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Document Details : Title: The Importance of Work for Life Subtitle: A Sloterdijkian Perspective Author(s): VAN DE VEN, Bert Journal: Tijdschrift voor Filosofie Volume: 85 Issue: 1 Date: 2023 Pages: 111-134 DOI: 10.2143/TVF.85.1.3292011 Abstract : The question what meaningful work is has received a lot of attention in recent literature. However, far less attention has been paid to what role work should play from a good work-life balance perspective. This paper applied Sloterdijk’s earlier work on in-existentialism and his anthropology to the question of what the proper role of work in one’s life should be. It was concluded that work remains a very vital sphere for self-realization in our present-day society. Without the work sphere, people would lose a meaningful way to express their ‘semantic surpluses’ and experience personal growth. In contrast, Sloterdijk’s views on in-existentialism point us to the potential downside of an excessive identification with one’s identity at work. Generally, the work-life balance seems distorted because work tends to occupy too much time and space in many people’s lives. Whether this is the case in a particular life can only be assessed from the perspective of someone’s personal trajectory. |
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