The worker as Creator or Machine

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Lesson 8

• The worker as Creator or Machine
• --- by Fromm, Erich
• (1900-1980)

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Objectives of Teaching

1. To comprehend the whole text
2. To lean and master the vocabulary and expressions
3. To learn to paraphrase the difficult sentences
4. To understand the structure of the text
5. To appreciate the style and rhetoric of the
   passage.

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Aims

1. To know the author, Erich Fromm
2. To learn the writing technique of causation
3. To appreciate the language features

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Teaching Contents

• 1. Erich Fromm
• 2. Causation and the thesis
• 2. Detailed study of the text
• 3. Organizational pattern
• 4. Language features
• 5. Exercises

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Time allocation

• 1. The introduction of the author (10 min.)
• 2. Causation and the thesis (10min.)
• 3. Detailed study of the text (115 min.)
• 4. Structure analysis (15 min.)
• 5. Language appreciation (15 min.)
• 6. Exercises (15 min)

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Fromm, Erich

1. German-American psychoanalyst and author
2. Born in Frankfurt, Germany
3. Ph.D. University of Heidelbery ?????
4. In 1934, he came to the US, practiced
   psychoanalysis and lectured at various
   institutions.

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Fromm, Erich

• As a psychoanalyst, he applied psychoanalysis to
  social, political, religious, moral activities.
  He was particularly interested in the study of
  individual and society. He paid much attention to
  self human realization.

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Fromm, Erich

• He took views of Freud and he attempted a
  synthesis (combination) and reformulation
  (systematical expression) of Freud and Marx.

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Fromm, Erich

• He is also a self-styled Marxist, but his idea
  is against the theory of Marxism, for he used to
  view things from psychoanalysis, not from class
  struggle.

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His point of view

• He held that man is a product of his culture.
  Social character is not determined by instinct
  (biological drive) but rather shaped by cultural
  training.
• ???????????,??????????

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His works

• Escape from Freedom ????
• The Sane Society ?????
• The Art of Loving ????
• Psychoanalysis and Religion
• ????????

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His works

• May Man Prevail ?????
• The Revolution of Hope ????
• The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness
• ???????
• Beyond the Chains of Illusions
• ??????

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His works

• This piece is an excerpt from The Sane
  Society 1955. In this book, Fromm is mainly
  concerned with the effect of a sociological
  environment on Americans which exalts (praise)
  success through
• competition
• human alienation

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• that accompanies technological development
  which isolates the workman from the finished
  product.

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alienate

• estrange, turn away, set against, disunite,
  separate, divide
• Ant.--- unite, reconcile

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The theme of the text

• This text is discussing the workers position in
  the society. The workers are no longer creator
  but becoming more and more like machine.
• It is about mens attitude towards work. Work has
  become an alienating factor.

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The text

• The change of the meaning of work
• In ancient times, work ---- satisfactory, a
  pleasurable thing
• In modern times, work --- a duty, forced labor,
• The text deals with the reason and result of this
  alienation

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literary style

• exposition
• The main thesis is better expressed in the first
  sentence of the deleted paragraph the meaning
  of work in an alienated society.

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The thesis ---

• He is part of the machine, rather than its
  master as an active agent. (para.6)

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The method

• The method the writer uses in the expository
  writing is causal analysis / causation ????

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Causation

• It means something happened is
• 1) because of sth else
• 2) as a result of sth. else
• In this lesson, the writer explained the reason
  why man changes the attitude toward work and its
  effect.

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Detailed study of the text

• Para.1 --- the specific positive values of work

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Para.1

• What are the specific positive values of work?
• 1. Work enables human beings to rise from the
  animal kingdom.
• 2. Work liberates men from nature and makes them
  into social beings and work together in a
  cooperative way.

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positive values

• 3. Work molds and changes nature and himself.
• 4. Work develops mans different powers, skills,
  capacities, personality and creativity.

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Para.1

• Man is first of all an animal, and he can be
  differentiated from other animals in that, among
  other things he produces, he makes tools, and
  other new things out of the raw materials he
  finds around him.

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kingdom ---

• all natural objects have been classified into
  three great divisions
• animal kingdom
• vegetable kingdom
• mineral kingdom

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He separates .

• By becoming natures master, by stationing
  himself above nature, man separates himself from
  nature. But at the same time he connects himself
  once again to nature to further conquer her and
  develop his understanding of her.

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In molding nature

• Mans abilities and powers as a species, and
  mane individual abilities and powers (of
  cooperation, reason and sense of beauty) increase
  and deepen as a result of controlling nature and
  remaking her to fulfill his needs.

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all are expressions

• All the abovementioned work shows how man has
  transformed nature thought his reason and skill
  creatively.

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Para.2

• detailed description of the meaning of work to
  man.

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Work was satisfaction

• The paragraph deals with the subject of
  craftsmanship. According to Mills and Fromm
  craftsmanship involves the control of the work
  process by the individual worker. At its height
  in the late Middle Ages, it enhanced mans
  productive powers and was a source of great
  satisfaction to the craftsman.

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C.Wright. Mills

• An American sociologist, known as one of the very
  few outstanding social critics during the
  McCarthy period.his best known work is White
  Collar (1951), from which his quotation is taken,
  and The Power and Elite. He died in 1962.

35

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McCarthy

• American politician. A U.S. senator from
  Wisconsin (1947-1957), he presided over the
  permanent subcommittee on investigations and held
  public hearings in which he accused army
  officials, members of the media, and public
  figures of being Communists. His charges were
  never proved, and he was censured by the Senate
  in 1954.

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McCarthy

• ???,??????1908-1957?????,?????????????(1947-1957
  ?)??????????????????????????????,?????????????????
  ????????????????,1954?????????

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Why work was a pleasure to man?

• Because the worker is free to control his own
  working action. He is responsible for the whole
  production process.

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Why does the writer use a quotation?

• to prove his idea in a more direct way
• to give a kind of authority to what he says
• ---- A paraphrase would not provide that
  directness and authority.

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What does There is no split of work mean?

• There is a close relationship between work
  and pleasure. They go hand in hand. While the
  worker is working, he enjoys himself. When he is
  making sth, he learns sth.

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Para.3

• Background knowledge
• why work is a duty?
• Whats protestants idea about work?
• They held that all men are born sinful. They must
  work hard to purify their souls. God then will
  take them to paradise after they die.

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newly won freedom

• Freedom from feudal restrictions. The craftsman
  felt safe and secure in his guild and profession,
  but became afraid now that he was entirely on his
  own in a highly competitive society.

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The outcome

• Early Protestantism maintained that most souls
  are predestined by birth by God to eternal
  damnation and a few to be saved after death. But
  theres no way that anyone can know which is
  which. obviously people lived in fear. All one
  could hope for was a sign from God that he might
  be among the elect, even though a sign was no
  guarantee.

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• It was believed that any form of sinfulness was
  likely indication of damnation, whereas ceaseless
  work, especially if it resulted in wealth, could
  be sign of salvation. Clearly, work lost all the
  intrinsic positive aspects it formerly had, and
  instead became purely and simply a method to
  achieve wealth and success.

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asceticism

• --- a special term in religion
• self-denying mode of living
• a simple, strict way of life with no luxuries or
  physical pleasures, which people usually lead
  because of their religious beliefs.

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Para.4

1. Work as duty, as a means for saving ones soul
   exists only for the upper and middle classes.
2. Work as forced labor is for the laboring people.

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Para.5

• In capitalist society the worker feels estranged
  from the work he is doing.

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modern man

• With work stripped both of its craftsmanship
  quality and meaning and of its sense of religious
  obligation, it no longer holds any deep
  attraction. Therefore, people feel themselves at
  loss, with no purpose or direction. Life is
  empty. Work becomes merely a time-filler to
  escape the emptiness and meaningless of ones
  life.

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• This is another psychoanalytic analysis of Fromm.
  We know the bourgeoisie amassed wealth through
  the exploitation of worker and the worker were
  forced to sell their labor in order to survive.

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something new

• A new ideological driving force for work has
  replaced the lost ones. The drive is now for more
  bigger, and better products. Fromm again misses
  the real point here. Profit is the real driving
  force of capitalism.

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Para. 6

• What role the worker plays in the manufacturing
  of products?
• A passive role, the worker plays a small isolated
  part in the process of production. He is not
  concerned with the whole product, because he
  makes only a part of it. His work can be
  explained as performing actions which can not be
  performed by machines.

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He is concerned neither with

• He doesnt care about the end product itself or
  the part it plays in the overall economy or the
  way in which it serves the needs of society.

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Peter Drucher

• Reknowned management consultant
• This quotation is taken from Concept of the
  Corporation (1946) p.179

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Work appears as something unnatural.

• To the worker, work seems like an intrusion,
  something which should not happen. It is an
  empty, unpleasant, deadening, degrading and
  pointless means to an end --- the pay check.

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devoid of ---- lacking of

• If someone or sth. is devoid of a quality of
  thing, they have absolutely none of it.
• --- He was devoid of any talent whatsoever.
• --- Such plans have been almost entirely devoid
  of social content.

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place /put a premium on ---

• ?? ????
• I put a premium on punctuality.
• Work paid according to the amount puts a premium
  on speed and not on quality.
• ??????????????????

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put a premium on

• Giving money to beggars may put a premium on
  idleness.
• Does high taxation put a premium on business
  dishonesty?
• ???????????????

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No wonder that this puts a premium ..

• Its not surprising that the workers objective
  at work is to do as little as possible to get his
  pay.

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slowdown

• --- deliberate decrease in the speed of
  production

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slovenly

• ---untidy, as in dress or appearance, sloppy,
• Someone who is slovenly is careless, untidy
  and inefficient in their appearance and behavior
  ??????

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para.7

• work is a means of getting money worker
  tries to work less to get the same pay

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para.8

• What is the root cause of this?
• How do you know?

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para.8

• The root cause of this alienation is the
  capitalist system.
• From the statement The whole social
  organization of which he is a part (para.8)
  
• The worker is not active. He has no
  responsibility for the work he is doing. He is
  not interested in the whole product.

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capital

• ----- The capitalist or the money of the
  capitalists that can hire worker and purchase all
  the other equipment necessary for production.

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human problem of industry

• Industry is the main thing and the human worker
  is part of it. In the capitalists eye, the
  workers are the trouble makers. If the workers
  problem is solved industry would go more
  efficiently.

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industrial problem of human beings

• Fromm here attacks the attitude of the
  capitalists and society towards the workers. He
  thinks human being is the bigger thing and
  industry is the only activity of it. Man should
  be given the priority. Fromm is saying the
  psychological research should begin from the
  study of industrial problem among human beings
  instead of human problem in industry.

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formulation

• formulate
• to express in short clear form

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underlying

• --- present but not obvious implicit
• There are underlying similarities between all
  human beings.
• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.

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Para.9

• Industrial psychologists are trying to manage and
  control the mind of the workers
• What problem are the industrial psychologists
  mainly concerned with?
• How to make the worker work more smoothly and
  efficiently

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Taylor, Frederick Winslow (1856-1915)

• American engineer, inventor and efficiency expert
  who pioneered the principles of scientific
  management in industry and business.

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in the name of .

• Under the guise of improving relations between
  people, every possible trick/means is employed on
  the worker, which is only fit for the worker who
  is completely disinterested in his work.
  Happiness human values are also formulated in
  order to manipulate the worker.

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in the name of .

• ?????????,???????????????????????????????????????
  ???????????????

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It is going to

• Better relations with the public will yield
  larger profits to management. The management will
  earn larger profits if it has better relations
  with the public.

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pay off

• to yield full recompense or return, for either
  good or evil

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cold dollars and cents

• Cold cash hard cash nothing but money

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attitude

• --- Whats Fromms attitude toward human
  relations and happiness?
• dehumanizing/robotizing relations --- inhuman
  relations
• mechanical repetitive action which is without
  doubt compulsory

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spontaneity

• spontaneous ---
• done, happening from natural impulse, not
  caused or suggested by sth or sb. outside.
• She made a spontaneous offer of help.

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The alienated and profoundly

• The two results of alienation and unsatisfactory
  character of work are
• one, the desire as a goal in life, not to work
• The other a deep-seated often unconscious hatred
  of work and everything and everybody connected
  with it.

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Our advertising

• Fromm thinks advertising nowadays appeals
  more to laziness and passivity than to the sexual
  appeal of women in order to sell their goods.

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But this usefulness.

• But such practical use only plays the role which
  rationalizes the appeal to extreme idleness and
  willingness to accept things.
• ???????????????????????????????????

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Many a businessman

• According to Fromm many businessmen fell trapped
  by the system which forces them to sell whatever
  they can regardless of the quality or usefulness
  the product.

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He has a feeling

• The businessman knows the quality of usefulness
  of his product is not what it should be. He
  despises the goods he produces, conscious of the
  deception involved.
• fraudulency deceit, trickery, cheating

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Only occasionally comes up

• All these feelings, according to Fromm, generally
  lie dormant in the unconscious. Only occasionally
  he becomes aware of them, and he feels upset for
  a moment and then immediately forget them.

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Sum up

• Fromms psychoanalytical approach becomes quite
  clear here. There is no trace of class analysis
  at all. In fact, Fromm sympathizes equally with
  the worker and the capitalist. Profit and
  exploitation of the workers as the main driving
  force of the capitalists are not mentioned at all.

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Organizational pattern

• 5 sections
• Sect. I para 1-2
• The writer deals with general positive values of
  work
• Para.1. the general idea of the meaning of work
  to man in ancient times.

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Organizational pattern

• Para.2. more specifically states what work means
  to craftsman in 13-14th century.
• Work was satisfactory
• pleasurable
• instructive
• meaningful
• He cites examples of craftsman in 13-14th century
  to illustrate work.

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Organizational pattern

• Sect.II para 3-4
• He deals with the change in the meaning of work
  to man, especially at the beginning of modern
  society (capitalism)
• What does work mean to man then?
• a duty and obsession ---upper middle class
• forced labor --- poor laboring people

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Organizational pattern

• Sect.III para 5-7
• He deals with the change in the meaning of work
  to man now.
• Work has become an alienating factor.
• Work alienates the workers from others, and
  worker has become part of the machine. He is not
  a master, but slave of machine.

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Organizational pattern

• Sect.IV para 8-9
• The cause of the changes
• The writer makes a general survey in the research
  of the causes of the changes from the industrial
  psychological point of view.

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Organizational pattern

• The relationship between the worker and work
  is determined by the whole social organization.
• The worker knows very little about other things.
• The worker is passive.
• He is isolated (alienated) from others.

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Organizational pattern

• Sect.V para 10-13
• The effects (results) of this alienation. The
  workers have two reactions resulting from
  alienation.
• laziness (para 11-12)
• hostility (para 13)

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Language features

1. long involved sentences
2. passive voice
3. abstract nouns

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Language features

• production attention formulation organization
  management isolation laziness passivity
  receptivity hostility rationalization
  routinization spontaneity manipulation
  fraudulency satisfaction intoxication

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-- ship

• ??????????? ??????
• authorship ????
• friendship ??
• citizenship ???
• membership ????

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?

• ?????????
• your Lordship??
• nonce-words ?????
• dogship sonship
• bachelorship

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?

• 5 lordship
• 6 deanship
• 10 trusteeship
• 12 seamanship
• 15 marksmanship

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?

• 17 township
• 18 censorship
• 20 citizenship
• 10 princeship ????(??)

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--dom

• ?????????????
• freedom martyrdom ?? kingdom officedom (
  ??)wisdom
• ????,????nonce-words
• bourgeoisdom

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Paraphrase

1. Because of the fact that man produces, he has
   evolved beyond all other animals.
2. Work liberates human being from nature and makes
   him cooperate with other people and be
   independent from nature.

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Paraphrase

1. All the work mentioned above are the examples of
   how man has transformed nature creatively through
   his intelligence and skill.
2. While man is working, he enjoys himself and the
   cultural development of the worker also goes
   together with the work he is doing.

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Paraphrase

1. According to Weber, work became the chief element
   in a thinking system of a very strict and
   self-denying way of life in the mind of people.
   Work was the only relief to those who felt alone
   and isolated.
2. The worker is alienated /estranged/ separated
   from the work he is doing.

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Paraphrase

1. Work helps man to earn money, which is only an
   activity without much significance.
2. Money cannot bring out the workers self-respect.
3. Most industrial psychologists are mainly trying
   to manage and control the mind of the worker.

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Paraphrase

1. Better relations with the public will yield
   larger profits to management. / or Capitalists
   will earn a lot profits if it has better
   relations with the public.

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Paraphrase

• 11. The usefulness of many small appliances is
  often used by advertisers as reasonable means to
  appeal to extreme idleness and willingness to
  accept things.
• 12. The businessman knows he is deceiving the
  customers into his product and he shows secret
  contempt for it.