Lost in Thought Lost in Thought

Lost in Thought

The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life

    • 14,99 €
    • 14,99 €

Publisher Description

An invitation to readers from every walk of life to rediscover the impractical splendors of a life of learning

In an overloaded, superficial, technological world, in which almost everything and everybody is judged by its usefulness, where can we turn for escape, lasting pleasure, contemplation, or connection to others? While many forms of leisure meet these needs, Zena Hitz writes, few experiences are so fulfilling as the inner life, whether that of a bookworm, an amateur astronomer, a birdwatcher, or someone who takes a deep interest in one of countless other subjects. Drawing on inspiring examples, from Socrates and Augustine to Malcolm X and Elena Ferrante, and from films to Hitz's own experiences as someone who walked away from elite university life in search of greater fulfillment, Lost in Thought is a passionate and timely reminder that a rich life is a life rich in thought.

Today, when even the humanities are often defended only for their economic or political usefulness, Hitz says our intellectual lives are valuable not despite but because of their practical uselessness. And while anyone can have an intellectual life, she encourages academics in particular to get back in touch with the desire to learn for its own sake, and calls on universities to return to the person-to-person transmission of the habits of mind and heart that bring out the best in us.

Reminding us of who we once were and who we might become, Lost in Thought is a moving account of why renewing our inner lives is fundamental to preserving our humanity.

GENRE
Non-Fiction
RELEASED
2020
26 May
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
240
Pages
PUBLISHER
Princeton University Press
SIZE
865.6
KB

More Books by Zena Hitz

A Philosopher Looks at the Religious Life A Philosopher Looks at the Religious Life
2023
Pensativos Pensativos
2022

Customers Also Bought

Magnificent Rebels Magnificent Rebels
2022
Conscious Conscious
2019
Ultralearning Ultralearning
2019
Crossroads Crossroads
2021
Stillness Is the Key Stillness Is the Key
2019
Braiding Sweetgrass Braiding Sweetgrass
2013