Work

What Is Meant Here

This entry belongs to the Shahrur Glossary. What is meant by work here is not every possible use of the word, but rather the meaning given in the cited passage: conscious movement in a general sense. It is contrasted with the act as determinate work.

What Is Attributed to Shahrur

The cited passage states: “Work is a general conscious movement, and the act is determinate work.” The text thus establishes two contrasting definitions: the generality of work on the one hand, and the determinacy of the act on the other.

See: General work and the specific act.

The Atlas Explanation

The atlas presents the relationship between work and the act as a semantic distinction established in the statement itself: the act falls within work insofar as it is “work,” but it is described as “determinate,” whereas work is described as “general.” The entry therefore does not equate the two terms.

This distinction is read within synonymy and semantic distinctions.

Qualified Inference

If the statement is taken within its limits, it can be said that “work” is the broader term in this pair, and that “the act” designates work when it becomes determinate. This is a synthetic inference from describing one as general and the other as determinate, not an additional definition drawn from outside the cited passage.

Open Question and Limits of the Evidence

The available passage alone does not explain how Shahrur defines righteous work, nor does it establish that righteousness is a normative quality of work or of its effect. Nor is it sufficient to establish a detailed connection between work and human responsibility. For the broader thematic context, see the human being, freedom, and responsibility.