This book predicts that the world will end “to general applause from wits who believe it’s a joke,” like a clown who is applauded when he tries to warn the audience about a fire in a theater. The “Platitudinous Introduction” to a chapter of this book argues that neither “subject-matter” nor “formative activity” can be used alone as a principle of classification for classic works of art. This book notes that all of creation took place out of boredom to illustrate the idea that “boredom is a root of all evil” in a chapter that advocates constantly changing the “mode of cultivation.” (10[1])Mozart’s Don Giovanni is analyzed in a chapter on “the immediate stages of the erotic” in this book, which also includes sections called “Diapsalmata” (“dee-ahp-sahl-MAH-tah”) and “Crop Rotation.” For 10 points, the distinction between the aesthetic and ethical lives is the subject of what 1843 book by Søren Kierkegaard ■END■