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5 - The Art of Leisure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2022

Kevin Hood Gary
Affiliation:
Valparaiso University, Indiana
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Summary

In this chapter, I first consider Alasdair MacIntyre’s neo-Aristotelian notion of “practices.” For MacIntyre, practices refer to special forms of human activity that harbor what he calls internal goods, goods to which practitioners progressively gain access as they acquire more experience. Part of what it means to enact a leisurely state of mind is to become attentive to the internal goods of our practical engagements. At the same time, the activities in which we can cultivate and enact leisure should not only be thought of as “practices,” in the MacIntyrean sense. Attending only to such practices would narrow the range of human engagement in which leisure can be experienced. More provocative is the philosopher Albert Borgmann’s  notion of a focal practice, which resonates with MacIntyre’s account, but includes a broader range of activities that count as worthwhile practices. While Borgmann’s account of focal practices covers what MacIntyre has in mind, it also includes simple activities such as cooking, walking, and reading. Borgmann shows that even, and especially in such engagements, we can experience and further cultivate leisure. Drawing from both MacIntyre’s and Borgmann’s insights, I sketch out three tangible ways to cultivate leisure.

Type
Chapter
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Why Boredom Matters
Education, Leisure, and the Quest for a Meaningful Life
, pp. 84 - 108
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • The Art of Leisure
  • Kevin Hood Gary, Valparaiso University, Indiana
  • Book: Why Boredom Matters
  • Online publication: 21 July 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108878319.007
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  • The Art of Leisure
  • Kevin Hood Gary, Valparaiso University, Indiana
  • Book: Why Boredom Matters
  • Online publication: 21 July 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108878319.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Art of Leisure
  • Kevin Hood Gary, Valparaiso University, Indiana
  • Book: Why Boredom Matters
  • Online publication: 21 July 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108878319.007
Available formats
×