In defence of meaningful work as a public policy concern

Breen critically examines the arguments put forward by those for whom ethical considerations either do not play or should not play a role in modern politics. Breen challenges three distinct claims to the effect that the demand for meaningful work, grounded upon an ethical ideal of such work as partly constitutive of a good human life, is either not a significant, a feasible, or an acceptable concern of public policy in liberal capitalist societies. Based on a detailed examination of the work of Jürgen Habermas, Will Kymlicka, and Alasdair MacIntyre, among others, as well as a thorough analysis of the possibilities for meaningful work in modern economic contexts, Breen provides a timely analysis of the place of ethics in both politics and philosophy.