Idleness, Contemplation and the Aesthetic, 1750-1830

Reconstructing the literary and philosophical reaction to Adam Smith''s dictum that man is a labouring animal above and before all else, this study explores the many ways in which Romantic writers presented idle contemplation as the central activity in human life. By contrasting the British response to Smith''s political economy with that of contemporary German Idealists, Richard Adelman also uses...