Free US delivery on orders $35 or over

Description

A simpler life. In a shadow cast by the jarring beginning of the new millennium, simplicity has an undeniable appeal. Global conflicts, domestic security concerns, and a stalling economy can make keeping up with the Joneses feel like, at best, a misguided luxury. Now is not a time for excess; it is a time, it would seem, to focus on "what really matters." Thus the appeal of voluntary simplicity, a notion that combines the freedom of modernity with certain comforts and virtues of the past.

The authors in this volume speak to the what, why, and how of voluntary simplicity (and even to some extent the where, when, and who). Those included range from contemporary academics to thinkers from the turn of the last century, from ardent supporters to staunch critics. They approach the subject from a variety of perspectives-economic, psychological, sociological, historical, and theological. Each either implicitly or explicitly helps us explore the desirability and feasibility of voluntary simplicity.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 Introduction: Voluntary Simplicity- Psychological Implications, Societal Consequences
Part 3 Human Wants, Human Goods
Chapter 4 A Theory of Human Motivation
Chapter 5 Wealth and Happiness: A Limited Relationship
Chapter 6 Consuming for Love
Chapter 7 The Problem of Over-Consumption-Why Economists Don't Get It
Chapter 8 Achieving Collective Well-Being through Greater Simplicity: A Simple Proposal
Part 9 Simplicity Throughout History
Chapter 10 Early American Simplicity: The Quaker Ethic
Chapter 11 Simple Needs
Chapter 12 The Value of Voluntary Simplicity
Chapter 13 Voluntary Simplicity: A Movement Emerges
Part 14 Critical Perspectives
Chapter 15 Conspicuous "Simplicity"
Chapter 16 The Liberating Role of Consumption and the Myth of Artificially Created Desires

Product details

Published Nov 22 2003
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 224
ISBN 9780742520677
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Daniel Doherty

Contributor

David Brooks

Contributor

Duane Elgin

Contributor

Amitai Etzioni

Contributor

Robert Frank

Contributor

A H. Maslow

Contributor

Arnold Mitchell

Contributor

David G. Myers

Contributor

David Shi

Contributor

Juliet Schor

Contributor

Charles Wagner

Related Titles

Environment: Staging