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Lesław Hostyński, Karnawał czy post? O moralnych zagrożeniach w świecie konsumpcji [Carnival or Lent? Moral Threats in the World of Consumption], PWN, Warszawa 2015, pp. 300

2016; The Nicolaus Copernicus University Press; Volume: 71; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.12775/rf.2015.019

2545-3173

Dawid Wincław,

Central European Literary Studies

Carnival or Lent?Moral Threats in the World of Consumption.This monograph is not a separate work without any relationship to his previous publications, but rather their consistent followup.In Wartości utylitarne (The Utilitarian Values, Lublin 1998), the author identifies two groups of values in the axiological universe: utilitarian and absolute, the latter understood in a similar way to Elzenberg's perfect values that have their source in the philosophy of Plato -those "that should be realized".This work, however, focuses not so much on higher values but, as its title indicates, on the utilitarian ones.They are not homogeneous but consist of values sustaining human life (i.e. viscerogenic values) and vital psychogenic values.The conception of the latter was developed by the American psychologist Abraham Maslow in his theory of needs hierarchy.These needs are secondary in comparison to all the other physiologic needs and no sooner do they emerge then the primary needs are met.They include a wide range of needs starting from the need of security up to the need of self-fulfillment.Their appearance comes not so much from the natural conditions of the organism seeking homeostasis, but from the external society pressure which is well known and described in the philosophy as "hedone" which means "pleasure".This pressure, evolving and changing through the years, has contributed to the creation of utilitarian values.As the "pressure force" it is the main driving force of the modern world of consumers who forget what Hostyński underlines -that the choice among a variety of consumer goods is, in reality, the choice between different values.Together with the transition from productive to consumptive capitalism in which purchasing goods has become more important than their production, utilitarian values have become the foundation of the origins of social life.Hostyński devoted his next monograph entitled Wartości