PAST IS PROLOGUE

How to Think More Deeply About Work

If we want to work better, first we need to think better

“The Seasons” by Pieter Brueghel the Elder from the Metropolitan Museum of Art online collection. Image: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

We spend much of our lives working. And much of the time we are not working, we spend talking about work, recovering from work, fretting about work, or wondering if we should work more or work less.

But less often do we stop to think more deeply about work. What, after all, is work? Why does it loom so large in our lives? And when it comes to questions like these, philosophy can help throw more light on what work is and why it matters.

What is work?

In his book on the philosophy of work, Lars Svendsen says that work, at the most fundamental level, is about acting on the external world so that “one can get the necessities of life.” You work hard in the garden, turning over the soil and planting your seeds in neat rows. And, sometime in the future, you will be able to feast on the crops you have planted.

Melon farmer, circa 1370. Image: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Work is not just about getting the necessities of life here and now. Rather than just shaping the world in the present, work is also about our relationship with…