
Idleness
A Philosophical Essay
Brian O'Connor(Author)
Princeton University Press
Published on 7. April 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
216 pages
978-0-691-20450-5 (ISBN)
Description
The case for idleness as freedom from usefulness, performance, and the opinion of others
For millennia, idleness and laziness have been seen as vices. We're all expected to work to survive and get ahead, and devoting energy to anything but labor and self-improvement can seem like a luxury or a moral failure. Far from questioning this conventional wisdom, modern philosophers have entrenched it, viewing idleness as an obstacle to the ethical need people have to be autonomous, to be useful, to contribute to the social good, or simply to avoid boredom. In Idleness, the first book to challenge modern philosophy's portrayal of inactivity, Brian O'Connor argues that the case against an indifference to work and effort is flawed-and that idle aimlessness may instead allow for the highest form of freedom.
For millennia, idleness and laziness have been seen as vices. We're all expected to work to survive and get ahead, and devoting energy to anything but labor and self-improvement can seem like a luxury or a moral failure. Far from questioning this conventional wisdom, modern philosophers have entrenched it, viewing idleness as an obstacle to the ethical need people have to be autonomous, to be useful, to contribute to the social good, or simply to avoid boredom. In Idleness, the first book to challenge modern philosophy's portrayal of inactivity, Brian O'Connor argues that the case against an indifference to work and effort is flawed-and that idle aimlessness may instead allow for the highest form of freedom.
Reviews / Votes
"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 189 mm
Width: 114 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
229 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-20450-5 (9780691204505)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
08/2018
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€22.49
Available for download
Person
Brian O'Connor is professor of philosophy at University College Dublin and the author of Adorno and Adorno's Negative Dialectic.