Labor is means-oriented while aristocratic ethos centers on personal being

Evidence

In every instance of true “labor,” subject is devoted to object; and regardless whether the product of labor reverts back to the subject, the action itself remains oriented toward an impersonal structure and finds its culmination in the forming of that structure, be it the shaping or reshaping of concepts in intellectual labor, the pedagogic forming of a pupil, or the working of physical substances. But this directly contradicts aristocracy’s basic ethos [Lebensgefühl], which is absolutely personal. Its center is in the being of the subject, whose value, like the value of everything that arises directly from him, is determined by the terminus a quo. However, labor is action that is eminently a means, that is oriented toward something external, that is determined by the terminus ad quem. It is on this point that Schiller distinguishes between low natures, who pay with what they do, and noble natures, who pay with what they are. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 515

Categorization

• SHARE: Schiller’s distinction between ‘paying with what you do’ vs ‘what you are’ is exactly the kind of line a humanities colleague would savor.
• XREF: connects to: Urban division of labor creates hyper-specialized professions like Paris’s paid fourteenth dinner guest — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 758; Nobility smelted individuals into the group while aiming at individual self-sufficiency — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 522; Nobility is self-sufficient like a framed work of art — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 512 (+5 more)

Related

• Nobility smelted individuals into the group while aiming at individual self-sufficiency (similarity 0.80)
• Nobility is self-sufficient like a framed work of art (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Nobility is self-sufficient like a framed work of art #corroborates (0.65) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 512
• Nobility smelted individuals into the group while aiming at individual self-sufficiency #corroborates (0.50) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 522