Description
Book SynopsisWe think of the Enlightenment as an era dominated by ideas of progress, production, and industry - not an era that favored the lax and indolent individual. But was the Enlightenment only about the unceasing improvement of self and society? This title examines moral, political, and economic treatises of the period.
Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2012 "For Saint-Amand, the heroes of his book are figures of resistance. In their non-productivity, they provide a glimpse of a new ethics of freedom that runs counter to the demands of the bourgeois capitalist order... It is hard not to be seduced by his argument."--Jeremy Jennings, Times Higher Education Supplement "[An] intriguing little book."--Jeremy Jennings, Times Higher Education "I relished Pierre Saint-Amand's short, beguiling volume The Pursuit of Laziness for its astutely subversive take on Enlightenment workaholism. Saint-Amand concentrates on Enlightenment figures like the artist Chardin, who painted someone blowing a large bubble with a straw, or Joseph Joubert, who thought that lying in bed a lot was ideal for the writing life."--Robert Crawford, Sunday Herald (Glasgow) "Until now, extreme laziness has rarely featured as the cornerstone of a substantive rereading of the Enlightenment project as a whole. Saint-Amand focuses primarily on Diderot's and Rousseau's defense of the idle life as a kind of secular bliss. The author makes a strong case for distinguishing the utilitarian program of calculation and task efficiency from aesthetic reveries and world-open stance of philosophers... Exceedingly well researched, [The Pursuit of Laziness] fills an important lacuna in understanding Enlightenment attitudes and literary practices and brings to light several overlooked sources that give pause to the predominant understanding of the Enlightenment ethos. Penned in French, this work is now available in an admirably clear and readable translation."--Choice
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Idle Nation Chapter 1: The Surprises of Laziness 17 Marivaux Chapter 2: Chardin's Slowness 38 Chapter 3: The Great Project of an Idle Life 51 Rousseau Chapter 4: Paradox of the Idler 76 Diderot Chapter 5: Philosophy on the Pillow 100 Joubert Epilogue: Toward Moderation 119 Notes 125 Bibliography 143 Index 151
