A Study on the Individual Meaning of and the Institutional Meaning of Housework

가사노동의 개인적 의미와 제도적 의미에 관한 연구

  • Published : 1997.10.01

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the meaning of‘housework’. In order to understand the intrinsic meaning of housework, we have to distinguish between ‘individual meaning’and‘institutional meaning’. The former is related to the concern, intent, habit, need, desire, and motivation of the given individual, while the latter is related to the social value, norm, and convention of human behavior. The majority of the studies on housework have been made by focusing on individual meaning. As the individual meaning of housework has gradually been emphasized, it has been forgotten that‘housework’itself is a very important part of‘home life’, and then the importance of home life has gradually diminished. Housework is naturally carried out in the process of human history, and housework reflect total human wisdom. In other words, it is thought that it is possible to grasp the total meaning of life in housework. Our life can be richer than now by increasing the quantity of philosophical analysis of the phenomena related to housework.

Keywords