Damon Young (born 1975 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria) is an Australian philosopher, writer and commentator, and author of the books ''Distraction'', ''Philosophy in the Garden'' and ''How to Think About Exercise''. He is an Honorary Fellow in

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

Work

In 2013 Young won the Australasian Association of Philosophy's media prize for his public writing and broadcasting. Young is the author of ''Distraction'', an eclectic popular history of Western philosophy, focusing on themes such as attention to life and distraction from it, work, freedom and necessity. ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'' called it lacking in precision, saying its "central proposition – that new information technologies distract us from our common existential challenge – is never thoroughly probed" while London's ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' called it "lucid and optimistic". ''Philosophy in the Garden'', published in Australia in December 2012, was described by ''The Australian'' as "fluent and stylish and never marred by cliches or cliched thinking". It was published in the UK in April 2014 by Rider, an imprint of Random House, under the title ''Voltaire's Vine and Other Philosophies: How Gardens Inspired Great Writers''. Young's columns, reviews and features have been published in ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', ''The Australian'', ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

'',

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. He has written poetry and fiction for '' Overland'' and ''

Meanjin ''Meanjin'' (), formerly ''Meanjin Papers'' and ''Meanjin Quarterly'', is one of Australia's longest-running literary magazines. Established in 1940 in Brisbane, it moved to Melbourne in 1945 and as of 2008 is an editorially independent impri ...

'' magazines. Young regularly comments on radio, and has appeared on Channel 7 ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

'' and ABC TV. He was a regular panellist on

ABC Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

's ''

Life Matters ''Life Matters'' is a magazine-style radio program that has been broadcast on Radio National by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 1992. The first presenter was Geraldine Doogue, and the program is presented Monday to Thursday by Te ...

'', a monthly guest on ''Mornings'' with Alan Brough on 774 ABC Melbourne, and was "philosopher-in-residence" on ''Afternoons'' with James Valentine on ABC Sydney 702, and "sports philosopher" with Francis Leach on

1116 SEN 1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria, Australia. Owned and operated by Sports Entertainment Group, it broadcasts a sports radio format. It commenced broadcasting on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the station currently ...

.Damon Young
/ref>

Bibliography

Books

''Philosophy in the Garden''

Melbourne University Publishing Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) is the book publishing arm of the University of Melbourne. The press is currently a member of the Association of University Presses The Association of University Presses (AUPresses) is an association of no ...

, 2012 (Australian edition). .
''Distraction''

, 2008 (Australian edition). ;

Acumen Publishing Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...

, 2010 (UK/US edition). . *
Martial Arts and Philosophy
', edited with Graham Priest, Open Court Publishing, 2010. . *
How To Think About Exercise
',

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

, 2014. . *
The Art of Reading
'.

, 2016. * ''On Getting Off'' (2020)

Articles

*"Being Grateful for Being: Being, Reverence and Finitude", ''Sophia'' 44 2 (2005): 31–53. *"The Fine Arts of Distinction: Bourdieu on Society and Art", ''The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art'' 7 2 (2006). *"Bowing to Your Enemies: Courtesy, Budo and Japan", ''Philosophy East and West'' 59 2 (2009): 188–215. * "You don't need Jesus to enjoy Christmas", ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (20/12/10), p. 7. * "The crisis and the cure", ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', News Review (1/1/11), p. 13. * "Turn video games into more than child's play", ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (14/1/11), p. 9 * "Legalizing mixed martial arts in New York", ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'' (16/1/11), p. 13. * "Research the name of the game", ''The Australian'', Higher Education (2/3/11), p. 5. * "Super-rich exceptions are closer to being the rule", ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', News Review (2/4/11), p. 16. * "Familiarity breeds content for grand old gallery's loyal patrons", ''The Age'' (21/4/11), p. 13.

Poetry

* "The Idea of a Great Gallery", ''Overland'' 179 (2005): 41. * "Howard Watches the Oscars and Weeps With Joy", ''Overland'' 174 (2004): 124.

Short fiction

* "The Lesson", ''Meanjin'' 67 4 (2008), pp. 128–35.

Critical studies and reviews of Young's work

;''On Getting Off'' * ——————— ;Notes and full bibliographic citations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Damon 20th-century Australian philosophers Continental philosophers Australian metaphysicians 1975 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Melbourne People from Melbourne