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Full Description
From Pascal to contemporary anxieties about attention, we have constantly been urged to avoid distraction if we want to live and work better. But Alessandra Aloisi argues that we are missing the point.Drawing on a broad range ofEuropean philosophy and literature, this book considers distraction not as an expression of human imperfection, but as a creative, subversive, and aesthetic capability.
In contrast to the traditional accounts, from Saint Augustine to Robert Burton, which either associated distraction with sin or considered it as a symptom of melancholy, Aloisi argues that it is often precisely when we stop thinking about something that inspiration finds us. Why else are artists described as having their heads in the clouds? This book demonstrates the serendipity of distraction through close readings of cultural and visual sources ranging from the mathematician Poincaré to the Netflix show, Black Mirror.
With inspiration from La Bruyère, Rousseau, Leopardi, Stendhal, Baudelaire, and others, Aloisi further examines the political value of distraction. After all, in an age of ubiquitous technology and 24/7 availability fighting for our attention, distraction provides what Bergson called a 'slight revolt' from the codes and behaviors that society dictates.
Combining philosophy, literature, art, and politics, The Power of Distraction encourages us to think differently about our attention and considers just how productive daydreams can be.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: Divertissement
1. Montaigne and Pascal, or the Difference between Ethics and Morality
2. The Sublime Misanthropist
3. A Man Alone in a Room
4. Maine de Biran Criticizing (Voltaire Criticizing) Pascal
5. Assault on the Inner Citadel
6. Chasing a Hare
7. The Theory of Pleasure
Chapter 2: The Power of Flies
1. Augustine and Pascal
2. Serendipity
3. A Distracted Mathematician
4. Distraction and Trains of Thought
5. What is Essential is (In)visible to the Eye
6. Involuntary Memory
7. The Spider and the Connoisseur
8. 'The Entire History of You'
Chapter 3: Rêverie
1. Dreams, Reveries, and Fantasies
2. Reveries and Childhood
3. Journey, Movement, and Solitude
4. Distraction and Automatism
5. The System of the Soul and the Beast, or the Dangers of Distraction
6. Distraction and Somnambulism
7. Reveries and the History of Madness
8. Distraction and Common Sense
9. Idleness and Laziness
Conclusion: Distraction and Laughter
Bibliography
Index
