With a distinctive theoretical framework combining Aristotle, Marx, and Alasdair MacIntyre, the essays in this volume ask how forms of artificial intelligence and technologies of automation in digital capitalism affect human flourishing, and what meaningful work looks like under these conditions.
As technology advances, how do we decide what activities should be automated? Is the end of work through automation actually desirable? If a good life is the life of activity employing our rational, imaginative, and creative powers, what does it mean to say that future societies will be post-work societies? Rather than simply embracing the possibilities of automation to eliminate work, this collection considers that meaningful work is integral to the good life.
Human Flourishing in the Age of Digital Capitalism contains eight essays from scholars in the UK, Europe and USA, reflecting on the philosophical and ethical dimensions of technology and political theory. Contributions cover topics such as algorithmic management, the feared ‘superintelligence’ of machines, the concept of good work, and the alienating consequences of technology for workers. This timely and novel intervention in the automation debate will be of interest to anyone considering new technologies from the perspective of normative ethics and the critique of political economy.
Edited by:
Professor Andrius Bielskis (Mykolas Romeris University Lithuania)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 214mm,
Width: 136mm,
Spine: 14mm
Weight: 300g
ISBN: 9781350510715
ISBN 10: 1350510718
Pages: 232
Publication Date: 12 June 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction 1. Human Flourishing, Non-Alienated Labour and Automation, Andrius Bielskis (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania) 2. Techne in the Conflicts of Modernity: A MacIntyrean Approach to Technology and Autonomy, Kelvin Knight and Joe Simpson (London Metropolitan University, UK) 3. Algorithmic Management: Resisting the Corrupting Power of Technology, Pablo Garcia Ruiz (University of Zaragoza, Spain) 4. “Mild Preparations”: Work, Practices, and Human Flourishing, Matthew Sinnicks, Craig Reeves, and Efuntomi Wosu (University of Southampton, UK) 5. Marx, Alienation and Technology, Ruth Groff (Saint Louis University, USA) 6. Artificial Intelligence, Alienation, and the Existential Conditions of Human Flourishing, Jeff Noonan (University of Windsor, Canada) 7. Marx and the Idea of a Fully Automated Society: Utopia or Dystopia? Anthony Burns (University of Nottingham, UK) 8. Automation and the Good Life: Technological Enslavement, Technological Liberation, or Technological Transformation? Egidijus Mardosas (Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania) Index
Andrius Bielskis is Director of the Centre for Aristotelian Studies and Critical Theory at Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania, and Professor of Philosophy at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania.
Reviews for Human Flourishing in the Age of Digital Capitalism: AI, Automation and Alienation
If there ever was the right book at the right moment, it is Human Flourishing in the Age of Digital Capitalism. Its editor Andrius Bielskis did much more than assembling texts that fit the topic; instead of getting lost in the generalities about the influence of artificial intelligence on our lives, the texts approach from different aspects the same topic: how did and how will digital capitalism affect all levels of being human, from social freedoms to the most intimate experiences. Digital capitalism is not only a new phase of capitalism, it also announces a new phase of human subjectivity. * Slavoj Žižek, University of London, UK * Aristotle and Marx might seem like unlikely bedfellows, but this volume proves otherwise. It demonstrates that questions of human flourishing and human labour must be asked together, as capital relentlessly pursues thoughtless applications of AI-powered automation motivated solely by the capture of value. A surprising collection of thought-provoking essays which provides a novel framework for thinking about political economy and the good life. * James Steinhoff, University College Dublin, Ireland * If there ever was the right book at the right moment, it is Human Flourishing in the Age of Digital Capitalism. Its editor Andrius Bielskis did much more than assembling texts that fit the topic; instead of getting lost in the generalities about the influence of Artificial Intelligence on our lives, the texts approach from different aspects the same topic: how did and how will digital capitalism affect all levels of being human, from social freedoms to the most intimate experiences. Digital capitalism is not only a new phase of capitalism, it also announces a new phase of human subjectivity. * Tom Angier, University of Cape Town, South Africa *
