This is consistent with what Russell is saying. Russell seems to be in conflict with individuals that are at the top of the economic ladder. Now suppose that an invention allows the same number of people to make twice as many pins. Hitherto we have continued to be as energetic as we were before there were machines. In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays by Bertrand Russell. John Messerly. October 3, 2015 Russell, Work - Classics. When all these methods prove inadequate we have a war: we cause a number of people to manufacture high explosives, and a number of others to explode them, as if we were children who had just discovered fireworks. Owing to the absence of any central control over production, we produce hosts of things that are not wanted. Russell divides work into: 1) physical labor; and 2) the work of those who manage laborers (those whose work allows them to buy what the laborer’s produce, essentially almost everyone else.) “First of all: what is work? But without a considerable amount of leisure a man is cut off from many of the best things.”, “The wise use of leisure, it must be conceded, is a product of civilization and education.”, “In a world where no one is compelled to work more than four hours a day every person possessed of scientific curiosity will be able to indulge it, and every painter will be able to paint without starving, however excellent his pictures may be. Click here to watch a video on the notes from this book. By a combination of all these devices we manage, though with difficulty, to keep alive the notion that a great deal of manual work must be the lot of the average man.”, “Much that we take for granted about the desirability of work is derived from this system and, being pre-industrial, is not adapted to the modern world. View all my reviews. The method of a leisure class without duties was, however, extraordinarily wasteful … and the class as a whole was not exceptionally intelligent. Russell answers this question with his quintessentially beautiful prose: Above all, there will be happiness and joy of life, instead of frayed nerves, weariness, and dyspepsia. There is, in the end, just as much leisure as on the other plan, but half the men are totally idle while half are still overworked. Thank you! Modern technic has made it possible for leisure, within limits, to be not the prerogative of small privileged classes, but a right evenly distributed throughout the community. Since men will not be tired in their spare time, they will not demand only such amusements as are passive and vapid. It cultivated the arts and discovered the sciences; it wrote the books, invented the philosophies, and refined social relations. And, considering how much we hate capitalists, many of us still choose to work for one instead of finding and working for our own customers. You might also look at my recent review of Aaron James’ book, “Surfing With Sartre.”. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid.”, “From the beginning of civilization until the industrial revolution a man could, as a rule, produce by hard work little more than was required for the subsistence of himself and his family, although his wife worked at least as hard and his children added their labor as soon as they were old enough to do so. If so, I shall not have lived in vain.â, âIf he spent his money, say, in giving parties for his friends, they (we may hope) would get pleasure, and so would all those upon whom he spent money, such as the butcher, the baker, and the bootlegger.â, âThe morality of work (the notion that everyone ought to work to earn their life) is the morality of slaves, and the modern world has no need of slavery.â, âLeisure is essential to civilization, and in former times leisure for the few was only rendered possible by the labors of the many. This is what he called “the morality of the Slave State …” He illustrates with a thought experiment. February 6, 2020. I think that there is far too much work done in the world, [and] that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous …. Note: The following are excerpts from the article named ‘Summary of Bertrand Russell’s “In Praise of Idleness”’ from the Reason and Meaning blog. “A man who has worked long hours all his life … But in the actual world this would be thought demoralizing. In 1932, at age 60, my exact age as I write this post, Bertrand Russell penned a provocative essay, “ In Praise of Idleness .”. Modern methods of production have given us the possibility of ease and security for all; we have chosen, instead, to have overwork for some and starvation for others. (This is even more true with 21st-century technology.) But this is the only sense in which there is a duty to work. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. At least one per cent will probably devote the time not spent in professional work to pursuits of some public importance, and, since they will not depend upon these pursuits for their livelihood, their originality will be unhampered, and there will be no need to conform to the standards set by elderly pundits. And with modern technique it would be possible to distribute leisure justly without injury to civilization. Open source code, Wikipedia, my own little blog and millions like them all attest to the desire of people to express themselves through their labor. But the typical worker doesn’t think that physical or monotonous labor is meaningful. If so, I shall not have lived in vain.” Good nature is, of all moral qualities, the one that the world needs most, and good nature is the result of ease and security, not of a life of arduous struggle. Liked it? The class might produce one Darwin, but against him had to be set tens of thousands of country gentlemen who never thought of anything more intelligent than fox-hunting and punishing poachers. One result is that we attach too little importance to enjoyment and simple happiness, and that we do not judge production by the pleasure that it gives to the consumer.â, âIt is an essential part of any such social system that education should be carried further than it usually is at present, and should aim, in part, at providing tastes which would enable a man to use leisure intelligently.â, âThe pleasures of urban populations have become mainly passive: seeing cinemas, watching football matches, listening to the radio, and so on. Learn how your comment data is processed. Some object that people wouldn’t know what to do with more leisure time, but if this is true Russell thinks it “a condemnation of our civilization.” For why must everything be done for the sake of something else? Spoiler alert. He no longer endorses this view and wishes instead to persuade people that idleness is valuable for society. Leisure is essential to civilization, and in former times leisure for the few was only rendered possible by the labors of the many. And, as in this blog, work that serves others. Today “the universities are supposed to provide, in a more systematic way, what the leisure class provided accidentally and as a by-product.” This is better, but the university has drawbacks. What Russell said in In Praise of Idleness sounds ideal but cannot be actualized if the present social system is not changed. In this we have been foolish, but there is no reason to go on being foolish for ever.”. What follows from this is that we shouldn’t consume more than we produce, and we should give back to the world in labor or services for the sustenance we receive. But is this true? Even the liberation of the oppressed has usually been inaugurated from above. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell, https://harpers.org/archive/1932/10/in-praise-of-idleness/. Since men will not be tired in their spare time, they will not demand only such amusements as are passive and vapid. They make as many pins as the world needs, working (say) eight hours a day. The taste for war will die out, partly for this reason, and partly because it will involve long and severe work for all. I remember hearing an old Duchess say: ‘What do the poor want with holidays? Your email address will not be published. The men still work eight hours, there are too many pins, some employers go bankrupt, and half the men previously concerned in making pins are thrown out of work. The men still work eight hours, there are too many pins, some employers go bankrupt, and half the men previously concerned in making pins are thrown out of work. Young writers will not be obliged to draw attention to themselves by sensational pot-boilers, with a view to acquiring the economic independence needed for monumental works, for which, when the time at last comes, they will have lost the taste and the capacity.”, “Above all, there will be happiness and joy of life, instead of frayed nerves, weariness, and dyspepsia. will start a campaign to induce good young men to do nothing. It is not what you think. Work that may not be paid but work that gives us joy. Subscribe to ReasonandMeaning and receive notifications of new posts by email. Thanks for the great comments. This results from the fact that their active energies are fully taken up with work; if they had more leisure, they would again enjoy pleasures in which they took an active part.â, âWithout the leisure class, mankind would never have emerged from barbarism.â, âAt present, the universities are supposed to provide, in a more systematic way, what the leisure class provided accidentally and as a by-product.â, âIn a world where no one is compelled to work more than four hours a day, every person possessed of scientific curiosity will be able to indulge it, and every painter will be able to paint without starving, however excellent his pictures may be.â, âYoung writers will not be obliged to draw attention to themselves by sensational potboilers, with a view to acquiring the economic independence needed for monumental works, for which, when the time at last comes, they will have lost the taste and the capacity.â, âAt least 1 per cent will probably devote the time not spent in professional work to pursuits of some public importance, and, since they will not depend upon these pursuits for their livelihood, their originality will be unhampered, and there will be no need to conform to the standards set by elderly pundits.â, âGood nature is, of all moral qualities, the one the world needs most, and good nature is the result of ease and security, not of a life of arduous struggle.â, âHitherto we have continued to be as energetic as we were before the machines; in this we have been foolish, but there is no reason to go on being foolish forever.â, Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau.