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Freed From Desire
Countering Consumerism with Critical Epicureanism
Master Thesis Philosophy by Robin Habbé, written under guidance of Johan Hartle
ABSTRACT:
Consumer society has the consumer in a tight hold; due to the cyclical nature of desire the consumer is manipulated to keep on consuming with disastrous ecological and social problems as a result. In my thesis I will elucidate the rise and the workings of contemporary consumer societies, more specifically the element of hedonism, because the organization of consumer society can be categorized as hedonistic. I will discuss hedonism and happiness as understood by Marcuse, as well as tactics for liberation from the imposed desires to consume. I will discover what room we have for emancipating the consumer by providing an alternative form of hedonism, based in Epicureanism. This thesis will show that Marcuse and Epicurus have very similar ideas as to how we should live happily, but most importantly on how to distinguish between true and false desires in order to live a more free and happy life, and to not destroy the planet while living.
Keywords: Consumerism, Liberation, Hedonism, Emancipation, Epicureanism, Desire, Happiness, Marcuse, Aesthetic Revisioning, Critical Hedonism
1 This title is a reference to the 1996 dance song by Gala, a Belgian performer. The lyrics seem to be very much aligned with the teachings of Epicurus: condemning money, power and fame and the desire for them as something we should liberate ourselves from through strong beliefs. I would certainly recommend listening to them.
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We live in strange times: most of the affluent inhabitants on our beautiful planet are consuming away an immense proportion of the scarce resources we have left. These affluent consumers do not make up the majority of the human population, but they happily place the burden of their habits onto people and nature out of sight, whilst letting their own lives and homes overflow with superfluous amounts of stuff they do not need.
Many of us know that there is no actual need for a lot of the consumables that we bring into our lives. The desire we feel to attain them seems to be real, unique and important, but after being gratified a new one swiftly arises. This locks the consumer into an endless cycle of desire. Most consumables lose their mesmerizing grip on us as soon as another desire replaces the fleeting feeling of joy we receive from attaining the consumable. Nevertheless, most consumers seem to be highly under the influence of consumerism and uphold the belief that happiness in life can be found through consumption.
Many of the companies producing “the goods” flooding the market know that there is no actual need for the massive amounts of consumables they introduce. They know very well how to manipulate and shape our desires, making us long for the consumables that they present on the market through the application of various very advanced advertising techniques. These are rooted in psychological research, tapping into the unconscious mind of the consumer. They propose that need creation and the satisfaction of the created needs will bring happiness, whilst in actual fact it only brings about the creation of false desires, thus false happiness.
Yet we continue to consume, as the companies sell. The belief in the possibility of living a gloriously happy life through the consumption of the consumables brought onto the market is just an illusion, springing from a form of false opinions. The false opinions are consciously imposed onto the masses by the industries that profit greatly from this organization of society. With their practices, the industries neglect to adhere value to the lives of factory laborers, the natural surroundings, the scarcity of non-renewable resources and the caused mental unrest within the western consumer. The only topic taken seriously in business is profit maximization and economic growth.
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regarded as such a natural part of life that it is rarely questioned by the consuming mass, whilst the effects are seriously endangering their lives.
Consumerism leads to a wide variety of problems, both ecological and social. The ecological challenges are numerous; ocean acidification and warming, melting of the ice caps, a rising sea level leading to mass-migration from coastal regions, droughts leading to loss of food resources (IPCC, 2014). The social effects are two-fold; firstly the exploitation of laborers at all levels of the supply chain, growing global inequality, unequal use and exploitation of resources – for instance through the practice of extractivism (Acosta, 2016, p. 54). Secondly the exploitation of the consumer resulting in pathological effects such as compulsive consumerism, consumer hyperchoice, shopping addictions, working too much in order to consume, people having towering credit card debts, the list could go on (Cherrier & Lego Munoz, 2007, p. 4). Many of the disastrous effects we have to face and try to resolve can be traced back to the capitalist organization of the World order, in which through mainstream ideology the exploitation of both labor and nature are centralized and legitimized in order to sustain the ideal of unlimited growth. Meanwhile propagandistic advertising schemes are instrumental in ensuring that products produced in this manner are pervasively consumed by the masses (Acosta, 2016, p. 55).
In current times more than ever it is necessary to use critical theory to bring to light the ways in which society is structured unjustly and unsustainably. There is no time to lose as we have achieved scientific consensus about how the catastrophic effects of global climate change are caused by human activity, mainly by the habits of consumption of those living in Advanced Industrial Capitalist Consumer Societies (IPCC, 2014, p. 2). The most recent aggregate of climate research has shown that there is only 12 years left for us as a world community to change our ways. The impending catastrophe can be slightly limited if we can manage to radically change our culture within those next twelve years (pp. 28, 29). Since consumption today is the main locus of cultural production (Dunn, 2008, p. 5), it is very important to perform a swift cultural transformation into a different mode of consumption. In order to save the planet it is necessary that we consume in a way that is less resource intensive and more respectful to our natural environments. The need for a cultural transformation leads me to ask philosophy the following questions: What are imposed desires and how do they influence the
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Method and structure of the thesis
In this thesis I will explore the rise and workings of consumer society, which from now on will be termed Consumptia. I consider Consumptia to be an archetype for societies structured around the consumption of consumables, in which the citizens are primarily regarded as consumers. I will through this conceptualization explore it’s essential elements of desire and hedonism and in the end I will propose an alternative form of hedonism with the help of Epicurus. He has proposed some very insightful guiding principles we could all pragmatically implement in our own lives. In this manner I will counter the exploitative workings of hedonism with a critical hedonism through a revision of what it entails to attain happiness. I will be zig-zagging through history, focusing more on conceptual analysis than chronological order. I have decided on this structure because it is the most natural way to first illustrate the current context and how it came to be, after which I can go deeper into a conceptual discussion of hedonism and the necessity for liberation. At the end of the thesis I propose a pragmatic approach in order to realize the consumer liberation that I outline in the real world. My master plan is to take philosophy to the masses and that is why I want to revive elements of Epicurus’ thought and teachings and link them to important radical theory from the sixties. Both of which have been effective in starting progressive movements that find the hope for change in the transformation of individual consciousness.
In the first chapter of my thesis I will analyze the rise of Consumptia, the land of consumerism. I will discuss the accounts of Zygmunt Bauman, a sociologist who is well-known for his works on consumerism and consumer societies. This is essential to provide the contextualization and foundation for the rest of my argument. The main focus will be on how the work ethic has been replaced by the aesthetics of consumption, and how this has affected the consumer in their subjectivity. Then I will go deeper into theory on consumer subjectivity, aided by a very extensive work by Robert G. Dunn, Identifying Consumption, so as to elucidate the elements that create the Consumer Complex, especially focusing on the sentiment of desire which plays an essential role in the perpetuation of Consumptia. Lastly I will zoom out again and discuss how the new stage of consumer capitalism, namely hedonistic consumerism, functions as a systemic accumulation regime.
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firstly provide an overview Marcuse and his historical and philosophical context. Secondly I will discuss and explain Marcuse’s thoughts on hedonism. At the end of the chapter I will discuss discrepancies between Marcuse’s early work and his later work on liberation from the workings of advanced capitalist societies, a category of societies that also entails Consumptia in her many forms. Does the material world offer possibilities for happiness, and if so, what would be the conditions for arriving at happiness according to Marcuse?
In the third and final chapter of my thesis I will pose a positive solution to the question of how we arrive at our desires, utilizing the writing of classical Greek philosopher Epicurus, one of the first hedonist thinkers, who brings to us a philosophy that could help with reflecting on the true origins of desires, thus questioning the system of consumer capitalism as such. I will argue that an alternative form of hedonism can actually help us free ourselves from the desires installed in us by consumer capitalism. I intend to prove that philosophy can be used by all to turn away the quest for happiness from the realm of consumption, and can provide new ways to appreciate life and community. To strengthen my argument for Epicureanism I will use more contemporary and empirical research on consumer happiness (by Hélène Cherrier) and the proposed alternative hedonism (by Kate Soper), two very engaged and inspiring academics working on the frontline to combat consumerism and the demise of our planet.
Within this thesis I zig-zag through philosophical discourse, because I tell the story and sickness of the era we now live in and try to find a remedy in the works of my predecessors. I am not a historian, but a philosopher. I dance through timelines to connect thoughts and concepts, to link them through time and prove inconsistencies or connections. But I am also here to “heal some malady of mankind”, not only to produce a significant piece of work. I want to serve humanity and move into the new aesthetic reality. I identify a problem then apply Marcuse to form critique, eventually aiming to formulate a positive solution for the problems at hand. I believe that the combination of the critical theory of Marcuse with the critical attitude of Epicurus will bring to light the way in which we can pragmatically bring about change in this destructive system of never-ending consumerism and economic growth. A system that is actually destroying the one and only planet we live on.
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Writing this thesis was not an easy task, and even though it is a very solitary work, I could not have done it with the people surrounding me. Firstly of course my parents, of which I have three – my mother Karin, my father Peter and my stepfather Mike. Throughout my life they have taught me that society and those in power should be scrutinized, that counter-culture is the location of hope for change and a big dose of ‘practice-what-you-preach’ mentality. Most of all they taught me that I could always find and realize my potential with their support. In the process of writing this thesis I have benefited greatly from their warm hearts and wise words. Then the teachers and study counselors, who have believed in me, unlike my high school philosophy teacher who was skeptical about my choice to study philosophy, and to those who helped me realize my potential especially here at the UvA. I have to thank Adrienne Zuiderweg specifically for being the best and most patient study advisor I could have wished for. I have had a hard time functioning in the school system and it took some time to grow the necessary discipline. Discipline that I have learned through working in various retail and service jobs, most notably my years in the hair-salon, where I have gained rhetoric skills, patience, but most importantly where I have learned about the power of the philosophical conversation having transformative effects on my hair clients. Also thanks to all people now supporting kapsalon Bruisje, enabling me to live my best and most fulfilling life! Then the wonderful people I have been lucky enough to meet through studying here and who have helped me theorize, recognize, put into words and correct those words, my dear philosophy friends Michele, Annebel, Gert-Jan. Especially Elvi for supporting me and not getting bored of me. All other friends, Cheryl, Sanne, Fer, Emma, Lotte thank you for listening to my endless rants about Epicurus, and helping me get to a place of concreteness, thanks for always trusting in me as well. Anniek, Rick and the aforementioned, thank you for partly reading my work and providing me with the much needed feedback. Eloise, thanks for providing me with the last needed grammar check-up. A big shout-out and thank you to Iseabeau Fort, one of those DJ’s whose musical genius never seizes to amaze me and whose musical compositions have been the soundtrack to my researching and writing. Also I would like to thank my supervisor Johan Hartle, who I had never met before but who I found prepared to guide me from afar and ask me the questions I needed to hear in order to create this piece of work. I have learned a lot through this process, but mostly I feel like I have touched on two fountains of knowledge and wisdom that will not run dry soon, and which I think can be united even more. So my last thanks are to Bauman, Marcuse and Epicurus, R.I.P., for all their sincere work on which I could build my thinking.
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ABSTRACT:
1
Introduction
2
Method and structure of the thesis 4
Acknowledgements
6
Table of Contents 7
1.
We’re all living in Consumptia
9
Introduction 9
1.1 The Rise of Consumptia 10
1.1.1 From the work ethics to the aesthetics of consumption. 10 1.1.2 You better shape up, ‘cause we need a consumer 12
1.1.3 Consuming happiness? 13
1.1.4 Conclusion 14
1.2 The Consumer Complex 15
1.2.1 Introduction 15
1.2.2 Needs and wants 16
1.2.3 Come on baby light my Fire 16
1.2.4 Commodity dynamics, what do you mean? 18
1.2.5 Sub-conclusion 19
1.3 The system of Consumptia Hedonistica 20
1.3.1 Consumptia’s accumulation regime 20
1.3.2 Unhappy consumption 22
1.3.3 Concluding Consumptia Hedonistica 22
2. Let’s get Critical (Theory)!
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Introduction 24
Who the (...) is Marcuse? 25
2.1 On Hedonism 27
2.1.1 Why study hedonism in critical theory? 27
2.1.2 Universality of reason versus happiness 28
2.1.3 Cyrenaic hedonism, the more the happier 29
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2.1.7 Table of Hedonisms 34 2.1.8 Conclusion 35 2.2 Freedom is happiness 36 2.2.1 Introduction 36 2.2.2 Potentialities 36 2.2.3 Enjoyment 372.2.4 Freedom and Happiness and knowledge 38
2.2.5 Conclusion 40
2.3 One-dimensionality, alienation and liberation 40
2.3.1 Introduction 40
2.3.2 One-Dimensional Consciousness 41
2.3.3 Authentic existence – awareness, consciousness and liberation 42
2.3.4 Ecology 44
2.3.5 Conclusion New Marcuse versus Old Marcuse 44
3. The Age of Epicurius
46
Introduction 46
3.1 Meet Epicurus 47
3.1.1 Life of Epicurus 48
3.1.2 The Doctrine - The Four Fold Remedy 50
Pleasure and pain 52
Typology of desires 53
3.1.3 Garden of Epicurus 54
3.1.4 Conclusion 56
3.2 A Unity of Critical Happiness 56
3.2.1 An unsurprising kinship 56
3.2.2 The Epicusean table 59
3.3 The Fall of Consumptia 62
3.3.1 Introduction 62
3.3.2 From the aesthetic of consumption, to an anti-consumerist aesthetic 62
3.3.3 Get ready for the New Sage 64
3.3.4 The Table of Hedonisms according to Robin H. 66
3.3.5 Conclusion 68
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1. We’re all living in Consumptia
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Figure 1 - Artwork by Mateusz Urbanowicz and a picture of Zygmunt Bauman laid over by me
Introduction
“Ours is a consumer society” (Bauman, 1998, p. 23)
In this chapter I will theorize Consumptia from different angles. The main focus of the first section will be the historical transformation of the western developed societies from producer societies with a centrality of the work ethic to consumer societies, with a high level of aestheticization. Concluding the historical account I will provide a short discussion of the mechanisms through which consumer societies groom their subjects into becoming consumers. Both of these aspects of Consumptia will be elucidated through a discussion of the sociological account by Zygmunt Bauman3, as his theory is much in line with the common conceptions within critical theory and his theory provides an interesting viewpoint on the switch from ethics to aesthetics. Departing from the exploration of the historical and structural context of Consumptia and how it came to be, I will secondly focus on the subjective experiences of the consumer within consumer societies. This I will do by using Robert Dunn’s Identifying consumption (2008), an extensive theoretical work that investigates the subjectivity of the consumer within modern consumer society. I will discuss the experience of desire and the elements constituting the ‘Consumer Complex’. In the third and final section of this chapter I will delve deeper into a novel but key element in current Consumptia: the practice of ‘hedonistic consumerism’. Going into a more structural and
2 Consumptia is an umbrella term for consumer societies, western advanced capitalist societies; highly industrialized societies organized around the consumption of consumables. This title is also a reference to the 2004 Rammstein song ‘Amerika’, an industrial metal/hard rock-song offering critique on American imperialism and consumerism.
3 Bauman was a notable Polish sociologist and philosopher who has written many works on societal stratification, capitalism, liquid modernity and consumerism.
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contemporary analysis, I will investigate in the third section how the shift from ‘regular consumerism’ to ‘hedonistic consumerism’ developed itself systemically and what could be identified as the main characteristics of this hedonistic form of consumerism
1.1 The Rise of Consumptia
1.1.1 From the work ethics to the aesthetics of consumption.
Zygmunt Bauman states that before the rise of the consumer society there was the society of production (1998, p. 24).4 The society of production, which came to a rise through the move
of industrialization in the 19th century, instilled on its subjects what Bauman calls the “work
ethic” (p. 5). Before the instilment of the work-ethic, the producer was free to purposefully create the produced product, to freely choose their profession from passion and through this achieve meaning in life (p. 7). Through the work ethic a slave-like mindset was installed onto the subjects, after which their labor could easily be exploited by the capitalists (p. 8). Work was no longer the means through which the subject shapes their identity, not an activity that should bring about any form of satisfaction or happiness. The person producing the products went through a process of detachment and was valued only as an instrument within the system of production.5 The work ethic was both used to help the growing industries with their
problem of sourcing cheap labor, as well as to provide a basis for the discrimination of the weak and poor (p. 11). Being of productive value through performing labor was regarded as the only justification for living; only through work could one prove themselves to be a valuable part of society and only through work could one provide themselves with any sense of meaning in life. As Bauman aptly illustrates:
“Under the guise of the work ethic, a discipline ethic was promoted: don’t mind pride or honour, sense or purpose – work with all your strength, day by day and hour by hour, even if you see no rhyme nor reason to exert yourself and are unable to adumbrate the meaning of the exertion.” (Bauman, 1998, p. 7)
4 Bauman stresses that we should keep in mind that humans in societies have been producing and consuming since the dawn of the human species and will keep on doing so always. The distinction is found in the difference in which the members of society are engaged: in the producer society the subjects are primarily engaged in their capacity as producers, in the consumer society they are primarily engaged in their capacity as consumers (Bauman, 1998, p. 24).
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This moral system swiftly got replaced by a more practical conception of monetary reward being the prime element in the subject’s relationship to work.6 Labor transformed into a
necessary means to acquire monetary rewards which were promised to bring the worker to a future freedom.7 The promise on this function of work turned out to be just a façade, a dream
(p. 21). Workers noticed that the chances of being able to rise above their disadvantaged positions, to transform themselves from exploited laborers to factory owners were close to nothing. A new mechanism was put in place, which replaced the emphasis on the betterment of one’s life through work with the accumulation of more money through work: ‘the material incentives to work’ (p. 21). Through these incentives the emphasis moved from ‘better’ to ‘more’ work and reward, as the more work would be done, the more material rewards could be gained. Bauman asserts that the channeling of the power conflict of the quality of social existence into the struggle for the quantity of monetary income had an important influence on the course of development of modern industrial society (p. 22). This course of history laid the foundation for the acceptance of the regard for human value and dignity merely being expressed through monetary rewards, as well as shifting the human motivation and craving for pleasure, freedom and equality into the sphere of consumption (p. 22).
In the consumer society the guide for human behavior is no longer based in ethical norms as it used to be in the producer society, but in aesthetic experience. This transformation is essential to highlight, as it is the reason why the consumer nowadays cannot easily be persuaded to change their ways through ethical arguments. The emphasis on the aesthetic dimension is also the fountain from which the hedonistic aspect of Consumptia springs. Aestheticization within society entails that the commodities and the way they bring sensations8 of pleasure through consumption are centralized in the experience of the subjects.
The pleasurable experience is regarded as being of upmost importance. The move from the work ethic to the aesthetic experience is necessary to make Consumptia function in favor of capitalism, because in Consumptia consumption should not be experienced by the consumer as a duty having to do with ethical norms, but as a free right to pursue their aesthetic interests, in other words: to gain pleasurable experiences (Bauman, 1998, p. 31). 9 In Consumptia there
is no need for normative regulations; “seduction, display of untested wonders, promise of
6 The monetary rewards would supposedly bring more freedom in the life of the worker, as it would make them capable of attaining means of production and become a capitalist themselves.
7 This freedom is today linked to the freedom to consume. 8 Sensations here are meant in relation to the sense-perception.
9 Which also results in consumer uprising against more stringent regulation to limit choice or ban certain very harmful products, as the “consumer spirit” is so caught up in the aesthetics of consumption, that the freedom every human being craves is sought in this domain (Bauman, 1998, p. 25).
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sensations yet untried but dwarfing and overshadowing everything tried before, will do nicely” (Bauman, 1998, p. 31). The seduction of the consumer takes place mainly via the method of propagandistic advertisements, which are aesthetic by definition (Garvey, 2016, p. 143). From the aestheticization of society also follows a new valuation of work as perceived in terms of aesthetics instead of ethics. This means that work is no longer inherently valuable,10 but only is valuable if it brings a sort of satisfaction or pleasure to the person
performing the work. Placing work in the aesthetic realm provides another base for a more stratified11 society, as there is a distinction in the value of certain types of work, the ‘elevated’ types of work ask of their performers the same qualities for the appreciation of high art - such as creativity, higher education, good taste and disinterested dedication, while the more ‘basic’ life-sustaining types of work are looked down upon. In other words: class differences are expressed in the valuation of the work performed. Thus the subjects within Consumptia are pushed to, as in the sphere of consumption, be demanding and seek fulfilment and variety in their labor (Bauman, 1998, pp. 33, 34). The move from ethical norms to aestheticization together with centralizing the subjective experience of the consumer as a consumer within society are two of the main driving forces shaping Consumptia.
1.1.2 You better shape up, ‘cause we need a consumer
The magical land of Consumptia is inhabited by the consumer. The consumer uses up the consumed, destroys, annihilates the consumable12 in order to satisfy their needs or desires. As Consumptia is structured in such a way that money is the mediator between a need or desire and its satisfaction or gratification, the consumer appropriates the consumable through exchanging their money attained through work (Bauman, 1998, p. 23). In modernity, as Bauman calls it, the shift in emphasis from the subject as producer to the subject as primarily a consumer is an important central element in considering societies as being a form of
10 The performance of work would be the fulfillment of an ethical duty, meaning that in this sense all kinds of work were equal and the work would bring satisfaction to its performer through this fulfillment.
11 Stratification is a concept central to Bauman’s work and research and entails the way in which societies are layered in social divisions. Through the process of seeing work as something consumable, the decision to perform a certain kind of work seemingly is a free choice, not a matter of many intertwining factors and privileges that enable some to choose and others to not choose freely what kind of work they want to pursue. 12 A consumable: instead of using the term consumer good, as this in my opinion has connotations with something that should be considered good. I do not want to consider the consumable to be a good thing, neither a bad thing per se. A consumable is an object that is brought onto the market after production, in order to be consumed – that is, used up quickly - by the consumer, after which it needs to be replaced again. The original economic definition of consumable is more about perishable goods like medicine and food, I find however that this using up and quick-replacement is very much descriptive of most material things brought onto the market today, like electronics, clothing and home-decorations. The planned obsolescence makes the item a consumable.
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Consumptia (p. 24). The first difference in the way people are groomed to meet the requirements of society is the way in which the people are taught to shape their social identities. Before, in the society of production the social identity of the subject was decided by their work. Since the transformation of the society into a consumer society, the social identity is shaped primarily by the consumption of consumables. As humans we are always confused and confronted with our ambivalent view of the concept of identity, as it is not desired to be static, but to be very mutable (p. 28). This is another important element in the shaping of the consumer, as the consumables with their high level of disposability and interchangeability provide the consumer with an excellent way to form an interchangeable identity as well as keeping the consumer on edge, always longing for more.
In a more recent work, Consuming Life (2007), Bauman described another nuanced shift in the consumer’s relation to the consumable, as in the producer society the possessions were used conspicuously to show status and to display a sense of transcendence through time, which means that the possessions were acquired for their timelessness (p. 30). Subjects attained a feeling of durable security and stability through the acquirement of these timeless possessions, but through the transformation into the quick-response consumer society where all the desires have to be met instantly, and the objects of consumption are easily replaced,14
this sense of stability and security is taken away from the subjects (p. 31). The only stable and certain element is that we know a new consumable will be brought onto the market, will seek and find its application and in the end will be replaced again (p. 38). This leads to the search of stability in the realm of consumption, we all know that at least the shops, online or offline, will be there for us always, as the trustworthy churches of consumerism. It is in these places where the consumer is promised to find their happiness, but is this promise in vain?
1.1.3 Consuming happiness?
According to Bauman, sentiments of happiness and unhappiness are derived from hopes and expectations, which are culturally constituted and differ within different social settings (2007,
13 Bauman notes that in both types of societies still production and consumption are interlinked and apparent; the main difference is one of emphasis, as the number of people involved in productive forces has decreased significantly between the 1970s and the 1990s. It could of course be argued that this has to do with the outsourcing of labor to third-world countries, continuing the western projects of imperialism and colonialism, thus alleviating the Western labor forces from this type of productive work.
14 This high degree of built-in obsolescence resulting in the fast replacement of products also puts a huge strain on the environment, as the production of products requires the use of natural resources, but also a lot of human labor, which is mostly sourced in developing countries. They are even more so the true victims of our consumer societies.
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p. 43). The consumer society is the first in human history in which happiness is promised in earthly life, happiness is a possibility here and now, but only to be attained through the consumption of massive amounts of consumables (p. 44). Being unhappy within consumer society will consequently be interpreted as a personal deficit in consumption, placing the responsibility for happiness on the shoulders and in the wallets of the consuming consumer, again stigmatizing the poor for their lack of consuming power.15 Consumption is described as
being a ‘hedonic treadmill’,16 a system which will not increase the overall happiness of those who enter it, but will make them chase a promised ideal of happiness indefinitely. The treadmill metaphor is striking, as we can imagine how the subjects are endlessly running, powering a system which will actually not profit themselves, only benefitting the people who achieve ever-growing amounts of riches from this system.
1.1.4 Conclusion
Through the shift of the centrality of work as an ethical duty, thus providing a certain stability, to the aesthetics of consumption in which all is determined by the everchanging variety of consumables on offer and in which even the acquisition of work is expressed in terms of aesthetics, the subject in Consumptia is faced with a manifold of insecurities. The social identity is no longer shaped through work, but through the consumption of consumables, even placing work in the realm of consumption. The consumable in the shape of material possessions provides no longer a sense of stability, as they are made to be disposed of as soon as another possible possession arrives in the life and installs desire into the heart of the consumer, making them run endlessly on the hedonic treadmill of consumption. In the next section I will discuss the internal subjective mechanisms that fire up the desire to consume. Additionally, I will show that the consumer is not merely subjected to this system, but should be attributed a certain degree of agency, showing that there is room to liberate the consumer from this exploitative system.
15 This is also where the massive problem of cheaply mass-produced consumer goods come from, as in order to give the poor the illusion of happiness and wealth, they are able to buy very cheaply made knock-off items, often produced under dire circumstances in third-world countries. Through consuming and feeling happy, the poor will lose their revolutionary power as they are kept asleep in this system of consuming trash.
16 The hedonic treadmill theory presupposes that humans bounce back to their original level of happiness after certain happiness increasing or decreasing events.
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1.2 The Consumer Complex
1.2.1 Introduction
After this sociological account by Zygmunt Bauman of the transformation of the society of production to the consumer society, I think it is important to take a closer look at the mechanisms in place which influence the subjects within this consumer society. A recent work by Robert G. Dunn, Identifying Consumption (2008), provides a thorough account on various theories that explore the shaping of the consumer. According to Dunn, the consumers are “social and individual subjects who are (1) agents acting out of largely unconscious forces shaped by the productive and reproductive needs of capitalism, and (2) as actors consciously seeking to satisfy needs and desires in meaningful ways” (2008, p. 5). Through discussing Bauman’s view on the topic the consumer seems to fall largely in the first category only, while personally I would agree with Dunn and do regard the consumer as a person with a certain amount of agency, as this will leave room for them to break free from the semi-ideological oppression of consumerism. Dunn proposes to view the relational issue at hand not as an agency/structure problem, but as an actor – system relation, in which the actor (the consumer) is characterized as being a human subject with an idea of the self and reflexive capacities (p. 79). This notion is necessary for the rest of the argument, as I will in the end with Epicurus conclude that precisely these reflexive capacities will provide the possibility of bringing about real systemic change, within the consumer and through the consumer in Consumptia.
I will first bring about an account of the desire of the consumer, a topic which has not been thoroughly researched but is very important in the context of the consumer society. According to Dunn, these desires are not merely imposed from above but do help the subjects to achieve some sense of gratification in life. Consumer culture is a complex system of meaning, practices and representations that organize within society the ideal of consumption as a way of life, a system which according to Dunn does provide “real possibilities for the satisfaction of human need and desire (p. 9)”. Consumerism is the legitimizing ideology which makes the subjects bound to this system (p. 8). As Bauman also has argued, it is true that people need to consume in order to live their lives, and to a certain extent the value of life can be found through means of consumption. The corrupting factor in today’s societies is the ideology of consumerism which renders the subjects unfree and installs onto them a broad
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variety of unnecessary desires which will be endlessly replaced, thus never really satisfied (p. 9).
1.2.2 Needs and wants
In order to theorize the experiences of the consumer within consumer society it is necessary to investigate the passions or emotive sensations that are central to the life of the consumer. Traditionally in critical theory and sociological research, these passions were defined as the needs and wants, and the placement of the wants as the most important driving force in society. Marcuse for instance makes the distinction between 'true' and 'false' needs in his theorization of one-dimensional society,17 in order to propose a critique of consumer
capitalism (Dunn, 2008, p. 96). Needs are universal minimum requirements for survival and well-being, they could be biological, social, metaphysical, cultural, material or psychological (p. 12). However, according to Dunn the concept of needs has lost its relevance in the study of consumer culture. Wants are more fleeting, more subjective and so could also be implied onto the subject through various forms of manipulation. Wants have to do with choice, as they are often not necessary for survival or well-being. Bauman argues in his analysis of the consumer society that the dynamic involving needs and their satisfaction has been turned around, as instead of the need calling for satisfaction by a certain consumable, in Consumptia the consumable first comes into existence, after which the desire for this consumable is constructed through psychological manipulation by the industry (1998, p. 25). Also according to Dunn the concepts of 'wants' or ‘needs’ are inadequate to describe the psychology and subjectivity within consumer societies and proposes instead a discussion of the concept and experience of desire as being central in Consumptia (2008, p. 49).
1.2.3 Come on baby light my Fire
Desire is a concept which is broader and more varied in opposition to “wanting” or “needing” and is experienced as a very deep yearning for something or someone (Dunn, 2008, p. 12). Desire is perceived to have a dynamic social aspect, as the desire for objects that help us become part of a social group could be shifted to new objects the next day (Belk, et al., 2003, p. 330). Desire is traditionally by different religious ideologies perceived to be a vice, but through the workings of global capitalist consumerism the desire to consume is now essential
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in living a virtuous life (p. 331). Desiring and desiring to desire are central to the lived experiences of the subjects who live within Consumptia.
In ‘The fire of desire: A Multisided Inquiry into Consumer Passion’, Russel W. Belk et. al. present a thorough account of the subjective experience of consumer desires. They introduce the concept of the cycle of desire, which entails that the consumer on an individual level has a cyclical experience of the emotion of desire (Belk, et al., 2003, p. 430). Desire is not merely an emotion, but also a process which goes through different phases and could be repetitive depending on the object of desire and whether the desire is fulfilled or not. In the desire for consumables, we can distinguish moments of self-seduction in which the agent fuels their own desire while this desire is still brought about from media imageries and cultural mythologies (p. 341). The active role of the consumer in their own seduction is proven through the empirical research in this article. When a desire is fulfilled, the consumer will only feel satisfied for a short time, until a reformulation of the desire takes place (p. 342). This process makes consumer desire cyclical, and this process could be perceived as one of the driving forces within Consumptia, because the consumer is "on a perpetual but fruitless quest for consumption euphoria" (p. 342). This cycle of desire is termed as a ‘boredom-initiated cycle of desire’, a cycle in which a new object of desire replaces the previous one at the moment of satisfaction (p. 342). There is also a category of desires which can be recycled infinitely, meaning that their fulfillment does not do away with the feeling of longing. The experienced satisfaction is of such pleasure that the desire is renewable over and over again, for instance having dinner at that one lovely Thai restaurant every once in a while. This cycle is termed the ‘fulfillment-initiated cycle of desire’ which recycles desires with the aim to repeat the pleasurable
To desire means to be hopeful and many of the respondents express to be rather fearful to be without desire. Desire is considered as the ‘spice of life’ by the interviewed consumers, an element of life without which life would be bland and boring. This seems to prove that there is a basic human desire to desire (p. 342). However, desire and hope are still distinct states, as desire is the emotional attraction towards an object, and hope is the experienced feeling of the possibility of attaining that object, thus fulfilling the desire (p. 343). This cycle determines the insatiability of the desires within consumerism, as the desire to desire apparently is so central to the life of the consumer, that it almost seems like desires should not be fulfilled. So not only do we see within Bauman’s sociological account the cyclical hedonic treadmill as an aspect of consumer desire, also within the consumer experience of psychological states we
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find the cyclical motion that is the driving force behind consumer capitalist societies. As Bauman has put it more beautifully than I ever could:
“In a properly working consumer society consumers seek actively to be seduced. They live from attraction to attraction, from temptation to temptation, from swallowing one bait to fishing for another, each new attraction, temptation and bait being somewhat different and perhaps stronger than those that preceded them; just as their ancestors, the producers, lived from one turn of the conveyer belt to an identical next.” (Bauman, 1998, p. 26)
This quote illustrates the cycle of desire, but also the active agency of the consumer who is seeking to find a new desire over and over again.
1.2.4 Commodity dynamics, what do you mean?
After concluding that desire plays an essential role in the experience and valuation of life itself by the consumer, as well as taking a central role in motivating the subjects within Consumptia to consume, the moment has arrived to investigate how the commodity influences this desire. In essence Dunn argues that there is and should be a middle ground between the commodity-based view and the subject-based view. In the traditionally Marxist view, culture is shaped wholly by the exchange and valuation of commodities. Within this view, the commodity is the element that mediates between production and consumption and through its existence initiates the sentiment of alienation by structurally detaching production from consumption (Dunn, 2008, pp. 24 - 27). The commodity-based view however does not elaborate enough on the manner in which the consumer derives meaning through their relation with the material objects.
Dunn outlines, taking from Grant McCracken, a model called “meaning transfer”, that states how within consumer society meaning can be found in three distinguishable locations: (1) the culturally constituted world; (2) the consumer good and (3) the individual consumer (2008, p. 90). The meaning systems are materialized in concrete objects, according to McCracken, and the material goods also function as a representational medium, more inconspicuous thus effective than language in performing manipulation (Dunn, 2008, p. 90). The power is in the concreteness, while the commodity is also an impoverished 18 cultural symbol. The
commodity is in many theories perceived as a sign, a sign that helps the subject shape their
18 It is impoverished as the meaning of the symbol is decided by the industry. The promises made are often not realized.
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identity and position themselves in life and in the social space. Through making use of the commodity as an aesthetic sign, meaning gets inflated and a range of uses or values is promised, again fueling consumer desires. Additionally, Dunn argues that a new way of viewing the relation between the subject and the commodity is necessary to explain the dialectics of consumption (pp. 92 - 95). The dialectics of consumption are another analogy of the cyclical nature of consumption, where the consumer is locked in a continuous state of enchantment and boredom (Migone, 2007, p. 182). Inherently the commodity is not bad, only in the way it is used by the system to manipulate the actors within the system. The real meaning derived from the interaction with and the acquirement of commodities is valuable in itself. We should just be mindful of how we let commodities lure us into a certain desiring which’s satisfaction will not bring about happiness, but merely room for a new kind of desire.
1.2.5 Sub-conclusion
The complex of consumption is one that inconspicuously influences almost all subjects living in a society shaped like Consumptia. It is a condition of being that shapes and molds all different spheres of life, a condition that drives the consumer to shape up into a certain subjectivity, wholly complacent to the mechanisms of advanced consumer capitalism. In discussing the position, subjective experiences and emotional drives of the consumer within Consumptia, we have to move the discussion from the conceptualization of needs and wants to desire, as desire is the central element in shaping the motives and actions of the consumer in Consumptia. Desire is an emotion that has proven to be of cyclical nature, especially in the rapidly changing commodified material existence that is the context for the consumer. Where value is placed on the ‘new’ instead of the durable, fresh commodities are pushed into the lives of the consumer lighting the ‘fire of desire’ over and over again. The commodity, however, is not merely a poisonous and manipulative element in the life of the consumer, as the subjective agency of the consumer does provide space for meaningful identity formation through the practice of consumption. In the next section I will provide a more empirical account of the current consumer society and the political and economic material grounds that fuel the workings of the new form of hedonistic consumer society.
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1.3 The system of Consumptia Hedonistica
1.3.1 Consumptia’s accumulation regime
After the account of the subjective experiences of the consumer within consumer societies, I want to take a more abstracted view of the structural elements that helped constitute the consumer society as it currently is, thus the transformation from ‘classical’ consumerism to the novel form of ‘hedonistic consumerism’. Andrea Migone argues in ‘Hedonistic Consumerism: Patterns of Consumption in Contemporary Capitalism’, that the origin of this form of consumerism can be found in the post-Fordist accumulation regime, dating back to the 1970s. Since this timeframe, systemic consumerism has undergone an important transformation: it became more self-referencing and unequal (Migone, 2007, p. 174). The self-referencing aspects of hedonistic consumerism are also described by Dunn as a tendency of the subject to act in narcissistic ways within modern societies. Within modern neoliberal capitalist society, the individual is of central importance, which means that the tendencies to acquire narcissistic pleasures from consuming the consumable objects are centralized, more so than the social effects of consumption (Dunn, 2008, p. 111). Migone analyses the system of consumerism in the framework of regulation theory, and within this framework differentiates between Fordism and Post-Fordism as accumulation19 regimes with both their
different modes of regulation and modes of consumption. The transformation of the accumulation regime from Fordist to post-Fordist contributed to the transformation of consumerism into hedonistic consumerism, from Consumptia to Consumptia Hedonistica. Both of the accumulation regimes differ from previous accumulation regimes in that they cloud class differences and struggles through offering as a distraction a focus on consumerism instead (Migone, 2007, p. 176). A hegemonic discourse arose, that equated the consumption of material possessions with the essential human need for individual expression (p. 176). The traditional Fordist regime of accumulation, first identified in the 1930s, is signified by a mode of regulation which Migone categorizes to be Fordist and Keynesian. This mode of regulation entails mass-production, Taylorism, high wages, national markets, automatization and stable employment relations for the workers. In this framework of traditional Fordism, the mode of consumption was diffused and relatively egalitarian.
19 An accumulation regime is a regime that functions as a means to make capital accumulate in certain places, thus extracting from other places, these regimes are essentially capitalist.
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Advertisement and commodification were prevalent in order to install a drive to consume and consequently there was a high level of public debt (p. 177).
With the transformation from Fordism into post-Fordism, the latter characterized by Migone as neoliberal, the mode of regulation prioritizes a flexibilization of work,20 the markets shift
from national to globalized international markets, the wages are lower and the production process has to be even more streamlined. The accompanying mode of consumption is segmented and unequal, Migone describes this as ‘Hedonistic Consumerism’. Both the reliance on advertisement and the level of commodification are increased and the debts have shifted from the public sphere to the private (Migone, 2007, p. 177). Hedonistic patterns of excessive consumption additionally extend commodification to incorporate more social elements and create bigger differences between those who are wealthy enough to consume, and those who are not (p. 178). The richest 20 percent of the world population have exhibited growing rates of consumption with 86 percent of the world total private consumption, while the poorest 80 percent only can attribute for 14 percent (p. 179). So, if there hypothetically would be any truth in the idea that happiness could be attained through more consumption,21
even within this system only 20 percent of the world population is allowed to experience this. Another important element of this form of consumerism, according to Migone, is that we should consider is the ecological problem that we face as a global society, which is mostly created by these patterns of excessive hedonistic consumerism (p. 181). This is the case because the capitalist system is a “growth-only” model, prescribing an impossible route of unlimited growth of consumption. Stagnation will be destructive, or so is argued by the capitalists (p. 182). Through trend-making the consumer is lured into desiring all kinds of fashionable items, leading to an even more unequal distribution of productive resources, both in the form of labor and material resources (p. 182). Thus, not only does Consumptia Hedonistica hold the consuming subjects of the West in its grip, it also leads to an even more unequal distribution and the expropriation of labor and material resources.22
20 This insecurity in work also leads to heightened levels of consumption, as consuming the promises that the industry makes through the commodities will provide a short-lived moment of gratification and distraction from the actual misery that the people are in.
21 This is, as I will show throughout this thesis not the road to happiness.
22 This mostly happens in formerly colonized third world countries in the global south, a process which is in itself also fueled by imperialist ideologies containing racism and classism.
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Increasing amounts of empirical evidence show that the promise of happiness attainment through consumption is one that will never be fulfilled, just as the desires created by the consumerist hedonic treadmill. The carrot will never really be eaten, the real need not satisfied. This mode of consumerism is actually making the consumer more stressed out and unhappy, through different processes and phenomena.
For instance the phenomenon of ‘Consumer Hyperchoice’; the cycle of consumption and desire combined with the extensive array of consumables on display for the consumer are actually making the consumer more stressed and unhappy, as has been shown by recent empirical data. The mechanism at work in this phenomenon is one that brings much psychological turmoil to the consumer, where the overwhelming number of options to choose from in order to satisfy a need or desire is so great that the actor just casually trying to better their own life feels paralyzed by all the choice and often led to deep feelings of regret after purchase, because they never know if one of the many other options would have satisfied them better (Cherrier & Munoz, 2007, p. 4). This is one of the mechanisms in Consumptia that actually go against the promise of the attainment of happiness for the consumer, as often a limited choice brings more peace of mind. Or think about the phenomenon of ‘Retail
Therapy'; the prescribed act of shopping as a cure for our inner turmoil and malaise. It has
been proven time and time again that since becoming more affluent humanity did not become happier, to the contrary: there are higher general levels of depression, dissatisfaction and uncertainty. General human fears and anxieties are being cultivated and exploited by the industries, especially the highly psychologized advertisement industry working as a propaganda machine for the producers of consumables (Garvey, 2016, p. 171).
1.3.3 Concluding Consumptia Hedonistica
Consumerism does not deliver on its promise of the ideal of happiness. Instead it makes use of the cyclical nature of human desire, to introduce consumables on the market over and over again. Need creation seemingly brings need satisfaction, but this satisfaction does not bring about real happiness (Cherrier & Munoz, 2007, p. 3). Another essential element of human being is exploited: the fundamental need for individual identity formation, a process which is promised to be found through consumption. This self-expression is provided on a mass scale, preventing the possibilities for actual individual identity expression and formation.
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The political and social context is also structured in such a way that great injustices and inequalities are a necessary result of the lifestyle adopted by a small minority of the world’s population. Carrying the burden of our excessive amounts of consumption due to the way we are dictated to follow our every desire, are the already disenfranchised workers in third world countries, all animals living extremely endangered lives, the future generations of humans of this planet and the currently living who have to face the dire effects of catastrophic climate change. How do we deploy philosophy in order to illuminate the exact problematic mechanisms in place shaping our desire and exploiting our basic instinctive human quest for happiness? How can we then, through forming a strong critique challenge the deeply engrained consumerist beliefs and replace them with different ones? In short: how can we help to liberate the consumer from their insatiable desire for consumables as means to achieve happiness.
The question remains as to how we as human beings in these complex consumer societies that burden us with the Consumer Complex can achieve happiness, and is this even an option or possibility? In order to find a critical conception of happiness I will in my next chapter discuss a piece of writing written by critical theorist Herbert Marcuse, on hedonism, happiness, freedom and the realization of potentialities. I will also delve out the possible tactics for liberation proposed by Marcuse, as that might be the only route to real happiness.
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2. Let’s get Critical (Theory)!
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Figure 2 two physical animals and Marcuse getting Critical
Introduction
As I have explained in the previous chapter, we can see that the consumer as the inhabitant of Consumptia is running along a hedonic treadmill, surrendered to the cycle of continuous consumption of consumables. With the future of the planet and humanity in mind we must consider ways to limit this consumption and seek chances for liberation from this oppressive system. Herbert Marcuse employed Critical Theory in the tradition of the Frankfurt School. Highly inspired by Karl Marx and Martin Heidegger, Marcuse mainly focused his intellectual and activist work on the liberation and emancipation of the administered individuals, liberation from themselves as well as their masters (Alway, 1995, pp. 71, 75). Marcuse has been characterized and is most well known as the spiritual father of the New Left, with his hopeful thought being at the base of many revolutionary movements in the sixties, mainly in the category of utopianism. The specific kind of sixties utopianism influenced by but also influencing Marcuse called for a total transformation of society which was not only political, but necessarily simultaneously in the realm of the psychic, the social and the cultural, where the hope for revolutionary change is located in the transformation of individual consciousness (DeKoven, 2003, pp. 263, 267). His search for new subjectivities has been prevalent throughout his whole body of work. Marcuse’s highly inspired theoretical work has often been overlooked because of his public presence and I believe his thought should be
23 This title is a reference to the 1981 hit-song “Physical” by Olivia Newton John. Even though there is a fair amount of body-shaming in the video, the catchiness of the song and the theme of transformation make me feel like it should be rewritten for emancipatory purposes and we should all be singing ‘let’s get critical’ together.
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revitalized in academia as it can serve us with the necessary critical insights needed for the transformation of Consumptia and the consumer living within it.
Who the (...) is Marcuse?
I will present here a short overview of Marcuse’s life and work, as found in The Legacy of
Marcuse: A critical reader (2003), by John Abromeit and W. Mark Cobb. Herbert Marcuse’s
intellectual work has been vastly overshadowed by his presence as a public intellectual, as most people think of the radical protest era and the left-wing political hopefulness of the 1960s when Marcuse is mentioned (Abromeit & Cobb, 2004, p. 1). I believe it is very admirable and inspiring that Marcuse managed to combine his academic work with the level of activism he practiced, but the members of the youth cultures in which Marcuse was involved lacked the necessary philosophical background to understand precisely what Marcuse was arguing. This lacking has led to a simplification and misunderstanding of Marcuse’s real critical theory (p. 2). Abromeit and Cobb argue that the New Left movement was more guided by emotional sentiments than by a sufficient level of “self-concious theoretical understanding”, especially as most of Marcuse’s work is complex and dense (p. 3). In the 1920s at age 24, Marcuse wrote an extensive work on the German artist-novel genre, in which he analyzed the themes of overcoming alienation in industrialized society taking from theories of Hegel and Lucács. In this work Marcuse laid the foundation for his later body of work, placing upmost importance on “the aesthetic dimension as a source of transcendent social critique, or the search for new radical subjectivities in marginalized groups” (p. 7). Five years later when Martin Heidegger published Being and Time, Marcuse seized the opportunity to study together with Heidegger as he was highly inspired by this work. Marcuse was mostly influenced and inspired by the idea of the conceptualization of the Dasein, the centralized position of the individual and the importance of the awareness of the historical possibilities in order to overcome alienation (p. 7). Marcuse wanted to reconcile the Heideggerian theory of the formation of subjectivities with Hegelian concepts of historicity and self-reflexivity, to put Marxism back on the right track (p. 8). Heidegger’s sympathy and hope for the National Socialist party led Marcuse to part ways with Heidegger, both theoretically and personally (p. 8).24
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In the 1930s Marcuse started working together with Horkheimer, taking the role of the house philosopher of the Frankfurt School, writing articles for the journal Zeitschrift für
Sozialforschung, it is in this period that he wrote ‘On Hedonism’ of which I will present a
close reading. In these articles Marcuse analyzed and identified the ambivalences concerning bourgeois reason and rationality, for bringing about positive change while also continuing capitalist oppression and a stratified society. When the journal had to be discontinued due to financial troubles and Horkheimer wanted to work together with Adorno on the Dialectic of
Enlightenment, Marcuse decided to fight fascism in a more practical way and started working
for the intelligence branch of the US government (p. 9). In 1955 Marcuse published Eros and
Civilization, a work in which Marcuse got into Freud and through which he tried to
understand how the atrocities of the second World War could have happened in ‘western civilized society’ (p. 10). Marcuse did no longer regard reason as an ability to identify the potentialities of liberation or the historical possibilities, but as a tool for domination and this led him to look for a qualitatively different concept of reason, which he termed ‘erotic rationality’ found in the instinctual structure of humans (p. 10). Marcuse found that the alienated labor got replaced with new forms of non-repressive sublimation through the “capitalist development of the means of production combined with the advancement of technology” (p.10). In this work he also critiqued Freudian concepts25 that perpetuated and
normalized the patriarchy and heteronormativity, critiques that still are relevant and important today, especially in feminist and queer theory (p.10).
At age 66, Marcuse published his most widely known work: One-Dimensional Man (1964), a provocative work on the conditions of highly administered advanced capitalist consumer societies which “catapulted him from the relative obscurity of scholarly life to the forefront of the burgeoining protest movements of the 1960s” (p. 11). In One-Dimensional Man Marcuse argued that society created false needs while at the same time hindering the capacity for critical thought and resistance to these forms of oppression (p. 11). Pessimism was prevalent in this work, but Marcuse seemed hopeful still that historical memory could serve as a force that could subvert the “compulsory amnesia of technological reason” and could lead to the ‘Great Refusal’ 26 (p.12). Marcuse concluded however that the revolutionary class consciousness that was to be found in the working class in Marxist theory was prevented by the integration of the working class by consumerism and the culture industry, thus should be
25 Freud’s theory on phytogenetic and ontogenetic development (Abromeit & Cobb p. 10). 26 More on the Great Refusal at the end of this chapter.
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located in other social groups: “those outside of the system and radical students” (p. 12). In ‘An essay on Liberation’ (1969) Marcuse presented his most optimistic and utopian thoughts, presenting the ideal of a socialism that is “rooted in the instinctual structure of men and women whose needs and sensibilities demand a break with the status quo” (p. 13). I will get back to discussing these concepts later in this chapter, after my discussion of Marcuses conception of the function and limits of hedonism.
In this thesis, the time has arrived to get critical, to think about how to transform the individual consciousness of the consumer of Consumptia in order to bring about the radical changes that our world so desperately needs right now. In the first two sections of this chapter I will discuss Marcuse’s 1938 essay ‘On Hedonism’ as found in Negations (2009), which will provide insights into Marcuse’s thoughts regarding hedonism and the achievement of happiness. In the last section of this chapter I will discuss concepts developed in Marcuse’s later works that actually align with concepts found in the hedonist school of Epicureanism, which is initially dismissed by Marcuse. In this way I will have placed all the foundations for my discussion of the liberatory force that we can find in Epicureanism, a form of hedonism that through critical self-reflection will provide a system of hedonist thinking capable of freeing the consumer from the clenching grip of Consumptia Hedonistica.
2.1 On Hedonism
2.1.1 Why study hedonism in critical theory?
As we have learned through the previous chapter of this thesis, hedonism is an important element of Consumptia, especially the way in which the human sentiment of desire is utilized by the capitalist forces to manipulate the consuming mass into spending their hard-earned money in order to attain certain consumables which will in the end not bring them the happiness they are looking for. Hedonism is colloquially understood to be a school of thought mainly occupied by valuing the experience of pleasure as the most important element of human life, as well as an essential element in arriving at happiness (Feldman, 2002, p. 606). But hedonism has different forms and our star Marcuse himself has written an essay on hedonism, titled ‘On Hedonism’ in Negations, in which he tries to define the concepts of freedom and happiness, their relationship and their historical context. Furthermore he tries to find a definition for reasonable needs and wants (Stohs, 1976, p. 329).
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For Marcuse it was essential to study hedonism in critical theory as:
“In the principle of hedonism, the demand for the freedom of the individual is extended into the realm of the material conditions of life. Insofar as the materialistic protest of hedonism preserves an otherwise proscribed element of human liberation, it is linked with the interest of critical theory.” (Marcuse, 1968, p. 121)
It seems that Marcuse sees some liberatory possibility in the deployment of hedonism, as a certain form of hedonism applies the demand for freedom to the material conditions of life, thus challenges the unequal organization of society. In the next section I will give an account of Marcuse’s 1938 essay on hedonism and his discussion of hedonism, its function and effect within advanced capitalist society, through discussing the themes of subjectivity, freedom, reason and happiness. The concept and definition of happiness has been discussed in philosophy throughout the whole history of human thought. Many people wonder how they can live a happy life, and many different theories, ideas and solutions are provided, not only in philosophy. Consumptia provides an easy to follow road to happiness: consume and be happy. As I have concluded in the previous chapter this road is paved with deception and lies – consumerism does not deliver on its promise of the attainment of happiness through partaking in this system. To the contrary: the system of consumerism is creating inner turmoil, rather than solving it. I with Marcuse have a feeling that there is more to life than consumerism, and will now investigate the complications surrounding the conceptualization of happiness within Consumptia.
2.1.2 Universality of reason versus happiness
Marcuse starts On Hedonism with a strong critique of liberalism, especially Kantian rooted liberalism. He advances his critique with a description and rejection of the centrality of the universality of reason within the idealist philosophy of the bourgeois era. Through this idealist philosophy the individual becomes an ego isolated from and against others in their manifold of drives, thoughts and interests, a process he terms as ‘isolating individuation’. Concrete individuality is reduced to the subject of mere thought: “the rational ego”. The individual is not able to partake in the system of society with their empirical manifold of needs, wants and capacities leading to a sacrifice of the individual for the universal conception of reason. This process is also to be identified within Consumptia, as I have argued before: mass produced consumables are provided for the consumer, not tending to
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their specific needs and wants, but artificially creating a desire to obtain the consumables after their production (Bauman, 2007, p. 38). Against this background of the universality of reason, it is almost impossible for the individual to achieve gratification of their own unique wants and capacities. Accordingly, their possibility for happiness is not regarded as a theme of great importance or value, as it is so subjective that it is not understandable in terms of the universalized conception of reason. A subjective and varying feeling experienced by the individual cannot be a foundation for an objectively universal law (Marcuse, 1968, p. 119). So because it is impractical for the ruling order which ascribes great value to the practicalities of a notion of universality, it is impossible for the individual to attain true happiness within a society ruled by these ideals. Marcuse then quotes Hegel as having distinguished that throughout the history of humans, reason has progressed itself against the interests of humans seeking happiness, as the individual with their subjective wants and needs has to be sacrificed for the sake of progress (p. 120). Hegel also critiques the eudaemonistic27 principle in which
the highest good is placed in happiness and pleasure, not stating that it is false in itself, but precisely because within eudaemonistic thought the value is placed in the subjective experience of pleasure and happiness, while the individual is at the same time expected to accept and conform to the norms of society. This acceptance prevents the development and betterment of human reason according to Hegel, and this critique leads Marcuse to argue that human happiness should go beyond mere subjective gratification of particular interests (p. 120). We need an objective account or definition of happiness that respects both the individual and their autonomy of reason, we should no longer let capitalist society provide this definition.
2.1.3 Cyrenaic hedonism, the more the happier
Marcuse then goes on to discuss Cyrenaic hedonism, a school of thought in which the fulfillment of specific wants and instincts of the individual are associated with the feeling of pleasure. Experiencing feelings of pleasure as often as possible will, according to followers of this school, lead to the attainment of happiness. Happiness is the result of the particular pleasures, they are centralized and inherently valuable, they are desirable for their own sake. Happiness itself is not desirable for its own sake, only for the sake of particular pleasures. The individual wants and desires are determined by social customs and social convention and
27 Eudaemonism is a school of ethical hedonistic thought which places the highest moral value in the individual attainment of personal well-being, pleasure and subsequently happiness.
