The Questions

These—and other—questions will guide our thinking as we consider The History of Work in the form of readings from some of the most influential thinkers on the subject:

• To what extent do Plato, Locke, and Smith propose a similar role for work/labor in the constitution of the city/society—and does work in their view aid community or hamper it?

• How does Charlotte Perkins Gilman suggest an alternate outcome to the society presented by Locke and Smith?

• How can the various "problems" for workers presented by the imaginative literature we've read be seen in terms of Marx's "alienation"?

• Compare a "work instinct" to a "work ethic" and explore the implications of each stance.

Additional questions will arise as we discuss these texts in seminar. Final study questions for the in-class essay will be determined in advance of that event and distributed to you for review.

Essay Specifics

Please bring either a laptop or 2 blue book with you to class on Wednesday, September 29th. (Blue Books can be purchased at the College Press.) From the list of essay questions we developed I will have chosen two. Of these, you will select the one from which you will write a in-class essay. I'll offer several time checks so that you can pace your writing, and I'll collect your essays promptly at the end of class.