Geoffrey Kay was Senior Lecturer in Economics at City University, UK. His publications include Development and Underdevelopment: A Marxist Analysis (1975), The Economic Theory of the Working Class (1979), and Political Order and the Law of Labour (1982), co-authored with James Mott.James Mott was Lecturer in Sociology at City University and Chair of the sociology and philosophy group until retirement. He is co-author of Political Order and the Law of Labour (1982).

This work presents a historical survey of the ways in which labour has been conceived by leading thinkers of the ages. The scholarship of Kay and Mott is very impressive, as they move surefootedly from the Old Testament to Karl Marx. With regard to the latter they present a challenging alternative to his labour theory of value.

• Preface 1. Creativity and Toil 2. The Mechanical Arts 3. Instrumental Labour 4. Purposive Labour 5. Philosophy and Labour 6. The Philosophical Negation of Labour 7. The Philosophical Affirmation of Labour: György Lukács8. Labour and Capital 9. Beyond the Labour Theory of Value Bibliography

Geoffrey Kay was Senior Lecturer in Economics at City University, UK. His publications include Development and Underdevelopment: A Marxist Analysis (1975), The Economic Theory of the Working Class (1979), and Political Order and the Law of Labour (1982), co-authored with James Mott.James Mott was Lecturer in Sociology at City University and Chair of the sociology and philosophy group until retirement. He is co-author of Political Order and the Law of Labour (1982).

This work presents a historical survey of the ways in which labour has been conceived by leading thinkers of the ages. The scholarship of Kay and Mott is very impressive, as they move surefootedly from the Old Testament to Karl Marx. With regard to the latter they present a challenging alternative to his labour theory of value.

• Preface 1. Creativity and Toil 2. The Mechanical Arts 3. Instrumental Labour 4. Purposive Labour 5. Philosophy and Labour 6. The Philosophical Negation of Labour 7. The Philosophical Affirmation of Labour: György Lukács8. Labour and Capital 9. Beyond the Labour Theory of Value Bibliography