and masses? Is it characteristic of the human condition, or is it a specific development of modern society? Should mankind resign itself to alienation, or can it be overcome, conquered?

Fritz Pappenheim in pre-Hitler Germany, studied economics, sociology, and philosophy at the universities of Cologne, Kiel, and Freiburg, receiving his Ph.D. in 1929. He then worked in the fields of labor and adult education, lecturing regularly and taking part in panel discussions on the Frankfurt radio. When the Nazis took over, he escaped to Spain. In 1939, at the end of the Spanish Civil War, he fled to southern France. During his stay there he was interned for some time in a concentration camp. Deprived of German citizenship by the Nazis, Dr. Pappenheim had great difficulty in getting a passport and visa to the United States. He came here in 1941, a few months before America’s entrance into World War II, and lived in Cleveland doing settlement work with young people. From 1945 to 1952, he taught social sciences at Talladega College, Alabama. After that he made his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts until his death on July 31st, 1964.