From: glevy@PRATT.EDU
Date: Mon Apr 17 2006 - 11:13:59 EDT
Hi Jurriaan, In the following brief comment I will focus only on the role of rationality and irrationality in capitalist society: The systematic and necessary link between the rational and irrational is at the very core of capitalism -- commodity fetishism. A theory of consumption under capitalism should, imo, investigate the ways in which commodity fetishism enters systematically into the creation and modification of needs and the relation between capitalists as sellers and (working class and capitalist) consumers as buyers. A Marxian theory of advertising and marketing should seek to grasp the concrete ways in which this process manifests itself. Is this an appeal to a notion of moral behavior? I don't think so ... although it seems to me that commodity fetishism itself gives rise to a peculiar conception of morality. In solidarity, Jerry > But the underlying problem I think is really - as the reference to > "interests" already suggests - that notions of rationality are > inescapably linked to notions of moral behaviour, i.e. views of what is > rational and irrational are linked to views of what is morally correct > and incorrect. >
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