Does a Post-modern Consumer Need the Sacred?

Few Impressions about the Issue

Keywords: post-modernity, consumerism, cult of the body, religion, sacred, spirituality, transcendence

Abstract

In the age of post-modernity the religious and ethical awareness of societies are undergoing devaluation. We are witnessing walking away from religiosity and the denial of its values. Religiosity is replaced with “metaphysical” sacralised consumerism and the worship of the body, which are seen as a shorter route to heaven. As the response to the fall of traditional values, a new form of spirituality is emerging. It is based on distance, rejection and going beyond empty and compulsive consumerism. Thanks to that an individual is able to regain self-determination and one’s own humanity.

Author Biographies

Jarosław Kinal, University of Rzeszow

PhD, employee of the Institute of History at the University of Rzeszów. Sociologist of communication and media scholar. His research interests include issues of media convergence, information society and technological determinism.

Krzysztof Bochenek, Uniwersytet Rzeszowski

Assistant Professor and professor at the University of Rzeszów. Director of the Institute of Philosophy of the College of Humanities, the University of Rzeszów. Philosopher. His research focuses on medieval studies, the history of Polish philosophy, personalism, professional ethics of various groups of workers and the chalenges of modern times.

References

Arendt, H. (1994). Między czasem minionym a przeszlym. Osiem ćwiczeń z myśli politycznej [Between the past and the past. Eight Exercises in Political Thought], trans. M. Godyn, W. Madej. Warszawa: Aletheia.

Baudrillard, J. (2005). Pakt jasności: o inteligencji zła [The Clarity Pact: Evil], trans. S. Krolak. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sic!

Baudrillard, J. (2006). Społeczeństwo konsumpcyjne. Jego mity i struktury [Consumer society. His Myths and Structures]. Warszawa.

Bauman, Z. (2007). Płynne życie [Fluid Life], trans. T. Kunz. Kraków.

Bell, D. (1998). Kulturowe sprzeczności kapitalizmu [The Cultural Contra-dictions of Capitalism], trans. S. Amsterdamski. Warszawa.

Campbell, C. (2004). I Shop Thereofore i Know That i Am. In: K.M. Edkstroem & H. Brembeck, Elusive Consumption. London: Rou-tledge.

Frankl, V. (1984). Homo patiens. Warszawa.

Fromm, E. (1989). Mieć czy być, trans. J. Niziński, Warszawa.

Kasper, W. (1990). Postmoderne Dogmatik? Zu einer neueren nordamerikanischen Grundlagendiskussion. Communio, no 19.

Kołakowski, L. (2009). Czy Pan Bóg jest szczęśliwy i inne pytania [Is God happy and other questions], choice and arrangement Z. Mentzel. Kra-ków: Znak.

Kołakowski, L. (2014). Jezus ośmieszony. Esej apologetyczny i sceptyczny [Jesus ridiculed. An Apologetic and Skeptical Essay], trans. D. Zanko, MP J.A. Kloczkowski. Kraków: Znak.

Luckmann, T. (1996). Niewidzialna religia: problem religii we współcze-snym społeczeństwie [Invisible Religion: The Problem of Religion in Contemporary Society], trans. L. Bluszcz. Kraków: Nomos.

Marcel, G. (1984). Homo viator. Wstep do metafizyki nadziei [Homo via-tor. Introduction to the Metaphysics of Hope], trans. P. Lubicz, MP A. Podsiad. Warszawa: PAX.

Marcel, G. (2011). Mądrość i poczucie sacrum [Wisdom and the sense of the sacred], trans. K. Chodacki, P. Cholda. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Ar-cana.

Published
2022-09-27
How to Cite
[1]
Kinal, J. and Bochenek, K. 2022. Does a Post-modern Consumer Need the Sacred? Few Impressions about the Issue. Perspectives on Culture. 41, 2/2 (Sep. 2022), 433-442. DOI:https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2023.410202.25.