
released 10/21/2024
In this lecture, D. C. Schindler argues that genuine work — the art, skill, and craft encompassed in the Greek word techne — is inherently meaningful and facilitates an encounter with reality and therefore, ultimately, with God. He contrasts a full and fruitful understanding of techne with a technologizing of work that eliminates this possibility of encounter. The modern tendency to divide labor into smaller parts and functions separates human labor from meaning; the ends and means of work are isolated from each other, Schindler says, resulting in an alienating, atomizing experience. Real work dignifies us in its complexity, its production of real human goods, and its ability to connect us with our God-given vocation.
This lecture is provided courtesy of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute. It was given at the Institute’s 2015 conference commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s document Gaudium et spes.
36 minutes
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