Homo Irretitus & Homo Faber: a Worker at Risk

Abstract

The development of labour in its classical sense over the centuries was accom­panied by philosophical reflection, which took shape in the 19th century into the “philosophy of labour” as a direction of interdisciplinary thought, based on the postulates of the relevant culture and ethics of labour, which evolve and come into conflict with the emerging philosophy of life, experiencing a concep­tual crisis in the crisis of European culture. In the article, we turn to current la­bour paradigm and its foundations in the era of mass automation and digitaliza­tion of human activities. Our focus is on the emerging anthropological type – a new subject of employment in the digital age – “homo irretitus / a person in the network”, which opposes not only the classical model “homo faber / a person creating the world with the help of tools”, but also a representative of the “crea­tive class”, non-material labour worker. The analysis showed that, insisting on the need to free from labour, theorists of the digital economy do not answer the questions of what will replace labour in its meaningful position in life, and what activity will replace labour.