Moderation, Work and its Fruit in Contemporary Societies

Authors

  • Małgorzata Hołda Akademia Ignatianum w Krakowie

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15633/lie.2337

Keywords:

moderation, consumer societies, logic, work, fruit, subversion

Abstract

Moderation, traditionally considered to be a value, in consumer societies seems to be understood differently or disappear altogether; overall, it ceases to be something desirable or something rewarding the hardship which ensues from work. According to Jean Baudrillard, contemporary French philosopher, a logical approach to commodities and objects in which work precedes its fruit, nowadays, is undergoing a severe deconstructive process. Phenomena such as buying on credit, as well as acquiring objects immediately and without any effort are becoming an abiding norm, whereas a lack of moderation and a growth in hedonistic attitudes are on a noticeable increase. The aim of this article is an analysis of the phenomena which lead to a subversion of a traditionally established logic – work precedes its fruit just as cause precedes its result. The article focuses on the new ethics begotten by consumer societies; the ethics in which work, frugality, thrift and moderation are no longer perceived as values which enable us to gain and enlarge our social status.

Author Biography

  • Małgorzata Hołda, Akademia Ignatianum w Krakowie
    Małgorzata Hołda – dr, autorka licznych artykułów na temat postmodernizmu, filozofii, kultury i literatury postmodernistycznej. Zainteresowania badawcze: hermeneutyka filozoficzna, hermeneutyka osoby Paula Ricoeura i Hansa­‑Georga Gadamera, feno­me­no­logia, filozofia dialogu, filozofia postmodernistyczna. Wybrane publikacje: Aporia of Time in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and “Kew Gardens” in the Light of Paul Ricoeur’s Hermeneutics, w: Old Challenges and New Horizons in English and American Studies, ed. A. Walczuk, W. Witalisz, Frankfurt am Main–Berlin 2014; Unreliable Stories, Vacillating Borders and Impossible Possibilities – An Attempt At a Deconstructive Reading of Graham Swift’s Short Story “Seraglio”, “Scientific Journal of College of Management, Law and Languages of Siauliai Region”, 2008; Whose Body is This? Playing with the Body Politics in Malcolm Bradbury’s “Composition” and “Miniature Golf”, w: Corporeal Inscriptions: Representations of the Body in Cultural and Literary Texts and Practices, ed. E. Lorek­‑Jezińska, K. Więckowska, Toruń 2004.

References

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Published

2018-02-01

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