Term Paper : Position / Philosophical Essay
Daniel Marcoux
Concordia University

Questioning life's aspects is a characteristic which human beings have possessed since the beginning of our existence. As our minds developed these aspects became categorized. This led to hypothesizing on the importance of each of these sections. Leisure has a precise function in Aristotle's system which eventually boils to being well-being also known as eudaimonia. Yet for some leisure seems to be a part which is not required in order to reach satisfaction with one's life. So is leisure something which needs to be incorporated in everyday activities obtain this "good life"? I have found that Aristotle's stance on this issue is correct because of... Now according to Kant eudaimonia is ""not just “doing the right thing"" and Mill says ""it’s not just "being happy""... it’s being happy in doing the right thing, across a lifetime (Landes 2013). So a form of moral ethics seems to be involved in obtaining this good life. When relating this to leisure I would argue that there are many activities which violate this code of proper ethics. Aristotle stated that "every activity pursues “some good” – thus, the “good” is what all things pursue" (Landes, 2013). What if this good which is being pursued is only positive for the individual what happens then? A drastic example would be to take a look at a serial killer. The conflict which arises is that his behavior clashes with social ethics but not with his personal moral compass. So the action of murdering is a leisure to him and this activity pursues no good except for the individuals needs. Aristotle's views are correct in following social norms but fails to recognize the greed and wickedness which can be found in this world. This last statement points towards selfishness which in ancient Greece was seen as a harmful trait and even labeled by Christianity as one of the 7 deadly sins. When addressing this Aristotle had this to say: “...the intermediate disposition is to be praised in all circumstances, but that one should sometimes incline toward excess and sometimes toward deficiency... good practice” (Landes, 2013). Aristotle pointed towards the intermediary as another landmark to achieve the good life. It is even acknowledged that reaching this state of stability is extremely hard so would this not indicate that most of us would be unable to live the good life? Balance is not something the general populous agrees with anymore, some people are socially seen as superior while others are seen as being below the mean. We presently live in a world where overconsumption and greed can be seen on larger scales than ever before. So this ideal of having a balance fails in the grand scheme which is society. A great example of this would be communist regimes that always seem to fall because of a person in power who wanted a bigger slice of pie then the others. So how does this relate to leisure? Well, activities which are seen as good to the individual are being done in excess in most first world countries. Meanwhile less fortunate nations are struggling not only with harsh living conditions but oppressive leaders. Now to clarify what my point is with an example. The video game industry has been growing massively in recent years, Comscore a leader in measuring the digital world say "the number of unique visitors video game content has almost reached 217 million worldwide – a year-on-year growth of 17 percent" (Lipsman, 2007). This activity is a double edged sword as it leads to a sedentary life style and signs of cardiovascular disease and obesity are on the rise. These individuals (which in this case is the video game addicts) this activity is a leisure and is an activity which consist of the good life. Education and knowledge was huge facet of Aristotle's idea of eudaimonia. Yet it is clear that in the present day knowledge is no longer leisurely. Just look at the current