A Tract on Materialism
A Tract on Materialism
> Image Above is Generated Using Stable Diffusion with [title] as the primary prompt
> Other images were generated in similar manner with section titles as primary prompt
What Is Materialism: Possession And Display
Materialism [in the philosophical sense] is the firmly held belief that either (1) the possession or (2) the display of material either (a) will or (b) has the potential to bring a form of persistent satisfaction, perhaps satisfaction that could outlast the material itself. In its first form, it can be rightly called ‘pure’ and ‘formal materialism’. It is pure insofar as its end is itself; and it is formal insofar as its object is itself. The second species may be called ‘communal materialism’. It is communal insofar as its existence presupposes a community the likes of which the displayer can interact with. Though they are thus distinguishable, these two strains are nonetheless equally ‘materialistic’. For a less stringent analysis; the former may be termed the ‘hoarding’ type and the latter termed the ‘flexing’ type. Alternatively, they may be divided as ‘private’ and ‘public’ materialism.
Having Vs Using
Materialism is not simply owning material. A philosophical view can rightly be called
‘Anti-materialist’ even if it doesn’t swear off the ownership of material possessions (ie. if it isn’t the most extreme forms of cynicism, primitivism or asceticism). The possession of material is not in contradiction with an opposition to materialism. One useful and mostly accurate heuristic to distinguish materialistic possession from non-materialistic possession is a ‘having’ vs ‘using’ test. In most instances; the end of a materialistic possession is in possession itself, ie. it is in having the object. In contrast, the end of non-materialistic possession is typically the use-value the object, ie. it is in using the object.
For example, I own an electric guitar. This guitar represents a material possession that I have. On most days I would play this guitar in private for over two hours, or more at my leisure. This playing brings me great happiness and a small degree of satisfaction and contentment. These instances of those particular experiences are dependent upon my guitar. Ie. that happiness and satisfaction is dependent on a material object. Nonetheless they do not have materialism as their origin, nor is my possession materialistic, nor is my pursuit a material one. This is because, although a material object (the guitar) is necessary for those particular incidences of those experiences, neither the possession nor the display of that object is their cause nor sufficient for their production. Rather, it is in the use of that object (ie. playing guitar) that they are produced. Because that use cannot be material in itself (ie. it depends on some faculties of my mind and skill of my body) and because that material is not sufficient for that production (ie. the production does not rest on the material), the possession cannot be materialistic in nature.
Consumerism: Acquisitional Materialism
Another species of materialism, perhaps the most pervasive and certainly the most modern, is consumerism. Consumerism is either the belief, or the tendency to believe, that the consumption of material items (ie. economic goods) either has the potential to or actually will bring fulfilment to the consumer. This consumption may, in theory, extend to services but is archetypically restricted to objects.
The consumerist mindset is one which has grown in parallel to the availability of its objects. Consumerism requires some object (ie. an economic good) to be consumed. Historically, such objects were incredibly scarce (compared to modern scenarios). As a result, consumerism was artificially throttled in the past (Trentmann 2016). Persons outside the upper class did not have the opportunity to fall into this perspective and thus tended towards other, often anti-consumerist, mindsets. This is a likely influence on the historical narrative of the materialistic or hedonistic degenerate elites who swim in pools of gold and find happiness in the face of a coin. Moving into modernity however, the economic advancements made in the age of industrialisation and the digital age has eliminated most forms of class scarcity and opened consumer markets to all but the absolute poorest, primarily those in developing nations. For better or worse, the average person can now buy and consume at a rate which could even exceed the Dukes of post-industrial societies who were constrained not only by technological deficiency but also by supply restrictions (Barber, A 2021).
In modern society, because of the ability for widespread consumer demand, the overwhelming majority of industry has turned to consumer goods. This enables a gargantuan supply output of consumeristic items, broadly available to the average worker. Further, this average worker, living now after the death of God, the collapse of community, the digital revolution, and the dynamization of culture, has few traditional routes of fulfilment available to them. Religion is dying, the family collapsing, community disappearing, and culture revolving. Where then are they to look? They have before them three ways; the ways of the dead, the ways of the living, and the ways of the will. Most will take up values with their co-existers and join the ways of the living. These ways, because of the current material conditions, are increasingly materialistic and increasingly consumerist. It is no surprise then that consumerism is on the rise.
Materialism: A Natural Flaw And A Rational Evolutionary Strategy
Not only may materialistic tendencies be rising, they may also be rational, at least from an evolutionary perspective. If you are willing to make conjectures on evolutionary psychology, then there is something to be said for materialism. Evolutionarily, if an individual hoards material, there are certain scenarios in which they will better outlast competing agents and thus set the genetic and perhaps psychological landscape for future generations. Further, if this hoarding is produced not by a trivial desire for utility but by an ingrained fanaticism for possession, the hoarding will be all the more rabid and the outcome all the better. If this is the case then it may be that materialism is a natural flaw in our programming. One which was historically useful and thus which were incentivised to develop. In this regard, it belongs to the same class as other useful but primitive beliefs such as xenophobia, bigotry, chauvenism, nationalism, authoritarianism, and all manner of in-out group forming views. As with these views, it is one we must outgrow if we are to blossom in our new age of dominance.
Materialism And Modernity
Prevalence Of And Increase In Materialism
As previously asserted, materialism is in many ways synonymous with modernity. This synonymity is likely due to its requirements; namely a large consumer base and liberalised economies, being fulfilled in this period. Generations are becoming increasingly consumerist as time marches onwards. In one sense, modernity is consuming our morality (Kanner, B 2001).
Of particular use here is a meta-analysis published in 2012 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Twenge, Campbell & Freeman). That meta-analysis compiled the results of at least three independent studies (and their analysis) conducted on differing generations on topics relating to materialism. In the first study analysed, for example, two datasets - high school seniors and first-year college students - were surveyed across generations (Boomer, Gen X, Millennial) as to their purported life goals. In the high school dataset; we see that the non-materialist life goals ‘Finding purpose and meaning in my life’, ‘Being a leader in my community’, and ‘having strong friendships’ all fall in importance over time. Curiously though, in this dataset, many of the materialist goals also fall. In the next dataset, however, things are much more dire. As to first year college students, the non-materialistic life goals ‘developing a meaningful philosophy of life’, ‘Keeping up to date with political affairs’, ‘Becoming involved in programs to clean up the environment’, ‘Participating in a community action program’, and ‘Helping to promote racial understanding’ all fall in importance over time. More shocking is that the archetypal materialist goal: ‘Being very well off financially’ experiences a radical jump of 63% in relative importance between the generations of Boomers and Millennials (over ~34 years, ~2% a year increase) or a more radical jump of 55% between the generations of Boomers and Gen X (Just 13 years, ~4% per year increase). The subsequent studies analysed in that paper report similar results.
In short; materialism is on the rise. Non-materialist views are declining. Community focused philosophies are declining and being replaced with individualist ones.
The Ascetic Conjecture: Material and Mental Illness
Put simply; the ascetic or cynic conjecture is the assertion that humans are either (1) healthier or (2) more fulfilled in a state which lacks the temporal happiness granted by materialism. When this conjecture is applied to bodily health, it is clearly ludicrous. Applied to fulfilment or mental health, the case is much more formidable.
Fulfilment
Hedonism is the arch-enemy of fulfilment. Historically a charge of hedonism was a slanderous assault against any serious philosopher of happiness. Yet, beginning with the ancient Greek atomists and hedonic epicureans, materialism and hedonism have developed an intertwined history. Though it is incredibly important that modern hedonism is little more than a twisted shadow of what hedonism once was. To emphasise this point; consider the following passages written by Epicurus himself:
“We must also reflect that of desires some are natural, others are groundless; and that of the natural some are necessary as well as natural, and some natural only. And of the necessary desires some are necessary if we are to be happy, some if the body is to be rid of uneasiness, some if we are even to live. He who has a clear and certain understanding of these things will direct every preference and aversion toward securing health of body and tranquillity of mind, seeing that this is the sum and end of a happy life. For the end of all our actions is to be free from pain and fear, and, when once we have attained all this, the tempest of the soul is laid; seeing that the living creature has no need to go in search of something that is lacking, nor to look anything else by which the good of the soul and of the body will be fulfilled. When we are pained pleasure, then, and then only, do we feel the need of pleasure. For this reason we call pleasure the alpha and omega of a happy life. Pleasure is our first and kindred good. It is the starting-point of every choice and of every aversion, and to it we come back, inasmuch as we make feeling the rule by which to judge of every good thing. And since pleasure is our first and native good, for that reason we do not choose every pleasure whatever, but often pass over many pleasures when a greater annoyance ensues from them. And often we consider pains superior to pleasures when submission to the pains for a long time brings us as a consequence a greater pleasure.”
(Epicurus n.d.)
“When we say, then, that pleasure is the end and aim, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality, as we are understood to do by some through ignorance, prejudice, or willful misrepresentation. By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul. It is not an unbroken succession of drinking-bouts and of merrymaking, not sexual love, not the enjoyment of the fish and other delicacies of a luxurious table, which produce a pleasant life; it is sober reasoning, searching out the grounds of every choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs through which the greatest disturbances take possession of the soul”
(Epicurus n.d.)
This history and its slow bastardisation has not gone unnoticed by philosophers external to that tradition. Perhaps most succinctly; Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his Discourse on Inequality (n.d.), polemically remarks:
“The simplicity and solitude of man's life in this new condition, the paucity of his wants, and the implements he had invented to satisfy them, left him a great deal of leisure, which he employed to furnish himself with many conveniences unknown to his fathers: and this was the first yoke he inadvertently imposed on himself, and the first source of the evils he prepared for his descendants. For, besides continuing thus to enervate both body and mind, these conveniences lost with use almost all their power to please, and even degenerated into real needs, till the want of them became far more disagreeable than the possession of them had been pleasant. Men would have been unhappy at the loss of them, though the possession did not make them happy”
(n.d., pp. 27-28)
Contemporarily, violent strains of anti-materialism have begun appearing and, as with all reactionary movements, will continue to struggle and to develop so long as its anti-thesis continues to progress until the one or the other is destroyed, dominated, or synthesised. It is this struggle which influences various esoteric anachronistic philosophies appearing in western societies. From Ecofascism to Anarcho-Primitivism, the struggle against rampant consumerism is on the rise and will only get harsher. Unfulfilled by modern materialism, people will turn to radical, and violent solutions. Of course, the poster boy for this kind of radicalisation is the green-anarchist Ted Kaczynski. The opening words to his infamous manifesto (Kaczynski 1995) can surmise the sentiment of a scary number of those sympathetic to his cause. As he writes:
“The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.” (Ibid)
You might disagree with Kaczynski, I hope you condemn his action. Nonetheless, though these might be mad ravings, they are not the work of a madman. Nor are they without influence or without legacy…
Mental Health
Stepping outside the realm of fulfilment, into the realm of the psychological. Though hotly debated, there is significant evidence that materialism is correlated with mental illness. Note: the direction of correlation has been partially though not sufficiently substantiated. Note also: the correlation thus far observed does not preclude some underlying bi-causative variable.
Consider just the following three papers for further reading on this issue: ‘Changes in materialism, changes in psychological well-being: Evidence from three longitudinal studies and an intervention experiment’ (Kasser et al. 2014), ‘Cuing Consumerism: Situational Materialism Undermines Personal and Social Well-Being’ (Bauer et al. 2012), ‘Bidirectional Dynamics of Materialism and Loneliness: Not Just a Vicious Cycle’ (Pieters 013). The first paper is a meta-analysis which presents sufficient proof of an inverse correlation between materialistic tendencies and mental wellness, as well as substantial evidence of a causative effect of materialism on mental wellness. The second paper is a study, the conclusion of which is that “materialistic individuals experience relatively low levels of well-being”. The third paper presents a strong case for materialism and mental illness as being bidirectionally causative. All of the papers substantiate the ascetic conjecture.
In short; there is a twisted history of materialism and hedonism. Anti-materialist philosophies, provoked by individuals' alienation and unfulfillment in consumer societies, are becoming increasingly popular, radical, and violent. Finally; there is a correlative and likely causative link between materialist tendencies and mental illness.
What Is Not Materialism: Other Paths To Satisfaction.
It is not enough to simply present a case against materialism. A case for an alternative must also be given. Otherwise, one is likely to fall into philosophical limbo, into a state which is predisposed towards nihilistic and self-destructive views. For the self-avowed materialist, what could seem worse than to have their structure pulled down? Indeed, without an alternative they may likely turn to nihilism or to hedonism or to any blend of the two. Therefore, it is not only kind, it is positively charitable to present an alternative to these persons seeking reform.
I categorise the paths out of materialism as threefold: The Low Paths, The Middle Way, and The High Paths. These are not labelled because of any preferential view I have of one over the other. Rather, they are differentiated according to the degree of reflection required to actualise them in a person’s life. For example; asceticism, once accepted, requires little continuous reflection to engage. On the other end, postmaterialism, once accepted, requires continuous reflection to engage. Finally; degrees of reflection should not be conflated with moral status. That is, the low path is no worse than the high path and vice versa.
The Low Paths: Asceticism and Cynicism
Beginning with the Low Paths, I list here: Asceticism and Cynicism.
Asceticism
Asceticism, practised by ‘ascetics’, refers to a lifestyle of severe self-discipline and the avoidance of all or most pleasures, or the severe restriction on such pleasures. This is generally an anti-materialist and certainly an anti-consumerist philosophy. In its broadest form; it can be surmised as such: ‘the simple is sufficient, the bliss is within, the frugal is plenty’. It is an exceptionally old philosophy historically associated with religious fervour: The Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama), and Jesus Christ are both religious heads who at one point engaged in fierce asceticism, particularly the former. In (relatively) more modern settings; Christian priests in the tradition of St Francis of Assisi (ie. The Order of Friars Minor), Jainist monks, Shingon Buddhists Monk, and the Fakir of Sufi Islam, all engage in incredibly harsh ascetic practices (the Shingon monks in particular who historically practiced Sokushinbutsu or living mummification). The association between asceticism and fervour may be due to the high mental fortitude required to maintain such a lifestyle. As such, though it is an option to combat materialism, it will not be an acceptable option for most.
Cynicism
Cynicism is a school of thought which emphasises the centrality of virtue in life, the need for harmony with nature, and the position of rigorous bodily training as a key path to eudaimonia (roughly ‘fulfilment’). The term cynic originates from a derogative used against the school's founders, the cynics of Ancient Greece. In the ancient greek; cynic derives from ‘kynikos’ meaning ‘dog-like’. This could be a reference to two particular cynical practices. Firstly, it may refer to Antisthenes (the first Cynic) who taught in a gymnasium (open training facility) known as the Cynosarges meaning ‘place of the white dog’. Though this may have been the reference's origin, its (later) popularity almost certainly came from its association with the more famous Diogenes of Sinope. Diogenes was a hardcore cynic who lived in a wine barrel in Athens with no other possessions. A contemporary and frequent academic opponent of Plato and Aristotle, Diogenes was referred to as ‘The Dog’ because of his lacking shame and his frequent association with packs of street dogs. Undeterred, he turned this phrase around, remarking: "other[‘s] bite their enemies, I bite my friends to save them” (Florilegium, iii. 13. 44). This view can broadly surmise the Cynics lifestyle, one which was in broad alignment with the later Roman Stoics (from whom the emotional description derives). As historian Donald Dudley writes:
There are four reasons why the Cynics are so named. First because of the indifference of their way of life, for they make a cult of indifference and, like dogs, eat and make love in public, go barefoot, and sleep in tubs and at crossroads. The second reason is that the dog is a shameless animal, and they make a cult of shamelessness, not as being beneath modesty, but as superior to it. The third reason is that the dog is a good guard, and they guard the tenets of their philosophy. The fourth reason is that the dog is a discriminating animal which can distinguish between its friends and enemies. So do they recognize as friends those who are suited to philosophy, and receive them kindly, while those unfitted they drive away, like dogs, by barking at them. (Dudley 1937, p. 5)
The total cynic philosophy rests on these tenets:
The aim of life is to achieve a state of well-being and mental clarity, which is referred to as eudaimonia in ancient Greek philosophy.
This state is achieved by living in accordance with nature as understood through reason.
Arrogance is caused by false value judgments, which leads to negative emotions, unnatural desires, and a vicious nature.
Eudaimonia, or flourishing, is dependent on self-sufficiency, calmness, excellence, love for others, honesty, and a lack of attachment to the ups and downs of life.
One can progress towards well-being and clarity through ascetic practices, which involve renouncing material possessions and power that do not align with nature, and instead embracing a simple, hard life.
A cynic emphasises the practice of shamelessness, or a lack of respect for social conventions and laws.
The patron of Cynicism is Hercules (Herakles) and all Cynics broadly intended to follow in his steps with their simple and harsh lifestyles. As the ancient greek biographer Digenes Laertius remarked:
“[Diogenes of Sinope] used to say, that there were two kinds of exercise: that, namely, of the mind and that of the body; and that the latter of these created in the mind such quick and agile impressions at the time of its performance, as very much facilitated the practice of virtue; but that one was imperfect without the other, since the health and vigour necessary for the practice of what is good, depend equally on both mind and body” (2018, p. 243)
In these ways, cynicism is a thoroughly anti-material, positively fulfilling philosophy. However, it may still be overly harsh for the average adherent and may rely on a will which can buckle a number of traditional traits of human psychology (ie. the willingness to go against a group) which is necessarily an atypical will. Therefore, though some may be saved through the life of a dog, it cannot save all persons
The Middle Way: Functionalism
The middle way is the path out of consumerism characterised by some amount, though not overbearing, of continual mental reflection. In this path I list only functionalism.
Functionalism, as I will assert it here, is an approach to consumption (as defined under consumerism) which privileges objects with purported material function external to the object itself and potentially to the consumer. An object has function if it, in any material way, enables or better facilitates the actualisation of some end. A function is material if its end is material. A function is external to the object if its end is outside the object, ie. if the end is not formal. A function is external to the consumer if it need not give reference to the consumer but may give reference to another subject.
Put more simply; functionalism is the natural conclusion one arrives at if they accept the following two premises: (1) fulfilment is a non-material state, (2) the attainment of non-material states ought to be independent of material objects. In this way, it is actually a vein of stoicism. It is a philosophy that must accept the enormous utility of material possession but cannot accept the hedonic gain some find in them. It asks of its adherents, indeed I would ask of anyone, what is it you gain through consumption? Is it something you cannot have otherwise? And at a lesser cost? One might rebut that there is no personal cost to leisurely consumption. I cannot accept this premise. Do you not value your internal will? Your internal autonomy? Can you not see that through a pursuit of the material, you may lose sight of the personal? You might subjugate yourself to the process of consumption and thereby lose your sense of self separate from the latest fashion or the latest trend. Do not entertain the addictions of sensuality. Materialism is an addiction so deceptive that it doesn’t hurt you till you realise it.
As a functionalist I would ask you to do only two things:
Do not consume any object which produces no function or has no material use for you
Attempt to reflect on the things that fulfil you but require no material outlet. Put those things first. Do not forget the important but non-urgent things amidst the modern sea of non-important urgent things.
The High Paths: Anti-Consumerism And Postmaterialism
Amongst the high paths out of materialism and consumerism and materialism I list anti-consumerism and postmaterialism. Once again, these paths are deemed ‘high’ not because of some moral value but because they require a high degree of reflection on the part of their adherents.
Anti-Consumerism
Anti-consumerism, in the broadest sense, applies to any system of philosophy which opposes consumerism, as previously defined. However, more relevant to this writing, anti-consumerism which opposes consumerism on the grounds that it (1) does not provide fulfilment and/or (2) produces immorality. This is distinct from objects on other grounds. For example, it does not include objects as to the environmental impact of consumerism.
With anti-consumerism thus defined, we may proceed. Anti-consumerism is an active ideology which requires constant struggle to oppose the institutionalisation of materialism and constant reaffirmation to oppose the systematic instalment of consumerism in the minds of individuals through their social zeitgeist (see Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent (1998)). In view of this, it is not surprising that this path is primarily taken by activists. Indeed, some of the most famous figures for reform, both in our time and in theirs, either identified as or can be anachronistically deemed as anticonsumerist.
Beginning with the historical, we read in St Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica that: "Greed is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things" (2006). In this we see the groundwork for the religious criticisms of materialism which followed. As previously discussed, it was such positions that led figures like Francis of Assisi and Saddhartha Ghutama to their ascetic periods, in the hope that an active disavowal of the material and of consumption might aid in guiding one towards God. Because the material can act as a barrier between the believer and the divine, it is on this ground that many other religious persons object
On a different, more contemporary grounds, many religious persons object that materialism is a gateway or a prerequisite for hedonism and through that vicious cycle leads to unfulfillment and misanthropy. As to this view, the previous Catholic Pope Benedict XVI has made similar statements. In 2008 he remarked that materialism is a ‘poison’ in society that has led our cultures to "[grow] weary of greed, exploitation and division, of the tedium of false idols and piecemeal responses, and the pain of false promises." (IOL). In that same address, he urgedCatholics to be like Apostles and “oppose [this] perversity in the culture around them". In 2011, he made similar comments against consumerism during a christmas mass, urging adherents to “see through the superficial glitter of this season and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem" (BBC News 2011). The solutions to these faults is thus one which requires high continual reflection and constant struggle.
On a different but converging perspective, secular critiques of consumerism often assert that it is dehumanising and provokes immorality or nihilism. Those activists in the marxist and post-marxists traditions often assert that consumerism derives crime as it generates the poverty of economic inequality which destabilises economies and prompts immoral action.
In all camps thus mentioned, consumerism is an active threat which must likewise be actively attacked with unbreaking vigilance. As the prior pope remarked; it is “a poison which threatens to corrode what is good, reshape who we are and distort the purpose for which we have been created” (IOL 2008). As Noam Chomsky argues, it is an insidious threat built into the current status quo. Anti-consumerism is thus always the hard path, a high path, the progressive path out of materialism
Postmaterialism
Postmaterialism is one of the numerous children of postmodernism and the influential authors of that tradition. In its simplest form, postmaterialism is a philosophical system which seeks to transform the materialism values of modern society into modes of autonomy and self-expression. In a way, this definition can be intuited straight from the term. Postmaterialism, broken into Post - Materialism, can be interpreted as after materialism (ie. post hoc) or beyond materialism (postmodern). This is a thorough explanation of a term which intends us to move beyond the material values and receive the fulfilment, the joy that only the ultra-material can provide.
In a descriptive expression of the view, postmaterialism - taking after the historical materialist modernist view before it - generally believes that, as societies become increasingly materialist, and as consumption increases, dissatisfaction with such consumption will increase and this will, in turn, lead persons to turn away from the material life and embrace a postmaterial lifestyle.
The paths to achieve postmaterialism are as numerous as the persons who might take them.This is a thoroughly existential philosophy. So long as one operates from a place of sincerity and good faith, and commits themselves to their own decisions, it matters not how they exit the material dogma, so long as they do so.
Reference List
Aquinas, T 2006, Summa Theologica, Project Gutenberg, viewed 20 December 2022. <https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18755/pg18755-images.html>
Barber, A 2021, Consumed: the need for collective change: colonialism, climate change, & consumerism, Brazen, London
Bauer, MA, Wilkie, JEB, Kim, JK & Bodenhausen, GV 2012, ‘Changes in materialism, changes in psychological well-being: Evidence from three longitudinal studies and an intervention experiment’, Psychological Science, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 517–523
BBC News, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI attacks Christmas consumerism at Mass, viewed 20 December 2022, <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-16328318>
Chomsky, N & Herman, ES 1998, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, Pantheon Bo, US
Dudley, DR 1937, A History of Cynicism, Methuen and Company Limited
Epicurus, n.d., Letter to Menoeceus, trans. RD Hicks, Internet Classics Archive, viewed 20 December 2022, <http://classics.mit.edu/Epicurus/menoec.html>
IOL, 2008, Our world has grown weary of greed: Pope, viewed 20 December 2022, <https://www.iol.co.za/news/world/our-world-has-grown-weary-of-greed-pope-408709>
Kaczynski, TJ 1995, ‘Industrial Society and Its Future’, in The Unabomber Trial: The Manifesto, Washington Post (ed.), viewed 20 December 2022, <https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unabomber/manifesto.text.htm>
Kanner, B 2001, Are you normal about money? : do you behave like everyone else?, Bloomberg Press, Princeton
Kasser, T, Rosenblum, KL, Arnold, JS, Deci, EL, Niemiec, CP, Ryan, RM, Árnadóttir, O, Bond, R, Dittmar, H, Dungan, N & Hawks, S 2014, ‘Changes in materialism, changes in psychological well-being: Evidence from three longitudinal studies and an intervention experiment’, Motivation and Emotion, vol. 38, pp. 1-22
Laertius, D 2018, ‘Book VI’, in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Project Gutenberg, viewed 20 December 2022, <https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/57342/pg57342-images.html>
Pieters, R 2013, ‘Bidirectional Dynamics of Materialism and Loneliness: Not Just a Vicious Cycle’, Consumer Research, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 615-631
Rousseau, JJ n.d., Discourse on Inequality, trans GDH Cole, American University of Beirut, viewed 20 December 2022, <https://aub.edu.lb/fas/cvsp/Documents/DiscourseonInequality.pdf879500092.pdf>
Stobaeus, n.d., ‘Diogenes of Sinope’, in Florilegium
Trentmann, F 2016, Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First, Penguin UK, London
Twenge, JM, Campbell, WK & Freeman, EC 2012, ‘Generational Differences in Young Adults’ Life Goals, Concern for Others, and Civic Orientation, 1966 –2009’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 102, No. 5, pp. 1045–1062
Comments
Post a Comment