第二册 lesson 8 The Worker as Creator or Machine
The Worker as Creator or Machine
Erich Fromm
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1 Unless man exploits others, he has to work in order to live. However primitive and simple his method of work may be, by the very fact of production, he has rin above the animal kingdom; rightly has he been defined as "the animal that produces." But work is not only an inescapable necessity for man. Work is also his liberator from nature, his creator as a social and independent being. In the process of work, that is, the molding and changing of nature outside of himlf, man molds and changes himlf. He emerges from nature by mastering her; he develops his powers of co-operation, of reason, his n of beauty. He parates himlf from nature, from the original unity with her, but at the same time unites himlf with her again as her master and builder. The more his work develops, the more his individuality develops. In molding nature and re-creating her, he learns to make u of his powers, increasing his skill and creativeness. Whether we think of the beautiful paintings in the caves of Southern France, the ornaments on weapons among primitive people, the statues and temples of Gr
eece, the cathedrals of the Middle Ages, the chairs and tables made by skilled craftsmen, or the cultivation of flowers, trees or corn by peasants--all are expressions of the creative transformation of nature by man's reason and skill.
2 In Western history, craftsmanship, especially as it developed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, constitutes one of the peaks in the evolution of creative work. Work was not only a uful activity, but one which carried with it a profound satisfaction. The main features of craftsmanship have been very lucidly expresd by C. W. Mills. "There is no ulterior motive in work other than the product being made and the process of its creation. The details of dally work are meaningful becau they are not detached in the worker's mind from the product of the work. The worker is free to control his own working action. The craftsman is thus able to learn from his work; and to u and develop his capacities and skills in its procution. There is no split of work and play, or work and culture. The craftsman' s way of livelihooddetermines and infus his entire mode of living."
3 3 With the collap of the medieval structure, and the beginning of the modern mode of production, the meaning and function of work changed fundamentally, especially in the Protestantcountries. Man, being afraid of his newly won freedom, was obsd by the need to subdue his doubts and fears by developing a feverish activity. The out-come of this activity, success
or failure, decided his salvation, indicating whether he was among the saved or the lost souls. Work, instead of being an activity satisfying in itlf and pleasurable, became a duty
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and an obssion . The more it was possible to gain riches by work, the more it became a pure means to the aim of wealth and success. Work became, in Max Weber's terms, the chief factor in a system of "inner-worldly asceticism ," an answer to man's n of aloneness and isolation.
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4 However, work in this n existed only for the upper and middle class, tho who could amass some capital and employ the work of others. For the vast majority of tho who had only their physical energy to ll, work became nothing but forced labor. The worker in the eighteenth or nineteenth century who had to work sixteen hours if he did not want to starve was not doing it becau he rved the Lord in this way, nor becau his success would show that he was among the "chon " ones,, but becau he was forced to ll his energy to tho who had the means of exploiting it. The first centuries of the modern era find the meaning of work divided into that of duty among the middle class, and that of forced labor among tho without property.
5 The religious attitude toward work as a duty, which was still so prevalent in the nineteenth century, has been changing considerably in the last decades. Modern man does not know what to do
with himlf, how to spend his lifetime meaningfully, and he is driven to work in order to avoid an unbearable boredom. But work has cead to be a moral and religious obligation in the n of the middle class attitude of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Something new has emerged. Ever-increasing production, the drive to make bigger and better things, have become aims in themlves, new ideals. Work has become alienated from the working person.
6 What happens to the industrial worker? He spends his best energy for ven or eight hours a day in producing "something." He needs his work in order to make a living, but his role is esntially a passive one. He fulfills a small isolated function in a complicated and highly organized process of production, and is never confronted with "his" product as a whole, at least not as a producer, but only as a consumer, provided he has the money to buy "his" product in a store. He is concerned neither with the whole product in its physical aspects nor with its wider economic and social aspects. He is put in a certain place, has to carry out a certain task, but does not participate in the organization or management of the work. He is not interested nor does he know why one produces this, instead of another commodity--what relation it has to the needs of society as a whole. The shoes, the cars, the electric bulbs, are produced by "the enterpri," using the machines. He is a part of the machine, rather than its master as an active agent. The machine, instead of being in his rvice to do work for
him which once had to be performed by sheer physical energy, has become his master. Instead of the machine being the substitute for human energy, man has become a substitute for the m
achine. His work can be defined as the performance of acts which cannot yet be performedby machines.
7 Work is a means of getting money, not in itlf a meaningful human activity. P. Drucker, obrving workers in the automobile industry, express this idea very succinctly "For the great majority of automobile workers, the only meaning of the job is in the pay check, not in anything connected with the work or the product. Work appears as something unnatural, a disagreeable, meaningless and stultifying condition of getting the pay check, devoid of dignity as well as of importance. No wonder that this puts a premium on slovenly work, on slowdowns , and on other tricks to get the same pay check with less work. No wonder that this results in an unhappy and discontented worker--becau a pay check is not enough to ba one's lf-respect on."
8 This relationship of the worker to his work is an outcome of the whole social organization of which he is a part. Being "employed," he is not an active agent, has no responsibility except the proper performance of the isolated piece of work he is doing, and has little interest except the one of bringin
g home enough money to support himlf and his family. Nothing more is expected of him, or wanted from him. He is part of the equipment hired by capital, and his role and function are determined by this quality of being a piece of equipment. In recent decades, increasing attention has been paid to the psychology of the worker, and to his attitude toward his work, to the "human problem of industry"; but this very formulation is indicative of the underlying attitude; there is a human being spending most of his lifetime at work, and what should be discusd is the "industrial problem of human beings," rather than "the human problem of industry."
9 Most investigations in the field of industrial psychology are concerned with the question of how the productivity of the individual worker can be incread, and how he can be made to work with less friction; psychology has lent its rvices to "human engineering," an attempt to treat the worker and employee like a machine which runs better when it is well oiled. While Taylor was primarily concerned with a better organization of the technical u of the worker's physical powers, most industrial psychologists are mainly concerned with the manipulation of the worker's psyche The underlying idea can be formulated like this: if he works better when he is happy, then let us make him happy, cure, satisfied, or anything el, provided it rais his output and diminishes friction. In the name of " human relations," the worker is treated with all devices which suit values are recomme
nded in the interest of better relations a completely alienated person; even happiness and human with the public. Thus, for instance, according to Time magazine, one of the best-known American psychiatrists said to a group of fifteen hundred Supermarket executives: "It's going to be
an incread satisfaction to our customers if we It is going to pay off in cold dollars and cents to management, if we could put some of the general principles of values, human relationships, really into practice." One speaks of "human relations" and one means the most inhuman relations, tho between alienated automatons ; one speaks of happiness and means the perfect routinization which has driven out the last doubt and all spontaneity
10 The alienated and profoundly unsatisfactory character of work results in two reactions: one, the ideal of complete laziness; the other a deep-ated, though often unconscious hostility toward work and everything and everybody connected with it.
11 It is not difficult to recognize the widespread longing for the state of complete laziness and passivity. Our advertising appeals to it even more than to x, There are, of cour, many uful and labor saving gadgets . But this ufulness often rves only as a rationalization for the appeal to complete passivity and receptivity. A package of breakfast cereal is being advertid as "new--easier
to eat." An electric toaster is advertid with the words: "... the most distinctly different toaster in the world! Everything is done for you with this new toaster. You need not even bother to lower the bread. Power-action, through a unique electric motor, gently takes the bread right out of your fingers!" How many cours in languages, or other subjects, are announced with the slogan" effortless learn- ins, no more of the old drudgery." Everybody knows the picture of the elderly couple in the advertiment of a life-insurance company, who have retired at the age of sixty, and spend their life in the complete bliss of having nothing to do except just travel.
12 Radio and television exhibit another element of this yearning for laziness: the idea of "push-button power"; by pushing a button, or turning a knob on my machine, I have the power to produce music, speeches, ball games, and on the television t, to command events of the world to appear before my eyes. The pleasure of driving cars certainly rests partly upon this same satisfaction of the wish for push-button power. By the effortless pushing of a button, a powerful machine is t in motion; little skill and effort are needed to make the driver feel that he is the ruler of space.
13 But there is far more rious and deep-ated reaction to the meaninglessness and boredom of work. It is a hostility toward work which is much less conscious than our craving for laziness and inactivity. Many a businessman feels himlf the prisoner of his business and the commodities he l
ls; he has a feeling of fraudulency about his product and a cret contempt for it. He hates his customers, who force him to put up a show in order to ll. He hates his competitors becau they are a threat; his employees as well as his superiors, becau he is in a constant competitive fight with them. Mos
t important of all, he hates himlf, becau he es his life passing by, without making any n beyond the momentary intoxication of success. Of cour, this hate and contempt for others and for onelf, and for the very things one produces, is mainly unconscious, and only occasionally comes up to awareness in a fleeting thought, which is sufficiently disturbing to be t aside as quickly as possible.
(from A Rhetorical Reader, Invention and Design,
by Forrest D. Burt and E. Cleve Want)
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NOTES地理学科
1. Fromm: Erich Fromm (1900- 1980), German-born psychoanalyst, has taught at universities in the
United States and Mexico. Among his many books are: Psychoanalysis and Religion ; Marx' s Concept of Man ; Escape from Freedom ; The Sane Society; and The Crisis of Psychoanalysis.
2. beautiful paintings in the caves of Southern France: referring to paintings and engravings on the rock face in the caves in France and Spain made by primitive man during the old stone age around 50,000 to 100,000 B. C.
3. C. W. Mills: author of White Collar ( 1951 ), from which this quotation is taken.
4. Protestant countries: referring to Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, the British Isles and Early America 5. Weber: Max Weber (1864- 1920), German sociologist, economist, and political writer. On the origin of capitalism in the West, his famous theory was as follows: Calvinism, Anabaptism, and their various combinations consider that man's economic success, achieved by an industrious life, proves that he is a chon child of God. The religions thus provide an impul to build up capital and to develop a capitalistic society, as occurred especially in the United States.
Aims
1.To know the author, Erich Fromm
2.To learn the writing technique of causation
3.To appreciate the language features
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Teaching Contents
1. Erich Fromm
2. Causation and the thesis
广西特色水果 3. Detailed study of the text
4. Organizational pattern
水浒传的故事 5. Language features
回延安朗读
6. Exercis 114文秘
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Time allocation
1.The introduction of the author (10 min.)
2. Causation and the thesis (10min.)
3. Detailed study of the text (115 min.)
4. Structure analysis (15 min.)
5. Language appreciation (15 min.)
6. Exercis (15 min)
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词汇(Vocabulary)
cathedral (n.) : any large，imposing church主教座堂，主教大堂；大教堂
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peak (n.) : the highest or utmost point of anything；height； maximum最高点，顶点；最高值
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