Free Time

A Free Time is a time period that is free from mandatory tasks.

• AKA: Leisure.
• Context:
  • It can range from being Well-Spent Free Time, to being Badly-Spent Free Time.
  • It can (typically?) be Economically Unproductive (unvalued?).
• Example(s):
  • TV Watching.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Working Time.
  • Consume Time.
  • Sleeping Time.
• See: Housekeeping, Education, Sleep, Pleasure, Leisure Studies.

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References

2016

• https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/10/how-the-traditional-understanding-of-leisure-can-soothe-your-stressed-out-soul
  • QUOTE: … Because leisure is (by definition) economically unproductive, many mistakenly infer that no value can be derived from it. It is dismissed as a luxury only afforded to the independently wealthy or retired. … As a culture, we’re so riddled with this combination of guilt and stress that when we finally do have some free time, we fill it with “mindless” activities that serve little purpose other than to help us temporarily forget our never-ending list of to-dos. … As the German philosopher Pieper mentions, one of the greatest assaults on leisure in recent history is the glorified view of work. Our modern culture affirms our personal sense of pride by telling us we need to account for every moment of free time. And while it’s wrong to squander this time by being idle, it is equally harmful to neglect intellectual, physical, and spiritual pursuits for the sake of feeling “productive.”

• (Eberstadt, 2016) ⇒ Nicholas Eberstadt. (2016). “Men Without Work: America's Invisible Crisis." Templeton Press. ISBN:9781599474700
  • QUOTE: A respite from toil and chores is a prerequisite for contemplation and deepening of consciousness that allows for cultural advance" …

    … Successive generations in our consumer era appear to be ever less aware of the age-old distinction between leisure and idleness in the spending of free-time. Bluntly stated, leisure refines and elevates; idleness corrupts and degrades.

2015

• (Wikipedia, 2015) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/leisure Retrieved:2015-5-31.
  • Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, domestic chores and education. It also excludes time spent on necessary activities such as eating and sleeping.

    The distinction between leisure and unavoidable activities is not a rigidly defined one, e.g. people sometimes do work-oriented tasks for pleasure as well as for long-term utility. A distinction may also be drawn between free time and leisure. For example, Situationist International maintains that free time is illusory and rarely free; economic and social forces appropriate free time from the individual and sell it back to themas the commodity known as "leisure". Certainly most people's leisure activities are not a completely free choice, and may be constrained by social pressures, e.g. people may be coerced into spending time gardening by the need to keep up with the standard of neighbouring gardens.

    A related concept is that of social leisure, which involves leisurely activities in a social settings, such as extracurricular activities, e.g. sports, clubs. Another related concept is that of family leisure.

     Leisure studies and sociology of leisure are the academic disciplines concerned with the study and analysis of leisure.

1962

• (De Grazia, 1962) ⇒ Sebastian De Grazia. (1962). “Of Time, Work, and Leisure." Twentieth Century Fund.

1948

• (Pieper, 1948) ⇒ Josef Pieper. (1948/1953). “Muße und Kult (Leisure: The Basis of Culture; The Philosophical Act)." Ignatius Press,

1932

• (Russell, 1932) ⇒ Bertrand Russell. (1932). “In Praise of Idleness: and other essays." ISBN:0415325064

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