Zooming out from Pieper’s definition is hard, because even a state of mind is subject to the forces of a historical and political playing field. The difficulty of trying to account for this is not just the difficulty of reconciling individual agency with structural forces. It also means trying to see the vertical within the horizontal, the free within the unfree, and even peace of mind within a world marked by violence. Pulling on this thread leads me into what feels like an open field—where the entire concept of leisure, even “free” leisure, threatens to become a mirage. What does leisure
...more
