About
The "Philosophy of Work" is about you...
In philosophy there's a distinction, or various distinctions really, between intellectual activity aimed at theoretical knowledge, and that aimed at practical knowledge. Both are obviously important, without a theoretical understanding of the universe we'd be in the dark about many of its most important and interested features. Theoretical knowledge also often leads (sometimes indirectly) to insights and discoveries that end up being incredibly important (think here about any number of scientific discoveries that have improved our lives and our world).
But this course sits squarely in the tradition of practical philosophy.
In particular, it takes as its starting point a few assumptions:
- We are creatures for whom rational reflection can lead to life improvement, and for whom such reflection might be an essential part of living a good, healthy, and flourishing life.
- Philosophy, in particular, with its history, tradition, tools, and methodology, is well-suited to help us identify important issues that will arise in the course of one's working life, and to think-through or resolve those issues.
- Taking up this task -- thinking through one's working life philosophically, or, to put it simply, envisioning one's own "philosophy of work" -- is apt to improve one's experience of work over the course of a lifetime.
These assumptions are defensible. Or, at least, I hope they are and I will try my best to defend them in the first few weeks of the semester. But once we take them on board, the point and purpose of our time together will take on a distinctively practical end. We will form a community of thought -- an intellectual community -- that aims to work out the toughest issues about work, meaning, and happiness together.
Think about it like a gym, but for the mind. And instead of muscles, you'll be gaining virtues. Not necessarily the kind that pop into your head when you first hear that work (patience, kindness, temperance -- though these are important). But virtues of discernment, clear and careful thinking, and, honestly, the courage to tackle some of those questions that may have been living in the back of your mind for a long time; what are we supposed to be doing with our education? What should we ultimately be aiming at in life? Who should we model ourselves after, and how do we deal with conflicts when they inevitably arise?
A General Welcome
If any of this sounds valuable to you, welcome aboard! If you're a student in the course for which this website was designed, I'll now direct to to the "Policies & Assignments" page, where you'll find more information about what we'll be doing in the course, what my expectations are for you, and what expectations and goals you might start thinking about for yourself, for me, and for our entire class.
If you stumbled on this site in some other fashion...still: welcome aboard!
I invite you to take a look around at the site. Each course day (which you can access through the course calendar) is organized topically, around some feature that I think is deeply important for anyone considering the "philosophy of work." On each day's individual page, you'll find goals, prompts, and a short video related to that theme. You'll also find suggested readings. Some of these are under copyright, but others aren't. Just below, you'll find a list of hyper-links that will bring you: (a) to the source-text for every topic, if that text is available in the public domain (e.g. because it's super old), or (b) to a website where you can access that resource by some other means if you'd like (e.g. to purchase the book from which it was excerpted, or to access the article through the original publisher's own website).
If you'd like, feel free to follow or connect with me.
- I write about the philosophy of work (among many other things) on my Substack
- I release short videos about philosophy, and longer interviews whenever I get time, via my YouTube Channel
- To be comprehensive about it, I'm on LinkedIn
- And Instagram
- Finally, yes, I'm on TikTok (where I hold live "Office Hours" on Wednesday afternoons at 3pm, beause it's the future...)
I'd love to hear your thoughts as you follow along with us. I really believe that everyone ought to reflect seriously about their philosophy of work, and I hope you can find some resources here to start or continue along on that journey!