the philosophy of work and virtue (life, self)

[silent hypnotist]

So often I hear the phrase "he or she works hard" and some moral value is given to that person for their hard work. It may concretise as a raise at work.

But it can also lead to some strange outcomes. I had a teacher at school who used to say a lot "look at those maths teachers walking back to their cars. They never carry anything in their hand to mark at home. Slackers." Who is he to put them down like that? Those maths teachers might have been so well organised that they had already finished their work. And who is to judge them anyway? If they went home to their kids and played with them is it bad for them to produce happiness?

You get that famous example in history of Joseph Stalin. He used to keep his office light on all night to look more hard working. But he was asleep!!

And there is another angle that I have always thought of - the moral case for laziness. Let's say that all human beings together contribute to the greater good. Isn't there a case for some people to keep their energies in reserve in case other people stop doing their bit? I call this the substitute approach. Your contribution probably won't be what you DO; it will be what you COULD do.

It seems such a tangled web to me - the notion of more work and harder work = a person has more moral value. I am amazed that no philosopher gets into this. It's worth writing about.

So do you agree? Surely you like my moral case for being lazy?
Go to the beach and slap on some sunscreen. It might make you into a better, more useful person

[makes no sense at all]

many philosophers have tackled the subject of laziness, all the way back to the pre-socratics

[ukrkoz]

All they want from you is to believe that you should be "hard working" all the time. Wrong. You should actually be "working (work is hidden slavery) very little but dedicate most of your time awake to creativity and development, in whatever manner.
Btw, your quoted Mr Stalin stated that person need to be working no more than 4 hrs a day to stay productive. And the man DID work 17-18 hrs a day. That he forgot to turn the light off once in a while means nothing. When he died, he left behind one reguylar uniform, one parade one and 2 prs of mended socks.

[harhar]

Adam Smith, Bertrand Russell and the entire philosophy of Marxism (among many others) cover this topic.

Not to mention the aforementioned Socratics and Pre-Socrtatics. Namely in the form of Eudaimonia.

Historically Philosophers would work long hours tutoring the rich, come home at night and work on their ideas. Older Modern philosophers were then well off enough to just study and write. They had a sort of leisure time that a lot of us take for granted today.

Today and within contemporary times we have the luxury of being bored.

As for the concept of work, I think as the OP has mentioned, its not about the length of work, but rather a more virtue focused, or even existential focused symbiotic relation to work and life. And to live and work authentically; to enjoy our work.

To do our best work means that we care in some societies about ourselves. It shows to the world, our character. A showy sometime superficial, but also sometimes authentic version of how we carry ourselves.

Unfortunately as you've mentioned, some work differently than others. Some see shortcuts while some don't. Either road is fine, in my mind, if both are living authentically.

[Knightly Knight]

We were taught to always raise "The Bar Higher" early on we were taught the seven "Core Values"..

Loyalty
Honor
Duty
Respect
Integrity
Selfless-Service
And Personal Courage

I've never met a lazy person who always carried and displayed the seven "Core Values" ..

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by silent hypnotist

So often I hear the phrase "he or she works hard" and some moral value is given to that person for their hard work. It may concretise as a raise at work.

But it can also lead to some strange outcomes. I had a teacher at school who used to say a lot "look at those maths teachers walking back to their cars. They never carry anything in their hand to mark at home. Slackers." Who is he to put them down like that? Those maths teachers might have been so well organised that they had already finished their work. And who is to judge them anyway? If they went home to their kids and played with them is it bad for them to produce happiness?

You get that famous example in history of Joseph Stalin. He used to keep his office light on all night to look more hard working. But he was asleep!!

And there is another angle that I have always thought of - the moral case for laziness. Let's say that all human beings together contribute to the greater good. Isn't there a case for some people to keep their energies in reserve in case other people stop doing their bit? I call this the substitute approach. Your contribution probably won't be what you DO; it will be what you COULD do.

It seems such a tangled web to me - the notion of more work and harder work = a person has more moral value. I am amazed that no philosopher gets into this. It's worth writing about.

So do you agree? Surely you like my moral case for being lazy?
Go to the beach and slap on some sunscreen. It might make you into a better, more useful person

if you are part of a productive team, and you are the slow, easily distracted, slacker,,,then you are putting your own self interest (or lack of) ahead of the team,,,,your actions or inactions are making many look bad

who wants to work with a fruit loop??



lets say
we both have axes and a cord of wood to split and stack

you have half, and I have half we both get paid for the whole cord of wood,,no partials,,

Im moving right along,,because I know if I work hard , we can do 3 cord of wood and make more money

you get tired and whiney and slow down,,,,,which now im getting irritated because your low productivity is now hurting me,,,

im ready to throw you in the wood chipper!!