Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The scent of time
A Philosophical Essay on the Art of Lingering
By Byung-Chul Han
Published 1st September 2017 by Polity Books (Part of Wiley)
Paperback 146 pages
Price: £9.99
ISBN 9781509516056
In his philosophical reflections on the art of lingering, acclaimed cultural theorist Byung-Chul Han argues that the value we attach to ceaseless activity is producing a crisis in our sense of time. The hyperactivity which characterizes our daily routines robs human beings of the capacity to linger and the faculty of contemplation. It therefore becomes impossible to experience time as fulfilling.
Han argues that we can overcome this temporal crisis only by relearning the art of lingering. For what distinguishes humans from other animals is the capacity for reflection and contemplation, and when life regains this capacity, this art of lingering, it gains in time and space, in duration and vastness.
Drawing on a range of thinkers including Heidegger, Nietzsche and Arendt, Han argues that we can overcome this temporal crisis only by relearning the art of lingering. For what distinguishes humans from other animals is the capacity for reflection and contemplation, and when life regains this capacity, this art of lingering, it gains in time and space, in duration and vastness.
Byung-Chul Han is a Korean-born Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Studies who teaches at the University of the Arts in Berlin. He is the author of more than 20 books. Polity has committed to translating his work into English, and The Scent of Time will shortly be followed by Saving Beauty, which also publishes in Fall 17, and other titles in 2018.
While the notion of this book about the need for deceleration of our lives is good and true the book itself is very much a serious philosophical work that is not something for the reader looking for a how-to approach. It is also rather heavy reading so not s book for anyone thinking to get a light read for bedtime.
Many of the points made are extremely valuable and important though it would have been good if G-d would have been left out of the discussion. Alas, time and again the author harps on about G-d in the book.
Notwithstanding the above our lives have become far too hectic and fast and we seem to want to go faster and faster still. In doing so we miss the entire point. More productivity say the capitalists, more growth, more experiences. But what for? For our own sake and for that of the Planet we need to slow down life and everything that goes with it.
© 2017
