The Differences between Work and Labor - Case Study Example

Work, Labor, Play" by Auden Work and labor are two terms, which are quite often, used interchangeably. However, these are entirely different terms when one would analyze it deeply. According to Hannah Arendt “as opposed to ‘work’, ‘labor’ does not designate a finished object, product or durable object. The focus is more on the activities making up the process of producing something rather than on the finished object” (Maycroft). In other words, work can be said to be done if a finished product is obtained out of the work. On the other hand, it is not necessary that labor produces any finished product. According to Stephen Palmquist, “labor is any form of life-sustaining effort that is rooted in the "biological process". Work is any form of creative productivity that results in "worldliness"” (Palmquist). In scientific terms, work is said to be done only of the object changes displaces from its initial position. If the object is not displaced, we cannot say that work is done. In that case, we can use the term labor instead of work. In short, work and labor are controversial terms, which are difficult to define. WH Auden in his article, “work, labor, play”, has defined work, labor and play in different manner. This paper analyses the differences between work and labor and the relationship play has with work and labor. According to Auden, “A man is a labourer if the job society offers him is of no interest to himself but he is compelled to take it by the necessity of earning a living and supporting his family” (Auden). There are plenty of employees in this world who forced to accept certain profession to find their livelihood. In other words, it is difficult for all the people to get the job they like. Auden argued that those who are working in uninteresting professions are only labours rather than workers. Auden explained his arguments as follows; In a society where slavery in the strict sense has been abolished, the sign that what a man does is of social value is that he is paid money to do it, but a labourer today can rightly be called a wage slave. The antithesis to labour is play. When we play a game, we enjoy what we are doing, otherwise we should not play it, but it is a purely private activity; society could not care less whether we play it or not. Between labour and play stands work. A man is a worker if he is personally interested in the job which society pays him to do; what from the point of view of society is necessary labour is from his own point of view voluntary play (Auden). Play is the activity people often undertake because of their interest. David Beckham is a Football player who plays Football because of his interest in it. Same way, Sachin Tendulkar is a cricket player since he enjoys cricket as a player. However, we cannot label either Sachin or Beckham as labours or workers even though they are doing lot of hard works while playing. It is a fact that they are getting decent money for their work as cricket or football player. Even then, it is impossible to mark them as workers. On the other hand, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates can be labelled as workers. They are excellent professionals who work with enthusiasm and interest in their profession. It is difficult for Gates or Jobs to excel in a sales or accounting profession. If these people somehow forced to work in sales or accounting profession, we cannot label them as workers anymore. In such cases, they are only labourers according to the arguments of Auden. In short, play is an activity, which is done fully for enjoyment purpose whereas labour is an activity which is done only for wages; not for enjoyment. Auden argues that the position of work is in between these two; play and labour. In other words, work is done not only for wages but also for enjoyment. Leisure is another activity in which workers and labourers differ widely. According to the views of Auden, “to a worker, leisure means simply the hours he needs to relax and rest in order to work efficiently whereas to the labourer, leisure means freedom from compulsion”(Auden). Workers take too little leisure whereas labourers are not at all getting opportunities for leisure. For example, in China like communist countries, people are working just like machines. They are not getting any freedom for leisure and to express themselves. They are working as slaves rather than human beings. On the other hand, in America like countries, people are working with lot of freedom and they are getting enough time for leisure activities. Such people are workers rather than labourers. Technology has brought both positive and negative changes to the employment world. It helped to reduce the labouring hours. At the same time, it reduced the number of enjoyable working professions also. “Technology and the division of labour have done two things: by eliminating in many fields the need for special strength or skill, they have made a very large number of paid occupations which formerly were enjoyable work into boring labour, and by increasing productivity they have reduced the number of necessary labouring hours” (Auden). For example, construction work was extremely hard in the past and majority of the labourers working in this field were cursing their destiny. Technology helped these workers to reduce their effort immensely. Modern construction equipment are easing out construction jobs. At the same time, many of the enjoyable professions such as book keeping, faxing etc have given way for internet and computer like modern technologies. In my opinion, Auden’s views about technology is partly right and partly wrong. It is a fact that technology has reduced laboring hours immensely. At the same time, it is difficult to accept Auden’s argument that technology reduced number of enjoyable working professions. No technology may survive in this world, if it is against the will of people. It should be noted that people are currently fighting against nuclear power stations even though energy crisis is a big problem everywhere in the world. In other words, people accept only feasible. They will reject all the technologies which may go against their will. Auden’s arguments about work, labor and play are acceptable to me. Genetically, nobody wants to work hard. Everybody wants to enjoy their life. However, enjoyment of life is not possible without money. So, money is the only motivating factor which motivates people to work. Even workers are not interested in working even if the profession is interesting to them. Only the circumstances force them to work. The case of laborers is even worst. They actually work only for survival. They are working in uninteresting professions, cursing their destiny all the time. On the other hand, players are the only group of people who enjoy their activities fully. Nowadays, players are getting lot of financial rewards as well as other prizes for their effort. In other words, current players are getting physical as well as mental gains from their activities. None of the other groups of people such as workers or laborers are getting both physical as well as mental rewards for their efforts. To conclude, Auden’s arguments are somewhat acceptable. His classification of jobs based on the interest of people is acceptable to me. However, his criticisms against technology cannot be acceptable. Only sustainable Technology survives in this world. All the other technologies may come and go rapidly. Works Cited Auden, W.H. “Work, Labor and Play”. Web. 14 October 2012. Maycroft, Neil. “Labour, Work and Play: Action In Fine Art”. 2005. Web. 14 October 2012. Palmquist, Stephen. “A Christian Philosophy of Work” Read More