Wild Emphasizes New Importance Of Leisure Time

"Leisure activities should be thought of as a chief vocation of man," John D. Wild, professor of Philosophy, said yesterday outlining his keynote speech for a conference next week in Boston on leisure time sponsored by the Jewish Theological Seminary.

A great mass of jobs today not in the professional field are becoming shorter in duration and more mechanical in nature so that they are not a suitable to build a life around, he said.

The American concept of leisure time should be changed from the days of the 50 hour week. Once extra time was only for sleep and rest from work, but the rapid approach of a 30 hour week means that a person should have a fundamental activity outside his employment, he said.

To open the conference, Wild will outline in statistical terms how much time is available and how it is being spent. He will subsequently suggest ways to spend the time. The issue will then be opened to discussion of the uses and responsibilities of the extra hours.

The conference evolves from a survey meeting held last year, convened by Governor Christian A. Herter '15, on "Moral Standards of the Nation." It will consider "the new Leisure: a Moral Dilemma."