Division of Labor, Machinery, Dehumanization

Smith's concept of Division of Labor is based on the image of a machine, but not as a mere metaphor or symbol. Rather, it is as the emerging dominant means of production that mechanical processes become the organizing principle of the social relations of those who work them. Now, one potential adverse effect of such division, as has been previously discussed, is a tendency towards disintegration. Another, given the subordination of workers to inert entities, is the dehumanization of them. So, while Smith's Invisible Hand might address the first problem, he seems to neglect the second. In contrast, Marx's proposal to collectivize ownership of the means of production targets both--it integrates social relations, and, it preserves the humanity of workers threatened with a robotizing that results from slavery to a mere machine. He thereby has compelling grounds for a Moral argument for a transition to Socialism.