A Philosophy of BoredomIt has been described as a "tame longing without any particular object" by Schopenhauer, "a bestial and indefinable affliction" by Dostoevsky, and "time's invasion of your world system" by Joseph Brodsky, but still very few of us today can explain precisely what boredom is. A Philosophy of Boredom investigates one of the central preoccupations of our age as it probes the nature of boredom, how it originated, how and why it afflicts us, and why we cannot seem to overcome it by any act of will. Lars Svendsen brings together observations from philosophy, literature, psychology, theology, and popular culture, examining boredom's pre-Romantic manifestations in medieval torpor, philosophical musings on boredom from Pascal to Nietzsche, and modern explorations into alienation and transgression by twentieth-century artists from Beckett to Warhol. A witty and entertaining account of our dullest moments and most maddening days, A Philosophy of Boredom will appeal to anyone curious to know what lies beneath the overwhelming inertia of inactivity. |
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This is brilliant work. I was not bored reading it.
Contents
Preface | 7 |
Two Stories of Boredom | 49 |
THREE The Phenomenology of Boredom | 107 |
Four The Ethics of Boredom | 133 |
Postscript | 153 |
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Common terms and phrases
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Bibliographic information
| Title | A Philosophy of Boredom |
| Author | Lars Svendsen |
| Translated by | John Irons |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint |
| Publisher | Reaktion Books, 2005 |
| ISBN | 1861892179, 9781861892171 |
| Length | 176 pages |
| Subjects | › › Philosophy / History & Surveys / General Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social Social Science / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |