History and ontology: the issue of work

Abstract

History seems to want to drive us crazy in this transition from the 20th to the 21st century. On the one hand, history seems to want to convince us that everything is fleeting and temporary, everything is mobile and nothing will last for long. What yesterday was modern is now outdated; what was a safe reference soon reveals itself to be archaic; the historical trends that we thought were established are quickly reversed and without any ceremony regarding our expectations. In the economy, in customs, in art, in fashion, in architecture, in the way of being of individuals: where can we find anything that is not under the crushing pressure of ephemerality? There is nothing on the horizon that seems capable of resisting the gales of change.