My Work is Not Yet Done


Thomas Ligotti, My Work is Not Yet Done, (Mythos Books: 2002)

Interpretations of Ligotti’s so-called “corporate horror” that treat it primarily as a critique of consumerism or the corporate workplace can feel much too narrow in scope. Ligotti’s vision is larger than that, and My Work is Not Yet Done is a prime example of a novella that exceeds the label of “corporate horror.”

I recommend readers turn to Moreau Vazh’s excellent analysis of the novella on the blog Taskerland (link below). The Taskerland insights reveal a profound depth to the story that goes unnoticed. Vazh is always a great source for penetrating elucidations of Ligotti's work, and I strongly encourage anyone interested to explore Taskerland. I won't be offering anything like the depth and breadth of criticism that you will find there. Instead, this murmur focuses on one specific idea: there is a tight analogy between "being a corporation" and "being corporeal," and that a category mistake is made when awareness turns its attention toward itself.

In The Concept of Mind (1949), Gilbert Ryle diagnoses the Cartesian dualist’s error as a category mistake. Understanding the nature of this mistake can illuminate Thomas Ligotti’s corporate horror, particularly in My Work is Not Yet Done.

To be corporeal is to be composed of things that take up space: blood, bones, flesh, organs, and so on. Similarly, a corporation is made up of employees, paperwork, coffee machines, boardrooms, and so forth. We readily accept that a corporation is nothing more than this collection; there is no additional corporate self hiding behind all the things that make it up. Adapting Ryle's example of a category mistake to the concept of a corporation, imagine giving a new business-school student a complete and thorough tour of a large corporation. After they have seen every desk, whiteboard, executive, and pie chart, the confused student asks when they will finally see “the corporation.” They ask if that is the next thing on the tour. The mistake lies in treating the corporation as if it were one more item that could be pointed to alongside the copy machines and administrative assistants.

The same error occurs with the concepts of “me” and “you.” Once you have seen the body, heard the voice, and watched the vacation videos, you have seen the person. Nothing remains hidden behind the flesh. You will not find the corporation lurking behind the desks, and likewise you will not find some extra self concealed behind the meat and the sum of a person’s actions and reactions. When awareness turns its attention inward, there is nothing to notice; it simply stares into the blackness of the void.

 

Link to Moreau Vazh’s Taskerland essay on My Work is Not Yet Done: https://tasker.land/2026/05/28/on-my-work-is-not-yet-done-by-thomas-ligotti/

The Concept of Mind, Gilbert Ryle, 1949 (London: Hutchinson).


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