All modern human life is predicated on two notions. We are only called to make these two decisions in our lives: who will you live or not live with, and what you do or don’t work with…..

John Montgomery Rouse, The Way of Intelegance

I will posting a lot over the coming months on ergosophy.

The word itself: ergo = work sophos = wisdom.

Definition: n. a branch of philosophy concerning life as work.

Frederick Soddy has used the word but not in this definition. (I believe I am the first to do so.)

There are big questions: What is work? Why do we work?

The only field that has been applied is ethics and evidence shows that this has lacked a modicum of essential rigour.

Ergosophy is a not a branch of sociology, economics or ethnology. Ergosophy is pure and applied philosophy in relation to work.

This is not a trivial pursuit: as human beings we work more any other activity. That includes reproduction, raising offspring, sleeping, eating, play etc; we are considered eligible for work, on average, for 45 years. When we are 45 years old we are only just over half-way through work, with another 20 years ahead of us…

Taking Hegelian, Kantian, Aristotelian, Platonic, even Cartesian models and applying them to the notion and meaning of work is a good beginning, but we live in post-modern times so can we even talk about work as the means of production, as our raison d’être? Or is there a lot more to this?

What are the qualia of work? The ontological definitions of work? How are Ayn Rand’s objectivism, or Karl Popper’s critical rationalism a part of the puzzle. Do aristotlean categories and the platonic ideal, or liebnizian monads or spinozian euadaimonia even augustian theology help us see work afresh?

It is hardly a new idea to suggest that work defines us, but it may be new to ask how can we grabble, overpower, and define work as a philosophical puzzle rather by defining work as systems.

Particularly as both politics and economics are failing us in getting us all to enjoy work when compared to how we may enjoy our free time.

Sure, some of us love work and here the notion of satisfaction may be coupled to reward rather than to the act per se; but maybe a philosophical approach will move on from the stagnant pool we are in now.

If you interested in contributing to the upcoming ISSN registered journal then please contact me for guidelines for submission etc;