The Relationship Between Leisure and Happiness: A Forgotten Virtue Ethical Issue
Lai Xiaowei1,2, Liu Huimei1,3
1.Department of Philosophy, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China 2.Hangzhou International Urbanology Research Center & Zhejiang Urban Governance Studies Center, Hangzhou 311121, China 3.Academy of Tourism and Leisure, Zhejiang University,Hangzhou 310058, China
Abstract Aristotle presented and explored the relationship between leisure and happiness as a virtue ethical issue. He believes that leisure is both a means to achieve happiness and happiness per se, and the two are unified through virtue. Leisure as a means makes it possible for people to escape from the busy life of making a living and provides opportunities for the cultivation and practice of intellectual virtue and ethical virtue, which is a prerequisite for the realization of happiness; leisure as an end exists in the form of critical thinking, which is the practice of intellectual virtue and is happiness itself.However, the relationship between leisure and happiness as an issue of virtue ethics is now forgotten and neither leisure studies nor ethical studies have been able to place it in the context of virtue ethics. The modern leisure research focuses on the relationship between individual leisure behavior, leisure experience and subjective well-being in social situations from psychological perspectives. As a social psychology term, “leisure” and “happiness” are not the same as those in Aristotle’. It emphasizes the subjective feelings and experiences rather than the concept of virtue. Also some scholars have attempted to restore the relationship between “leisure” and “happiness” in Aristotle, but their aim is to provide theoretical support for the study of specific leisure issues rather than to advocate the revival of Aristotle’s virtue ethics.Although some contemporary virtue ethicists advocate the recovery of the Aristotelian concepts of virtue and happiness, they do not reflect sufficient attention to the concept of leisure. On the one hand, leisure in Aristotle’s view belonged only to male city-state citizens, while slaves, women and barbarians were excluded from citizenship. This classical elitist argument, however, does not apply to modern society, which is built on the basis of equality among human beings. On the other hand, leisure has lost its necessity for achieving happiness in the development of contemporary virtue ethics. We need to return to the relationship between leisure and happiness in the framework of the Aristotelian virtue ethics. Theoretically, it can help clarify the relationship between leisure and happiness and lay a solid theoretical foundation for the development of modern leisure studies. It can also help achieve a stronger revival of Aristotle’s virtue ethics in the contemporary world. Practically, it can provide a reference for people to arrange leisure time appropriately, and encourage people to explore concrete ways to achieve a good life by treating leisure as a purpose.
Lai Xiaowei,Liu Huimei. The Relationship Between Leisure and Happiness: A Forgotten Virtue Ethical Issue[J]. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2021, 51(4): 144-153.
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