The Old Testament describes labor as follows: "From the dust you were taken, and to the dust you return; by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread" (Genesis 3:19). In the context of the biblical passage, labor is described as the result of sin resulting from humans breaking God's prohibition, but here lies a more fundamental insight that humans are by nature 'laboring beings'. Humans must constantly labor to survive, but labor has a meaning beyond mere survival for humans.
In “The Human Condition,” philosopher Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) presents an insightful perspective on labor. She argues that through the ancient slave system, humans were liberated from labor in the natural environment and were able to devote themselves to work in a producing environment.
Suppose labor is an activity corresponding to the biological process by which the human body adapts to its natural environment. In that case, work refers to a unique human activity that relates to objects in the external world through an environment that is producing, rather than only relating to the natural environment. In other words, labor can be an activity in the realm of production that creates products. In this sense, humans in modern society are no longer “laboring humans” (homo labor), but are more deeply related to “humans who make” (homo faber).
However, this separation of labor and 'humans who make' becomes the impetus for the creation of the capital-intensive social structure of modern times. As humans mass-produce goods through work and enjoy the surplus value derived through exchange, modern labor has become unthinkable without the ‘surplus value’ and ‘surplus enjoyment’ that are the results of work.
In relation to this, Zizek criticizes modern capitalist society for blindly pursuing surplus value and thus encouraging the desire for ‘surplus enjoyment.’ The problem is that this desire causes humans to exhaust themselves. The phenomenon of ‘burnout’ in modern society is not unrelated to this endless human desire.
Today’s working people live ‘performance-centered’ lives, seeking to maximize performance through excessive work and excessive activity. Their lives are full of ‘impatience’ and no ‘leisure’. As seen in the vocabulary of ancient Greek and Latin, ‘work’ (ἀσχολία/negotium) and ‘leisure’ (σχολή/otium) correspond to each other, and fatigue refers to a state of physical and mental exhaustion resulting from not having enough leisure time due to excessive work.
Therefore, to be healthy and happy, it is necessary to change labor from ‘performance-centered’ to ‘fruit-centered’. Fruit-centered labor seeks meaning from labor itself rather than pursuing performance, and also aims for the fruits that are naturally obtained through labor. This is not a ‘performance subject’ who has no leisure at all and pursues excessive self-affirmation and performance, but a ‘fruit subject’ that matches one’s talents and abilities.
German philosopher Plasfoller warns of the ‘depressing labor’ of modern people, arguing that modern people are addicted to work, and that this is due to an obsessive love for recognition from others. Rather than realizing themselves through work, workaholics willingly sacrifice themselves to their work. I think what modern people who are too busy with work to even take care of themselves really need is self-care.
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