Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to refocus and reconceptualize the current discussion of meaningful work. Utilizing Alasdair MacIntyre's notion of a practice as a conceptual tool, I look at the ways in which moral values have been associated with work. Changes that occur during the industrial revolution led to a distinct separation of economic value from social and moral values. What I suggest, is that this separation of social and moral ideals from the modern experience of work has resulted in the "de-moralization" of work in the twentieth century. It is from this kind of "de-moralization" that the quest for meaningful work emerges. ;This dissertation falls within the realm of Applied Philosophy and lays the groundwork for an ethical analysis of the workplace