ABSTRACT
Although Josef Pieper authored numerous philosophical publications, he owes his popularity among leisure researchers primarily to the booklet Leisure. The Basis of Culture. Pieper argued that in the world dominated by the ‘idolatry of work’ little room is left for true leisure. The main question raised by Pieper was: “will it be possible to keep the human being from becoming a ‘functionary’ or a slave of the ‘cult of work’?” An attempt to answer this question is at the root of Pieper’s notion of leisure. Pieper attracted the attention of leisure researchers by revoking the ancient notion of schole, defined as an attitude and a self-fulfilling pursuit rather than disposable time or a set of recreational activities. Leisure, Pieper wrote, is not simply spare time, a holiday, a weekend, or a vacation. It is, in the first place, an attitude of mind, a condition of the soul. While some of Pieper’s ideas about the role of leisure and labour are open to questions, the importance of his vision of leisure and his observation that the benefits and convenience of ‘common use’ are not identical to ‘common good’ should not be doubted.
