Work and the Good Life - PHL356
What value should we attach to work? Is it something we do just for the wages? Or does work have a value beyond that? How does work affect our identity? Should the availability and quality of work be left to the job market? Or does the state have responsibilities to provide decent work? In the first half of the unit we look at how some of the great philosophers of the past answered such questions, including Plato, John Locke, Adam Smith, Hegel, Marx and Hannah Arendt. Using these philosophical models, in the second half of the unit we look at the worries people have about work from a contemporary perspective. With a focus on issues such as unemployment, precarious work, disrespect at work and meaningless work, we ask how things can go well or badly with work and what might be done about it.
| Credit Points: | 3 |
| When Offered: | S2 Day - Session 2, North Ryde, Day S2 External - Session 2, External (On-campus dates: None) |
| Staff Contact(s): | Professor Nicholas Smith |
| Prerequisites: |
(39cp at 100 level or above) or admission to GDipArts |
| Corequisites: | |
| NCCW(s): | PHIL356 |
| Unit Designation(s): | |
| Unit Type: | |
| Assessed As: | Graded |
| Offered By: | Department of Philosophy Faculty of Arts |
Course structures, including unit offerings, are subject to change.
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