History of Work

Paper Summary:

This paper documents how the philosophical meaning of work has changed throughout the ages. It begins with the beginning of civilization, when work took up most of people's time as they were busy hunting and gathering in order to survive. It looks at the Greek's belief that the highest form of activity was the exercise of the mind and their dislike of work. The Jewish attitude to work is examined, as well as the Early Christians, including the Catholic Church and Protestantism. Technology is seen to have changed the work ethic, as people have more leisure time. The paper looks at the reasons workers and unions have put forward to secure a reduction of the workweek. Lastly, new ways to schedule work are discussed.

From the Paper:

"The philosophical meaning of work has changed throughout the ages. Early people lived by gathering the fruits of the earth, anthropologists suggest that leisure and subsistence efforts intermingled as both were constant and no difference seen between them. Obtaining food was the single most important activity of hunter-gathers as well as small-scale agricultural societies. From observation of contemporary bush tribes, it has been estimated that it could take a family 12 to 19 hours a week for food gathering, although this was contingent upon the season, the geography and the availability of food. As a result, some societies lacked the leisure to develop a culture while other societies had considerable time for leisure."

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