Acedia and Its Discontents: Metaphysical Boredom in an Empire of Desire - Softcover

Snell, R. J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1621381269 ISBN 13: 9781621381266

Publisher: Angelico Press, 2015

Synopsis

While the term acedia may be unfamiliar, the vice, usually translated as sloth, is all too common. Sloth is not mere laziness, however, but a disgust with reality, a loathing of our call to be friends with God, and a spiteful hatred of place and life itself. As described by Josef Pieper, the slothful person does not “want to be as God wants him to be, and that ultimately means he does not wish to be what he really, fundamentally is.” Sloth is a hellish despair.

Our own culture is deeply infected, choosing a destructive freedom rather than the good work for which God created us. Acedia and Its Discontents resists despair, calling us to reconfigure our imaginations and practices in deep love of the life and work given by God. By feasting, keeping sabbath, and working well, we learn to see the world as enchanting, beautiful, and good—just as God sees it.

About this title

About the Author

R. J. SNELL is professor of philosophy at Eastern University in St. Davids, PA, and executive director of the Agora Institute for Civic Virtue and the Common Good. His recent books include Authentic Cosmopolitanism (with Steve Cone) and The Perspective of Love: Natural Law in a New Mode. He and his wife have four young children.

Edition details

• Publisher: Angelico Press
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1621381269
• ISBN 13: 9781621381266
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144