The Play Ethic: A Manifesto for a Different Way of Living

by Pat Kane

'Fizzes with intellectual curiosity. Kane writes engagingly and with a humility difficult to find among idea-entrepreneurs' James Harkin, Independent We all think we know what play is. Play is what we do as children, what we do outside of work, what we do for no other reason than for pleasure. But this is only half of the truth. The Play Ethic explores the real meaning of play and shows how a more playful society would revolutionize and liberate our daily lives. Using wide and varied sources - from the Enlightenment to Eminem, Socrates to Chaos theory, Kierkegaard to Karaoke - The Play Ethic shows how play is fundamental to both society and to the individual, and how the work ethic that has dominated the last three centuries is ill-equipped to deal with the modern world. With verve, wit and intelligence, Pat Kane takes us on a tour of the playful world arguing that without it business, the arts, politics, education, even our family and spiritual lives are fundamentally impoverished. The Play Ethic seeks to change the way you look at your daily life, how you interact with others, how you view the world. It is a guidebook to new, exciting - and unsettling - times. Shocking, controversial, yet magnificently argued, The Play Ethic is a book no one who works, or has ever worked, can afford to be without. 'Kane's Manifesto for a Different Way of Living is a brave attempt to inject a little playfulness . . . into the dull grind of the working stiff' Iain Finlayson, The Times

Genres: Nonfiction, Plays, Philosophy

464 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Patrick Mark "Pat" Kane is a Scottish musician, journalist, political activist and one half of the pop duo Hue and Cry with his younger brother Greg.

Reviews

[Jibran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember having read it a few years back and had enjoyed the perspective Pat Kane advances. The title of the book is a pun on 'the work ethic' - the constant exhortations particularly to the young to work hard and be serious with life etc. Without descending into frivolity, the author rejects this Victorian worldview in favour of a more relaxed lifestyle that is casual, easygoing and fun instead of organised, strict and boring. In particular I remember having learned lots of new vocabulary. Not to mention its humorous tones. A good, light read but I see it did not receive the popularity it deserved. Perhaps there are too many silly self-help books with similar titles making waste of their claims.

[Jenny Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a frisky, word-happy, dense volume which postulates a "play ethic" instead of a work ethic. For Kane, the internet and the computer - with their ability to divide, blend, connect and disconnect in a variety of ways - light the path to this new way of being in the world.

It's sensitive, fun, occasionally profound, but often a bit too manic. The author relentlessly keeps his ideas spinning, and references everything he possibly can. Perhaps it shouldn't be read in a linear way, as I read it, but just browsed and dipped and sampled frequently.

[Kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spielen ist etwas, was wir als Kinder tun. Dabei lernen wir den Umgang mit Anderen und entwickeln soziale Fähigkeiten. Je älter wir werden, desto weniger spielen wir und verlernen vieles von dem, was wir als Kind spielerisch gelernt haben. Aber wie wäre es, wenn wir weiterspielen würden? Wie würde das nicht nur uns selbst, sondern auch unser Umfeld und damit auch unsere Gesellschaft verändern? Pat Kane geht dieser und anderer Fragen in seinem Buch nach.

Eigentlich ist es eine schöne Idee: einfach mit weniger Ernst, aber nicht mit weniger Ernsthaftigkeit an die Dinge heran zu gehen. Vielleicht würde uns manches leichter fallen und wir hätten eine entspanntere Sicht auf die Dinge. So vielversprechend der Klappentext auch war: den Weg dorthin habe ich in Pat Kanes Buch nicht gefunden. Er denkt zwar über viele Dinge nach, aber er führt die Gedanken nicht zuende. Vielmehr springt er von einem zum anderen und verweilt zu kurz. Das hat auf mich den Eindruck gemacht, als ob The play ethic eine Liste von Ideen ist, die irgendwann später wieder aufgenommen werden. So hat das Buch eher wie ein Manuskript als wie ein fertiges Werkt gewirkt. Es gab einige Aussagen, die mir gefallen haben, aber insgesamt war mir das zu wenig.

[Mary Karpel-Jergic · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting premise. The work ethic which suited the industrial revolution is out of tune with the world that we currently face, For Kane, we need to become literate in all the forms of play that humans pursue. Using Brian Sutton-Smith's 7 rhetorics of play we are introduced to three modern rhetorics: play as progress (self-development); play as imagination (aert, science); and play as self-hood (expression of individuality). We are also introduced to three ancient rhetorics: Play as power (contest); play as identity (carnival, community); and play as fate (risk, chance). Finally. the seventh rhetoric which straddles both ancient and modern; play as frivolity (laughter, subversion).

There a number of interesting insights within this book but I found it to be too overarching and a bit prescriptive. Too political - a sense that a play ethic could be imposed and we might know what this would mean. Equally, he lost me when he defined the core statement of play as it sounded too much like hard work -

"Players need to be energetic, imaginative & confident in the face of an unpredictable, contestive, emergent world. Players also accept the complex relationship between all forms of play whether ancient or modern"

I suspect that Kay has moved on considerably with his thinking in this area as this book was published in 2004. However, our understanding of play as something more than what children do or what adults do in leisure time is helped by this book and some of the ideas contained herein.

[José Antonio Lopez · Rating 1 out of 5]

A good idea gone astray. The idea of using play as an ethical framework is interesting and worth studying. Play is a very natural activity of most animals, and humans are no exceptions. Children develop ethical awareness and learn ethical behavior through play. Unfortunately Kane's ignorance of Economics and Political Philosophy is evident. With postmodernist and progressive lenses the contradictions are abundant as well as the historic and conceptual mistakes.

[Krystina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book more, I enjoyed the concepts and thought experiments, but found it so tedious to read that it took more than a year to get through it. I wish this material was produced in a more accessible way, because I think it is full of really great insights. If you can slog through it, it's worth it, but if not, find someones cliff-notes version.

[Kars · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wide-ranging thought experiment that makes a convincing case for the viability of organizing society around play in stead of work. Slightly dated when discussing technology and a bit slow going in places but for the most part Kane is a humane and provocative writer.

[Story · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less work, more play!