Phenomenological approaches to work, life and responsibility

This paper serves two purposes. It is an introduction to the theme of this issue of Society and Business Review which is devoted to "Phenomenological approaches to work, life and responsibility" as well as a presentation of the authors' various contributions. The authors of this paper share the sentiment that management sciences and practices may drive people in a way such that the sense of life has been altered and people, contrary to Kant's definition of moral behavior, are treated as means instead of ends. Moreover, starting from a widely-spread malaise in modern organizations, they argue how phenomenology can provide an approach that can be helpful in assessing one's present situation as well as getting a renewed perception concerning work and life. The authors demonstrate the relevance of Husserl's phenomenology in criticizing management techniques for they direct us to objectives that are abstract, calculable, not one's own, and distant. They single out Husserl's concept of epoche for its high relevance with the theme of this issue and its different papers. The findings suggest Husserl's concept of epoche (suspension) can be considered as the starting point of a process allowing us to firstly take distance with our usual taken for granted assumptions regarding life and work (bracketing) and then to re-establish a genuine connection with Husserl's "world of life".