Frithjof Harold Bergmann (24 December 1930 – 23 May 2021) was a German professor of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, where he taught courses on

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

continental philosophy Continental philosophy is a term used to describe some philosophers and philosophical traditions that do not fall under the umbrella of analytic philosophy. However, there is no academic consensus on the definition of continental philosophy. Pri ...

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...

, and

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 p ...

. He was known for the concept of New Work.

Life and work

Frithjof Bergmann first moved to the US as a student, where he lived and worked throughout his life. He entered the doctoral program in philosophy at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

and studied under Walter Kaufmann, receiving his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1959 with a dissertation entitled "Harmony and Reason: An Introduction to the Philosophy of

." In addition, Professor Bergmann was a

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, Prose poetry, prose poet, cultural critic, Philology, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philo ...

scholar; his publications include "Nietzsche's Critique of Morality" (published in ''Reading Nietzsche'', Oxford University Press, 1988). He spent most of his academic career at the

, where he was a professor and visible political activist. He taught also at

The University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and The University of California, Santa Cruz. Among his more notable PhD students at the University of Michigan were

Robert C. Solomon Robert C. Solomon (September 14, 1942 – January 2, 2007) was a philosopher and business ethicist, notable author, and "Distinguished Teaching Professor of Business and Philosophy" at the University of Texas at Austin, where he held a named ...

and

Anthony Weston Anthony Weston is an American writer, teacher, and philosopher. He is an author of widely used primers in critical thinking and ethical practice and of a variety of unconventional books and essays on philosophical topics. Life Weston was born i ...

. He is credited as one of the creators of the

teach-in A teach-in is similar to a general educational forum on any complicated issue, usually an issue involving current political affairs. The main difference between a teach-in and a seminar is the refusal to limit the discussion to a specific time fr ...

, the first of which was held on the Michigan campus in March 1965. Frithjof Bergmann's interests included continental philosophyespecially Hegel, Nietzsche,

Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

and existentialism generallyand also

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

and

political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

philosophical anthropology Philosophical anthropology, sometimes called anthropological philosophy, is a discipline dealing with questions of metaphysics and phenomenology of the human person. History Ancient Christian writers: Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo wa ...

, and

philosophy of culture Philosophy of culture is a branch of philosophy that examines the essence and meaning of culture. Early modern discourses German Romanticism The German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) has formulated an individualist definition of "enl ...

. His article ''The Experience of Values'' (reprinted in ''Revisions: Changing Perspectives in Moral Philosophy'' by University of Notre Dame Press, 1983) is used in universities throughout the world. His book ''On Being Free'' (1977) was issued in a paperback edition in 1978. In this book, Bergmann argues against the standard views of freedom as the lack of external obstacles or as an irrational, unencumbered act that rejects all order. Both of these leave us with nothing substantial for a self at alland thus, he suggests, constitute virtually a ''

reductio ad absurdum In logic, (Latin for "reduction to absurdity"), also known as (Latin for "argument to absurdity") or ''apagogical arguments'', is the form of argument that attempts to establish a claim by showing that the opposite scenario would lead to absu ...

'' of modern ideals of

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

, and the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

. Instead, he argues that the primary prerequisite of freedom is a self possessed of something that wants to be acted out. An act is free, he argues, if the agent identifies with the elements from which it flows. The real problems of education, society, etc. are those of coming to a true

understanding Understanding is a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to use concepts to model that object. Understanding is a relation between the knower and an object o ...

of one's self and of building a society with which a self can identify. In the years between 1976 and 1979 he undertook trips to the former countries of the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

and began to question

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. In this time, he introduces his concept of

New Work Frithjof Harold Bergmann (24 December 1930 – 23 May 2021) was a German professor of philosophy at the University of Michigan, where he taught courses on existentialism, continental philosophy, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Hegel, and Karl Mar ...

. In 1984, Bergmann founded an organization called the Center for New Work in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

. Together with others he formulated a novel proposal that became known as the "6 months--6 months proposal."

New Work

The concept of New Work describes the new way of working of today's society in the global and digital age. The term was coined by Bergmann and is based on his research on the notion of freedom and the assumption that the previous work system was outdated.

Philosophy

Bergmann's concept starts with a critical assessment of the American understanding of ''liberty''. He does not consider ''liberty'' the option to choose between two or more, more or less better or worse options (''liberty to choose''); his understanding of ''liberty'' is the option to do something that is ''really, really important'' (''decide what you want to do because you believe in it''). The core values of the concept of New Work are

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

, freedom and participation in the community. New Work should offer new ways of creativity and personal development, thus contributing something really important to the job market. In this way, real "freedom of action" is possible. The main idea of ''New Work'' is to create space for creativity and self- fulfillment (or: The Pursuit of Happiness). Since he considers the job system to be obsolete, mankind has the option to get rid of

wage labor Wage labour (also wage labor in American English), usually referred to as paid work, paid employment, or paid labour, refers to the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer in which the worker sells their labour power under a ...

Structure

The early capitalistic system of ''wage labour'' should slowly be transformed into ''New Work''. This New Work should consist of three parts: # A third

gainful employment Broadly gainful employment refers to an employment situation where the employee receives steady work, payment from the employer and that allows for self-sufficiency. In psychology, gainful employment is a positive psychology concept that explores ...

# A third High-Tech-Self-Providing ('

self-sufficiency Self-sustainability and self-sufficiency are overlapping states of being in which a person or organization needs little or no help from, or interaction with, others. Self-sufficiency entails the self being enough (to fulfill needs), and a self-s ...

') and smart consumption # A third of work that you really, really ''want''.

Gainful employment

Since the quantity of available gainful labor (traditional work to be done) - in the context of the

industrial society In sociology, industrial society is a society driven by the use of technology and machinery to enable mass production, supporting a large population with a high capacity for division of labour. Such a structure developed in the Western world i ...

- will become less due to

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

in all economic domains, advocates of New Work suggest reduced gainful employment for ''everyone''. The time released by this reduction of gainful employment should in return create the financial basis to create ''things'' that can neither be produced through do-it-yourself work (active work?) nor by neighbour-based networks.

High tech self providing and smart consumption

Satisfying the needs of mankind will be supported by high tech self-providing using the newest technology. In the near future, so-called Fabbers - automated all-in-one devices - could produce goods autonomously. Bergmann considers 'Smart Consumption' that people should contemplate and decide what they really need. According to Bergmann, many products and things are irrelevant, since they consume more time when using them than they save. One example could be the garlic press: very often the time cleaning the device consumes more time than the 'time saved' by using the press compared to manual pressing/cutting. By self-supply and smart consumption, people can maintain a good standard of living even though only one-third of the entire capacity is used for wage labor.

Work that you ''really, really want''

This is the most important component of New Work. The idea is: work as such is endless and it is a lot more than what is and can be provided by the wage labor system. According to Bergmann, every human being ''can'' find work that is aligned with the own values, desires, dreams, hope, and skills. Since Bergmann denies a revolutionary process to overcome the wage labor system, change can only happen slowly and this change can only be achieved through people that closely analyze their real, real desires and pursue those desires. By doing so, they become more and more independent from the wage labor system. In so-called 'centers for new work' the idea is that people collaborate and with the support of mentors, they try to identify what kind of work they really, really want to do. This process is of course complex, demanding and time-consuming. Bergmann uses the term 'Selbstunkenntnis'. By the process of trying to identify what a person really, really wants to do, a general movement could begin that changes one's life so that people feel 'more alive'.

Pushing the concept further

The psychologist

Markus Väth Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a Asteroid belt, main belt asteroid, also known as List of minor planets: 369001–370000#088, ( ...

developed Bergmann's theory further: based on Bergmann's paper 'New Work, New Culture', Väth illustrates four pillars on which a successful implementation of New Work could be based: # a conscious way of life ("Life Blending") in combination with a re-evaluation of the importance of work for one's life # a systematic model of competencies that are relevant to work in a highly complex, dynamic world # a change model for organizations that enable a paradigm shift in culture and organizations # an intensive debate about the role of work in society and a corresponding mandate from the political world ("New Work Deal")

Books

* ''On Being Free''. University of Notre Dame, November 1977; * ''Menschen, Märkte, Lebenswelten. Differenzierung und Integration in den Systemen der Wohnungslosenhilfe.'' VSH Verlag Soziale Hilfe, 1999; * ''Neue Arbeit, Neue Kultur''. Aus dem Amerikanischen übersetzt von Stephan Schuhmacher - Arbor Verlag, 2004; * ''New Work New Culture: Work We Want and a Culture that Strengthens Us''. Zero Books, 2019; * Frithjof Bergmann: Die Freiheit leben. - Arbor Verlag, Freiamt, 2005; * Frithjof Bergmann/Stella Friedmann: Neue Arbeit kompakt: Vision einer selbstbestimmten Gesellschaft. Arbor Verlag, Freiamt 2007;

References

External links

University of Michigan BiographyAn interview with Bergmann"Political Idealism and Frithjof Bergmann's 'New Work'"New Work, New Culture: An Interview With Frithjof Bergmann, by Sarah van Gelder

A 2020 that we could attain
(Article from Frithjof Bergmann; PDF; 188 kB)
NANK , Neue Arbeit - Neue Kultur. Offizielle Webseite im deutschen Sprachraum

NANK , Neue Arbeit - Neue Kultur. Interaktive Videodatenbank von Frithjof Bergmann

Podcasts mit Bergmann
auf der Website des Kepler Salon {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergmann, Frithjof 1930 births 2021 deaths 20th-century essayists 20th-century German male writers 20th-century German non-fiction writers 20th-century German philosophers 21st-century essayists 21st-century German male writers 21st-century German non-fiction writers 21st-century German philosophers Continental philosophers Epistemologists Existentialists German anti-capitalists German anti-communists German male non-fiction writers German political philosophers Hegel scholars Historians of philosophy Metaphysicians Nietzsche scholars Ontologists Philosophers of culture Philosophers of economics Philosophers of education Philosophers of history Philosophers of mind Philosophy academics Philosophy writers German social commentators Social philosophers University of Michigan faculty