The Meaning of Things - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Meaning of Things write by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. This book was released on 1981-10-30. The Meaning of Things available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The meaning of things is a study of the significance of material possessions in contemporary urban life, and of the ways people carve meaning out of their domestic environment. Drawing on a survey of eighty families in Chicago who were interviewed on the subject of their feelings about common household objects, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Eugene Rochberg-Halton provide a unique perspective on materialism, American culture, and the self. They begin by reviewing what social scientists and philosophers have said about the transactions between people and things. In the model of 'personhood' that the authors develop, goal-directed action and the cultivation of meaning through signs assume central importance. They then relate theoretical issues to the results of their survey. An important finding is the distinction between objects valued for action and those valued for contemplation. The authors compare families who have warm emotional attachments to their homes with those in which a common set of positive meanings is lacking, and interpret the different patterns of involvement. They then trace the cultivation of meaning in case studies of four families. Finally, the authors address what they describe as the current crisis of environmental and material exploitation, and suggest that human capacities for the creation and redirection of meaning offer the only hope for survival. A wide range of scholars - urban and family sociologists, clinical, developmental and environmental psychologists, cultural anthropologists and philosophers, and many general readers - will find this book stimulating and compelling.
The Meaning of Things
The Meaning of Things - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Meaning of Things write by A.C. Grayling. This book was released on 2011-07-21. The Meaning of Things available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. A refreshing distillation of insights into the human condition, by one of the best-known and most popular philosophers in the UK. Thinking about life, what it means and what it holds in store does not have to be a despondent experience, but rather can be enlightening and uplifting. A life truly worth living is one that is informed and considered so a degree of philosophical insight into the inevitabilities of the human condition is inherently important and such an approach will help us to deal with real personal dilemmas. This book is an accessible, lively and thought-provoking series of linked commentaries, based on A. C. Grayling's 'The Last Word' column in the GUARDIAN. Its aim is not to persuade readers to accept one particular philosophical point of view or theory, but to help us consider the wonderful range of insights which can be drawn from an immeasurably rich history of philosophical thought. Concepts covered include courage, love, betrayal, ambition, cruelty, wisdom, passion, beauty and death. This will be a wonderfully stimulating read and act as an invaluable guide as to what is truly important in living life, whether facing success, failure, justice, wrong, love, loss or any of the other profound experience life throws out.
The Secret Meaning of Things
The Secret Meaning of Things - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Secret Meaning of Things write by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. This book was released on 1969. The Secret Meaning of Things available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The Secret Meaning of Things is Lawrence Ferlinghetti's fourth book of poems.
Stuff
Stuff - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Stuff write by Randy O. Frost. This book was released on 2010-04-20. Stuff available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The New York Times bestseller. “Gripping . . . By turns fascinating and heartbreaking . . . Stuff invites readers to reevaluate their desire for things.”—Boston Globe “Amazing . . . utterly engrossing . . . Read it.”—The Washington Post Book World What possesses someone to save every scrap of paper that’s ever come into his home? What compulsions drive a person to sacrifice her marriage or career for an accumulation of seemingly useless things? Randy Frost and Gail Steketee were the first to study hoarding when they began their work a decade ago. They didn’t expect that they would end up treating hundreds of patients and fielding thousands of calls from the families of hoarders. Their vivid case studies (reminiscent of Oliver Sacks) in Stuff show how you can identify a hoarder—piles on sofas and beds that make the furniture useless, houses that can be navigated only by following small paths called goat trails, vast piles of paper that the hoarders “churn” but never discard, even collections of animals and garbage—and illuminate the pull that possessions exert over all of us. Whether we’re savers, collectors, or compulsive cleaners, very few of us are in fact free of the impulses that drive hoarders to extremes. “Authoritative, haunting, and mysterious. It is also intensely, not to say compulsively readable.”—Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer Prize-winning author “Fascinating . . . a good mix of cultural and psychological theories on hoarding.”—Newsweek “Pioneering researchers offer a superb overview of a complex disorder that interferes with the lives of more than six-million Americans . . . An absorbing, gripping, important report.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Matt Mullican
Matt Mullican - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Matt Mullican write by Matt Mullican. This book was released on 2018-07-31. Matt Mullican available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Matt Mullican is an American artist and a member of the "Pictures Generation" along with such artists as Troy Brauntuch, Jack Goldstein, David Salle, Jim Welling, Sherri Levine, Cindy Sherman, Louise Lawler, Richard Prince and Robert Longo. His practice addresses systems of knowledge, language, meaning, and signification whilst focusing in upon the relationship between perception and reality, in a sense, the seeing of something and its subsequent representation. 'The Meaning of Things' documents the results of Mulligan's summer school at the Fondazione Antonio Ratti in Italy. The exhibition revolves around Untitled, a set of four banners made by Mullican for his solo exhibition at Le Magasin, Grenoble, 1990, and then shown only one more time due to the large size of each element comprising the work. The banners show a repertoire of stylised figures that, following a code elaborated by the artist, summarise key aspects of reality and human experience. The visual language of the banners is extremely immediate, similar to that of commercial logos, urban signage or heraldry. 'The Meaning of Things' contributes to the understanding of the processes engaged in by the artist, by looking at the collaborative nature of the workshops and the collective narrative that is created, forming an invaluable resource for students, curators and artists alike. AUTHOR: Matt Mullican is an American artist whose work has been exhibited internationally since the early 1970s. Mullican has taught and lectured at numerous renowned institutes including Columbia University, The School of Visual Arts, New York, Amsterdam's Rijksakademie and Chelsea College of Art and Design, England. SELLING POINTS: * The fifth in our continuing series with Fondazione Antonio Ratti, 'The Meaning of Things' follows titles on Hans Haacke, Susan Hiller and Liliana Moro, each focusing on the work of a different artist who has contributed to the foundation's Summer School programme and its Advanced Course in Visual Arts. * 'The Meaning of Things' once again contributes to the understanding of the processes engaged in by the artist, looking at the collaborative nature of the workshops and the collective narrative that is created. * The book forms an invaluable resource for students, curators and artists alike. 85 colour and b/w
