Why work?
A conversation between a human resources expert and a philosopher encapsulates, in just a few pages, the true meaning of work
To work, and therefore be happy? Or, to work, and therefore feel perpetually wretched? These are not theoretical matters, but rather practical, everyday concerns, which also pertain to the very nature of enterprise, that is, a space – material and immaterial – where most circumstances call for work to be done; just like our current times, and the digitalised world in which companies and employment operate.
This discussion involving Paolo Iacci – human resources expert – and Umberto Galimberti – philosopher, academic and psychoanalyst – revolves around these themes, taking the shape of a printed two-way dialogue in the recently published Dialogo sul lavoro e la felicità con Umberto Galimberti (A dialogue on work and happiness with Umberto Galimberti). To be more precise, the two authors ponder on which answer best addresses this specific question: is working the path to happiness or an inevitable curse?
The book unravels from the possible ways in which one could solve this conundrum – in just a little over 100 pages, it collects all philosophical and empirical knowledge concerning concepts and practices related to working, and the two antithetical scenarios discussed by Iacci and Galimberti are evidence enough of the appealing and useful nature of this work. To the ancient Greeks, the first step towards happiness was to know one’s own nature, in order to fulfil it. The current world of work – regulated by markets and rationales purely based on notions of efficient production – prevents humanity from embracing the whole production process of which it is part and thus to understand its ethical significance. Under these conditions, work cannot be the means to realise one’s own potential and attain happiness.
Balance and participation, involvement and fairness, self-fulfilment and enforced restraints, and much more – these are all elements that are part of the conversation and that are inspired by numerous literary and philosophical references. The reader – we should mention it now – will not find easy and pre-packaged solutions in this book, but, rather, much doubt and more questions: food for thought on what is happening today, tools for a better understanding. The kind of work that makes you happy – this is the conclusion by Iacci and Galimberti – exists, but only when those restraints and obstacles that make it unattainable are removed. How to do that is something that still needs to be ascertained. This is a difficult, complex path to be undertaken, then – one that, even today, we cannot always follow to the end.
This book, purposefully left in dialogue form, makes for a fascinating read and from its first pages conveys the full complexity of the theme through two quotes – one from La chiave a stella (The wrench) by Primo Levi and another from the Book of Genesis, about Adam and Eve banished from Paradise – but also through some good words by Galimberti himself: “To me, working has always been a way to remain anchored to life and its real problems.”
Dialogo sul lavoro e la felicità con Umberto Galimberti (A dialogue on work and happiness with Umberto Galimberti)
Paolo Iacci
Egea, 2021
A conversation between a human resources expert and a philosopher encapsulates, in just a few pages, the true meaning of work
To work, and therefore be happy? Or, to work, and therefore feel perpetually wretched? These are not theoretical matters, but rather practical, everyday concerns, which also pertain to the very nature of enterprise, that is, a space – material and immaterial – where most circumstances call for work to be done; just like our current times, and the digitalised world in which companies and employment operate.
This discussion involving Paolo Iacci – human resources expert – and Umberto Galimberti – philosopher, academic and psychoanalyst – revolves around these themes, taking the shape of a printed two-way dialogue in the recently published Dialogo sul lavoro e la felicità con Umberto Galimberti (A dialogue on work and happiness with Umberto Galimberti). To be more precise, the two authors ponder on which answer best addresses this specific question: is working the path to happiness or an inevitable curse?
The book unravels from the possible ways in which one could solve this conundrum – in just a little over 100 pages, it collects all philosophical and empirical knowledge concerning concepts and practices related to working, and the two antithetical scenarios discussed by Iacci and Galimberti are evidence enough of the appealing and useful nature of this work. To the ancient Greeks, the first step towards happiness was to know one’s own nature, in order to fulfil it. The current world of work – regulated by markets and rationales purely based on notions of efficient production – prevents humanity from embracing the whole production process of which it is part and thus to understand its ethical significance. Under these conditions, work cannot be the means to realise one’s own potential and attain happiness.
Balance and participation, involvement and fairness, self-fulfilment and enforced restraints, and much more – these are all elements that are part of the conversation and that are inspired by numerous literary and philosophical references. The reader – we should mention it now – will not find easy and pre-packaged solutions in this book, but, rather, much doubt and more questions: food for thought on what is happening today, tools for a better understanding. The kind of work that makes you happy – this is the conclusion by Iacci and Galimberti – exists, but only when those restraints and obstacles that make it unattainable are removed. How to do that is something that still needs to be ascertained. This is a difficult, complex path to be undertaken, then – one that, even today, we cannot always follow to the end.
This book, purposefully left in dialogue form, makes for a fascinating read and from its first pages conveys the full complexity of the theme through two quotes – one from La chiave a stella (The wrench) by Primo Levi and another from the Book of Genesis, about Adam and Eve banished from Paradise – but also through some good words by Galimberti himself: “To me, working has always been a way to remain anchored to life and its real problems.”
Dialogo sul lavoro e la felicità con Umberto Galimberti (A dialogue on work and happiness with Umberto Galimberti)
Paolo Iacci
Egea, 2021