Abstract
We have seen that Heidegger is concerned that our being is revealed through our being in the world as a unity. Moreover, we encounter and deal with a range of worlds into which we are thrown, one of which—the world of work—is the one central to our being. To understand these worlds, I suggest, is a precondition to understanding learning in becoming familiar with and comprehending what happens in this world and how we deal with it. In this chapter I shall develop of an analysis of the phenomena of work, using Heidegger’s phenomenological methods and insights.
What about the lever? What about the button which the worker manipulates? Levers and buttons have long existed even on the workbenches of the old-fashioned craftsman’s shop. But the lever and the buttons in the manipulations of the industrial worker belong to a machine. And where does the machine, such as a power generator, belong?
(Heidegger, What is Called Thinking, 1968, pp. 23–24)
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- 1.
Hofstadter translates “serviceability” as “usefulness”, which I think is less helpful than the Young and Haynes translation, in this instance.
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Gibbs, P. (2011). What Is Work? A Heideggerian Insight into the Workplace as a Site for Learning. In: Heidegger’s Contribution to the Understanding of Work-Based Studies. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3933-0_5
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