Contemporary Western Critique Of Leisure Theory

As people’s quality of life improves and their working hours and household labor time decrease,leisure becomes increasingly prominent in daily life,and the meaning of leisure also undergoes great changes.It need the support of Marx’s theory to guide the development of leisure towards a genuine state,to criticize the fallacies of contemporary Western leisure theory,and to construct a scientific and modern view of leisure.One can discern the contributions that Marx made to the formation of leisure theory from his concept of free time,although Marx did not explicitly and clearly expound his leisure theory.Based on Marx’s "free time" idea,this dissertation analyzes the value and problems of contemporary Western leisure theory.Finally,it returns to real life and explores the positive path to promote China’s leisure development.With the establishment of the capitalist system,the emergence of modernity and postmodernity,and the close interaction between states,leisure has gradually become a research subject.Ancient Greek philosophers regarded leisure has played significant roles as a cultivation of noble souls and a connection with sacred things;while medieval philosophers defined time as a way of thanking and serving God,which subverting the previous view of leisure.In modern times,there were close contacts between science,economy,philosophy and leisure.Since then,different scholars have proposed various views on the sociological differences of leisure actions,the individual differences of leisure behaviors,conspicuous leisure,and the moral dilemma of leisure caused by the conflict between free interests and public interests.In this macro environment,contemporary Western leisure theory emerged.Marx examined the issue of human’s free and comprehensive development through the study of free time.Marx himself did not explicitly propose the concept of "leisure" in his theory.However,his idea of free time provided a methodological foundation for the study of contemporary Western leisure phenomena and the critique of contemporary Western leisure theories.The idea of free time is a clue for Marx to criticize the capitalist mode of production.First of all,the leisure problem in Marx’s free time idea fundamentally points to maintaining the leisure-rights of the working class.Secondly,it promotes the development of leisure culture.Finally promote human’s free and comprehensive development.Therefore,It should not equate the leisure time in contemporary Western leisure theory with Marx’s free time.Unlike Western leisure theories that place labor and leisure in opposition,Marx’s theory of free time studies labor and leisure on the same dimension.This is Marx’s transcendence of Western leisure theories.In general,contemporary Western leisure theory has its own theoretical value,and some of them share similarities with Marx’s theory of free time in terms of promoting human development.Firstly,In the research of contemporary Western leisure theories,there has been a shift from viewing leisure as a means of seeking pleasure and status to seeing leisure as an activity that enables people to pursue the meaning of life.Moreover,different leisure perspectives in contemporary Western leisure theories have offered various directions for leisure theoretical research.Secondly,it examines the causes of the misconceptions of contemporary Western leisure theory,and investigates the historical path to achieve true leisure freedom.Lastly,the development of contemporary western economy and society has caused people to reflect on the new leisure lifestyle,and the leisure theory formed by it also promotes the development of people to some extent.This has important implications for building a socialist harmonious society.Based on this,we need to construct a contemporary Chinese and modern Marxist view of leisure,Establish the system and implementation path for the leisure rights of workers,and advance the contemporary path of China’s leisure development.Adhere to the people-oriented principle,strengthen the subject’s leisure awareness under the guidance of Marxism,and promote the common development of all human beings.From this,it can be seen that viewing contemporary Western leisure theories from the perspective of Marx’s free time has contemporary value significance.