Thesis advisor: Robert K. Faulkner / Why are men in modern societies so busy and anxious? Modern, liberal democratic society is distinguished both by the unprecedented strength and prosperity it has achieved, as well as its remarkable number of psychologists per capita. Why is this? This dissertation explores the connection between restlessness and modernity by way of an examination of the themes of liberalism and restlessness in the thought of Locke and Tocqueville. "Restlessness" refers to a way of life characterized by three features: limitless desires, mildness, and an orientation towards material goods. Tocqueville argues in <italic>Democracy in America<italic> that democracy, by way of individualism, makes men materialistic and restless (<italic>inquiét<italic>), or restlessly materialistic. The intense, limitless pursuit of material well-being is a historical phenomenon, one of the many results of the centuries-long development of equality of conditions. Modern democrats are restless; pre-modern aristocrats were not. Tocqueville is ambivalent about restlessness. According to him, the incessant, energetic movement of American life conceals an underlying absurdity and mediocrity. Many of what Tocqueville views as the more undesirable qualities of democratic American life are associated with restlessness, but any solution is likely to be worse than the problem. It could be worse: we must tolerate restlessness if we want to remain free. "All free peoples are grave." Locke by contrast could be described as a partisan of restlessness. The anxious understand the world better than the complacent or vegetative. There are two dimensions to Locke's teaching on restlessness, an "is" (found in <italic>Essay concerning Human Understanding<italic> Book II Chapter 21) and an "ought" (found in "Of Property," Chapter Five of the <italic>Second Treatise<italic>). Our desires are naturally limitless-this we can only understand, we cannot change it. But if we know what's good for us, we will orient ourselves towards a milder and more materialistic way of life. We master restlessness by becoming more restless, or restless in a more enlightened way. Locke's teaching on restlessness in the fullest sense is partly his account of necessity, and partly his recommended response to necessity. This difference in their views on restlessness points to certain important differences in their liberalisms. Tocqueville's liberalism is more pessimistic than Locke's: some fundamental problems have no solutions, and some of the highest goods cannot be reconciled with one another. Lockean liberalism is more confident about its ability to find solutions to the fundamental problems of political life, and there is no problem of the harmony of the goods for Locke. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

The discourse about commodification of time indicates that under the current socio-economic regime important values get systematically ignored. This paper reviews literature about the value of time in classical political economy, neoclassical economics, the household production approach, household economics, and activity models. Starting with neoclassical economics, all these approaches are largely in accordance with utilitarian methodology. Utilitarian methodology turns out to be incapable of explaining the value of time. The debate about "quality work" allows us to identify the following intrinsic values: power, playfulness, a sense of meaning, and a sense of belonging. These intrinsic values match with the "five sources of Motivation" in contemporary psychological research, which confirms the empirical relevance and irreducibility of these values for understanding behavior. We propose a definition of commodification of time and illustrate some of the potential effects of commodification of time.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:37:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Das Gracas Ramos Del Corso.pdf: 1256253 bytes, checksum: ede2a3701ccffdb2bcdac42f4c548afd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-10-10 / This work results from clinical experiences with children diagnosed with psychopathological problems. Looking at the different diagnostic configurations, often undefined, and at the therapeutic recommendations, the investigation intended to go beyond the field of symptomatology. The goal at play was to think about the framework where the phenomena that are usually taken as proofs of the psychopathology constitute mere signs of an invisible reality , which manifests itself through behaviors such as non-stop movements , never being quiet , doing for the sake of doing , that is, actions always accompanied by excesses, and by a lack of thinking . The work proposes the necessity of understanding at the service of what these phenomena occur, and of their implications. Based on psychoanalysis articulated the fundamental psychopathology, the work indicates the need of reading an uneasy state not only in its content e.g. as signified, but mainly as a signifier that has to be addressed case by case / Este trabalho teve origem na vivência clínica de atendimentos de crianças diagnosticadas como portadoras de problemas psicopatológicos. A partir das diversas configurações diagnósticas, muitas vezes indefinidas, e das recomendações terapêuticas, foi conduzida uma investigação que pretendeu ir além do campo da sintomatologia. O objetivo em pauta foi pensar o quadro no qual os fenômenos adotados como prova da existência de problemas psicopatológicos são apenas signos de uma realidade invisível, que se revela em comportamentos, como não parar , não ficar quieto/a , fazer por fazer , ou seja, atos sempre acompanhados de excessos, e de um não pensar . A proposição deste trabalho é a da necessidade de tentar entender a que estes fenômenos estão a serviço e suas implicações. Tomando como eixo condutor a psicanálise articulada à psicopatologia fundamental, o trabalho aponta para a necessidade de realizar uma leitura desse estado inquieto não só como significado, mas principalmente como um significante que precisa ser interrogado a cada caso

The diploma thesis is based on the personal experience of burnout and stagnation in artistic practice. It is a personal reflection of boredom and work with unpredictability. Works in several layers with art theory, existential subtext and subliminal humor.