Many contemporary scholars have added their own interpretations to the classics: "Leisure is not superficial entertainment, but the basic philosophical question of 'how mankind will continue to survive,'" says Japanese academic Hidetoshi Kato, while Associate Professor Lai Lai-hsin of NDHU's sports and leisure department opines, "The core nature of leisure is to raise the quality of life."
當代學者也紛紛提出自己的詮釋──「休閒並非膚淺的娛樂，而是『人類如何生存下去』的基礎哲學問題，」日本學者加藤秀俊說；東華大學賴來新則認為，「休閒的本質在於提升生活品質。」