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198

The universal and objective [element] in labour, however, lies in the abstraction that brings about the specification of means and needs, and thereby likewise specifies production and brings forth the division of labour. The labour of the individual becomes, through this division, simpler, and thereby the skill in his abstract labour, as well as the quantity of his products, becomes greater. At the same time, this abstraction of skill and of means completes the dependence and reciprocal relation of human beings, for the satisfaction of their remaining needs, into a total necessity. The abstraction of producing, further, makes labour ever more mechanical, and thereby, in the end, capable of the human being’s stepping away from it, and letting the machine take his place.

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3 responses to “198”

  1. Hegel (Encyclopedia 1827) Avatar
    Hegel (Encyclopedia 1827)

    Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences in Outline (1827), §§ 525, 526:

    § 525. Into the particularity of needs, universality initially appears in such a way that the understanding draws distinctions among them and thereby multiplies both them and the means for these distinctions into the indeterminate, making both ever more abstract. The habituation to this abstraction in enjoyment, acquaintance, knowledge, and behavior constitutes culture in this sphere – in general, formal culture.

    § 526. The labor that thereby becomes at the same time more abstract leads, on the one hand, through its uniformity to the ease of labor and the increase of production, and, on the other hand, to a restriction to one single skill and thus to unconditional dependence on social interconnection. Skill itself thereby becomes mechanical in this way and attains the capacity to let the machine take the place of human labor.

  2. Hegel (Encyclopedia 1830) Avatar
    Hegel (Encyclopedia 1830)

    Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences in Outline (1830), §§ 525, 526:

    § 525. 2. Into the particularity of needs, universality initially appears in such a way that the understanding draws distinctions among them and thereby multiplies them, as well as the means for these distinctions, into the indeterminate, and makes both ever more abstract; this individuation of the content through abstraction yields the division of labor. The habituation to this abstraction in enjoyment, acquaintance, knowledge, and behavior constitutes culture in this sphere, – in general, formal culture

    § 526. The labor that thereby becomes at the same time more abstract leads, on the one hand, through its uniformity to the ease of labor and the increase of production, and, on the other hand, to a restriction to one skill and thus to unconditional dependence on social interconnection. Skill itself thereby becomes mechanical in this way and acquires the capacity to let the machine take the place of human labor.

  3. Hegel (Simple) Avatar
    Hegel (Simple)

    § 198: Division of labor

    Needs break up into many single parts. So labor breaks up too. This is how the division of labor arises.

    What does it bring?

    Each person now makes only a small part. Once a craftsman made a whole pin. Today one person draws the wire, another cuts it, a third sharpens it. The work becomes simpler. Each grows more skilled in his part. And we produce much more.

    What does it cost?

    Each person becomes more dependent. Whoever only draws wire cannot live from it if no one finishes the pins. For everything else he depends on others. The dependence becomes total.

    And in the end?

    Labor becomes ever more uniform and mechanical. It becomes so mechanical that in the end a machine can take it over. The human being can step away.

    Summary: The division of labor makes work simpler and more productive. But it also makes people wholly dependent on each other. In the end, the machine can take the place of the human being.

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