Leisure

<p><b>Intellectual history of leisure and the use of that history to grapple with its potential future.</b></p><p><i>Leisure</i> is a genealogy of the concept of leisure from its peak in the classical age to its inversion and fall in modern liberalism. The goal of this genealogy is to analyze models of leisure and to inquire into the potential future shape of it. In that process Jacob T. Snyder asks: what was leisure in its peak form in the classical age? In such a form how was leisure understood to be connected to human flourishing? Then what happened to leisure? What was the argument for work that won over the West? What must be rejected or lost about work if leisure is to be reanimated? In asking and answering these questions Snyder argues that political reform such as limiting work weeks is insufficient to make us leisured. <i>Leisure</i> demands more including a new understanding of what makes us happy and thriving creatures.</p>