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The Ethical Dimension of Work: A Feminist Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2020

Sabine Gurtler and
Andrew F. Smith
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Abstract

My contribution intends to show that the traditional philosophical concept of work (Marx, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Marcuse, Arendt, Habermas, and the rest) leaves out a crucial dimension. Work is reduced, for example, to the interaction with nature, the problem of recognition, or economic self-preservation. But work also establishes an ethical relation having to do with the needs of others and to the common good—a view of work that should be of particular interest for feminist and gender philosophy. This dimension makes visible, as socially necessary work, the so-called reproductive sphere pertaining to giving birth and raising children, but it also generalizes the aspect of care, which plays a significant role in traditional woman's work. The ethical relation to the other is a characteristic feature of human work and in this sense, the possibility of working is a part of a good life.

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Type
Research Article
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Hypatia , Volume 20 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Contemporary Feminist Philosophy in German , Spring 2005, pp. 119 - 134
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 by Hypatia, Inc.

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