Bullshit Jobs
Mon, Mar 04
Today we'll look at David Graeber's notion of "bullshit jobs" as a further exploration of finding meaning and purpose in work. David Graeber (1961-2020) was an American anthropologist known for his anarchist views, sharp political critiques, and thought-provoking writing. Graeber worked as a professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics and was also a key member of the Occupy Wall Street movement, becoming one of the people who helped coin the slogan “We are the 99%.” In his book Bullshit Jobs, Graeber argues that many people have jobs that are utterly meaningless and that this collective lack of purpose takes an inevitable toll on the mental health of workers.
Goals - by the end of today's class, you will:
- Understand what Graeber means by a "bullshit job" and how it connects to our ongoing discussions of finding purpose and meaning in work;
- Appreciate what Graeber thinks is so distinctively bad about bullshit jobs, and apply one or more of our philosophical theories in articulating your own explation regarding what's wrong with such work; and
- Think about ways that we might avoid meaninglessness in our work, or respond to the phenomenon of "bullshit jobs" more generally (perhaps as a society).
Read This:
(Access readings on Perusall)
Primary Reading: Graeber, Bullshit Jobs, Ch. 1
Secondary Reading: Selections from the Book of Ecclesiastes
Do This:
After completing the readings for today, consider the following questions (which we will talk about in class):
- How does Graeber's account of bullshit jobs connect up with the views about human flourishing--and the role of work in such flourishing--that we've been looking at in class?
- What do you think contributes to the prevalence of bullshit jobs in our society? Why are they created, and why do people end up working them? Is there anything anyone who finds themselves in a bullshit job can do to remedy their situation?