The Philosophy of Work
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Description
This chapter identifies three domains of philosophical questions about work. First, an ontological issue: What is work? This question is both historical and conceptual, as questions in social ontology usually are. Second, an ethical issue: How does work fit into the good life? The hard problem here is to substitute, in new economic conditions, for the four main things a good job currently does: first, produce the goods and services we need, while also providing people with income, sociability, and significance. These are issues on which many popular writers on the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” and on globalization have, of course, written for some time. But what’s lacking, the chapter claims, is serious organized reflection on the normative issues raised by these challenges. And that leads to the third cluster of concerns: How should law and other sources of normative authority be configured to allow work to contribute to the flourishing of workers, and how should the opportunities and rewards of work be shared?
Source Publication
Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy
Source Editors/Authors
David Sobel, Peter Vallentyne, Steven Wall
Publication Date
2021
Volume Number
7
Recommended Citation
Appiah, Kwame Anthony, "The Philosophy of Work" (2021). Faculty Chapters. 92.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/92
