Between Necessity and Vocation: The Meaning of Work in the Field of Tension Between Securing One’s Livelihood, Sociality and Transcendence

In a time of profound upheavals in the world of work – characterized by automation, crises of meaning and psychological exhaustion – the question of the meaning and purpose of work arises with new urgency. This article undertakes a transdisciplinary reflection that integrates anthropological, sociological, psychological, and theological perspectives in order to understand work not only as an economic necessity, but as an existential site of human self-realization, social participation, and spiritual vocation. Based on classical thinkers such as Aristotle, Marx, Weber and Frankl as well as modern authors such as Rosa, Han and Koe, work is analysed as an ambivalent sphere between heteronomy and freedom, between self-optimisation and self-transcendence. The thesis is: Work acquires meaning where it becomes not only a means, but also an expression, relationship and answer. In this way, an integrative understanding of work is developed that takes into account both the social framework conditions and the potential for personal interpretation.