The Leisure Ethic: The End of Work and the Return of Virtue

By David Tabachnick

After a century of warnings, the 500-year reign of the work ethic is over. The work ethic has shaped our character, given purpose to our lives, and driven civilization forward. Now, as technology replaces human labour, we are faced with a profound dilemma; this crisis will leave us in a deep civilizational malaise, profoundly bored, ethically impoverished and without direction.
In The Leisure Ethic, David Edward Tabachnick challenges the moral authority of work ethic and puts forth a long forgotten ancient alternative to work that can help reform and redirect our efforts toward building lives of ethical leisure. Through a historical and philosophical exploration of work, laziness, technological unemployment, and leisure, Tabachnick seeks to free our thinking and action from the shackles of the obsolete work ethic.
Far from a curse, The Leisure Ethic demonstrates that the end of work can be a turning point that frees us from drudgery and opens the door to reimagining human purpose beyond productivity.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1049800699
• ISBN13: 9781049800691
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher