ISBN10: 0710005784, ISBN13: 9780710005786, [publisher: Routledge] Hardcover In Homo Ludens, Johan Huizinga defines play as the central activity in flourishing societies. He identifies five characteristics of play: it is free; it is not ordinary or real life; it is distinct from ordinary life both as to locality and duration; it creates order; it is connected with no material interest, and from it no profit can be gained.<br /><br />With cross-cultural examples from the humanities, business, and politics, Huizinga examines play in all its diverse guises-as it relates to language, law, war, knowledge, poetry, myth, philosophy, art, and much more. As he writes, Civilization is, in its earliest phases, played. It does not come from play like a baby detaching itself from the womb: it arises in and as play, and never leaves it.<br /><br />Starting with Plato, Huizinga traces the contribution of man the player through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and early modern world. With an eye for our own times he writes: In American politics [play] is even more evident. Long before the two-party system had reduced itself to two gigantic teams whose political differences were hardly discernible to an outsider, electioneering in America had developed into a kind of national sport. With its remarkable historical sweep, Homo Ludens defines play for generations to come.
[Houston, TX, U.S.A.] [Publication Year: 1980]

Routledge Kegan & Paul 1981 textbook Good Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.