Skilled work and ethics: How can we expand opportunities for meaningful work?

Abstract

This chapter addresses questions of social philosophy that arise once we see that meaningful work is central in human flourishing: in a just society, is meaningful work available for all people? Who should do the necessary work that undermines the well-being of the workers? And how can we expand opportunities for meaningful work for more people? The chapter is partly a meditation on the merits and limits of sharing routine work, which provides a partial solution to unhappy moral problems created by occupations of routine work. We have no complete solution to such problems, and we should acknowledge that work that allows us to thrive is a limited good. The limitedness of meaningful work is not a reason to reject the normative claim that meaningful work is central in human well-being, nor is it a reason against working to transform social organizations so as to increase opportunities for meaningful work.