This chapter introduces Pieper’s concept of leisure (Musse) as an alternative to the work-ethic described by Max Weber. Weber explored the Protestant idea of the virtue of diligence and perseverance, Pieper, as a Catholic theorist, goes back to medieval Christian notions of contemplation. Of course, this idea was closely connected to ancient ideas of what was called the contemplative way of life, as opposed to the vita activa. Medieval Christianity showed that the human being can achieve much more than simply work to provide for existential needs. According to the Christian teaching, as understood by Aquinas and others, on the basis of the Platonic-Aristotelian tradition, we can reach a higher realm of our life if we are able to withdraw for some time (Arbeitspause) from the world of work (Arbeitswelt), and allow our spirit and mind (Geist) to work (arbeit), instead of our hands and body.
Beside this internal and implicit Christian debate with a Protestant idea of a work ethic, Pieper also intends to show us that not only the modern Totalitarian ideologies, but also the work-centred modern way of life, characteristic of the postwar West, in fact lead to a simplified form of existence, that he calls “Entproletarisierung”. In this respect he seems to agree with Ortega’s criticism of the revolt of the masses, and once again presents leisure as a way to break free from the grip of this way of life. In this respect two dimensions of a contemplative attitude are stressed: wonder and the festival. Finally, the essay takes stock of what we might call the tragic dimension of Pieper’s idea.