Philosophy Forum - R. J. Snell

The Department of Philosophy welcomes R. J. Snell, professor of philosophy and director of the philosophy program, Eastern University. He will speak on “The Terrible Covenant of Sloth: Acedia and the Hatred of Being.”

Can acedia, often translated as sloth, be understood not simply as a personal vice but as deeply informing our cultural moment? Sloth is a lack of magnanimity, a failure to desire and will the fullness of our good, a perverted humility which rejects the good as making too many claims on our freedom. Rather than being magnanimous or great-souled, we’d rather be free. Oddly, sloth is less about laziness than we might think, and even our addiction to work reveals our sloth, our impatience with limits, our odd lust for power, and our addiction to autonomy and freedom.