Paper On Pieper, Work, And Wonder. The World Of Work And

The next topic to consider, then, is what kind of rational activities fulfill the purpose of a human being. Aristotle feels that as a human, one should actualize the capacities of the soul through activity. Here one encounters the debate of activity versus productivity. In current society, productivity is the measure of success, and activity for its own sake is rarely considered worthwhile. Aristotle does not believe in the importance of productivity relative to one's happiness. Instead, he feels that one should engage in activity for no external end or result whatsoever. Those activities that are chosen simply because of a desire to experience the activity are often the ones that bring the most happiness. Activities that have no product create a sense of existence for the one engaging in the activity. This, however, is not a product. Instead it is merely a way of defining or referring to the activity. An example of this kind of activity is conversation. If conversation occurs in

When employed labor is involved, productivity in terms of time becomes important, because the employer generally pays the worker in terms of time. For many jobs, then a shift from task-orientation to timed labor occurs, as the laborer’s time becomes the employer’s money. Thus, a separation between work and leisure occurs, as

The successes and failures of the Knights of Labor, have generated many controversial issues that have helped shape the North American labor movement. They fought for eight-hour day shifts, abolition of child labor, equal pay for equal work, and political reforms, including the graduated income tax in the late 1800s. During this time period, many immigrants were coming to America to find jobs. The Knights affected all sorts of workers from this time period, including skilled and unskilled workers. In the present, a holiday, more equality, and government passed Acts were created thanks to the inspiration of the Knight’s actions. In the late 18 hundreds the Knights of Labor Union affected people’s lives, this including skilled and unskilled workers.

In spite of this he still wishes he could work with scholars to invent and to discover. He wishes this above all else although he knows it is against the law to wish to be of another trade. Still, he continues to sneak away and work if only for hours at a time on discovering what man has lost, all the secrets of the unmentionable times that could help further man’s knowladge. His desire to be a scholar is similar to his love for The Golden One, for neither pursuit is socially

Aristotle posits Eudaimonia, human flourishing and happiness, as the ‘chief good’ of humanity achieved through ‘reflective activity’ over a lifetime (Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics, 2002). From my perspective, the reflective activity to which he alludes is the pursuit of leisure.

Pieper describes work and leisure from a unique perspective. He believes that work is a necessary part of life, but one that should not consume our every waking moment. Piper challenges our modern definition of work to show us that time away can be beneficial. The leisure that he references is not a period of just not doing anything. He argues that our time not consumed by our work should be devoted to philosophy and theology that enriches our lives. What the modern world uses as leisure, which is not thinking at all, is what Pieper would call being sloth. The time away from work is meant for personal and spiritual growth. Idleness robs our time as much as work, but leisure allows us to expand our horizons. Comparing Huxley's Brave NEw World

In the article “Class in America,” Gregory Mantsios identifies the social classes in America as well as the growing gaps between them. He explains how people who are born in already wealthy families are well educated and take advantage of opportunities. He claims that people in the lower class are not given a chance to succeed and it is even more difficult for the minorities. Mantsios’ article relates well to Anyon’s “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work.” Anyon attempts to find evidence of the differences of schoolwork in lower class schools. Relating well along with these two articles is “Still Separate, Still Unequal” by Kozol. He discusses how minority and lower class schools are practically ignored therefore, setting them up for failure. Mantsios’, Anyon’s, and Kozol’s articles correlate seamlessly in discussing the issues of the effect that social class has on education.

Many people in today’s society find themselves guilty of believing the common misconception that money can buy happiness. They go to school to become a doctor, lawyer, or other high paying job, with money and social status as their only incentives. Many will find that they have fallen into a trap, when they start earning their large salary, but still are not happy. While there were many messages present throughout Studs Terkels Working: a graphic adaptation, the most important reoccurring message seemed to be that having pride and dignity as well as working at a job that fulfills one’s life passion or is simply enjoyable are more important qualities than earning a large salary and having a high rank on the social ladder. The interaction of

This leads into the final point Carr makes in chapter one that automation is changing society’s perception of work and leisure. Many people would agree that work is not pleasurable and humans like leisure. However, Carr argues that, “thanks to our bias for leisure over work, ease over effort, we overestimate automation’s benefits” (19). Not only does he argue at the end of the chapter that most people are searching for a blend of life and work, but also he argues that people actually enjoy work over leisure because of the sense of accomplishment and productivity they feel afterwards. Carr argues that we overestimate the benefits of technology, when it may not even be what we really want as human beings. Furthermore, the his skeptical beliefs regarding automation, tacit knowledge, and work versus leisure are central to his argument throughout this entire book.

We are a pleasure driven society always waiting to be amused. Self indulgence is a very natural aspect of human life. Does pleasure affect our lives? Will it make us happy at the end? Well, Aristotle will let us know what it means to be happy and have a good life in the Nicomachean Ethics. In the process, he reveals his own account of pleasure as well as other philosophers opposing views on the subject. The author highlights the key them by telling us that pleasure is not the chief good. However, it is an end in itself, which makes it good. In addition, pleasure is also not a process because it doesn’t involve any movement from incompleteness to completeness. According to Aristotle, happiness is

In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, every point, every major idea, and every argument made, is all connected back to the concept that every action seeks an ultimate good. Aristotle felt that there is an intrinsic good that humans aim for and that there is this "good life" we all mean to have. However, what does it mean to be good? That means something different to everyone; we all inhabit many different roles in our day to day lives, whether we strive to be a good parent, a good sibling, a good student, a good citizen, or a good leader. All emphasize the importance of our own well-being, as well as that of others, and the greater community as a whole. For the purpose of this paper, the focus will

We as a culture have become entirely numb to the beauty that comes with living a simple and observant life. The saying that ignorance is bliss does come from very real sentiment, some of which our dynamic society could benefit from. Since the birth of capitalism and enlightenment, which were well enough intentioned at the start, mankind has isolated itself from life as much as it has tried to control and understand it. In a superficial mission to become closer to the earth and better enjoy life, we have lost its true meaning. Instead of simply taking delight in the wonders of the world, we have mathematized its essence and extracted the mystery that makes the human experience so rewarding. Although the knowledge gained over the past 400 years has been profitable and constructive, with all the progress comes a greater evil. Congruent to Vico’s concerns with this new found urgency for advancement, I find that the knowledge that we hold dear and fight so passionately for brings such pain and anger. One must wonder if we are better off living peacefully in the dark than scrambling through chaos grasping for fleeting

Work takes on greater importance in a society where people believe that they can master the material world and shape their own destinies, and less where they believe that they can not. An Ancient Greek philosopher said that the only stability in the world was within one's mind or soul, where ideas were secure from the unending changes that took place in the material world. In Ancient Greece, philosophers believed that a person's thoughts and ideas were more important than that person's work and that work in the material world lacked permanence. For the ancient Greeks, the status of particular occupations depended on the degree of freedom a person had, the perceived moral integrity of the occupation, and the amount of mental and physical work it required. Today we tend to feel that working in an office is better than working in a coal mine, regardless of which worker makes more money. Our language suggests that it is a privilege to work sitting down.

It seems that nowadays many people live by the saying “time is money” and spend all their time fully dedicated to work. The line separating an individual's work and life has become essentially blurred and it is not uncommon to have people wholly wrapped up with work, having no time for anything unrelated. Although de Saint Exupery wrote the little prince in 1943, his work is very much relevant today. On the Little Prince’s journey across planets he meets two characters, the businessman and the geographer, both demonstrating the unbalanced relationship between work and time. The businessman is so devoted in his work that he barely acknowledges the Little Prince. He deems that time not spent working is such a waste that he only talks to the Little Prince in between his work. The businessman claims he only has time to be “concerned about matters of consequence” (The Little Prince) 53, which is not disparate from how many, in the real world, view their jobs to be essential, thus spending less time doing other things.

There are two kinds of people in the work force. There are laborers and there are workers. The difference between these two types of people is that a worker enjoys his or her job while a laborer does not. To the laborer, his or her life is almost equivalent to a wage slave. For those laborers, there only escape is leisure time. This is essentially the opposite of their lives, a time where there is freedom and compulsion. To the worker, leisure time consist of enough rest so that they can do their jobs effectively. In the two ways that these two types of people enjoy their free time, how do we know which person spends their time better? I believe that a worker often spends his of her leisure time more productively than