Judging automation

Towards a normative critical theory

Bibliographic Data

ID4821025
AuthorsAndrius Bielskis (0000-0003-3560-5846, Mykolas Romeris University & Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume48
Issue4
Pages617-634
Publication date2024-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCapital & Class (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0309-8168 • E-ISSN: 2041-0980
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/03098168231199905
OpenAlexW4387335420
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited32

This article discusses automation from the point of view of the intersection between Aristotle and Marx. First, it was Aristotle's notion of automatous - self-moving tools - that gave rise to the contemporary concept of automation. Marx's historical materialism is important as it puts the ongoing process of automation into a historical perspective. The development of self-moving machines should free us from the slavery of hard work, yet the legal and political superstructure of capitalism means that the growth of automation produces new forms of precarious wage-slavery. Alasdair MacIntyre's Aristotelian notion of practice is discussed vis-à-vis the Marxian notion of alienated labour. Given the conceptual structure - alienated labour (which prevents us from flourishing) versus non-alienated labour (as essential for human flourishing) - the article poses the question of whether we can apply this in our attempt to assess the ongoing process of automation

Capitalism · Critical theory · Economics · Epistemology · Flourishing · Historical materialism · Marxist philosophy · Materialism · Neoclassical economics · Normative · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Employment and Welfare Studies · Law · Philosophy · Political Economy and Marxism · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access