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1. Notion. By environment we mean the sum of the natural and social factors (the world of things, people, and values) which affect a man (whether he consciously experiences them or is unconsciously influenced by them) and which he in turn affects. By contrast with a man’s “social world”, which is a whole set type of life, environment is described as “a formless sum total of surrounding conditions without any meaningful inner cohesion” (Nell-Breuning). In a pluralistic society the environment assumes increasing importance, not least because of its power to disrupt and confuse. We disting…

Part of Leisure: 1. Leisure 2. Tourism 3. Sport 1. History. In every age of the world man has been a traveller, as nomad, warrior, discoverer, pilgrim, refugee, adventurer or seeker of culture. But these travels or wanderings were confined to certain types or classes. Mass tourism is a phenomenon of the present century. But it had its precursors. There was the “grand tour” of the young nobles of the 17th and 18th centuries and the visits to the watering-places, a type of travel which was linked to the tra…

Part of Leisure: 1. Leisure 2. Tourism 3. Sport A. The Notion The notion of leisure, with its counterpart of work, will naturally depend on the notion one has of man in anthropology. If work and achievement are taken to be the purpose of life, leisure will be held in low esteem and man at leisure will be considered as something than he ought to be (Guardini). But if amusement is held to be the important thing in life, work is regarded as a “negotium", and the frustration felt in work will be compensated for…

Part of Collectivism: 1. Masses and Crowds 2. Nature, History and Forms of Collectivism 1. The problem of the masses. Crowd psychology has been seen as a precise problem since the end of the 19th century. The perspectives in which it was seen were determined for some time by the works of G. Le Bon ( Psychologie de foules, 1895), G. Tarde ( L’opinion et la foule, 1901) and G. Sighele ( La folla delinquente, 1891). These analyses were motivated less by scientific objectiveness than by emotional reactions to far-reaching social changes, such as revolutions, restlessness …