Andreas Elpidorou, CCHS Faculty Fellow, Philosophy

By presenting and synthesizing findings on the character of boredom, its relationship to self-regulation, and the role of emotions in well-being, Professor Elpidorou advances a novel theoretical account of the function of the state of boredom and argues for boredom's significance and importance in our everyday lives. Boredom should be understood as a functional emotion that is both informative and regulatory of one's behavior. Boredom informs one of the presence of an unsatisfactory situation and, at the same time, it motivates the pursuit of a new goal when the current goal ceases to be satisfactory, attractive, or meaningful. Boredom ultimately promotes both movement and the restoration of the perception that one's activities are meaningful and congruent with one's overall projects. As such, boredom has the capacity to contribute to our well-being.

Andreas Elpidorou is a 2016-17 CCHS Faculty Fellow. He specializes in the philosophical study of the mind and has written extensively on the character of consciousness, cognition, and emotions. In his written work, he strives to offer clear, precise, and critical explications of aspects of our mental lives that often remain hidden from us. He is currently writing a book on the metaphysics of consciousness entitled Consciousness and the Spell of Physicalism (Routledge, forthcoming). As a CCHS Faculty Fellow, he will be working on a project on boredom that aims to articulate boredom's nature and value.