Engineering

Philosophy

Materialism

Philosophy of life

Mechanical engineering

The good life

Aesthetics

Environmental ethics

Work (physics)

Epistemology

Sociology

Philosophy and literature

Often seen as an anti-work crank, Henry David Thoreau was, in reality, an astute philosopher of work who devised a philosophy that envisioned the beneficial role work plays in the well-lived life. His essay "Life without Principle" is a jeremiad that laments the ways that materialism corrupts work, and calls upon his readers to repent and turn to a life of self-culture guided by moral and spiritual values. Salvation of work comes from a life lived with principle that makes work pleasurable for the worker, moral in its execution, and beneficial to the common good.

Thoreau's "Life without Principle" and the Art of Living and Getting a Living