On the Philosophical Foundation of the Concept of Labor in Economics

To attempt a fundamental definition of the concept of labor appears superfluous because there is a tacit agreement in economic theory to avoid a "definitional" concept of labor as such and to conceive of labor only as economic activity: the praxis within the economic dimension. "The general concept 'labor' has received such an indeterminate content through its ordinary uses that it is hardly possible to unequivocally demarcate it. It is precisely this situation that gives the representatives of economics the right to utilize a specific economic concept of 'labor' that is not derived from a general concept of 'labor' but, rather, through another procedure."