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Three Rival Versions of Work and Technology: Smith, Marx, and MacIntyre in Discussion

In: Philosophy and Business Ethics

Author

Listed:
  • Javier Pinto-Garay

    (Universidad de los Andes)

  • Germán Scalzo

    (Universidad Panamericana)

  • Ignacio Ferrero

    (Universidad de Navarra)

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, characterized by the wide introduction of automation in industry, brought about many changes in work and in the possibility of replacing workers with machines that are threatening the future of work. This chapter delves into the conflictive relationship between modern work and technology. We will depart from two main paradigmatic representatives of the eighteenth-century economic approach to work, namely Adam Smith and Karl Marx, mostly considered intellectual antagonists. Besides their differences, we sustain that both failed to give a sustainable and realistic account of the meaning of work and its contribution to individual flourishing and the common good, mainly because of their reductionist anthropological assumptions. Hence, we will analyze their understandings of the work-technology relationship in light of the thought of MacIntyre, a prominent critic of both Marx and Smith. By rehabilitating the idea of a practice, MacIntyre offers a more realistic and robust approach to understanding the way technology might negatively affect work, but also recognizes it as an opportunity for excellence in modern corporations.

Suggested Citation

  • Javier Pinto-Garay & Germán Scalzo & Ignacio Ferrero, 2022. "Three Rival Versions of Work and Technology: Smith, Marx, and MacIntyre in Discussion," Springer Books, in: Guglielmo Faldetta & Edoardo Mollona & Massimiliano Matteo Pellegrini (ed.), Philosophy and Business Ethics, chapter 0, pages 275-299, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-030-97106-9_11
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-97106-9_11
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