The Point Of Work

The Relationship Between Work, Relaxation, and Leisure

The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote:

“Happiness seems to depend on leisure, because we work to have leisure”

(Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics)

For most people, Sundays provide the best opportunity for leisure. Leisure, or “free time”, is the time we set aside for ourselves to enjoy doing whatever it is that we freely choose to do. It is what remains after life’s necessities are taken care of.

While it is common in modern American culture to ask someone “what do you do for work?”, Aristotle would have instead urged us to ask “how do you leisure?”. The reason is that he did not identify who we are with our work. Instead, Aristotle thought that we are more fully defined by how we leisure.

Aristotle thought that leisure is the most important time in a human life. It is during leisure that we are able to freely choose worthwhile activities that actualize our talents and abilities, and define who we truly are. It is during leisure that we learn how to paint, to dance, or hit a backhand.

It is important to distinguish work from both relaxation and leisure. Work is what we do to secure our basic practical needs. The ultimate point of work is to meet these needs so that we can eventually reach leisure. Aristotle did not think that anyone would choose to work for its own sake.

Relaxation, meanwhile, is a sort of middle state between work and leisure. Relaxation is necessary to recover from work and to prepare us for leisure. It is not identical to leisure itself. In fact, Aristotle thought that if we only spent our leisure time relaxing, then we would be making a serious mistake. Here’s why.

Aristotle was famous for arguing that there is a fundamental connection between human happiness and excellence. In short, he thought that the happy life for a human being is one of excellence. But if that’s the case, then we cannot merely spend our leisure time relaxing. Relaxation does not allow for excellence. Excellence requires taking action and exerting ourselves in the pursuit of worthwhile goals.

In modern American life the lines between work, relaxation, and leisure are often blurred. For many people, the requirements to meet the bare necessities of life are so high that they are deprived of leisure, and must fill their non-working hours with relaxation in order to prepare to return to work.

Aristotle would have criticized any society which does not arrange itself to promote leisure amongst its citizens. It is the things we do doing leisure that make us most fully human. Leisure is the only time in which we can develop our talents and abilities in the pursuit of excellent actions. This, Aristotle thought, is indispensable to human happiness.