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.
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.-
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 befo
