On The right of laziness of Paul Lafargue

Abstract

The text presents the manifest The right of laziness (1880), of Paul Lafargue, where are shown problems still of our time, when the automation of production through new technology lesses the material need of work and creates a disturbing world situation. The criticism contained in the speech of Lafargue, before the work ideology, suggests the discussion of the modern table of moral values organized around the leading value of work. This essay finishes by considering, according of the classical traditions of humanism, even of religious tradition, the lessing of work and laziness as possibilities for human development - by contemplation, spiritual activity, culture, health -, designing new challenges for educators.