life as play

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Excerpt from the book A New World is Possible by Dunja and Ljubodrag Simonovi,

Belgrade, Serbia, 2007. E-mail: [email protected]

LIFE AS PLAY

Libertarian Play

Freedom is the essence of play. In a world in which there is no freedom, free

play is not possible. Only libertarian play as an integral part of the social (political)movement that tends to create the new world is a possibility. It has a tendency to

liberate man's playing being by superseding the ruling relations and the repressive

normative confinement which are a part of the prevailing play-forms that are in fact a

way of letting off the steam of non-freedom, and as such represent "chain rattling". Onthe contrary, regardless of its intention, play is being reduced to the creation of space for

an illusory "happiness" within the existing world, where man hopelessly seeks todiscover his own mislaid humanity and sinks deeper and deeper into the mud of

despair. Libertarian physical culture does not campaign for "free play" but for free man,

that is, for a new society within which free play will represent the utmost (self)

accomplishment of man as a universal creative and free being. Genuine play is attainablesolely by superseding the existing world, that is, by totalizing the world through mans

libertarian and creative practice, and in that context through the turning of life itself into a

creation of his playing being. One does not arrive directly from libertarian play to thegenuine play through the use of new forms of player proficiency, but by way of the

society within which man has achieved freedom. Trueplay is a result of the libertarianstruggle that generates the new world.The most important characteristic of libertarian play is life-creativeness.

Destruction is a totalizing life power of capitalism; life-creativeness is a totalizing life

power of man. As distinct from the animal which is unconscious natural life-creatingbeing (procreation), man is a self-conscious life-creating being that creates its own world.

The essence of the animals life-creativeness is determinism; the essence of human life-

creativeness is freedom. Mans playing being represents the anthropological basis of his

life-creativeness, and play is the supreme form in which the life-creative nature of man isrealized. The major religions have also acknowledged the life-creativity principle.

Development of mans self-conscious as a creative being and creator of (his own) world

represents the basis for the theory of the world as a divine creation. God is asymbolic incarnation of creative powers alienated from man, a manifestation of mans

independence from nature and the placing of human powers above those of nature. By

means of the idea of God, man becomes an autonomous creative power and, in thatsense, a specific (unique) cosmic being: creation of the world is a conscious and willful

act. Historically, man has been subordinated to the (real or imaginary) universe of a

metaphorical and politically instrumental nature that serves as means for obtaining

eternalness for the ruling order. Human life-creativeness is imaginary: creation of

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imaginary conscious becomes compensation for depriving man of the ability to create the

earthly world in his own image. Capitalism has degenerated and instrumentalized mans

life-creating powers: they now serve to preserve the capitalist order that destroys both lifeand man as a life-creating being. Libertarian play is guided by the spirit of life-creating

pantheism: all that lives and creates possibility for life should become a unique life-

creating being struggling against capitalism.Libertarian play requires visionary consciousness of a utopian nature. It

represents the supreme form of mans change-creating practice by which the objective

possibilities of freedom, established within a civil society, become realistic possibilitiesfor mans liberation. This affirmation of mans life-creating powers is accomplished by

the surmounting of civilizations barriers and diversions. The life-creating power

becomes the basis of the self-creation of both man and society as a community of life-

creating beings. Man used to be a toy in the hands of superhuman powers; it isnecessary that he become a free playing being, while life in its entirety should become a

form of affirmation of his own playing nature. The basic relation, though, is not one of

play player, but of society as a community of free men man as a universal free

creative being. The moment when man becomes a self-conscious and unique life-creatingbeing is when the true history of humankind begins. Play per se does not contain what-is-yet-to-be, for this is not what defines its utopian nature; it is a specificity of man as freeself-creating being: man is not what he is but what he can be.

Space and Time

Man lives in inhuman time and in inhuman space. His attitude towards timeand space is given by the ruling order. In the contemporary world capital is the master of

both time and space. This goes for the capitalist determination of time, in a context of the

capitalist totalizing of the world by repressive and destructive commercialization (Timeis money!), which turns the world into a labour-consumer concentration camp. An

objectification of time has taken place: time as a virtual or abstract phenomenon

becomes a power of destiny (Its a matter of time!, Time will tell!). The speed ofcapitalist reproduction conditions the dynamics of social life. Using science and

technology as means for acceleration of the profit-making process, capital increasingly

diminishes human existential and spiritual space and at the same time creates a

growing gap between people, one that is not measurable in meters, but in a feeling ofloneliness and despair that has reached epidemic proportions. Acceleration of capitalist

reproduction makes human time, which represents the duration of life, run out more and

more quickly.Measuring of time in sports is a typical example of the instrumentalization

of physical time and space in order to overmaster man. In sport, space and time are

given dimensions, independent from man. This relates to closed space and to definitivetime: upon this ground, and within this framework, basic relationships and basic values of

the existing world are being reproduced. Sport is an area where quantitative and

mechanical mastering of time and space are most perceptible, one of the major features

of technical civilization used by capital to turn natural forces into a vehicle for the

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destruction of human time and space. In sport, man exists outside of biological and

historical (cultural) time and finds himself in an areaof mechanical time. Sport time is

a phenomenal form in which the process of capitalist reproduction pulsates: developmentof capitalism conditions the openness of sport time and of sport space. This is the

essence of record-mania. In sports where competing against the chronometer

dominates, results are not being measured only in minutes, but in seconds, tenths andhundredths of a second. From the point of view of the development of human powers,

such improvements are nonsensical and of an abstract value for man. There is an

endeavour to preserve the dominant principle citius, altius, fortius at any cost, and, alongwith it, the belief in the progressive nature of the ruling order. Consequently, the

history of sport is being reduced to a sequence of numbers that increase in a linear

manner, and to which names of un-personalized champions are adjoined. Sport

progress does not represent a moving forward, but is reduced to limitless andincreasingly intensive circular movement that occurs on the sport track, which is

supposed to halt history and hinder mans striding away from the existing world. The

record is not an expression of the development of human powersbut represents a

quantum of destruction of man as a biological and cultural being. The quality of play isbeing measured by the quantity of occurrences per time unit (points, passes, rebounds).

Spaces of some future time are not being developed in sports. Instead, the ruling relationsare being reproduced, at a higher quantitative level. A sports spectacle represents a

symbolic form of complete integration of man into capitalist time and space. The

Olympiads (the holy four-year period ending with the Olympic Games) represent a

mythological time that annuls historical time in order to attain eternity for capitalism:modern Olympic Games are a reincarnation of the immortal spirit of antiquity.

Motion through space is the basis of the (existential, libertarian, visionary)

relation of man to space, from whence a notion of space derives, as well as the creation ofthe concept of space which surpasses the directly perceived and experienced living space,

and represents the ground for creation of the notion of world and of the existence of us,

humans, in it. It represents the basis of man's uniqueness and of his libertarian self-conscious. What differentiates human motion from mechanical and animal motion is the

fact that it requires a change-aspiring relation towards the existing world and a moving

towards new worlds, which means that it possesses a creative, libertarian and visionarydimension. It is a historical motion - the essence of which represents freedom measured

by development (accomplishment) of man's playing being and by an increased certainty

of human survival. Space is not a given fact that defines the framework of playing,

neither is it an emptiness in which the world exists. It represents a possibility of creationof a new world and is, as such, a symbol of mans openness towards the future. The

creation of life and life itself become inseparable contents of time, the "measure" of its

"duration", of the "boundaries" and of the "dimensions" of space.Through playing, man ceases his existence in the given time and space and

creates his own (human) time and space. "Expansion of space" results from man's

creative practice, opening possibilities for the development of humanness. In authenticplay, space is limitless and time is endless. The challenge shifts from the variety of outer

world forms towards the richness of the inner, creative, interpersonal... Through playing,

the duality of the "outer" and the "inner" is abolished: genuine creativity represents a

"transformation" of the world into an experience of humanness. The real world is what

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man carries inside and what he creates together with other men. In this sense play

becomes "fascination", a sense of life taken to the extreme through experience based on

the creation of life - instead of evasion as a compensation for a deprived humanness. The"duration" of playing time and the "dimensions" of the space are conditioned by a

flourishing of the senses and emotions, by human closeness and creative life...

"Comprehension" of humanness is the basic and the sole authentic "dimension" of humantime and space. It requires the annulment of all forms that mediate between man and

world, forms that transform the world into "otherness". Attainment of man's playing

being becomes the "source" of playing time and space. Playing, which is the mostauthentic human mode for totalizing the world, becomes a "metamorphosis" of historical

time and space into "purely" human time and space, and, in that sense, a specifically

human universe. Fantasy represents an essential aspect of human time and space, not as

an escape from the existing world and daydreaming, but as a projection of a future worldand the creation of novum. It is, anyhow, a sort of time that has no quantitativedimensions, no comparison that annuls allhumanness. Mans becoming a human beingis

the authentic content and the authentic measure of human time.

Nature

With the expulsion of man from nature and the creation of a surrogate "natural

space" in the form of cities, halls, stadiums, shopping malls physical movement losesthe uniqueness and steadiness that it can have solely within a natural environment, and

becomes a phenomenal form of the ruling relations. Libertarian play inclines towards a

genuine natural space. Instead of creating special spaces for physical exercise, the way itused to be in antiquity (stadium, hippodrome, gymnasium, palaestra)whichare assignedthe status of cult sites where, through physical agonic activities, men tend to achieve a

harmony with the cosmic order and to elicit divine erotic enchantment nature itselfshould become a cult site where the life-creating cult would be worshiped through life-

creating activism that enhances the natural through development of man's playing being.

Genuine naturalness, in a word, authentic motion, is possible exclusively in nature, whichfor man represents not only a physical, but also a historical, esthetical, living, and

visionary space which means that nature is the sole space in which man can experience

the wholeness of his own natural, human, and historical existence. Nature enters man

by means of motion. When man steps into the water and starts swimming, this experiencenot only sets the basis for other physical activities, but it also influences the development

of his senses and opens new spiritual spaces which becomes the basis for the

development of the creative imagination; his perception of the possible is beingcompleted through his ability to move; he actively realizes a contact with nature and

atones with his own natural being. Richness of the inner life-creating impulses can be

experienced and refined in the space where life thrives in innumerable and astonishingforms. Senses react to the swinging of branches, the quivering of leaves, to the richness

of sounds, scents, colours When he finds himself in a glade full of flowers or by a

mountain stream, man finds out that he is fascinated. A spontaneous, authentic human

reaction: fascination - reason accepts with surprise and unease. Man does not disappear

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within the richness of natural forms and motions, the way it happens to the animal;

instead, he becomes a human being. His rapport with nature occurs through personal

experience that becomes a creative and motivating inspiration contributing to the furtherenrichment of his personality. Mans need for free physical activism should be also

comprehended as a need to go beyond the environment in which he, as a man, is

encumbered. In that sense man perceives a return to nature as existence within a spacethat is neither given nor defined with artificial boundaries, but in which he can, over and

over again, create new horizons by means of his own physical and spiritual activity. For

man, natural space is at the same time spiritual space; physical motion is at the same timespiritual motion. When human sight perceives mountaintops protruding through the mist,

this represents a symbolic fusion with the world that exists beyond, and that becomes

an imaginary space of desired humanness the vision of which is an inspiration for the

creation of the new world, and not for escape from the existing one. At the same time, asip of fresh mountain water develops mans longing for a life in which he would exist at

one with nature and, thus, with his own natural being. Nature as life-creating life, the

thriving of life in an extreme variety of forms and the unity of all forms of life induces

man to create life. Hilarity, fascination, exaltedness these are all erotic reactionsstimulated by a stay in nature. When mans senses are better developed he can experience

nature more intensively, absorb its scents, sounds, colours, motions, merge with naturemore completely and more intensively and be nourished by its power. Being in unity with

nature means being in unity with ones own primary life-creating powers. Replenishing

the power of nature represents an inspiration for creative activism, not for the adaptation

of man to the established (life) rhythm. Living nature never repeats, but renews.However, it does not represent a mere surrender to the rhythm of life which then acquires

an abstract, mystical aspect: man is the creator of his own world. Only when fear of

nature (through mastering its rules) is eliminated and the esthetic sense (playing being)developed, does man attain a chance to experience the richness of natural forms as

creative, libertarian inspiration. In authentic play man comprehends and experiences

himself as the utmost form of life-creating natural being.With animals adaptive-existential activity dominates. In the course of the

struggle for survival, a qualitative jump occurred in the development of living creatures,

in the form of man: with the development of instincts, senses, physical mobility, and ofthe intellect, the development of creative powers took place which became the basis for

the detachment of man from nature and for setting up an active (change-aspiring)

relationship with nature. While creating a civilization man has not developed his own

playing nature inherited from animals, but has developed his own specific playingbeing which continuously breaks through the limits imposed on him, in the form of an

established play, by the ruling order. There is no continuity of animal play in the play

of man. A similarity of behaviour between some animal species and man does exist based on which Huizinga made the wrong conclusions. Through playing, man does not

confirm his animal nature, but his human nature becomes man (unique personality),

while the animal through playing becomes an animal (a member of the species).Engendering (ones own) freedom is the essence of mans play, unlike animal play where

natural exigency is being reproduced. Creation of play as a symbolic form, which as such

represents the highest point of humanness, provides human play with a special aspect.

Apart from this, unlike animal play, human play tends towardscreation of new worlds,

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which means that it has a visionary disposition. There is no tenseness between animal

and civilization, upon which philosophy of play insists; this tenseness exists between

mans libertarian and creative nature and the repressive (destructive) capitalistcivilization.

Mans body represents his immediate nature, his elementary and natural

existence, and the basic possibility for his achieving a unity with nature, his un-organicbody (Marx). A distinction should be made between civilizing and cultivating the body;

between disciplining and humanizing the body; between the repressive and the libertarian

pedagogy In sport the body is civilized by means of discipline; libertarian physicalculture endeavours to humanize the body by means of cultivation: free physical

development requires free development of the personality. In sport, the body is molded,

which means it is systematically mutilated in order to achieve the imposed prototype that

incarnates the principle upon which the ruling order is based. Sport and physical exercisedo not just nurture the body - they nurture man. A relationship to the body is in effect a

relationship of man to other people, to the world and his own self as a man. Man as a

universally creative being corresponds to a creative body. Instead of acquiring skills for

performing certain motions (exercises), attaining abilities to create motions, the meaningof such a body and of such abilities as enable the articulation of a creative (playing)

personality of man this represents one of the most significant challenges for libertarianplay. In playing, the dynamics of biological rhythm obtain a human, and consequently,

cultural, that is, libertarian (visionary) dimension. The rhythm of motion becomes a

spontaneous expression of mans creative pulse and, as such, a non-replicable indicator of

humanness, and its sign mark. In lieu of the ideal of strength, speed, rigor (which areoriented towards the creation of a liege/performer nature and conscious that should

eventually bring about the turning of man into lethal flesh and a vehicle for destruction

of life) the challenge should shift towards mobility, softness, coordination, self-control,intention, spirituality, tremulousness, motion towards man and nature, harmonious

development of the entire body which corresponds to mans universal creative

potentials and to his human (individual) complexity. Creative mobility is a basic aspect ofa healthy body. It requires surpassing of the artistic motion as a way of producing artistic

forms and sensual effects (object, colour, sound), and affirmation of the genuine

playing motion that represents a creation of humanness in an immediate form. Physicalmovement becomes an expression of mans playing nature, which means that its essence

consists of mans motion towards another. Mans relationship with his own body, as an

immediate nature, is possible exclusively by means of another human being.

Development of a universal creative body and of lavishness of motion is the basiccondition for development of mind, man's libertarian and creative personality which is

one of the key objectives of the libertarian play. This represents an essential difference

between physical culture and sport, which requires an ever earlier specialization thatdisfigures not only the body, but also the mind. Rousseau was one of those who

perceived the existence of the conditioning linkage between the development of sense-

based mobility skills and the intellect. From there derives one of his most significantpedagogical instructions: "Exercise incessantly his body; endeavour to make your scholar

strong and healthy, so that he can be clever and intelligent; let him work and act, let him

run and shout, in a word, let him be constantly in motion. Let him primarily be man per

strength and he will shortly be man per intellect." (1) In his developmental psychology

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Piaget has indicated the fact that sense-based mobility represents the first stage of the

development of the intellect: based on concrete action-related operations the body attains

knowledge that represents the foundation of the whole of cognitive development. Fromthere derives a conclusion that stereotypical models of motion limit the development of

intellect. Imposing a defined model of behaviour at the same time represents the infliction

of a defined model of thinking (which means stereotyping and maiming the mind), butalso of interpersonal relations, the concept of the world and mans position towards the

world. This is most clearly expressed in Coubertin's "utilitarian pedagogy" which

represents a modern Procrusteanbed. It should not be forgotten that "physical education",which dominated in the 20th century, was generated in the grayness of the military

gymnasiums and was, thus, limited to mere physical drill. Libertarian play represents an

integral part of the overall culture of man as a universal freedom-creating being. There is

no cultivated body without a cultural man there is no free movement without a freeman. The intention of libertarian play is not to limit and deform man's instinctive actions

through aggressive exercise, nor to create valves for their release in the form of violent

and destructive behaviour, but to help those actions attain their refined expression while

respecting man's individual personality. It is, therefore, not a matter of developing amodel of (physical) motion that should be imposed on man, but of encouraging the

creation of motions that would enable each individual to express his own specific andnon-repeatable personality.

Creation and imitation should be distinguished. Like many other "naturalists",

Hebert rejected the emancipating heritage of the physical culture and reduced body

movement to behaviour imitation of the Brazilian Indians. Instead of humanizing thebody and the bodys movement through the cultural (emancipating) heritage of modern

society, "naturalizing" the body and its movement occurs through re-introduction of

"primitive" movements which represent spontaneous expressions of its originalnaturalness, and are not limited by any imposed stereotypes that destroy man's vitality

as happens with the aristocratic and Christian physical cultures. What we have here goes

for copying the movements of the Indians, who are reduced to being "savages", taken outof their original historical environment (living conditions, hunting, war, religion,

customs...) and are, thus, deprived of their cultural contents, and reduced to technical

movements that are assigned the dimension of "naturalness". Man cannot attain his ownnaturalness by imitating the movements of animals or those of the natural environment,

but by means of culture, in a word, by means of a creative activity in which mans

concrete historical (social) movement towards another man dominates. Instead of

"melting into nature", where man loses individuality, development of humanness, whichcorresponds with creative discontent, should be the goal. Instead of immerging in the

existing world, a new one should be created.

The most immediate form of nature-humanizing is body-humanizing.Outdoing the capitalist world, dominated by the dehumanization and denaturalization

(robotization) of man, requires humanization of man's natural being (which at the same

time represents his own naturalizing), in a word, liberation of the body (nature) from thedestructive ruling order, and asserting the humanized original natural motion aimed at

man within which the libertarian creative essence of man is being expressed. "Immerging

in nature" is an illusory opposite to "technical civilization". What occurs here, in fact,

represents man's immerging in the existing world at a "lower" level of civilization the

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way it happens with physical culture of the Far East where man as an emancipated

personality, which, as such, in his position towards the world, tends to create a new world

in his own human (libertarian and creative) image - does not exist. "Naturalism" is an offcourse in a struggle against the "technical world". The humanization of natural motion

and not naturalizing of the technical motion is what we are talking about here. "The

liberating transformation of nature" (Marcuse) requires artistic motion, and therefore adeveloped artistic being. Playing a violin does not merely require attained flexibility of

the fingers, hand and arm (technique of motion), but also a development of an artistic

(creative) being. In that sense flexibility of the human body requires a creative body:development of the esthetic feeling represents the basis for developmentof sense-based

motion. It is a matter of a natural motion humanized by means of the emancipating

heritage that forms man's cultural and, thus, his playing being, and which manifests itself

in a relation towards repressive (destructive) behavioural forms imposed by "technicalcivilization". Play becomes the utmost form of mans "embracing" the world and his most

immediate relationship towards his own natural being, and also towards nature in general.

Man does not "return" to his natural being by means of play as a specific sphere, but

through transforming of his entire life into a humanized natural life: "humanization ofnature" is achieved through totalizing the world by means of man's playing being.

Regarding the relation between play, on one hand, and science andtechnique, on the other, we are not advocating the establishment of parallel spheres, but

bestowing on science and technique an artistic nature which would enable them to

become the means of humanization of nature and of man's natural being. Rousseau's

"return to nature" deals with the notion of a "noble savage" in whose behaviour theprinciple homo homini homo est dominates, and, consequently, so does the motion ofman towards another man. Voltaire ridicules Rousseau and fails to notice that his "noble

savage" has a metaphorical quality and represents a critique of the distorted aristocraticworld deprived of naturalness and humanness. In the same way Rousseau and the

philanthropists formed their "alliance" with nature in the struggle against the ancienrgime, contemporary man should form an "alliance" with nature against capitalism only now the struggle is not merely for freedom, but for survival.

In order to be able to humanize man's natural being by means of libertarian

(life-creating) play, man's original natural motion should be identified and respected.Libertarian play tends to enable such a passage from natural towards creative motion as

will not cause negative impact on the development of a personality and becomes a source

of frustration. This does not mean that man should return to the water, but that he should

have a notion of his own original natural motion, of the psychological and physicalconsequences deriving from forced adapting of his system to concrete living conditions

(standing upright, walking on two legs), and he should know what he must aspire in

order to be as close as possible to his own natural being. It is complete nonsense to assertthat man was in unity with nature a long time ago. In pre-historical times man was

merely a part of the nature. In order to merge with nature man had to become a man,

which means a self-conscious being capable of having a relation towards nature and,based on this relation, to merge with it.

Mans playing skills are the basic expressive option of his playing being, and

richness of expressive possibilities represents the basic precondition of the esthetic

(libertarian). It is grounded in the cultural heritage of mankind and represents the utmost

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form of the refined body motion. In libertarian play skill does not present itself as

independent from man, from the (objective) social sphere, but as a form of specific

(individual) human expression. Skill and the way of playing do not derive from play as aseparate social sphere that possesses its own mechanics of development and its own rules,

but from a spontaneous, creative relationship between men, where one man is another

man's inspiration for play. In this context the playing skills developed in sport (giving upthe ball, dribbling, etc.) can be productive. Genuine playing skills require annulment of

the technical sphere as an intermediary in fulfillment of man's playing potential, in the

context of annulment of institutional (repressive) intermediation between men. The rangeof creative spirituality, opulence of sensuality and of interpersonal relations based upon

solidarity and tolerance which means the fullness of man's playing being this

represents the basis of the playing skills and playing manner. Instead of "motion control

technique", body, glance and vocal conversation should be introduced... The acquiring ofskills through (body) motion control requires development of human powers, of a rich

and unique individuality, and, thus, the fulfillment of individual predilections, and not the

pushing (destroying) of humanness into the background and adapting man to the "model

citizen" pattern. Genuine human motion is aimed at the whole lot that impedes man'sovercoming the existing world, that restricts, moulds, and degrades him... Development

of playing skills becomes an expression of the development of man's universal creative(playing) powers. This represents the basis for the development of the creative physical

activism that attains its expression in physical mobility. Healthiness, spirituality,

harmony of motion all are comprised in physical mobility as a supreme spontaneous

play of nerves, muscles, tendons, joints, heart, lungs... Genuine physical motion requiresa genuine engagement of the organism. This does not merely mean "the exerting of a

large number of muscles", but a harmonious activity of the entire system, from whence

derives the "softness" of motion which determines physical "elegance". The ideal ofharmonious physical development corresponds to man's creative universality. Man's

prolific creative life should become the basis for the development of his playing skills.

No free and contented personality can exist if man does not liberate his body and hismotion from destructive capitalist civilization. The supremacy of libertarian and creative

(playing) motion should be established, and this motion turned towards man and the

living world (nature) that has no intermediary but represents man's genuine necessity forother men. Development of playing skills is being manifested as openness towards the

future, as creation of novum, and not as "improvement" of the playing model thatrepresents a ritual expression of submissiveness to the ruling order, within which man is

being reduced to a mechanical doll. The most important task of libertarian play is toenable physical motion, through the development of man's artistic being, to become the

playing motion by means of which man will attain "unity" with himself as an undivided

creative being, and society will become a playing community. Schiller's position"education by means of art is education for art" is one of the most significant postulates

of the libertarian play, for education by means of libertarian play is education for the free

society. Regarding the universal grammar of motion (skills), it provides possibilities forestablishing of a comprehensive approach to body exercise, however, at the same time it

enables creation of an artificial body language which is more of a technical (strictly

defined motions, repetition, "objectivity" of the form being developed as an area

alienated from man, space defined in advance...) than of a cultural nature. Instead of

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assigning a defined model of body and motion, which is, in essence, of a repressive

nature, a spontaneous motion which is an expression of man's playing being should be

strived for: richness of motion is conditioned by richness of the playing personality andby development of interpersonal relations.

Human motion cannot be perceived merely from a technical or organic

(purely medical) aspect. Not solely the body, but also man as a historical and social beingplays a part in the motion. The relation of man towards another man, the world, nature,

the future... is comprised in it. Giving up the ball is not an action of throwing an object

from one position to another that has an "objective" form and technical character, but is ahumanized (by means of cultural heritage) motion of one man towards another man and,

as such, represents establishing human community in an immediate form. This is what

constitutes its concrete historical (social) nature and endows it with a "soul". Play is not

an immediate relation of man to himself, but requires the existence of a playingcommunity of emancipated, creative personalities where the motion of man towards

another man dominates, and where homo homini mirrors humanness. Therefore,development of interpersonal relations represents a conditio sine qua non of play. The

playing disposition is a potential human disposition that can be actualized exclusivelywithin a community of free and creative personalities. Play is a result but, at the same

time, also a supreme spontaneous form of man's self-creation and a supreme mode forgenerating society as a community of free people. The spontaneity of play requires an

emancipated personality. If this is lacking, the effort to express uniqueness leads towards

extremism, narcissism, aggression, destruction... Richness of personality is a basic

precondition for opulence of interpersonal relations and vice versa.Each new friendshipopens up a new human space inside man, develops his sense of humanness, in the same

way a developed esthetic sense provides opportunity for distinction in music or painting,

experiencing and creation of an abundance of tones, forms and colours. It is essential todevelop a communal spirit while developing, and not destroying, individuality. The

immediate goal of libertarian play is not to produce records, improve playing techniques,

develop the play as a normative sphere and create a healthy body, but to create a healthysociety within which creative personalities will be developed.

Man's need for another man is the basic quality of his life-creating being.

Therefore, man's motion towards another man, as a humanized motion of a live beingtowards another live being, represents the essential motion of man as a specific natural

being, and as such represents the basis of life-creation. Eros, as a synthesized life-creating

energy, is the most important source of man's motion towards another man, based upon

which life as a playing act can be developed. Love play between man and woman is thesupreme form of play where the unrestricted playing being is expressed, in other words:

"production" of humanness in the most immediate form. It represents the supreme form

of humanization of man's natural being. Life-creativeness represents the essence of eroticunion with the nature and basis of erotic play. Without it, enjoyment in the erotic

relationship is compensational, which means of an adaptive nature. Already in antiquity,

in the homosexual (pedophilic) relationship, sterilization of man's (society's) life-creatingability occurred, by means of partition of the erotic from the naturally reproductive

(fertile). In the homosexual relationship Eros loses its life-creative disposition and turns

into an anti-existential principle. Narcissistic, homosexual and lesbian Eros represents a

clash with man's natural life-creativeness and, therefore, with the likelihood of the erotic

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as a humanized natural relationship. The option of love play as the life-creating play

between genders is being abolished, and the life-creating sexual relation is being reduced

to technical fertilization of women to technical production of children.

Play as a Form

Philosophy of play does not make a clear distinction between man's playingnature, playing and play. Play is a form in which playing occurs and, as such, the way of

manifesting man's playing being. A distinction should be made between playing as

fulfillment of man's playing being (playing act) and play as behaviour in accordance with

the imposed norms. Play as a normative constraint has no tendency towards theimprovementof man and of interpersonal relations, but tends to reduce ("discipline") him

to the model of a usable citizen (subject). It is a matter of endeavouring to preserve the

ruling order and to reduce man to the "dimension" which corresponds to that order. The

ruling historical forms of play are behavioural forms deprived of humane (playing)contents, alienated from man. They are reduced to a behavioural model that is in fact a

form of play in which the ruling relations are being manifested. Playing is reduced to theendeavour most consistently to imitate the assigned model of play, of which the rules

should not be violated at any cost. Therefore, the play's "unchangeableness" becomes its

crucial feature. The ideal of "perfection", by means of which "cultural" legitimacy and

infinity of the ruling forms of play are provided, is reduced to the complete submission ofman to the rules of play, as well as to the imposed esthetic pattern which represents the

"stage set" of the ruling order. Man's longing for another man is being mediated by

relations that estrange man from other human beings and reduce him to the role imposedon him. A typical example is the "sport play": it becomes a mechanism by means of

which man is made to express other men's non-liberty. The intellectual sphere cannot be

man's compensation for the senseless life he lives; in the same way the love song cannotbe a substitute for a lack of human closeness. Instead of endeavouring to define the

notion of genuine life, which always occurs as a response to false life, the genuine human

life should be lived.Libertarian play does not strive for the creation of new forms of play, in a

word, for assigning a normative constraint, but for the development of man's playing

being. Specificity and irreplicability, which derive from the specificity and irreplicability

of man as a creative personality, dominate. Instead of the development of play as aseparate social area, we should have a propensity for development of the playing

disposition "inside man" and, on that basis, for establishing society as a playing

community, where (potentially) each form of human activity represents at the same timea form of expression of his playing being. Libertarian play endeavours to annul the

fragmented man that has been decomposed in accordance with the requirements of the

fragmented world, where the requirement of "synthesis" is reduced to the development oftechnical expressions that should impress with a lavishness of colour, sound and form and

become a "compensation" for an increasingly impoverished humanness. It is a matter of

superseding the world divided into the world of "misfortune" and the world of

happiness, and a matter of "restitution" of man's powers from alienated social spheres

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and of establishing the human Ego as an integral source of man's relations towards the

world as whole.

The form libertarian play does not represent a limitation, but an opening ofpossibilities for development of man's playing nature and in that sense only one of the

expressions of his creative nature: the development of forms of play is an expression of

the development of man's creative (playing) powers. It is not an issue of the form as animposed pattern of behaviour, and in that sense an ideal of "perfection", but of the form

as a spontaneous and non-replicable expression of the specific moment in the

manifestation of man as playing being which is symbolic of the libertarian and visionary.The "encounter" of men by means of the pure (esthetic) forms is a clash between soap

bubbles. In a repressive society play as a form represents a repressive normative

confinement that impedes the fulfillment of man's authentic playing being. The

endeavour to get through to the essence of humanness and to "catch" it by fixing humanexistence at the level of certain forms, structures, spiritual formations inevitably leads

towards preservation of the world in which such forms and structures are possible. The

expression of play has to be of such a nature as to enable man to realize his own playing

being. Genuine creativity does not go for the creation of playing forms, but for theenrichment of the human personality and development of interpersonal relations. Play is

neither a transcendental nor a trans-subjective, but an immanent and inter-subjective phenomenon: it is an immediate interpersonal relation and, as such, represents the

supreme form of establishing a society as a community of free persons, in a word, the

creation of the humanum in the untainted sense. Commitment to play means a strugglefor the fulfillment of man's necessities and abilities for play, and not just becomingskilled and imitating the imposed model of play which appears as the "supreme human

challenge". Instead of play as "cultural form" representing the basic possibility of

playing, there is man as a cultural (playing) being: the authenticity of play is theexpression of the authenticity of man. Play is not a criterion for determining a playing

disposition and playing, reduced to the transcendental normative form, but the free

realization of human playing (universally creative) powers. Play is the supreme and themost immediate form of experiencing the world through creating it, which means that it

represents the most immediate and the most authentic form of man's becoming human. In

genuine play the dualism of the being (Sein) and the ought (Sollen) has beendissolved. Nothing is earlier than man, above man or exterior to man. The so called

"universally human" does not exist outside of man any more (as an imposed or

transcendental sphere); it is no longer the image of the "man" for which man longs and

exclusively within which he can distinguish "his own (human) look" but man as a freeand dignified person becomes the creator and the "image" of humanness. Instead of the

"perfection" model, the free man becomes a source of the esthetic inspiration: freedom is

the substance of beauty. Schiller indicated the correct path: instinct for play is the instinctfor freedom. Playing turns into the awakening of the lethargic (deterred) playing being,

"enlivening" the senses, surmounting anxiety and shedding the snakeskin of the (petit)

bourgeois. Instead of giving vent to the deterred being, spontaneity in play requiresbreaking through the barriers that constrain man. What develops the playing disposition

is not playper se,but humanness that develops as man faces limitations, misfortune, andchallenges imposed by life. A rich creative life is the basic precondition for the

development and enhancement of the playing being. Genuine play is the expression of an

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extended horizon of the freedom achieved, an expression of enthusiasm for life, and the

supreme form of manifestation of man's life-creating powers. Enjoyment in play derives

from contentment with the engagement of life; interpersonal closeness in play is possibleexclusively because of the closeness acquired in the process of struggle for a new world:

man's motion towards another man at the same time represents man's motion towards

new worlds. The actual result of playing is not play, but man enriched with spirit,emotions, sensuality, and enhanced interpersonal relations. The completed experience of

humanness represents the "measure" of the richness of playing.

Libertarian play rejects a competition reduced to combat between peopleaimed at preservation and development of the ruling order, and advocates outplaying

(similar to "outsinging" typical of traditional folk music) that in essence represents

struggle against the established order of destruction and development of man's universal

creative powers. In outplaying, man represents another man's inspiration, which meansthat man's motion towards another man is dominant in it which is possible exclusively

based on man's need for another man. In this context Rousseau's principle homo hominihomo estattains its true value. Outplaying requires endeavouring to supersede what has

already been achieved (for creation of the novum) through the development ofinterpersonal relations, and not through clashes between people based upon the SocialDarwinist principle bellum omnium contra omnes and the progressistic principle citius,altius, fortius. The principles of domination and elimination have been abolished within itand replaced by the principles of tolerance and solidarity, and all that creates life opposes

whatever destroys life and restricts freedom. Instead of striving for victory and records,

outplaying calls for an attempt to "enlarge" humannessand to create a new world. Thekey issue here is not how much, but by what means where the starting point for

defining humanness is not the repressive esthetic stereotype that tends towards

"perfection", but man himself. Development of the "quality" of play requiresdevelopment of rich individuality and of interpersonal relations. In this context, the skills

are not manifested in relation to man as an independent ("objectivized") power (reduced

to a dehumanized and denaturalized "playing technique"), but as specific (individual)human expression. Outplaying in the elements of play, where playing of one individual

represents inspiration for the playing of another (like in traditional folk dances, jazz, love

play...) creates the possibility for everyone freely to express his own playing being.Spontaneity, creativity, imagination are expressions of the playing uniqueness, as an

originally human uniqueness.

A distinction should be made between man as play being, and man as playing

being. In the first case he represents an object, while play is the subject; in the secondcase he is the subject, and play is a result of the fulfillment of his playing being.

Huizinga's homo ludens is not man-player but man-toy of superhuman forces. It isexactly the same with antique and Christian man, as well as with Nietzsche'sbermensch: he is a toy of the cosmic forces. With Fink and Gadamer the notion of playis being used to reduce man to a phenomenological abstraction which is merely a masque

behind which the concrete man, reduced to a toy of capitalism, is hiding. Theemancipated playing personality requires a man as a unique life-creating being, and as

such a creator of his world and, thus, a self-creator. Through playing, the playing

disposition turns into play that becomes the basis for identification of the limitations of

playing and of the possibilities of its development.

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In the capitalist world play is a vehicle for entangling the repressed working

"masses" into the spiritual orbit of the bourgeoisie and, therefore, attains a "classless

determination which is manifested in the well-known maxim "sport has nothing to dowith politics". Libertarian play is notapolitical, but represents an inherent part of political

struggle against class society. As regards Nietzsche, he perceives in play a vehicle for the

creation of a "new aristocracy" in an exclusive organic (class) community. It is, instead,an issue of creating an organic community of free creative personalities by means of play.

The new society cannot be created through play but through political struggle, however,

there is no true political struggle if, at the same time, it does not represent a struggle forthe liberation and development of man's playing being. Schiller's fascination with play

was directly encouraged by the French Revolution, which opened the gates for the new

era. Likewise with Goethe, Klopstock, Fait... The struggle of the oppressed and the

awakened and, in that context, the belief in man and in his ability to realize his libertarian being, provides play with a meaning. Without the struggle for the free world play

becomes escapist and an empty form.

Play as a Cosmic Phenomenon

Play is a specific cosmic phenomenon. It is the most authentic human way of

creating the human world, which means creating the new universe. In the act of playing,

the process of cosmic life-creation attains a new quality in which the specificity of manas a cosmic being is expressed. In ancient Greece play is the basic cosmic phenomenon of

a divine (metaphoric) nature and, as such, represents a symbolic incarnation of the ruling

relations and values. It is the most original way for man to integrate into the cosmicorder. Man is the toy of the gods, and the world is their playground: the divine necessity

for playing ensures survival of the human world and provides it with a meaning. Modern

man is an emancipated cosmic being and, as such, the "nucleus" of the new universe.When man becomes a self-conscious libertarian being, play stops being a privilege of the

gods and the instrument for devaluing man, and turns into man's self-creation and the

creation of the human universe. The essence of play is not determinism, which is fatalistin nature, but freedom.

A stance regarding the universe is a projection of the stance regarding the

earthly living environment. In the contemporary world the prevailing stance regarding

space (universe) is based upon the expansionist spirit of capitalism. By means ofinstrumentalized science and technique a "break" into the universe is going on in order to

"conquer" it. Capitalistically degenerated science has the same stance regarding the

universe as it has regarding the Earth: the universe has been reduced to an object ofexploitation. The position of the "extraterrestrials" towards the Earth is a projection of

capitalistically degenerated man's attitude towards the universe. Technique, based upon

the quantity principle that corresponds to the ruling principle of capitalist reproduction(augmenting of profit), turns into the destruction of human life-creativeness as a specific

form of cosmic life-creativeness. "Conquering the universe" becomes a vehicle for

obtaining a legitimacy in the endeavour to supersede "traditional humankind" and to

create the new (master) race of "cyborgs" that will be able to "compete" with the

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"intelligent machines" and to "conquer" the universe. At the same time, the myth of the

"conquest of the universe" is being used for preservation of the myth of the "progressive

nature" of capitalism, which is being identified with the conquest, and for creation of anillusion that technical development would ensure the survival of mankind. The way the

Europeans were "discovering" the new continents, contemporary man will be

discovering the new worlds and populating them. The Earth is not man's cosmic homethat needs to be preserved; it turns into a springboard for the conquest of space. The

"conquest of space" project is based upon an assertion that the Earth will "certainly

collapse", which contributes to a fatalistic surrender to destructive capitalist craving. Thepossibility that capitalism will destroy life on Earth is far more certain than the possibility

that life on Earth will disappear in five or ten million years. It is an issue that opens, by

way of a cosmologic concept, the possibility of establishing a critical distance from the

ruling order of destruction and towards creation of the new world: the stance towards theuniverse should function as a defense of life on Earth and of the development of

humanness. The issue of the survival of humankind will be resolved on Earth, and not in

space. Instead of "conquering of space" a clash with capitalism must take place in order

to prevent the destruction of life on Earth.The prevailing position towards reality, dictated by dehumanized science

and technique, does not permit man to comprehend the essence of his own humanexistence, and, therefore, the essence of the world he lives in, and the essence of the

universe. Ancient peoples were closer to the cosmic essence of man than the

contemporary (petit) bourgeois, for they were, in spite of ignorance, prejudices, mythical

conscious guided by symbols of a holistic nature: for them the issue of the universe wasthe issue of man. Contemporary man possesses an incomparably wider knowledge,

however, the way and manner of attaining this knowledge deprive him of comprehensive

humanness without which he can neither ask the right questions nor provide the rightanswers. The more man knows about the universe, the more remote is the possibility for

him to experience his own cosmic essence. Instead of human questions, man asks

technical ones imposed on him by capitalistically degenerated science and technique which mutilate man and annihilate the possibility for him to ask the significant human

questions. Also, "primitive" man was conscious of what freedom and slavery were, in

contrast to the "average" modern (petit) bourgeois who, being stuck in the nothingness of"consumer society" and the television screen that offers compensation in the form of an

illusory world, has lost the notion of freedom. Capitalism deprives man of his natural

cultural being and transforms him into a technical vehicle for the employment of assets

a walking mechanical corpse.Development of man as a cosmic being is not possible on the basis of

(mechanical) cosmic rules or by means of technical control of time and space, for they

transform man into a mechanical (lifeless) "being", but only by means of a quality thatprovides a possibility for a "union" with the universe in which the cosmic essence of

man is included. The universe that is being created by man is not comparable with the

vastness of the cosmos. It has a qualitative, not a quantitative, dimension. Man's attitudetowards the universe, which means his attitude towards himself as a cosmic being, can

not be established by means of technique, but by means of the esthetic that can enable

man to supersede the quantitative dimension of the universe and reach (his own) cosmic

essence. It is an issue of relating to the universe by means of symbols that enable man, as

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a life-creating being, to experience the universe. By means of those symbols the

phenomenal form of the universe can be superseded and his very essence can be reached

by means of which a dualism of the earthly and the cosmic existence of man is beingabolished. In that context a possibility is being created for the notion of "God" as the one,

which supersedes the infinite quantum of the universe (the endless lot), where it is not an

issue of "God" as a superhuman force, but of "God" as a constantly new, increasinglysplendid product of the creative powers of man that represents a symbolic incarnation of

the "unity" of man with his own cosmic essence. "God" becomes man's host in his own

cosmic home. A new clarification of the notion of "God the Son" is needed: man's life-creating power represents an autonomous cosmic force that enables man as a unique

libertarian being - to be a creator of his own, which means of the new universe.

Man's "conquest of outer space" is being achieved through development of his

playing being. This is an issue of a specific human cosmic dimension creative freedomand sociable disposition which means, it is of a new cosmic quality upon which space

and time that have no quantitative dimension, are based. In the physical universe, the

passage of mechanical time is measured by movement through space; in the human

universe, the passage of historical time is measured by the development of man's creativepowers, and eventually by his freedom. The physical universe is regulated by relations

between celestial bodies (particles); the human universe is regulated by relations betweenhuman beings. Physical time is characterized by quantitative (linear) temporality;

historical time is characterized by qualitative changes. Human existence represents

opposition to the cosmic laws of motion which destroys quality and reduceseverything to

the lowest (energy related) level (entropy). The cosmic life-creativeness is fatalistic: allthat is being originatedeventually disappears. Human life-creativeness is productive: all

that man creates becomes a (potential) basis for creation of the new. Solely man is

capable of creating something new, of being the demiurge of the new world.Man will not "enter" the universe through a hole bored by a science alienated

from him. Telescopes and space sounds do not direct man towards his cosmic being; play

does: the development of man's playing being is a path that leads towards thedevelopment of his cosmic being. The key is not in the "conquest" of cosmic vastness,

but in the development of spiritual richness and of interpersonal relations. It is an issue of

"transformation" of the outer quantity into a human quality, of a "metamorphosis" ofphysical space through a widening of human space, which is not attained by means of

technique, but by means of play. Cosmic space merely appears to be open. The openness

of cosmic space is preconditioned by the openness of man, which means by the

development of his creative powers. Fullness of man's creative being is what fills thecosmic vastness. A thought, a song, a painting, an embrace tell more about the essence

of man as a specific cosmic being than do all the "space programs" combined. Finally,

man's stance towards the universe is a depiction of his stance towards his own self. Theissue of infinity should be resolved in a manner that provides possibilities for man's self-

confirmation as a life-creating being. Man's unlimited creative powers are the "measure"

of infinity: the enhancement of humanness represents widening of the boundaries of thenew universe. The essence of the physical universe is determinism; the essence of the

human universe is freedom. By means of freedom infinity attains an authentic, in a word,

a human dimension. The occurrence of man is the only truly cosmic occurrence; man's

becoming human is the only truly cosmic process.

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Life as Play

In ancient Greece, the entire life of the Hellenic people was filled withagonistic activities performed as a ritual service. It is a similar case with Christianity and

other "great" religions: life is of a liturgical nature. In capitalism, the spirit of victory,

based upon Social Darwinism and progressism (elimination by means of victory thatattains a better result/record), represents a totalizing power that conditions man's life, the

nature of the body, of motion. The sportivization of society is a process by which the

total domination of man by the ruling order is established.

Not only play, but also the very approach to it is being dehumanized."Bewilderment" dominates this development, for play as a form is being mediated by

dehumanized and denaturalized spheres to such an extent that it is becoming a vehicle for

the degeneration and destruction of humanness. Time, space, technical means... have

been instrumentalized in it. Man is always present in a defined (assigned) time and spacewhere the dynamics of the destruction of humanness (life) become more and more

intense behind a masque of "elegance", "clarity", "functionality", "efficiency","precision", "harmony", etc., in a word, through a spectacular act that makes the basic

values of the ruling order non-esthetic (non-erotic). Where, in the contemporaryworld,

the authentic position of humanness is given, man appears as a fly in the spiders web.

Aspiring towards genuine play is not a theoretical project, but an issue of concretepolitical struggle. It requires the development of critical conscious about the existing

world perception of the objective possibilities for creation of a new world and for

development of the playing self-conscious as a libertarian and creative self-conscious;demystification of the present serves as an area where people will discover joy;

development of interpersonal relations, of the artistic disposition, orientation towards

nature, towards the emancipating heritage of humankind, development of the visionaryconscious... Instead of play as a form, the objective aspired to should be liberation of

man's playing being; instead of a tendency towards escapism and "distraction", the key

motive of the player should be man's life-creating necessity for another human being.Development of spontaneity does not require development of a normative conscious, but

rather the development of comprehensive humanness. Liberation of man's playing being

is the most important immediate task of libertarian play. This represents its specificity, as

a form of libertarian struggle, compared to other forms of struggle. Freedom is areasonable desire, and the awareness of a necessity is an indispensable, but insufficient,

precondition for freedom. Genuine freedom does not consist of the possibility of choice

between what man can and cannot do, but between what he can and wants or does notwant to do. It is not based upon knowledge of the world, but upon the experience of man.

The endeavour to create genuine play is not an expression of the hope to

establish a separate social sphere that exists "parallel" to the "world of worry" (like Fink's"oasis of happiness"), where man will futilely try to fulfill his playing needs and powers,

but is rather an expression of the endeavour to create a truly human world where life

itself represents the realization of man's playing being. A critique of established play

(world) is not the expression of an aspiration for "free play", but of an aspiration for life

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that manifests itself as the fulfillment of the universal creative (playing) powers of man as

an emancipated member of the human community. For libertarian physical culture play is

not a separate area of life, but represents the entirety of human living within which manstrives to realize himself as a playing (libertarian/creative) being. Since living is

understood as a series of interpersonal relationships, we are referring here to a totalizing

man who interacts with other people proceeding not from separate areas of life (work,science, philosophy, play...) but from fundamental humanness: man's life-creating need

for another human being represents the basis of man's motion towards another man. Life

as play requires the abolishment of man's duality as a social being and a "player", whichmeans that man, as a concrete social being, has realized his own playing being which

represents his original social being. The playing sensitivity is the supreme form of the

realization of the sense of humanness, that is, man's ultimate and most complex ability to

experience another human being. It requires not only a creative body, but also a (life)creative motion. The self-production of man as a playing being is the highest human act

and requires the (self) production of the society as a community of free creative

personalities. Man's need for another human being, from where derives man's original

playing motion towards another man, represents a genuine motif for play and theauthentic basis for establishing of a society as a human community: homo homini is amirror of humanness.

The significance of playing is not in the production of objectiveness or form,

but in the immediate development of humanness. The abundance of playing forms

becomes the opulence of genuine interpersonal relations. By means of playing mans

creative being is fulfilled in such a way that a need for artistic expression, as acompensation for non-expressed (non-fulfilled) humanness, is superseded. From the

sphere of production of works of art by isolated individuals, who discharge their own

desire for humanness through their works, play establishes the immediate relationsbetween people, within which the opulence of mans playing (creative) being is realized.

Play, as an interpersonal relationship, requires an emancipated man for whom the

freedom of each represents the basic precondition for the freedom of all (Marx). Thisdoes not refer to people who know what freedom signifies, but to those who experience

other people as their brothers, in every sense of the word. Play is the supreme form of

performing humanness the utmost human act of which the immediate result is acontented man. The attempt to preserve humanness in a form of normative

confinement, or artistic form, is an expression of disbelief that freedom is possible at all.

Replacement of the imperfect normative conscious with a perfect one does not imply

the creation of the perfect man. The normative sphere is not the one that should bechanged. The sphere of fundamental interpersonal relations, that is, the ruling order,

should be changed.

In the world that turned out to be fulfilled humanness it is futile to establishnormative criteria upon which human existence is to be determined. In it, there is no

more dualism of approach to man in which the real and the ideal world are contained,

which means that a model of man a projection of life alienated from man, has beenabolished. In a society where man is genuinely happy it is absolute nonsense to determine

the ideal of happiness: life itself becomes the fruition of the ideal of humanness. In the

same way, the esthetic sphere which counters the non-esthetic (ugly) world, is being

abolished. Instead of the endeavour for perfection, that is for a constrained world,

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development of unconstrained humanness becomes the supreme challenge. This requires

the abolition of separate spheres, including the sphere within which the novum is sought.For libertarian play homo homini represents the supreme challenge and is, as such, amirror of humanness, and not an idealized (abstracted) man that represents an

incarnation of the future society for which struggle is waged. Therefore, not an

aspiration towards the future as an abstraction, not even as a real utopian project thatconfronts the existing world on an intellectual level and turns into a certain normative

idea of the future, but the life-creating necessity of one man for another man, that is being

developed as a response to an increasingly dramatic destruction of life, becomes the basisof creative life that represents the creation of the future. In play, what man can be is being

fulfilled: mans becoming a human being is the criterion of genuine progress. Only when

the development of his playing being becomes the measureof humanness will the real

development of mans universal creative powers occur the one that today we canmerely foretell. The tenseness of which Marcuse speaks, will always exist, for man will

always strive to be more than he is, for he will always have a critical/transformation-

aspiring attitude towards the world in which he lives trying to create a new, better one.

However, the nature of this tenseness will be conditioned by fulfillment of two keypreconditions of freedom: freedom from natural imminence (natural forces overcome)

and freedom of man from man (abolition of class society and of exploitation). The thirdprecondition for freedom still remains, liberation of mans universal creative powers

which will dominate in the future society and which requires humanization of nature and

development of interpersonal relations. Tenseness in play does not result from the

development of the theoretical mind, but from mans endeavour to realize his ownfreedom and his own creative universality through the superseding of forms of play in

which limitations imposed on man by the existing order are manifested. Aspiration

towards play, in its essence, represents endeavour for the free expression of humanness;basically, it is the supreme form of determination for being man creation of humanumin an elemental form. Freedom, creativity, humanized naturalness and sociability these

are the characteristics of playing, in a word of playing and of play. Mans authenticnature is a genuine origin of authentic play.

With the introduction of automation, conditions are being established for

abolishing repressive and degenerating work-related activities, and for instituting creativework that offers opportunities for the development of mans playing being and, thus,

possibilities for refinement of mans natural being. On the basis of creative work, which

can only result from libertarian struggle, and cannot represent a mere consequence of the

development of technical processes, division of work between intellectual and physical,as well private and public zoning, in a word, the institutionalized political powers

alienated from man - can be eventually abolished. When the rule of creative work is

instated the most important causation for dual perception of the world as the world ofworries (labour, suffering, misfortune), and the world of happiness (illusory play)

disappears. Work becomes not only the primary life necessity (Marx), but also the

primary human necessity, and play ceases to be a compensatory activity and becomes thesupreme form of mans spontaneous creative self-realization and the supreme form of

interpersonal closeness. Only when work stops being an activity where man is alienated

from himself as a creative and libertarian being; when the dualism of homo faberandhomo ludens is abolished with a creative man; when creative work becomes affirmation

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of human freedom: only then can mans playing being be liberated from all forms of

compulsions only then does true play become possible. It is an issue of the attainment

of unity between the playing being, playing and play in a free, spontaneous andcreative endeavour, that is, of play as a realization of the playing disposition through a

creative effort through comprehensive self-creation of man (human community). With

creative work man renders not only his own existence, but at the same time generateshimself as a creative and social being. Creative collectivism represents the basis of

playing collectivism.

Instead of the martial contests that dominate sport, life-creating competitionshould be introduced, based upon outplaying, where there are no winners and no

vanquished, and where a physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually enriched

man is being created. A consequence of outplaying is not the removal of the weak and

the triumph of the strong, but a humanized man, an individual who experiences his ownself in his own way, developing his own individuality. Instead of immerging inside

himself, man should aspire towards the enrichment of the contents of interpersonal

relations. This is exactly where the apex of the genuine life creating practice that

generates a society as a human community is being manifested with mans turning intoa human being. Life as play means that creation of interpersonal relations is the supreme

manifestation of the playing disposition: mans social being becomes his fulfilled playingbeing. Play represents the making of the society as a playing community in the most

immediate sense, which means that living becomes an artistic act, and life a work of art.

The joy of creative fulfillment, attaining true respect through companionship (playing) is

manifested in an attitude towards ecstasy which is, in the existing world, the supremeform of exhibition of slavery as an imitation of spontaneity. Physical and spiritual

activism, without which no play exists, requires creative effort: creative activism

determines the rhythm of play. It is aimed at establishing and developing interpersonalrelations and represents the basis for attaining (self) respect. Play turns into midwife

skills delivering humanness through creative effort, that is, through the most immediate

form of mans self-creation. The specificity of play as creativeness is in its being basedupon mans spontaneous, unconditioned and unmediated necessity for another human

being. Genuine play is based upon authentic love developed in a creative (libertarian)

exaltation, unlike petit bourgeois love which originates in the context of struggle formoney and power where, rather than human symbols, status symbols which incarnate

prevailing values are dominant. The development of a necessity for man, true belief in

man, opening new spiritual spaces, development of creative personality these are all

inducements for genuine play. Homo hominibecomes the supreme challenge, instead ofbeing reduced to a vehicle for fulfillment of pathological needs imposed by capitalist

civilization. The experiencing of man always reappears as an option of the new, more

complete, more beautiful Human nearness becomes the source of lifes warmth. Co-living has no temporal and spatial dimension, only a human one. Instead of being an

escape from nothingness, play becomes an eruption of unrestrained humanness.

Through playing, the world is being abolished as outer-human reality andbecomes man's self-existence. The variety of the outer world forms is not a challenge

anymore but is being replaced by the opulence of the inner, the interpersonal... The world

is what man carries inside himself and what he can establish together with other people.

Authentic creativeness is "transformation" of the outer world into an experience of

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human intensity, happiness... Instead of the world of misfortune as a negative basis for

play, which is, therefore, an expression of a hopeless attempt to escape from the society,

the world of happy people will become the ground and inspiration for the development ofa rich playing personality. Genuine play is not merely man's supreme intellectual relation

with the world; it does not only represent man's self-knowledge and self-expression, but

also his self-creation, and is, as such, the most comprehensive form of experiencing theworld. No more will man live in a world he refers to as something (im)posed and outer-

human (alien). Instead, he will perceive the world as his own creation, in a word, as his

manifested (and not "infested") humanness. This is not an issue of simulated totalizing ofthe world by means of simple subjectivism, as is the case with romanticism, but of

totalizing the libertarian (creative) activism of which the main "product" is a society as a

community of free people. Playing becomes the supreme form of "appropriation" of the

world by man, which eventually represents the "appropriation" of himself with "noresidue". Man will not attain "unity" with the world through labour, technique, play, art...

but will make the world: creation of the world will become man's self-creation; "unity

with the world" will become "unity" of man with another human being. The development

of man as a universal free creative being and the enhancementof interpersonal relationswill become the "measure" of development of the world. Life itself will become the

supreme symbol of humanness.In the world of freedom the real value will be attributed to poetic expression,

which will also imply the body-talk. In that sense, not language, but play becomes the

supreme form of establishing human society. Instead of living the life of the chosen, as it

is with Nietzsche, the acme of life will represent living life as free, creative people;instead of the aristocratic class as an organic community united by parasitism and by

existential fear of the labourers, the supreme challenge will be the society as an organic

community of free creative personalities; instead of the need to suppress repressivenormative confinement and the repressive esthetic canons (by means of which the elitist

class status is determined), man's need for the other as a physical and spiritual being will

dominate; instead of the child's subordination to repressive normative stereotypes, thechild's education by means of living life as free creative personalities will become the

basic pedagogical principle... It is an issue of superseding the "fragmentized" and of

attaining the "synthetic" man who represents a unity of Apollonian and Dionysian, thatwill not represent a privilege of the "new nobility", as it is with Nietzsche, but the basic

human right.

Man has nowhere to return to. He has to build the home that he never really

possessed. In pre-Socratic times, man did not exist in his own world, but in the world ofgods who temporarily assigned him their own powers so that he could entertain them. In

contrast toantiquity, where man could not be at one with being, in the world of today

possibilities exist for man to reach being. Man's becoming a human being and thecreation of being represent the same process: man's self-creation becomes the self-

creation of being. True history will begin when man's playing being becomes the

indisputable source of his own life. In the beginning there was play.

x x x

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life as play

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