Abstract

GONCALVES, Rafael Ramos. Identity, consumption and sociability: ethical implications. Estud. pesqui. psicol. [online]. 2009, vol.9, n.1. ISSN 1808-4281.

During Modernity, the process of bankrupting of the institutions responsible to support stable references to people increases. This article refers to the new configurations of this process and tries to comprehend, in the context of the society of consumption, the meaning of “post-traditional identity” (Slater). In fact, the act of consuming is kind of an existential necessity, that is, an easy way to get to identity business. This tendency favors selfish attitudes, in which the private world takes advantage of the public world, this being treated as a space of self realization. One of the principal consequences of it is the distance between freedom and its political dimension. The article offers an analysis of this scenery background, pointing out the way how the logic of consumption influences the contemporary sociability, compromising the interest to the public dimension of human being existence.

Keywords : Consumption; Subjectivity; Sociability.

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