ABSTRACT
In this chapter I analyze the notion of labor in the ontological framework of descriptive metaphysics. I draw a distinction between labor, work and job, and I explain how these three dimensions are connected. From this perspective, “labor” designates a process involving a physical or mental effort whereby a subject accomplishes a goal, “work” designates the goal itself, and “job” characterizes the subject that produces the work by means of the labor. After specifying these three basic dimensions, I investigate their ontological status and the variety of their instances. Lastly, I rely on the analysis of the notion of labor in order to address the basic question: why do we labor?
