charles Sylvester | Western Washington University (original) (raw)
Papers by charles Sylvester
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1989
Prompted by concerns for accountability, quality assurance is drawing much attention in therapeut... more Prompted by concerns for accountability, quality assurance is drawing much attention in therapeutic recreation. So far emphasis has b een on health care. The conceptual foundations of quality assurance, however, have not been studied with adequate attention to quality of life and the aims of therapeutic recreation. It is argued that if leisure is its goal, therapeutic recreation should make a greater commitment to assuring quality of life values. A conceptual framework for developing standards conducive to quality of life values is introduced. Reform of therapeutic recreation is also urged.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1985
Ethics is a necessary part of professional practice. Attention to professional ethics in therapeu... more Ethics is a necessary part of professional practice. Attention to professional ethics in therapeutic recreation, however, has been insufficient. This article examines selected areas of ethical concern, including: (1) confidentiality, (2) social sexual relations, and (3) client autonomy. Emphasis is placed on the special implications each issue holds for therapeutic recreation. Recommendations are offered for the revision of the National Therapeutic Recreation Society Statement of Professional Ethics. In particular, education concerning professional ethics is urged for students and professionals. A model of the ethically enlightened professional is also suggested as an ideal for therapeutic recreators to emulate.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1992
All professions answer a calling to serve a legitimate social need. The field of therapeutic recr... more All professions answer a calling to serve a legitimate social need. The field of therapeutic recreation has struggled to define and justify its purpose. The right to leisure has been suggested as an appropriate mission fortherapeutic recreation. The legitimacy ofleisure as a human right has been neglected, however, leaving the field on tenuous moral ground. This paper explores the right to leisure through a variety of documents and discourses. The relevance and several implications of the right to leisure for therapeutic recreation are raised, leading to a recommendation for reform.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1986
Philosophy means "love of wisdom." That seductive definition rubs disagreeably, however... more Philosophy means "love of wisdom." That seductive definition rubs disagreeably, however, against the memory of my first formal encounter with philosophy. I particularly recall my instructor arrogantly considering the reality of a chair positioned before thirty perplexed students.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1985
A guiding philosophy is essential to all professions, and the National Therapeutic Recreation Soc... more A guiding philosophy is essential to all professions, and the National Therapeutic Recreation Society has adopted the Leisure Ability model as its philosophical position. Philosophical inquiry is, however, a continual process. As such, this paper examines the Leisure Ability concept from a philosophical and ethical perspective. Based on a definition of leisure featuring the elements of freedom, responsibility, power, and intrinsic value, the therapy component of the Leisure Ability philosophy is challenged. It is concluded th.at the relationship between leisure and treatment is a conceptual quandary that must be resolved. Rather than duplicate the efforts of other professions by treating dysfunction, therapeutic recreation can accept the unique role of facilitating human freedom and enabling people to enjoy leisure in spite of apparent dysfunction.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1989
This discussion examines the major approaches, elementary steps, and prominent issues of historic... more This discussion examines the major approaches, elementary steps, and prominent issues of historical inquiry as they relate to therapeutic recreation. Examples from the literature are used to illustrate each of these areas. Concluding remarks stress the importance of practicing history for the practice of therapeutic recreation.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1983
This article questions the conceptual basis for leisure counseling as a means to in terpret and f... more This article questions the conceptual basis for leisure counseling as a means to in terpret and facilitate leisure functioning. As an alternative to this practice, it offers a leisure facilitation approach based upon a systems orientation. Two case studies are presented which illustrate the application of this process.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 2014
The disciplines of therapeutic recreation and disability studies are committed to studying and ac... more The disciplines of therapeutic recreation and disability studies are committed to studying and acting on the effects of disability in the lives of people. Ironically, there is little intersection between the two disciplines, which is the result of their fundamentally different approaches to disability. This analysis examines the detachment between therapeutic recreation and disability studies. After an introduction to its origin, principles, and main themes, the status of disability studies in therapeutic recreation is assessed by a selective review of literature. Key implications from the framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health are then addressed, followed by recommendations. An alliance with disability studies would enable therapeutic recreation to better understand and serve disabled people while bringing therapeutic recreation into the body of disability studies.
Journal of Leisure Research, 1990
Journal of Leisure Research, 2013
This year is the 50th anniversary of Sebastian de Grazia's of Time, work, and Leisure (1962), arg... more This year is the 50th anniversary of Sebastian de Grazia's of Time, work, and Leisure (1962), arguably one of the most important books on the subject of leisure in the 20th century. Besides Thorstein Veblen's (1899/1994) Theory of the Leisure Class and Josef Pieper's (1952) Leisure, the Basis of Culture, I can think of nothing else that compares. I have no idea how familiar the most recent generation of students, educators, and professionals is with of Time, work, and Leisure and Sebastian de Grazia, a humanist scholar and political philosopher who received a Pulitzer Prize for Machiavelli in Hell (1989). I doubt if many students are, especially undergraduates. Indeed, I suspect that even in its prime of Time, work, and Leisure received greater exposure through the film of the same title featuring de Grazia in bowtie and with pipe. Nonetheless, of Time, work, and Leisure once had an audience in leisure studies. I was introduced to it as an undergraduate nearly 40 years ago, starting my journey as a student of history and philosophy. Without of Time, work, and Leisure to open my eyes, I would have been unable to challenge students, colleagues, and myself to imagine something besides free time, the "experience industry," or "benefits-based recreation" as the sum and substance of leisure. While I will initially provide a thumbnail summary, I do not intend to conduct a standard book review. Frankly, besides recommending of Time, work, and Leisure to anyone interested in the study and practice of leisure, there is little I could write that would affect its deserved reputation as a classic in the literature of leisure studies. de Grazia explores the enduring themes of work and leisure with wit and erudition. His treatment of technology and consumerism foresees the future, though de Grazia's angst over the "tyranny of the clock" and shopping malls reads quaintly compared to cell phones and Black Friday rumbles at Walmart. Yet even if of Time, work, and Leisure were to regain an audience, my concern is that de Grazia's message and challenge would resonate very little in leisure studies, and the inattention would just continue. Therefore, while taking another look at of 1 Editor note: From time to time, the Journal of Leisure Research will print reviews of books published in years past. Established scholars and new leisure studies students alike may find inspiration in these "classics." These works are too important to be forgotten.
Journal of Leisure Research, 1990
Knowledge of leisure has been mainly conveyed in written sources. Contemporary leisure research d... more Knowledge of leisure has been mainly conveyed in written sources. Contemporary leisure research depends on this literature for the "preknowledge" needed to achieve improved and additional knowledge. Language, however, is frequently vague and ambiguous. Furthermore, it is historically conditioned, leading to meanings that are often different than our own. Valid understanding, therefore, is a complex endeavor demanding language skills and historical background. Text hermeneutics attempts to understand the meaning and relevance of written works using interpretive methods. The paucity of hermeneutics in leisure studies, however, has produced mistakes and misdirection. Subjective and classical leisure are juxtaposed in this paper to demonstrate the necessity of hermeneutical inquiry in leisure studies.
Therapeutic Recreation Journal, Oct 1, 2002
Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 2003
Leisure/Loisir, 2015
ABSTRACT As an introduction to this special issue of Leisure/Loisir on re-imagining and transform... more ABSTRACT As an introduction to this special issue of Leisure/Loisir on re-imagining and transforming therapeutic recreation, I reach into philosopher and historian Michel Foucault’s “toolbox” to discuss a critical theory and practice of therapeutic recreation. The true identity of therapeutic recreation can never be settled once and for all, because therapeutic recreation is a social construction, not an objective necessity, leaving it open to being something different than it presently is. Because there are different ways of telling the truth about therapeutic recreation, knowledge is not an inevitably enlightened path, but rather a creative and controlling power that can produce positive and negative effects in the lives of people. Disciplines like therapeutic recreation attempt to control practices and practitioners through the production of knowledge (discourses), which can constrain other perspectives on truth and ways of living. Dominant discourses of therapeutic recreation can be understood, challenged, re-imagined, and changed through historical understanding, critical reflection, ethical self-formation, and action. The papers that follow not only use some of Foucault’s tools to re-imagine and recreate therapeutic recreation, but demonstrate how critical theory may be just the medicine the field needs for the sake of freedom and justice.
World Leisure Journal, 2015
I appreciate the time, passion and reflection Alexis McKenney put into her essay, “Preserving Our... more I appreciate the time, passion and reflection Alexis McKenney put into her essay, “Preserving Our Past as the National Therapeutic Recreation Society While Embracing Opportunities for Change.”While she has given us much to ponder on the 40th anniversary of the National Therapeutic Recreation Society (NTRS), I will respond to just a few of her thoughts. Alexis McKenney and I agree on what I consider the most salient part of her essay. She identifies eight advantages that would result from sharpening the focus of NTRS. Among them she includes:
Eleventh Canadian Congress on Leisure Research, 2005
In an intriguing overview of research related to leisure, enjoyment, and the good life, Estes and... more In an intriguing overview of research related to leisure, enjoyment, and the good life, Estes and Henderson (2001) posed a provocative question: "What do people need to know to pursue the good life, and what roles do leisure service providers have in maximizing people's enjoyment?" (p. 22). In their response they paid homage to classical Greek philosophy on eudaimonia (happiness), aretē (virtue), and scholē (leisure), implying that it is a seminal source in a historical progression leading from antiquity to the modern idea of happiness and leisure. Although separated by 2,500 years, the ancient and the modern conceptions of happiness and leisure are thus supposedly close relatives. Yet they are conceptually, ethically, socially, and politically as different as night and day. Therefore, the purpose of this analysis was to compare the ancient and the modern conceptions of happiness and leisure, explaining their differences and exploring their implications for contemporary theory and practice. Ancient Conceptions of Happiness and Leisure: Aristotle's View According to Annas (1993), "The question 'In what does happiness consist'? is the most important and central question in ancient ethics" (p. 46). A variety of views on the subject were offered in antiquity, including versions from Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. Aristotle's theory was chosen for the purpose of comparing ancient and modern conceptions of happiness and leisure for several reasons. First, it was one of the major and most influential theories of its time. Second, Aristotle offers the most complete theory of the relationship between happiness, virtue, and leisure. Third, it continues to receive much attention from modern thinkers (e.g., MacIntyre, 1981; Rorty, 1980), attesting to its ongoing relevance. Cautioning that space permits only the broadest sketch of a remarkably rich, intricate, and controversial subject, Aristotle's theory of happiness and leisure will be outlined next. Aristotle observes in the Nicomachean Ethics that people generally agree that happiness (eudaimonia) is the best life for human beings, making it the purpose and final end of life. After considering several candidates, including honor, wealth, and pleasure, Aristotle proposes that happiness should reflect what is best in human beings. Everything in the universe possesses a special function (ergon) according to Aristotle, which embodies its excellence. Aristotle uses the example of a lyre player to illustrate the relation between function and excellence, stating, "the function of a lyre-player is to play the lyre, and that of a good lyre-player is to do so well" (Nicomachean Ethics, 1098a11-12). He locates the special function and the best part of human beings in their capacity to live a life according to reason, stating, "human good turns out to be activity of soul in conformity with excellence" (1098a16). The rational part of the soul consists of two excellences, moral and intellectual. The exact relation between the two has received extensive debate and discussion (see Ackrill, 1974; Kraut, 1989). Nonetheless, Aristotle believes moral and intellectual excellences are both integral parts of happiness. While contemplation is the most perfect and pleasant life, giving a divine crown to happiness, everything that was proper to human excellence, including music, friendship, gymnastics, and citizenship, are also constitutive of happiness (Owens, 1981).
Leisure Sciences, 1999
The ® eld of leisure studies routinely has adopted the conventional account that ancient Greek ci... more The ® eld of leisure studies routinely has adopted the conventional account that ancient Greek citizens embraced leisure as a cultural ideal while despising work as slavish and degrading. Described in the works of such aristocrats as Plato and Aristotle, this ideal is most typically attributed to the democratic city-state of Athens during its classical period (fourth and ® fth centuries BC). Evidence challenging this explanation has prompted a reassessment of attitudes toward work and leisure in ancient Athens. Perusing documents that shed light on the perspectives of leisured aristocrats and working-class citizens, this study investigates the classical conception of leisure in its sociopolitical context. Ideal and ideology were blended in Athenian views toward work and leisure. In particular, theories of work and leisure were politicized by aristocrats in an effort to exclude ordinary citizens from membership in the city-state. Working citizens were not passive recipients of the aristocratic view, however, but instead responded with a perspective of their own that both challenged and accepted the aristocratic ideal. In correcting the record, this study points to the need to place leisure theory in historical context.
Leisure Sciences, 1995
Abstract The issue of relevance cannot be separated from a concern for values. Yet convention in ... more Abstract The issue of relevance cannot be separated from a concern for values. Yet convention in rational inquiry has rigidly segregated values (moral knowledge) from facts (empirical knowledge). At one time, moral and empirical knowledge coexisted, offering a theory of reason able to account for matters of moral relevance. Among other factors, instrumental rationality and positivism undermined the relationship of empirical science and moral philosophy. A reconciliation between facts and values, providing a more “reasonable theory of reason” better suited to moral relevance, is possible. It will require a more diverse and broader approach to inquiry that integra‐tively includes empirical, interpretive, and critical methods. Several suggestions are presented for consideration by leisure studies researchers.
Leisure Sciences, 1994
The transvaluation whereby work replaced leisure as the center of living emerged principally from... more The transvaluation whereby work replaced leisure as the center of living emerged principally from the Protestant Reformation. Besides religion, the experimental science of Francis Bacon also played...
A major development in health care, The World Health Organization's International Classification ... more A major development in health care, The World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) has been embraced by therapeutic recreation. One of the outstanding features of the ICF is its bio-psycho-social approach, which integrates the medical model and the social model. The purpose of this discussion is to enhance therapeutic recreation's association with the ICF by introducing the capability approach, a social framework that has been favorably associated with the ICF. Recommendations include greater attention to social justice in therapeutic recreation to make it more compatible with the principle of holistic care inherent in the ICF and the capability approach.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1989
Prompted by concerns for accountability, quality assurance is drawing much attention in therapeut... more Prompted by concerns for accountability, quality assurance is drawing much attention in therapeutic recreation. So far emphasis has b een on health care. The conceptual foundations of quality assurance, however, have not been studied with adequate attention to quality of life and the aims of therapeutic recreation. It is argued that if leisure is its goal, therapeutic recreation should make a greater commitment to assuring quality of life values. A conceptual framework for developing standards conducive to quality of life values is introduced. Reform of therapeutic recreation is also urged.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1985
Ethics is a necessary part of professional practice. Attention to professional ethics in therapeu... more Ethics is a necessary part of professional practice. Attention to professional ethics in therapeutic recreation, however, has been insufficient. This article examines selected areas of ethical concern, including: (1) confidentiality, (2) social sexual relations, and (3) client autonomy. Emphasis is placed on the special implications each issue holds for therapeutic recreation. Recommendations are offered for the revision of the National Therapeutic Recreation Society Statement of Professional Ethics. In particular, education concerning professional ethics is urged for students and professionals. A model of the ethically enlightened professional is also suggested as an ideal for therapeutic recreators to emulate.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1992
All professions answer a calling to serve a legitimate social need. The field of therapeutic recr... more All professions answer a calling to serve a legitimate social need. The field of therapeutic recreation has struggled to define and justify its purpose. The right to leisure has been suggested as an appropriate mission fortherapeutic recreation. The legitimacy ofleisure as a human right has been neglected, however, leaving the field on tenuous moral ground. This paper explores the right to leisure through a variety of documents and discourses. The relevance and several implications of the right to leisure for therapeutic recreation are raised, leading to a recommendation for reform.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1986
Philosophy means "love of wisdom." That seductive definition rubs disagreeably, however... more Philosophy means "love of wisdom." That seductive definition rubs disagreeably, however, against the memory of my first formal encounter with philosophy. I particularly recall my instructor arrogantly considering the reality of a chair positioned before thirty perplexed students.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1985
A guiding philosophy is essential to all professions, and the National Therapeutic Recreation Soc... more A guiding philosophy is essential to all professions, and the National Therapeutic Recreation Society has adopted the Leisure Ability model as its philosophical position. Philosophical inquiry is, however, a continual process. As such, this paper examines the Leisure Ability concept from a philosophical and ethical perspective. Based on a definition of leisure featuring the elements of freedom, responsibility, power, and intrinsic value, the therapy component of the Leisure Ability philosophy is challenged. It is concluded th.at the relationship between leisure and treatment is a conceptual quandary that must be resolved. Rather than duplicate the efforts of other professions by treating dysfunction, therapeutic recreation can accept the unique role of facilitating human freedom and enabling people to enjoy leisure in spite of apparent dysfunction.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1989
This discussion examines the major approaches, elementary steps, and prominent issues of historic... more This discussion examines the major approaches, elementary steps, and prominent issues of historical inquiry as they relate to therapeutic recreation. Examples from the literature are used to illustrate each of these areas. Concluding remarks stress the importance of practicing history for the practice of therapeutic recreation.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 1983
This article questions the conceptual basis for leisure counseling as a means to in terpret and f... more This article questions the conceptual basis for leisure counseling as a means to in terpret and facilitate leisure functioning. As an alternative to this practice, it offers a leisure facilitation approach based upon a systems orientation. Two case studies are presented which illustrate the application of this process.
Therapeutic recreation journal, 2014
The disciplines of therapeutic recreation and disability studies are committed to studying and ac... more The disciplines of therapeutic recreation and disability studies are committed to studying and acting on the effects of disability in the lives of people. Ironically, there is little intersection between the two disciplines, which is the result of their fundamentally different approaches to disability. This analysis examines the detachment between therapeutic recreation and disability studies. After an introduction to its origin, principles, and main themes, the status of disability studies in therapeutic recreation is assessed by a selective review of literature. Key implications from the framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health are then addressed, followed by recommendations. An alliance with disability studies would enable therapeutic recreation to better understand and serve disabled people while bringing therapeutic recreation into the body of disability studies.
Journal of Leisure Research, 1990
Journal of Leisure Research, 2013
This year is the 50th anniversary of Sebastian de Grazia's of Time, work, and Leisure (1962), arg... more This year is the 50th anniversary of Sebastian de Grazia's of Time, work, and Leisure (1962), arguably one of the most important books on the subject of leisure in the 20th century. Besides Thorstein Veblen's (1899/1994) Theory of the Leisure Class and Josef Pieper's (1952) Leisure, the Basis of Culture, I can think of nothing else that compares. I have no idea how familiar the most recent generation of students, educators, and professionals is with of Time, work, and Leisure and Sebastian de Grazia, a humanist scholar and political philosopher who received a Pulitzer Prize for Machiavelli in Hell (1989). I doubt if many students are, especially undergraduates. Indeed, I suspect that even in its prime of Time, work, and Leisure received greater exposure through the film of the same title featuring de Grazia in bowtie and with pipe. Nonetheless, of Time, work, and Leisure once had an audience in leisure studies. I was introduced to it as an undergraduate nearly 40 years ago, starting my journey as a student of history and philosophy. Without of Time, work, and Leisure to open my eyes, I would have been unable to challenge students, colleagues, and myself to imagine something besides free time, the "experience industry," or "benefits-based recreation" as the sum and substance of leisure. While I will initially provide a thumbnail summary, I do not intend to conduct a standard book review. Frankly, besides recommending of Time, work, and Leisure to anyone interested in the study and practice of leisure, there is little I could write that would affect its deserved reputation as a classic in the literature of leisure studies. de Grazia explores the enduring themes of work and leisure with wit and erudition. His treatment of technology and consumerism foresees the future, though de Grazia's angst over the "tyranny of the clock" and shopping malls reads quaintly compared to cell phones and Black Friday rumbles at Walmart. Yet even if of Time, work, and Leisure were to regain an audience, my concern is that de Grazia's message and challenge would resonate very little in leisure studies, and the inattention would just continue. Therefore, while taking another look at of 1 Editor note: From time to time, the Journal of Leisure Research will print reviews of books published in years past. Established scholars and new leisure studies students alike may find inspiration in these "classics." These works are too important to be forgotten.
Journal of Leisure Research, 1990
Knowledge of leisure has been mainly conveyed in written sources. Contemporary leisure research d... more Knowledge of leisure has been mainly conveyed in written sources. Contemporary leisure research depends on this literature for the "preknowledge" needed to achieve improved and additional knowledge. Language, however, is frequently vague and ambiguous. Furthermore, it is historically conditioned, leading to meanings that are often different than our own. Valid understanding, therefore, is a complex endeavor demanding language skills and historical background. Text hermeneutics attempts to understand the meaning and relevance of written works using interpretive methods. The paucity of hermeneutics in leisure studies, however, has produced mistakes and misdirection. Subjective and classical leisure are juxtaposed in this paper to demonstrate the necessity of hermeneutical inquiry in leisure studies.
Therapeutic Recreation Journal, Oct 1, 2002
Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 2003
Leisure/Loisir, 2015
ABSTRACT As an introduction to this special issue of Leisure/Loisir on re-imagining and transform... more ABSTRACT As an introduction to this special issue of Leisure/Loisir on re-imagining and transforming therapeutic recreation, I reach into philosopher and historian Michel Foucault’s “toolbox” to discuss a critical theory and practice of therapeutic recreation. The true identity of therapeutic recreation can never be settled once and for all, because therapeutic recreation is a social construction, not an objective necessity, leaving it open to being something different than it presently is. Because there are different ways of telling the truth about therapeutic recreation, knowledge is not an inevitably enlightened path, but rather a creative and controlling power that can produce positive and negative effects in the lives of people. Disciplines like therapeutic recreation attempt to control practices and practitioners through the production of knowledge (discourses), which can constrain other perspectives on truth and ways of living. Dominant discourses of therapeutic recreation can be understood, challenged, re-imagined, and changed through historical understanding, critical reflection, ethical self-formation, and action. The papers that follow not only use some of Foucault’s tools to re-imagine and recreate therapeutic recreation, but demonstrate how critical theory may be just the medicine the field needs for the sake of freedom and justice.
World Leisure Journal, 2015
I appreciate the time, passion and reflection Alexis McKenney put into her essay, “Preserving Our... more I appreciate the time, passion and reflection Alexis McKenney put into her essay, “Preserving Our Past as the National Therapeutic Recreation Society While Embracing Opportunities for Change.”While she has given us much to ponder on the 40th anniversary of the National Therapeutic Recreation Society (NTRS), I will respond to just a few of her thoughts. Alexis McKenney and I agree on what I consider the most salient part of her essay. She identifies eight advantages that would result from sharpening the focus of NTRS. Among them she includes:
Eleventh Canadian Congress on Leisure Research, 2005
In an intriguing overview of research related to leisure, enjoyment, and the good life, Estes and... more In an intriguing overview of research related to leisure, enjoyment, and the good life, Estes and Henderson (2001) posed a provocative question: "What do people need to know to pursue the good life, and what roles do leisure service providers have in maximizing people's enjoyment?" (p. 22). In their response they paid homage to classical Greek philosophy on eudaimonia (happiness), aretē (virtue), and scholē (leisure), implying that it is a seminal source in a historical progression leading from antiquity to the modern idea of happiness and leisure. Although separated by 2,500 years, the ancient and the modern conceptions of happiness and leisure are thus supposedly close relatives. Yet they are conceptually, ethically, socially, and politically as different as night and day. Therefore, the purpose of this analysis was to compare the ancient and the modern conceptions of happiness and leisure, explaining their differences and exploring their implications for contemporary theory and practice. Ancient Conceptions of Happiness and Leisure: Aristotle's View According to Annas (1993), "The question 'In what does happiness consist'? is the most important and central question in ancient ethics" (p. 46). A variety of views on the subject were offered in antiquity, including versions from Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. Aristotle's theory was chosen for the purpose of comparing ancient and modern conceptions of happiness and leisure for several reasons. First, it was one of the major and most influential theories of its time. Second, Aristotle offers the most complete theory of the relationship between happiness, virtue, and leisure. Third, it continues to receive much attention from modern thinkers (e.g., MacIntyre, 1981; Rorty, 1980), attesting to its ongoing relevance. Cautioning that space permits only the broadest sketch of a remarkably rich, intricate, and controversial subject, Aristotle's theory of happiness and leisure will be outlined next. Aristotle observes in the Nicomachean Ethics that people generally agree that happiness (eudaimonia) is the best life for human beings, making it the purpose and final end of life. After considering several candidates, including honor, wealth, and pleasure, Aristotle proposes that happiness should reflect what is best in human beings. Everything in the universe possesses a special function (ergon) according to Aristotle, which embodies its excellence. Aristotle uses the example of a lyre player to illustrate the relation between function and excellence, stating, "the function of a lyre-player is to play the lyre, and that of a good lyre-player is to do so well" (Nicomachean Ethics, 1098a11-12). He locates the special function and the best part of human beings in their capacity to live a life according to reason, stating, "human good turns out to be activity of soul in conformity with excellence" (1098a16). The rational part of the soul consists of two excellences, moral and intellectual. The exact relation between the two has received extensive debate and discussion (see Ackrill, 1974; Kraut, 1989). Nonetheless, Aristotle believes moral and intellectual excellences are both integral parts of happiness. While contemplation is the most perfect and pleasant life, giving a divine crown to happiness, everything that was proper to human excellence, including music, friendship, gymnastics, and citizenship, are also constitutive of happiness (Owens, 1981).
Leisure Sciences, 1999
The ® eld of leisure studies routinely has adopted the conventional account that ancient Greek ci... more The ® eld of leisure studies routinely has adopted the conventional account that ancient Greek citizens embraced leisure as a cultural ideal while despising work as slavish and degrading. Described in the works of such aristocrats as Plato and Aristotle, this ideal is most typically attributed to the democratic city-state of Athens during its classical period (fourth and ® fth centuries BC). Evidence challenging this explanation has prompted a reassessment of attitudes toward work and leisure in ancient Athens. Perusing documents that shed light on the perspectives of leisured aristocrats and working-class citizens, this study investigates the classical conception of leisure in its sociopolitical context. Ideal and ideology were blended in Athenian views toward work and leisure. In particular, theories of work and leisure were politicized by aristocrats in an effort to exclude ordinary citizens from membership in the city-state. Working citizens were not passive recipients of the aristocratic view, however, but instead responded with a perspective of their own that both challenged and accepted the aristocratic ideal. In correcting the record, this study points to the need to place leisure theory in historical context.
Leisure Sciences, 1995
Abstract The issue of relevance cannot be separated from a concern for values. Yet convention in ... more Abstract The issue of relevance cannot be separated from a concern for values. Yet convention in rational inquiry has rigidly segregated values (moral knowledge) from facts (empirical knowledge). At one time, moral and empirical knowledge coexisted, offering a theory of reason able to account for matters of moral relevance. Among other factors, instrumental rationality and positivism undermined the relationship of empirical science and moral philosophy. A reconciliation between facts and values, providing a more “reasonable theory of reason” better suited to moral relevance, is possible. It will require a more diverse and broader approach to inquiry that integra‐tively includes empirical, interpretive, and critical methods. Several suggestions are presented for consideration by leisure studies researchers.
Leisure Sciences, 1994
The transvaluation whereby work replaced leisure as the center of living emerged principally from... more The transvaluation whereby work replaced leisure as the center of living emerged principally from the Protestant Reformation. Besides religion, the experimental science of Francis Bacon also played...
A major development in health care, The World Health Organization's International Classification ... more A major development in health care, The World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) has been embraced by therapeutic recreation. One of the outstanding features of the ICF is its bio-psycho-social approach, which integrates the medical model and the social model. The purpose of this discussion is to enhance therapeutic recreation's association with the ICF by introducing the capability approach, a social framework that has been favorably associated with the ICF. Recommendations include greater attention to social justice in therapeutic recreation to make it more compatible with the principle of holistic care inherent in the ICF and the capability approach.