Description
In our liquid modern society we are also taught to believe that the purpose of the art of life should be and can be happiness - though it's not clear what happiness is, the images of a happy state keep changing and the state of happiness remains most of the time something yet-to-be-reached.
This new book by Zygmunt Bauman - one of the most original and influential social thinkers writing today - is not a book of designs for the art of life nor a 'how to' book: the construction of a design for life and the way it is pursued is and cannot but be an individual responsibility and individual accomplishment. It is instead a brilliant account of conditions under which our designs-for-life are chosen, of the constraints that might be imposed on their choice and of the interplay of design, accident and character that shape their implementation. Last but not least, it is a study of the ways in which our society - the liquid modern, individualized society of consumers - influences (but does not determine) the way we construct and narrate our life trajectories.
About the Author
Zygmunt Bauman (1925-2017) was Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the Universities of Warsaw and Leeds.
Reviews
"Brilliant ... To be read while listening to the Manic Street Preachers."
Steven Poole, The Guardian
"An insightful reflection on the pursuit of happiness - that state to which we are all conditioned to aspite - as well as what's wrong with the 'designs for life' we pursue in order to attain it ... Reading this definitely made me reconsider my own priorities."
Frieze
Book Information
ISBN 9780745643267
Author Zygmunt Bauman
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 227g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 13mm