ABSTRACT
Reflection on the meaning of leisure has taken place over many centuries. The topic of the motivation behind our leisure choices, however, is a matter of fairly recent debate. Leisure studies, psychology and anthropology often focus on the motivational question, which sometimes leaves the question of meaning unaddressed. To debate meaning is to raise philosophical questions. These might include the nature and purpose of leisure, its place within a broadly well-shaped and satisfactory human life, the ethical and social questions to which leisure choices give rise, the opportunity leisure provides for bridging rest and contemplation on the one hand with the benefits of a life of activity on the other, the relation of leisure to work and the ways in which leisure and labour might enable or undermine each other.
