In Praise of Laziness and Other Essays

In Praise of Laziness and Other Essays PDF Author: Indrjait Hazra
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 8194643082
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 133

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Book Description
A cross between a collection of philosophical investigations and idle banter, In Praise of Laziness and Other Essays, is a celebration of what Milan Kundera defined as ‘Mystification: the active form of refusing to take the world seriously’. From an Erasmian encomium to laziness, a literary forensic report on the adult years of Sukumar Ray’s Pagla Dashu and Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, the joys of staying indoors, to the exquisite pleasures of an electric blanket—and with a science fiction story on colonisation bunged in—this book is the equivalent of a meandering river in which the reader dips his or her toes in, not knowing whether a dolphin will come by or a piranha take a snap. This is a book that’s equal parts serious as well as frivolous, except you never quite know which parts are which.

In Praise of Laziness and Other Essays

In Praise of Laziness and Other Essays PDF Author: Indrjait Hazra
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 8194643082
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 133

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Book Description
A cross between a collection of philosophical investigations and idle banter, In Praise of Laziness and Other Essays, is a celebration of what Milan Kundera defined as ‘Mystification: the active form of refusing to take the world seriously’. From an Erasmian encomium to laziness, a literary forensic report on the adult years of Sukumar Ray’s Pagla Dashu and Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, the joys of staying indoors, to the exquisite pleasures of an electric blanket—and with a science fiction story on colonisation bunged in—this book is the equivalent of a meandering river in which the reader dips his or her toes in, not knowing whether a dolphin will come by or a piranha take a snap. This is a book that’s equal parts serious as well as frivolous, except you never quite know which parts are which.

In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays

In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays PDF Author: Bertrand Russell
Publisher: Unwin Hyman
ISBN: 9780043040065
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Intolerance and bigotry lie at the heart of all human suffering. So claims Bertrand Russell at the outset of "In Praise of Idleness," a collection of essays in which he espouses the virtues of cool reflection and free enquiry; a voice of calm in a world of maddening unreason. With characteristic clarity and humour, Russell surveys the social and political consequences of his beliefs. From a devastating critique of the ancestry of fascism to a vehement defense of 'useless' knowledge, with consideration given to everything from insect pests to the human soul, " In Praise of Idleness " is a tour de force that only Bertrand Russell could perform.

In Praise of Idleness

In Praise of Idleness PDF Author: Bertrand Russell
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000158489
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
Intolerance and bigotry lie at the heart of all human suffering. So claims Bertrand Russell at the outset of In Praise of Idleness, a collection of essays in which he espouses the virtues of cool reflection and free enquiry; a voice of calm in a world of maddening unreason. From a devastating critique of the ancestry of fascism to a vehement defence of 'useless' knowledge, with consideration given to everything from insect pests to the human soul, this is a tour de force that only Bertrand Russell could perform.

In Praise of Idleness

In Praise of Idleness PDF Author: Bertrand Russell
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
ISBN: 1250098718
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Considered 'the Voltaire of his time', Bertrand Russell was a fearless iconoclast who stood unbowed before political and religious leaders; his disdain for conventional thinking and accepted beliefs set him apart from his academic peers and at odds with the authorities throughout his long and storied life. In his celebrated essay, In Praise of Idleness, Russell champions the seemingly incongruous notion that realising our full potential – and thus enjoying the greatest possible success and happiness – is not accomplished by working harder or smarter, but through harnessing the extraordinary power of idleness. Russell's penetrating insights and exquisite turns of phrase feel as fresh and relevant today as when they were first written. Arguing that we can achieve far more by doing far less, and that traditional wealth accumulation is a form of cultural and moral poverty, Russell demands greater depth from our age of abundant creativity and heralds the next wave of enlightened entrepreneurs. Replete with a new introduction and afterword, and interspersed with comic illustrations, informative notes plus a curated selection of Russell's best quotes from many of his acclaimed works, this unique edition of In Praise Of Idleness is given new life by New York Times best-selling author and internationally acclaimed humourist, Bradley Trevor Greive. --

Idleness

Idleness PDF Author: Brian O'Connor
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691204500
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
"For millennia, idleness and laziness have been regarded 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 worked hard to develop new reasons to denigrate idleness. 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. Idleness explores how some of the most influential modern philosophers drew a direct connection between making the most of our humanity and avoiding laziness. Idleness was dismissed as contrary to the need people have to become autonomous and make whole, integrated beings of themselves (Kant); to be useful (Kant and Hegel); to accept communal norms (Hegel); to contribute to the social good by working (Marx); and to avoid boredom (Schopenhauer and de Beauvoir). O'Connor throws doubt on all these arguments, presenting a sympathetic vision of the inactive and unserious that draws on more productive ideas about idleness, from ancient Greece through Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, Schiller and Marcuse's thoughts about the importance of play, and recent critiques of the cult of work. A thought-provoking reconsideration of productivity for the twenty-first century, Idleness shows that, from now on, no theory of what it means to have a free mind can exclude idleness from the conversation."--Provided by publisher

In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays

In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780203574201
Category : Social problems
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Quotidiana

Quotidiana PDF Author: Patrick Madden
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 0803230052
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
Reflecting on Montaigne, Virginia Woolf remarked, "The most common actions-a walk, a talk, solitude in one's own orchard-can be enhanced and lit up by the association of the mind." In Quotidiana, Patrick Madden illuminates these common actions and seemingly commonplace moments, making connections that revise and reconfigure the overlooked and underappreciated.

Labour of Laziness in Twentieth-Century American Literature

Labour of Laziness in Twentieth-Century American Literature PDF Author: Zuzanna Ladyga
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474442943
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
This text argues that major twentieth-century American writers such as Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, John Barth, Donald Barthelme, and David Foster Wallace provocatively challenge the ethos of productivity by filtering their ethical interventions through culturally stigmatised imagery of laziness.

Anarchism and Other Essays

Anarchism and Other Essays PDF Author: Emma Goldman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Anarchism
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description


Laziness Does Not Exist

Laziness Does Not Exist PDF Author: Devon Price
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982140119
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
A social psychologist uncovers the psychological basis of the "laziness lie," which originated with the Puritans and has ultimately created blurred boundaries between work and life with modern technologies and offers advice for not succumbing to societal pressure to "do more."