Self-estrangement is the experience of becoming alienated from oneself—feeling disconnected from one’s own thoughts, feelings, actions, or identity. In Hegelian philosophy, it describes how Spirit alienates itself to achieve self-knowledge; in existentialist thought, it relates to inauthenticity and loss of genuine selfhood.
Related
- Alienation
- Hegel’s Spirit
- The Other — self-estrangement in both Hegel and existentialism is typically mediated through encounter with an Other
- Existentialism