Did any philosophers discuss overcoming ennui/boredom?
I read this question and its answer, but I am less interested in a definition of boredom and more interested in direct approaches or theories that aim at removing it.
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1Outside of “find something interesting to do”, what exactly are you hoping for in terms of an answer here...? Is there anything specifically you think philosophy might have to suggest here? – Joseph Weissman♦ Oct 17 '17 at 14:49
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I thought there might be some philosopher who might have approached it in a less dismissive fashion... I'm reading The ontology of boredom now and I'll quote: "but boredom is the challenge to find anything worthy of interest," I thought that if so many philosophers spent time describing it they might have thought of some ways to conquer it. – hellyale Oct 17 '17 at 15:01
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2David Foster Wallace (who did academic philosophy before going on to the literary world) wrote about boredom extensively (both philosophically in essays and thematically in his novels and short stories). I'd recommend reading his book The Pale King, it is entirely about how to understand and deal with boredom. It is a huge theme in Infinite Jest of course, but he also discusses it in a non narrative way in his essays "This Is Water" and "E Unibus Pluram". – Not_Here Oct 17 '17 at 15:10
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1You are asking to address a symptom, not a disease. For the symptom, if it itches, scratch it. Find something to do. Young people seem to think the answer to boredom is to find pleasure. Pleasure is not the answer, it exhausts fast and causes you to delay the solution, and your lifetime is limited. For the disease, you can read Theodor Adorno, Free Time. – RodolfoAP Oct 20 '17 at 4:16
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1Kierkegaard's pseudonym A in Either/Or looks at boredom and how to avoid it in the section called "Crop Rotation". There's also some Sartre on boredom (and specifically ennui) somewhere in Being and Nothingness. – virmaior Oct 22 '17 at 4:49
