Otium, or Studious Leisure
Miscellaneous readings
Seneca's moral letters to Lucilius (in Latin: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium) can offer a precise definition of the principles of Otium.
Fergus Quinlan, The Republic of Reason & The Poverty of Philosophy. (Pylades Publications, 2015). The targets are the Church (he's Irish and the Church is still omnipresent in the country), education at school and universities, politics and more.
Umberto Eco, The name of the rose, 1994. A classical but still relevant especially in our days where books and library are in a complete mutation and where knowledge is now easily accessible.
Jean Jacques Rousseau, Reveries of the Solitary Walker : The book is a kind of journal of daydreams told by Rousseau.
Junichirô Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows, 1977. Really poetic.
Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 1964.
George Orwell, 1984, 1964. Still pertinent.
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 1953. Our relation with books in a near future.
Aldous Huxley, Brave new world, 1932.
Hervey de Saint-Denys, Dreams and the Ways to Direct Them. Practical Observations, 1982.
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish. The Birth of Prison, 1995.
Hannah Arendt, La Condition de l'homme moderne. Pocket.
Mona Chollet, Beauté fatale. Les nouveaux visages de l'aliénation féminine. La découverte/Poche.
