Leisure and appreciative attention

On the origin of the word school

Abstract

In this article, I examine the concept of scholê from which the word school is derived but is usually translated as leisure. I begin by exploring the deep significance of this concept in ancient Greek philosophy, particularly in the thought of Plato and Aristotle. According to Aristotle, happiness depends on leisure, and we are busy that we may have leisure. In Plato’s Theatetus, scholê or leisure, is almost synonymous with freedom and ascholia or lack of leisure is closely tied to servitude and hampered growth. The philosophers, who have leisure, own their time and talk in peace and quiet, days on end, if necessary, in pursuit of the truth. On the other hand, those who lack leisure are always in a hurry and speak with one eye on the clock. The multiple stresses and demands of practical life from young age make them afraid and prone to flattery and playing fast and loose with the truth, which prevents them from making a free and straight growth. The importance of leisure in Plato’s thought is therefore linked to his vision of human nature and growth, which depends on “an examined life”, a life that is leisurely enough to make “discussion on virtue”, i.e. on what is most real and most important in life its main impetus and focus. In this connection, I also discuss the close relationship in Plato’s thought between leisure and freedom. Plato’s conception of freedom is closely related to his conception of human growth and development, and I make some etymological observations which can cast light on that connection. Next, I examine how, according to Plato, Pascal and other philosophers, ascholia or lack of leisure, manifests in human life, how it affects it, and how it is connected to “nature and nurture”. In the Phaedo, the body is identified as the cause of confusion, nonsense, fear, desires and all sorts of illusions. Thus, all manners of distractions which prevent us from seeing the truth are ingrained in the human condition, according to Plato. I compare and contrast this “bodily” approach to the condition of ascholia with other approaches, such as Pascal’s thoughts on diversions and distractions in his Pensées. Famously, Pascal asserts that humanity’s unhappiness arises because people cannot stay quietly in their own chamber. Even though many proclaim their desire for calm and quiet, most men cannot bear it because they would be forced to confront their own wretchedness, frailty, and mortality. For most human beings, diversions are, therefore, a means of escape from the deprivation of the human condition. However, diversions and distractions can have another and opposite source. According to a long tradition of thought on the sin of acedia, people easily become restless, not because they cannot bear the wretchedness of their life but because they can’t bear the thought of the nobleness of their own nature and the heavy burden of responsibility that implies. I end my discussion on diversion in human life by commenting on an increasing literature on the “attention economy” and the systematic, lucrative and highly technologically advanced means used today to capture and keep people’s attention.

I turn next to the discussion of leisure with what Plato, Aristotle and other philosophers have regarded as the pinnacle of human happiness, i.e. contemplation. I make use of Josef Pieper’s and David McPherson’s discussion on leisure and the Sabbath. Both authors conceive of contemplation as contemplative or appreciative attention to what has intrinsic worth. Therefore, leisure and the Sabbath involve a contemplative attitude, i.e., an appreciative and affirming stance toward the world, a celebration of life and the fact of existence. I end the article by discussing briefly what implications, if any, my discussion on scholê has for ideas about the nature and aims of schools in the modern world. On the one hand, I point out that critical thinking depends on our ability to „stop and think“ – a phrase I borrow from Hannah Arendt and understand directly related to Plato’s thought on the link between leisure and the examined life. Therefore, classical conceptions of leisure should be of great concern for schools aiming to teach students critical thinking. On the other hand, I end my discussion on the implications of scholê for education in modernity by posing and commenting on the question of whether modern schools are at all equipped to be the sanctuary for leisure, freedom, and appreciative attention to which this ancient word points.