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Philosophy Of Futility
Philosophy of futility refers to a tendency to become quickly bored and, consequently, a continual appetite for newness and change. The phrase was coined in 1928 by Columbia University marketing professor Paul Nystrom to describe the increasingly prevalent outlook which, he believed, induced a greater demand for fashionable products. The growth of industrialization had brought about a narrowing of interests, contacts, and achievements for many people in the Western world. Such conditions of life, Nystrom observed, encourage quick boredom and a greater interest in goods in which fashion dominates, such as apparel, automobiles, and home furnishings. The following is a quotation from Nystrom's ''Economics of Fashion'' (1928), often cited by historians and analysts of marketing, consumerism, and commercialism:p. 85, ''Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture'', Stuart Ewen, New York: Basic Books, 1976/2001; p. 18, ''Our Media, Not Theirs'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church (Manhattan), Trinity Church in Manhattan, it is the oldest institution of higher education in New York (state), New York and the fifth-First university in the United States, oldest in the United States. Columbia was established as a Colonial colleges, colonial college by royal charter under George II of Great Britain. It was renamed Columbia College (New York), Columbia College in 1784 following the American Revolution, and in 1787 was placed under Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, a private board of trustees headed by former students Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. In 1896, the campus was moved to its current location in Morningside Heights and renamed Columbia University. Columbia is organized into twenty schoo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adam Smith
Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or the "father of capitalism".———— He is known for two classic works: ''The Theory of Moral Sentiments'' (1759) and ''The Wealth of Nations, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations'' (1776). The latter, often abbreviated as ''The Wealth of Nations'', is regarded as his ''magnum opus'', marking the inception of modern economic scholarship as a comprehensive system and an academic discipline. Smith refuses to explain the distribution of wealth and power in terms of divine will and instead appeals to natural, political, social, economic, legal, environmental and technological factors, as well as the interactions among them. The work is notable for its contribution to economic theory, particularly in its exposition o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novelty Seeking
In psychology, novelty seeking (NS) is a personality trait associated with exploratory activity in response to novel stimulation, impulsive decision making, extravagance in approach to reward cues, quick loss of temper, and avoidance of frustration. That is, novelty seeking (or sensation seeking) refers to the tendency to pursue new experiences with intense emotional sensations. It is a multifaceted behavioral construct that includes thrill seeking, novelty preference, risk taking, harm avoidance, and reward dependence. The novelty-seeking trait is considered a heritable tendency of individuals to take risks for the purpose of achieving stimulation and seeking new environments and situations that make their experiences more intense. The trait has been associated with the level of motive and excitement in response to novelty. Persons with high levels of novelty seeking have been described as more impulsive and disorderly than low novelty seekers and have a higher propensity to get ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nihilism
Nihilism () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that Existential nihilism, life is meaningless, that Moral nihilism, moral values are baseless, and that Philosophical skepticism, knowledge is impossible. These views span various branches of philosophy, including ethics, value theory, epistemology, and metaphysics. Nihilism is often characterized as a broad cultural phenomenon or historical movement that pervades modernity in the Western world. Existential nihilism asserts that life is inherently meaningless and lacks a higher purpose. By suggesting that all individual and societal achievements are ultimately pointless, it can lead to Apathy, indifference, Motivation#Amotivation and akrasia, lack of motivation, and existential crises. In response, some philosophers propose detachment from worldly concerns while others seek to discover or create values. Moral nihilism, a related view, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anomie
In sociology, anomie or anomy () is a social condition defined by an uprooting or breakdown of any moral values, standards or guidance for individuals to follow. Anomie is believed to possibly evolve from conflict of belief systems and causes breakdown of social bonds between an individual and the community (both economic and primary socialization). The term, commonly understood to mean ''normlessness'', is believed to have been popularized by French sociologist Émile Durkheim in his influential book ''Suicide'' (1897). Émile Durkheim suggested that Protestants exhibited a greater degree of anomie than Catholics. However, Durkheim first introduced the concept of anomie in his 1893 work '' The Division of Labour in Society''. Durkheim never used the term ''normlessness''; rather, he described ''anomie'' as "derangement", and "an insatiable will." Durkheim used the term "the malady of the infinite" because desire without limit can never be fulfilled; it only becomes more inten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mass Society
Mass society is a concept that describes modern society as a monolithic force and yet a disaggregate collection of individuals. The term is often used pejoratively to refer to a society in which bureaucracy and impersonal institutions have replaced some notion of traditional society, leading to social alienation. In a sense, all societies are mass societies, but the term typically refers to developed countries that possess a mass culture and large-scale social, political and economic institutions which structure daily life for the majority of people. In modern times the term has taken on more importance and broader scope with the advent of mass media and the internet. History Descriptions of society as a "mass" took form in the 19th century, referring to the leveling tendencies in the period of the Industrial Revolution that undermined traditional and aristocratic values, and replaced monarchy with various forms of liberal democracy. Political theorists such as Alexis de T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Bunde Veblen (; July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was an American Economics, economist and Sociology, sociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-known Criticism of capitalism, critic of capitalism. In his best-known book, ''The Theory of the Leisure Class'' (1899), Veblen coined the concepts of ''conspicuous consumption'' and ''conspicuous leisure''. Veblen laid the foundation for the perspective of institutional economics. Contemporary economists still theorize Veblen's distinction between "institutions" and "technology", known as the Veblenian dichotomy. As a leading intellectual of the Progressive Era in the US, Veblen attacked production for profit. His emphasis on conspicuous consumption greatly influenced economists who engaged in non-Marxism, Marxist critiques of fascism, capitalism, and technological determinism. Biography Early life and family background Veblen was born on July 30, 1857, in Cato, Wisconsin, Cato, Wisconsin, to Norwegian American ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conspicuous Consumption
In sociology and in economics, the term conspicuous consumption describes and explains the consumer practice of buying and using goods of a higher quality, price, or in greater quantity than practical. In 1899, the sociologist Thorstein Veblen coined the term ''conspicuous consumption'' to explain the spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury commodities (goods and services) specifically as a public display of economic power—the income and the accumulated wealth—of the buyer. To the conspicuous consumer, the public display of discretionary income is an economic means of either attaining or maintaining a given social status. The development of Veblen's sociology of conspicuous consumption also identified and described other economic behaviours such as invidious consumption, which is the ostentatious consumption of goods, an action meant to provoke the envy of other people; and conspicuous compassion, the ostentatious use of charity meant to enhance the reputatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Affluenza
Affluenza describes the psychological and social effects of affluence. It is a portmanteau of ''wealth, affluence'' and ''influenza'', and is used most commonly by critics of consumerism. Some psychologists consider it to be a pseudo-scientific term; however, the word continues to be used in scientific literature. History The word is thought to have been first used in 1908, and to have been adopted for its most common current usage in California in 1973. It was also used by John Levy, executive director of the C.G. Jung Institute in San Francisco in 1984 to describe the lack of motivation that could dog wealthy people. It was popularized in 1997 with a PBS documentary of the same name and the subsequent book ''Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic'' (2001, revised in 2005, 2014). These works define affluenza as "a painful, infectious disease, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more". A more info ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest professor to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel. Plagued by health problems for most of his life, he resigned from the university in 1879, and in the following decade he completed much of his core writing. In 1889, aged 44, he suffered a collapse and thereafter a complete loss of his mental faculties, with paralysis and vascular dementia. He lived his remaining years under the care of his family until his death. Friedrich Nietzsche bibliography, His works and Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, his philosophy have fostered not only extensive scholarship but also much popular interest. Nietzsche's work encompasses philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism and fiction, while displaying ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theory Of Moral Sentiments
''The Theory of Moral Sentiments'' is a 1759 book by Adam Smith. It provided the ethical, philosophical, economic, and methodological underpinnings to Smith's later works, including ''The Wealth of Nations'' (1776), '' Essays on Philosophical Subjects'' (1795), and '' Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue, and Arms'' (1763) (first published in 1896). Sympathy Smith departed from the " moral sense" tradition of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Francis Hutcheson, and David Hume, as the principle of sympathy takes the place of that organ. "Sympathy" was the term Smith used for the feeling of these moral sentiments. It was the feeling of understanding the passions of others. It operated through a logic of mirroring, in which a spectator imaginatively reconstructed the experience of the person he watches:Smith, Adam (1872). Black, Joseph; Hutton, James (eds.). The Essays of Adam Smith' (6 ed.). London: Alex. Murry & Co. p. 9. Retrieved 21 Jan 2021. As we have n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retail Therapy
Retail therapy or shopping therapy is shopping with the primary purpose of improving the buyer's mood or disposition. It occurs either due to people taking pleasure in shopping or during periods of depression or stress. Items purchased during periods of retail therapy are sometimes referred to as "comfort buys" (compare comfort food). Making shopping decisions can restore a sense of personal control over one's environment, alleviating feelings of helplessness or emotional distress. The purchases, therefore, act as a coping mechanism for this perceived lack of control as they may be able to restore feelings of agency and empowerment. People use shopping to express, manage, and communicate emotions, both to themselves and to others. The name ''retail therapy'' is ironic and semifacetious, acknowledging that shopping hardly qualifies as true therapy in the medical or psychotherapeutic sense. It was first used by Mary Schmich in the 1980s, with the first reference being this sen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
