Preview

Jeff Pieper Work

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1019 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Jeff Pieper Work
What is work?
“Of course the world of work begins to become - threatens to become - our only world, to the exclusion of all else. The demands of the working world grow ever more total, grasping ever more completely the whole of human existence.”
― Josef Pieper

When looking up the definition of work I was surprised to find so many definitions; According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the main definition is “a job or activity that you do regularly especially in order to earn money.” One of the antonyms of work is laziness, which has as one of its synonyms “leisureliness. Leisureliness is defined as “averse or disinclined to work, activity, or exertion; indolent.” Surely this modern definition of leisure cannot be the “basis of culture” as Pieper’s essay title insinuates. This essay was indeed hard to follow, but one thing I am sure of is that Josef Pieper did not mean that being lazy was the basis of culture at all; in fact, his
…show more content…

According to Pieper, "Leisure is a form of that stillness that is the necessary preparation for accepting reality; only the person who is still can hear, and whoever is not still, cannot hear. […] Leisure is the disposition of receptive understanding, of contemplative beholding, and immersion — in the real.” (Simply Convivial) This seems to insinuate that to Pieper, leisure was a time for incredibly deep thought and contemplation. It is a time to block out the trappings of everyday life and consider far deeper matters. “Leisure is not the attitude of the one who intervenes but of the one who opens himself; not of someone who seizes but of the one who lets go, who lets himself go, and “go under,” almost as someone who falls asleep must let himself go.”( Simply Convivial) Here I get the impression that Pieper is saying that we are to let go, and submit ourselves wholly to this deep contemplation and really listen to what reality really

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The concept of ‘work’ has changed over time. What was considered ‘work’ before and the techniques needed to acquire jobs have transformed in today’s society. This was mainly due to two things: technological advancements and increase in population. Technological advancements have created new jobs, such as robotics technicians. This has created new minds with new techniques and learning outcomes. At the other end, an increase in population has created new seats for different careers, thus causing an expand in the area. These two complements in society have changed how society works and acts. However, what has changed the most in job society was and is the continuous improvement of technology. From centuries and centuries ago, work was something…

    • 1260 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    TEXTBOOK

    • 15836 Words
    • 63 Pages

    Leisure’s roles are not static, but rather they change and evolve with the circumstances in which we find ourselves.…

    • 15836 Words
    • 63 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    With the announcement of the Company Man’s death, his friends and acquaintances have to stop for five or ten minutes to think about how they are living. They know he worked himself to death with working six days a week, some 12 hours a day. Not only that, but even on his day off, he continually thought about his work. While everyone was fully aware of the devastating effects of this, they found themselves in the same position, that of being…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    AHSC 242

    • 19793 Words
    • 75 Pages

    Leisure’s roles are not static, but rather they change and evolve with the circumstances in which we find ourselves.…

    • 19793 Words
    • 75 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “The worker puts his life into the object; but now his life no longer belongs to him but to the object”. This is because the worker’s labour is invested into the object, however as he does not own the fruits of his labour, which the capitalism appropriates from him. “Labour’s product—confronts it as something alien, as a power independent of the producer” (p. 32). The more the labour produces the more he becomes estranged.…

    • 2988 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    ” Leisure was as much a part of life as work was. Workers found their joy in pubs, enjoying the camaraderie after long days and weeks in the factory. When trade was slow, the workers looked towards the bars for solace. Drinking, gaming, and sports created the lively life of the pre-industrial America.…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Flora

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the fictional memoir,Maestro, Peter Goldworthy illustrates the impossibility of reaching perfection. The protagonist, Paul Crabbe, uses ten years to fulfill his dream of becoming a concert pianist, but ultimately only to become an academic in Melbourne. His failure is caused by his flawed personality and his inherent human limitation. Paul’s teacher, Eduard Keller, the ‘maestro’, is a damaged individual. His high status in music does not give him a perfect life, as his wife and son are killed due to his insensitivity and false confidence in his own excellence in music. Peter Goldworthy shows that perfection in an ambition farfrom reaching through the characters’ struggle for it.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stone Age Economics

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Resting and socializing is precisely what Western cultures aim to receive in exchange for long hours of work. If a person works hard, he will get paid. If he gets paid, he will have the means to have leisure time. Yet the average American works 40-50 hours per week, leaving him little time to relax. Even in his spare time, he is consumed by everyday obligations that distract from leisure time such as shopping, paying bills, and keeping up the household. The excess of things in Western society takes away from the leisure time Western society is supposed to…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The worker only feels himself outside his work, and in his work feels outside himself. He is at home when he is not working, and when he is working he is not at home.” (Karl Marx)…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book begins with the reader reframing their role in the work place. When reframing ones role one must look to job crafting, or expanding the description or your job to make a desirable difference. Job crafting makes one think of not only just the "me", but also the "we". It is said in Best Work that often times the best way to see a difference is to see it through the of whom the difference is made.…

    • 3533 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Conflict Theory

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In chapter 4, Witt mentioned “…we combine extreme interdependence (due to specialization) with a strong sense of individualism (tied to a weak collective conscience). We depend on each other more than ever, but we realize it less.”…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Aesthetic Labour

    • 7397 Words
    • 27 Pages

    Wnrhurst, C. and P. Thompson, 1998. 'Hands, Hearts and Minds: Changing Work a l ~ dWorkers at…

    • 7397 Words
    • 27 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    All workers push and strive to finish a creation by a deadline with perfection. Dedication to finish something with other workers for the good of a job well done. Hard work is never done there are always many things to create. A life span of hard workers comes a long ways because we eat what farmers grow. We buy what welders make, live under what construction workers build. Life always has a demand for people to make something for those who cant or don’t want to do it. “ I would later come to understand the dynamics of occupational status and social class, but I could sense early on how difficult the work was and without it, wed starve”(Rose194)…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Theory

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In today’s society work is most likely to be associated with paid work. We always tell people about our paid employment, the work where we receive a regular income. So the work we do can play a role in defining our identity and how we see our self. Your employment can also play a major role in terms of; determining a person’s level of income, defining a person’s status, social class and a person’s Life chances. For example those in upper class enjoy greater life chances than those in working class. However, the borderline between work and non-work rarely lies within the actual activity itself and more usually inheres in the social context that supports the activity. For example for some people playing sport is an occupation and for some might be a leisure activity. Therefore work could be any form of activity, but what counts as work depends on the social context within that activity occur.…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Family Law

    • 5754 Words
    • 24 Pages

    Emerald Article: Work in 2020: Prognostications about the world of work 20 years into the millennium Adrian Furnham…

    • 5754 Words
    • 24 Pages
    Powerful Essays