Work is Meaningful if There are Good Reasons to do it: A Revisionary Conceptual Analysis of 'Meaningful Work'

TY - JOUR

T1 - Work is Meaningful if There are Good Reasons to do it

T2 - A Revisionary Conceptual Analysis of 'Meaningful Work'

AU - Tyssedal, Jens Jørund

PY - 2023/7

Y1 - 2023/7

N2 - Meaningful work is an important ideal, but it seems hard to give an adequate account of meaningful work. In this article, I conduct a revisionary conceptual analysis of ‘meaningful work’, i.e. a conceptual analysis that aims at finding a better and more useful way to use this term. I argue for a distinction between cases where work itself is meaningful and cases where other sources of meaning are found at work. The term ‘meaningful work’ is most useful for the former cases. I then argue for the reasons account of what makes work itself meaningful: work is meaningful if (and to the extent that) there are good reasons to do it. I compare this to established accounts of meaningful work, such as subjective meaningfulness, self-realization, alienation, the unity of conception and execution, autonomy, social contribution, and Veltman’s four-dimensional account. None of these capture the distinct concern that the concept ‘meaningful work’ should capture, or they do so less well than the reasons account. This also shows that work can be meaningful regardless of whether it is good in other respects, such as in inherent interest or opportunities for self-realization.

AB - Meaningful work is an important ideal, but it seems hard to give an adequate account of meaningful work. In this article, I conduct a revisionary conceptual analysis of ‘meaningful work’, i.e. a conceptual analysis that aims at finding a better and more useful way to use this term. I argue for a distinction between cases where work itself is meaningful and cases where other sources of meaning are found at work. The term ‘meaningful work’ is most useful for the former cases. I then argue for the reasons account of what makes work itself meaningful: work is meaningful if (and to the extent that) there are good reasons to do it. I compare this to established accounts of meaningful work, such as subjective meaningfulness, self-realization, alienation, the unity of conception and execution, autonomy, social contribution, and Veltman’s four-dimensional account. None of these capture the distinct concern that the concept ‘meaningful work’ should capture, or they do so less well than the reasons account. This also shows that work can be meaningful regardless of whether it is good in other respects, such as in inherent interest or opportunities for self-realization.

KW - Meaningful work

KW - Revisionary conceptual analysis

KW - reasons account

KW - meaning in life

KW - Meaning in life

KW - Meaningful work

KW - Reasons account

KW - Revisionary conceptual analysis

U2 - 10.1007/s10551-022-05205-y

DO - 10.1007/s10551-022-05205-y

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0167-4544

VL - 185

SP - 533

EP - 544

JO - Journal of Business Ethics

JF - Journal of Business Ethics

IS - 3

ER -