In The Act of Work (1984) Heilbroner argues that work expresses subordination and its opposite, freedom. Work cannot be described solely in terms of objectively defined tasks, but of subordinately completed tasks. With modern capitalism, the formal freedom not to work is introduced, and it is the end of work based on force. With the development of industrial society, the blackmail of hunger also disappears, because in our society no one is condemned to die of hunger. Therefore capitalism raises the problem of the motivation of work that makes it desirable even though it is no longer essential for life. In this regard Heilbroner lists five main motivations. But if in capitalism it is possible to work with a certain degree of freedom and self-realization, Heilbroner raises the question of whether a a society without work and effortlessly subjugated is conceivable.
University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0001-6045-968X
Chapter Title
L’atto del lavoro secondo Robert Heilbroner
Authors
Giovanni Mari
Language
Italian
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0319-7.117
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Idee di lavoro e di ozio per la nostra civiltà
Editors
Giovanni Mari, Francesco Ammannati, Stefano Brogi, Tiziana Faitini, Arianna Fermani, Francesco Seghezzi, Annalisa Tonarelli
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
1894
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0319-7
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0245-9
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0319-7
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-0320-3
Series Title
Studi e saggi
Series ISSN
2704-6478
Series E-ISSN
2704-5919