I have always looked at human labor from an economic point of view and that is Humans work to make profit. After reading and analyzing the paper written by Mr. Manuel Dy about the Philosophical Implications of Labor, I've realized that humans work not merely to make profit but it is more than that. His discussion is in line with what Pope John Paul II said in his encyclical Laborem Exercens: "The sources of the dignity of work are to be sought primarily in the subjective dimensions, not in the objective one." He enumerated and discussed about the historical value of work. As we all know during the primitive times, man values the gods and would always want to appease with them that is ...view middle of the document...
I agree in his words that the whole of world history is nothing but the creation of man by human labor, and the emergence of nature for man. Man works and in this continuous process, he creates history and in the process changes it. When man works, he works universally, unlike animals who work simply for them to survive and works for itself alone. We can see that the next centuries had a drastic change in relation to the valuation of work. According to Marx, when man works he changes himself and he changes nature resulting in his development which is good by acting on the external world and changing it, he at the same time changes his own nature which is normal. But when man forces his nature to change, it becomes a bad thing that results into the destruction of man and his nature. In the Modern Era of the New Technological World, technology has no longer just transformed nature, it has forced nature to reveal its secrets. Man wants to makes all things easier for him, we live in the age of instant everything. We want what we want and we want it now that is why man is in control even over nature.Technological advances makes our lives easier but this advances causes our destruction. Man has no sense of respect for nature. A basic example is the cutting of trees and not planting anything to replace it. Before humans work not to make profit but in this globalization era what is important is the profit and that man develops himself when he works. It is a sad reality that we disregard what is important like the moral values that we should have and the fact that we give more importance to the profit that we gain when we work is the saddest part that we should change. We should work not for the sake of profit only. The focal point of Mr. Dy's discussion is that man is man because he can objectify himself through labor and this ability of man to make himself and his humanity his own object which proves the universal and the freedom of man. Humans work to produce something he needs in life and at the same time realizing his dignity and worth as a human being at the same time man does not become lost and becomes a social being engaged in a social activity which is work. Humans work not only for themselves but for other people as well. I would always remember what my mom tells me, " Nagtatrabaho ako para sainyo." When man works he does not only develop himself but becomes himself. I do believe even though there had been a drastic change from what was before and what is now still we can see that modern work has shown that besides productive labor, there is something more to our earthly existence. It's not about merely just to make profit but to simply take nature as it is, to be just ourselves.Profession is viewed by D. Brandeis as, "An area in which the training for its practice is intellectual in character that is pursued not for its own sake but for others, and that the amount for financial reward not be considered the measure of success".Professi...
