1st Edition
The History and Philosophy of Boredom
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Histories of Boredom Andreas Elpidorou and Josefa Ros Velasco
Part 1: Ancient Philosophical Perspectives
1. Boredom as a Vice of the Mind. The Contrastive Method of Socratic Dialogue Laura Candiotto
2. East Side Story: Daoism and Buddhism on the Nature of Boredom Bongrae Seok
3. Ancient Cynics on Boredom: Only the Boring Are Bored Glenn M. Trujillo, Jr.
4. Boredom in Seneca’s Epistles: Sameness and Stoic Aesthetics Chiara Graf
Part 2: Religious and Medieval Explorations
5. Boredom in Jewish Tradition: Longing for Radical Amazement Erica Brown
6. The Sin of Our Age: Acedia in Early Christianity and in the Present Peter Toohey and Danielle Greenberg
7. Make Grace Come Green Again: Medieval Perspectives on Boredom Michael L. Raposa
8. Noetic Boredom: Acedia, Dejection, and the Virtues in the Philokalia and Tibetan Buddhism Thomas Cattoi
Part 3: Modern Philosophical Investigations
9. A Mental Diatetic to Avoid (European) Boredom: Kant as a Life Coach Nuria Sánchez Madrid
10. Boredom, Motivation, and the Value of Life: Schopenhauer, Mill, and Nietzsche Joshua Isaac Fox
11. Boredom in Philosophical Pessimism: Philipp Mainländer Ignacio Moya Arriagada
12. Boredom, Despair, and Faith in Kierkegaard Megan Altman and Adam Buben
Part 4: Critical and Interdisciplinary Approaches
13. Is There Intentionality in Boredom? Phenomenological Perspectives Carmen López Sáenz
14. The Experience of Boredom in Classical Contemporaneity Josefa Ros Velasco
15. Spectacular Desolation: Boredom as a Political Phenomenon Elizabeth S. Goodstein
16. Capitalism, Socialism, Boredom: The “Object as Comrade” Michael E. Gardiner
17. Racialized Boredom Sierra Sheard and Andreas Elpidorou
18. Transhumanism: The tedium and Dilemmas of Transcending the Mortal Condition Esther Sánchez González.
Index
Biography
Andreas Elpidorou is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Louisville, USA. His books include The Anatomy of Boredom (2025), and Propelled: How Boredom, Frustration, and Anticipation Lead Us to the Good Life (2020).
Josefa Ros Velasco holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and has received the Spanish National Research Award in 2022. Currently, she is a Professor at ESIC University and leads as PI the “PRE-BORED” project, funded by the EU H2020 program. She is the author of The Disease of Boredom (2025).
