Critique of Bored Reason: On the Confinement of the Modern Condition

Dmitri Nikulin's Critique of Bored Reason argues that boredom is a mark of modernity, providing a critical reconstruction of the modern subject as universal, rational, autonomous, and self-sufficient. It places boredom on center stage in the philosophical critique of modernity and considers the alternative to the notion of the autonomous subject in the dialogic and comic subject capable of shared existence with others.

Format: Hardback
Length: 328 pages
Publication date: 08 February 2022
Publisher: Columbia University Press

The roots of many fundamental ideas within the Western philosophical tradition can be traced back to ancient times. However, it is noteworthy that boredom seems to be notably absent from classical philosophical discourse. In this intellectual exploration, Dmitri Nikulin delves into the concept of genealogy to argue that boredom signifies the hallmark of modernity. Nikulin posits that boredom is a distinctively modern phenomenon. He offers a critical reinterpretation of the notion of the modern subject as a universal, rational, autonomous, and self-sufficient entity. Understanding oneself in this manner, the modern subject assumes the roles of the protagonist, playwright, director, and spectator in the theatrical drama of human existence. Consequently, this subject is inherently monological, solitary, and isolated, unable to transcend its own presence or rid itself of it. In simpler terms, the modern subject is bored, and this boredom serves as the fundamental manifestation and symptom of the modern condition.

By examining the works of such thinkers as Descartes, Pascal, Kant, Kierkegaard, Kracauer, Heidegger, and Benjamin, Critique of Bored Reason prominently features boredom as a central theme in the philosophical critique of modernity. Nikulin also explores the alternative to the notion of the autonomous subject in the nonbored and nonboring dialogic and comic subject capable of shared existence with others.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231189064