Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Economics, Philosophy and the Neglect of Labour

Economics, Philosophy and the Neglect of Labour

Kay, Geoffrey
Mott, James

Hardcover

PhilosophyLabor

ISBN10: 1350534730
ISBN13: 9781350534735
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Published: Feb 5 2026
Pages: 208
Weight: 1.02
Height: 0.50 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English

Economics, Philosophy and the Neglect of Labour reasserts the significance of labour in economics and philosophy, both within and beyond the Marxist tradition. It explores how labour has been systematically neglected and misunderstood in Western thought - from its reductive treatment in biblical and classical texts, through its displacement during the scholastic period and the Enlightenment, to its marginalisation in modern political economy and law.

Tracing this long history of neglect, Geoffrey Kay and James Mott challenge the assumption that labour is merely instrumental - a view rooted in the British moralists and perpetuated by Adam Smith and his followers. In contrast, they draw on Aristotelian ideas of teleology, and their transformation in Hegel and Marx, to recover a purposive and creative tradition of labour. While Heidegger's ontology of Being, for example, excludes labour and creativity, Kay and Mott position labour as the vital site of creative activity. This not only challenges Heidegger's appropriation of techne but also affirms the enduring relevance of Aristotelianism in Marx's thought.

Revisiting the labour theory of value in light of technological transformation, financialisation and the expansion of consumption, Economics, Philosophy and the Neglect of Labour argues that labour remains central to understanding the dynamics and contradictions of the contemporary world.

Also in

Philosophy

View All