Abstract: The article is devoted to theoretical understanding of the alienation phenomenon. According to the author, modern views on the alienation phenomenon lead to erroneous forecasts, according to which modern capitalism gradually develops the communism of knowledge. This modern “cognitive capitalism” is characterized by the fact that instead of material assets creative self-realization and knowledge becomes the main factor of production, which is difficult to capitalize due to its public nature. According to the proponents of this idea, in cognitive capitalism personal freedom of being is gradually achieved (with the condition of overcoming consumerism), because the economic sphere moves towards abundance, as well as the regression of the need for compulsory labor. Nevertheless, the author expresses his disagreement with the theorists of cognitive capitalism as something prior to communism. According to the author, situation, in which everyone has a freedom of creativity, alienates a person no less than material poverty or forced and meaningless labor. Under the free competition of creativity, everyone has to justify constantly the originality and the significance of his/her ideas. However, it should be taken into account that there is a great chance for the reiteration of what has been said or demonstrated. The public nature of knowledge and creativity begins to alienate a person from his/her identity by distancing the purpose from the performer. This competition puts a person before a choice: to devote oneself completely to creativity or to give up being satisfied by the mediocre results. As a result, according to the author, the society of guaranteed minimal material wealth would be not communistic but rentoriented (rent society). Such a society is divided into the majority, consisting of those lived at the expense of public resources rentiers, and the productive “cognitive” class. In this regard, the author tries to find some alternatives to such an unfavorable scenario.
Keywords: capitalism, communism, cognitive capitalism, alienation, post-capitalism, rent society.