Den antagna plikten att arbeta : En kritisk granskning av Michael Cholbis artikel ”The Duty to Work”

Sammanfattning: In our society it’s implied that humans have a duty to work. In his article “The Duty to Work” the philosopher Michael Cholbi (2018) challenging that normative narrative of our contemporary society. Cholbi hold the thesis that the common argument of fair play is invalid in our industrialized society and therefore are most individuals living in the circumstances of such society free from the interpersonal duty to work. I will in this paper analyse Cholbis’ arguments and try to bring nuance to the debate by bringing in other perspectives such as empirical studies about empty labor (meaningless work) of sociologist Roland Paulsen (2015). I will also try to show how structural powers hinders the individual to both talk and act outside of the norms of our work centred culture. The duty to work can be described in two aspects, the interpersonal duty to work, but also personal. I will argue that for most individuals, either personal or interpersonal duty exists.