ris
05-28-2009, 08:29 PM
Has anyone else read this new(ish) release? I'm not sure it fits into philosophical literature strictly (although that's where all the bookstores are placing it...)
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work were what i thought was some sort of response to the early-Marxian concept of "alienation" through labour, which in some respects it was, but ultimately, i wasn't really sure what de Botton was upholding. He seemed to be drawing attention to the value/virtue of all jobs, no matter how tedious or meaningless, but at the same time described in depth feelings of disillusionment, depression, etc, whenever he had to encounter jobs like accountancy, etc. I wasn't sure how he could uphold such a position, when his encounters with the various professions he investigated, didn't really bring him any sense of joy or satisfaction.
And then again, de Botton seemed to me to give a very obviously outsider point of view - he's an academic and intellectual, who writes philosophy for a living. The jobs he explored weren't exactly close to any of his personal life experiences as a member of the workforce, and in some respects his idealism showed itself to be a false "tourist" perspective of the profession he was investigating...
Still, I'm willing to give his writing a go, and so have moved on to The Consolations of Philosophy, which i have so far found to be enjoyable (as little of it as i have read...)
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work were what i thought was some sort of response to the early-Marxian concept of "alienation" through labour, which in some respects it was, but ultimately, i wasn't really sure what de Botton was upholding. He seemed to be drawing attention to the value/virtue of all jobs, no matter how tedious or meaningless, but at the same time described in depth feelings of disillusionment, depression, etc, whenever he had to encounter jobs like accountancy, etc. I wasn't sure how he could uphold such a position, when his encounters with the various professions he investigated, didn't really bring him any sense of joy or satisfaction.
And then again, de Botton seemed to me to give a very obviously outsider point of view - he's an academic and intellectual, who writes philosophy for a living. The jobs he explored weren't exactly close to any of his personal life experiences as a member of the workforce, and in some respects his idealism showed itself to be a false "tourist" perspective of the profession he was investigating...
Still, I'm willing to give his writing a go, and so have moved on to The Consolations of Philosophy, which i have so far found to be enjoyable (as little of it as i have read...)