A Vida sem princípios, de Henry David Thoreau

Abstract

Life without Principle is an essay that gathers Thoreau’s recurrent reflections and criticisms towards the society of his times. It is also the only essay to which Thoreau dedicated a continued attention during his lifetime. The central theme of the essay is the relationship between economy and life and, more specifically, the price human beings have to pay in order to create wealth. A concept no longer related to health, the creation of well-being, but to the consecution of material means and ends. In this essay Thoreau analyzes and criticizes a new postindustrial status of work from the philosophical perspective granted by transcendentalism. Thoreau’s quest for things essential to the ultimate attainment of Life leads to a reappraisal of the notion of work in the face of an all pervading republic that makes a subject of the private citizen.

DOI  http://dx.doi.org/10.15304/ag.34.2.1861