Fichte and Hegel on Free Time
Author: Heisenberg, Thimo
Source: European Journal of Philosophy, DOI: 10.1111/ejop.12819, Sept. 2022
Type of Publication: Article
Abstract: To us today, it seems intuitive that an ideal society would secure for its citizens some time for leisure that is, some time to do 鈥渨hatever they want鈥 after having attended to their various responsibilities and natural needs. But, in this essay, I argue that鈥攊n 19th century social philosophy鈥攖he status of leisure (惭耻脽别) in an ideal society was actually surprisingly controversial: whereas J.G. Fichte makes a strong case for leisure as part of an ideal society (going even so far as considering it its central good), G.W.F. Hegel implicitly argues against this idea. For him, leisure is a crook that we only need as long as the social conditions are not sufficiently ideal鈥攚hereas a truly rational society would create a new type of work that subsumes the benefits of leisure into work itself. In this essay, I reconstruct this largely forgotten disagreement and argue that although both positions contain an important overstatement, each includes an important lesson for the contemporary debate on leisure and society.