Leisure Thoughts Of Ancient Greece And Its Historical Evolution

At present,there're two paths of leisure study,one is metaphysical,the other is practical.Metaphysical one tries to explore “why leisure is worth pursuing”,while the pratical one attempts to answer“how to achieve leisure(which is worth pursuing)”.Generally speaking,Only when we get the answer of the former,then the other is worth to explore.Philosophers of Classical Greece had constructed the concept of leisure through discussing happiness,so that the leisure thoughts of Ancient Greece is the start point to answer “ why leisure is worth pursuing”.This paper tries to observe the meaning of leisure in Ancient Greek philosophy,and its evolution in later ages,then analysis why and how the modern leisure studies should learn from the leisure thoughts of Ancient Greece.The fundamental of this paper can be summarized as follows.Chapter 1 is an introduction.Firstly,it describes why choose this topic and what problems the paper wants to solve.Secondly,it tries to summarize and review the domestic and foreign literatures by three themes –“Research focusing on the leisure thoughts of Ancient Greece”,“Research on leisure thoughts of Ancient Greece under a comparative perspective”,and “Research on the historical evolution of the concept of leisure”.Finally,it describes the innovation,deficiencies,and then the overall structure of this paper.Chapter 2 discusses the connections between “leisure”,“goodness” and“happiness” based on the theory of Socrates,Plato and Aristotle,and points out that the happiness-oriented “leisure” is the “realistic activity of a virtuous soul”.It contains contemplation and virtual practice,which will be realized through accepting free education and participating the life of city-state.Chapter 3 takes the Epicurean and the Stoic as examples,to indicate that the Hellenistic philosophy also associates “leisure” with “good life”,but have new features.In the Epicurean's theory of happiness,leisure is more personal.Although the Stoic admits that leisure contributes to the realization of personal virtue,but it ultimately serves the political life as a means rather than a purpose.Chapter 4 describes the remains of Ancient Greek leisure thoughts in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.Augustine affirmed the positive meaning of leisure to pursue God to achieve happiness;Thomas Aquinas believed that engaging in knowledge research is a kindo f leisure participation.Scholars in the Renaissance such as Petrarch and Montaigne also believed that leisure is the premise of thinking about self,and it can bring knowledge,wisdom and internal transformation of man.Chapter 5 illustrates the decline of Ancient Greek leisure thoughts in modern times by analyzing the rising of labor status.Protestant Reformation made labor become the center of "good life" as a "calling" by God;then labor gained higher status with its ability to create wealth after the Industrial Revolution;Marx proposed the concept of free labor,which made labor become a life ideal replacing leisure.Then the status of leisure and labor had changed.Chapter 6 discusses how leisure can resist labor alienation and how consumption weaken the power of leisure to resist labor alienation.The alienation of labor makes it impossible to replace classical leisure as an ideal of life,and leisure,as a former ideal of life,is hoped to overcome labor alienation.However,leisure is reincorporated into the process of economic production as consumption in the consumer society,and its transformative forces against labor alienation are“incorporated” and cannot effect.The final chapter explains why and how modern leisure research should return to the leisure thoughts of Ancient Greece.Leisure was absorbed into the economic production process and cannot exert its transformative power.While the Ancient Greek leisure thoughts which was happiness-oriented,can restore the power against labor alienation.It needs the restoration of intellectual leisure on one hand;on the other hand,it's necessary to reintegrate leisure into the category of happiness ethics.