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54th out of 257 books
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270 voters
A Philosophy of Boredom
It 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 n...more
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
April 15th 2005
by Reaktion Books
(first published 1999)
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Still reading the book but I already know my favourite passage :-) [needs to complete the review by adding Kierkegaard's position, for instance:]
"Pascal is the most prominent early theoretician of boredom. For Pascal, man is doomed to boredom without God. In the absence of a relationship to God we turn to pleasures in order to forget our miserable state but, in actual fact, this only has a more destructive effect.
Pascal says " The only thing which consoles us for our miseries is diversion, and y...more
"Pascal is the most prominent early theoretician of boredom. For Pascal, man is doomed to boredom without God. In the absence of a relationship to God we turn to pleasures in order to forget our miserable state but, in actual fact, this only has a more destructive effect.
Pascal says " The only thing which consoles us for our miseries is diversion, and y...more
Really great actually. Here are five reasons for five stars:
1) Boredom is not a common topic in philosophy (most books about it are of the "get rid" style, not the "what the hell is it" style.)
2) He looks at boredom with a long historical view, following it's base of a sin in early christianity into pop music.
3) He slaps Heidegger silly in his phenomenology chapter.
4) He wrote a very readable book about an obscure topic that includes a phenomenological bent.
5)He made me understand exactly wh...more
1) Boredom is not a common topic in philosophy (most books about it are of the "get rid" style, not the "what the hell is it" style.)
2) He looks at boredom with a long historical view, following it's base of a sin in early christianity into pop music.
3) He slaps Heidegger silly in his phenomenology chapter.
4) He wrote a very readable book about an obscure topic that includes a phenomenological bent.
5)He made me understand exactly wh...more
This book led me to ponder on the essence of my own personal meaning, of finding my own mature self-identity. It was a fantastic read, with lots of major philosophic exemplifications. I enjoyed the journey through eras of cultural perception regarding boredom and its related moods. I very much recommend this book to anyone interested in getting a grasp of the relationship between modernity, rush, efficiency and the personal-self.
A bit esoteric, but overall a very interesting read. I particularly enjoyed the American Psycho section in which Patrick Bateman was depicted as the poster child for modern existential boredom taken to an extreme.
I am indebted to this book, as it was the main inspiration for my thesis and a great source of reference. Thank you, Lars Svendsen!
Mar 14, 2009
Yanshi
added it
not bad
worth reading
worth reading
For a book about boredom it was surprisingly engaging. Having said that, it was indeed a book about boredom, and some of the historical sections in particular were a bit dry and longwinded. Svendsen presented his ideas well, however, and I found his thoughts on the matter to be very interesting, even though I'm not sure I agree with all of them.
a good chapter on Heidegger's exposition on the topic.
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“In order to live a meaningful life,
humans need answers, i.e., a certain understanding of basic existential questions. These ‘answers’ do not have to be made completely explicit, as a lack of words does not necessarily indicate a lack of understanding, but one has to able to place oneself in the world and build a relatively stable identity. The founding of such an identity is only possible if one can tell a relatively coherent story about who one has been and who one intends to be.”
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6 people liked it
humans need answers, i.e., a certain understanding of basic existential questions. These ‘answers’ do not have to be made completely explicit, as a lack of words does not necessarily indicate a lack of understanding, but one has to able to place oneself in the world and build a relatively stable identity. The founding of such an identity is only possible if one can tell a relatively coherent story about who one has been and who one intends to be.”
“Self-identity is inextricably bound up with the identity of the surroundings.”
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5 people liked it
More quotes…
Dec 01, 2009 05:55pm