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Seriously bored: Schopenhauer on solitary confinement, by David Bather Woods

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5902/2179378667888

Keywords:

Schopenhauer, boredom, solitary confinement, penitentiary

Abstract

Primary textual evidence confirms that Schopenhauer was aware of the widespread adoption of solitary confinement in the American penitentiary system, and some of its harmful effects. He understands its harmfulness in terms of boredom, a phenomenon which he is known to have given extensive thought and analysis. In this paper I interpret Schopenhauer’s account of boredom and its relation to solitary confinement. I defend Schopenhauer against the objection that cases of confinement only serve to illustrate the general inadequacy of his explanation of boredom in terms of a lack of things to will. This defence arrives at the conclusion that, on the contrary, someone might well suffer from a lack of things to will as a direct result of being confined; and that boredom understood as the deprivation of willing, a phenomenon I suggest may be called conative deprivation, makes an illuminating contribution to our theoretical understanding of the harmfulness of solitary confinement.

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Author Biographies

Gustavo Ruiz da Silva, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP), SP, Brasil

Pesquisador do PPG em Filosofia da PUC-SP. Membro do "Grupo de Pesquisa Michel Foucault" (CNPq/PUC-SP), GT Ética e Filosofia Política (ANPOF/PUC-SP) e dos projetos de pesquisa "Imagem, Imaginação e Imagem de Si" (PUC-SP) e "Representações de árabes e africanos em fontes europeias, árabes e africanas" (USP). 

Alexandre de Lima Castro Tranjan, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), SP, Brasil

Graduando em Direito, pesquisador da Faculdade de Direito do Largo de São Francisco da Universidade de São Paulo (USP).

References

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Published

2022-02-01

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How to Cite

Silva, G. R. da, & Tranjan, A. de L. C. (2022). Seriously bored: Schopenhauer on solitary confinement, by David Bather Woods. Voluntas: International Journal of Philosophy, 12(2), e10. https://doi.org/10.5902/2179378667888

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2021): Estudos Schopenhauerianos + Dossiê O pensamento de Wittgenstein (Publicação Contínua) – Ed. 29

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Translations

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