The System of Objects (Radical Thinkers) Paperback – January 17, 2006

Note: A number of 5-star ratings refer to delivery and condition of the book and/or do not indicate whether buyers read or understood the book.Indeed, it's a challenging read. In my case it was required for a class. The work encapsulates much 1960s thinking and French philosophy/world view. At first one wonders whether the confusion results from an unsuccessful English translation. Then, the sheer number of words employed for the delivery of a single concept serves to frustrate and delay comprehension. Run-on sentences take seemingly contradictory trajectories. There are many noteworthy insights and concepts worth pondering once they have been gleaned. However, the delivery system will stymie seekers for whom time is a precious commodity or who do not enjoy extreme verbosity.

Hardly seems to have been written in 1968 (Year of publication) the writing still relevant. I especiallyappreciated the essays on Warhol and contemporary art in general, and the interview in which the author clarifies some of his most extreme published statements. (I've only read about half of this book so far)

Shipping was timely, product was prefect!The book was for a class, so it is alright. A bit dated in spots, but a good deeper look at objects in our lives.

This is a rather involved piece of work.I recommend it.

The quality is very good! Thanks you so much!

Nice book. Worth it.

In 1968, Jean Baudrillard had spent more than a decade teaching sociology and translating German texts before he found his true vocation: using his vast store of erudition to critique what he saw of a society that could not be adequately accounted for by orthodox production oriented Marxist tenets. Where Marx saw a product built by human needs, he saw that product only in terms of the interaction between worker and capital used to roll that thing off the conveyer belt. Where Baudrillard would see that same thing, he would see not the mechanics of manufacturing that thing but the utility it had and how the consumer would react emotionally and viscerally to possessing it.The term "consumer" had a special resonance for Baudrillard. Most contemporary theorists used it mostly to designate one who purchases a product and pretty much uses it as the manufacturer intended. Along came Baudrillard to expand the definition to include the "why" and the "how" one consumes the object. What needs does consuming that thing satisfy in the user? What lengths will a user go to horde multiple copies? And most important, what is the interaction between designer and manufacturer to produce a product that will subtly shift the consumer from viewing that product from its traditional orthodox use to an unorthodox use that imparts to the consumer a driving sense to view, use, and ultimately horde it so as to ensure a continuing profit for all concerned in the manufacturing process? In The System of Objects, Baudrillard combined theories from Saussure, Barthes, Bataille, and other counter-culture critics to account for the then burgeoning discipline of consumer science modification.The world of low-tech objects and commonplace gizmos were to Baudrillard the arena in which Marx's triangle of capital, worker, and process had to give way for a more sophisticated method to determine why consumers buy and use as they do. After all, who looks at mirrors in any way except as a reflecting device? Well, for Baudrillard, a mirror spoke volumes about the social pecking order of its user. The more cumbersome, the more ornate a mirror was, the more its affluent owner prized it. Further, to capture one's image in a mirror was a most ephemeral synchronic affair. The next step was to retain that image for a longer diachronic period. Thus, photo albums (equally ornate and pricey) become the pseudo-mirror. The "System" of the title was Baudrillard's vision of Marx transformed taking objects on a journey that begins in the objective world of calculable functionality and terminating somewhere in the incalculable world of human psychology in which the Yellow Brick Road of consumerism swirls ever outward never reaching completion.

Objects are a ubiquitous presence and few of us stop and think what they mean in our lives. This is the job of philosophers and this is what Jean Baudrillard does in his book. This is required reading for followers of Baudrillard, and he is perhaps the most assessable to the General Reader. Baudrillard is most associated with Post Modernism, and this early book sets the stage for that journey to the post modern world.We are all surrounded by objects, but how many times have we thought about what those objects represent. If we took the time to think about the symbolism, we could arrive at easy solutions. We have been so accustomed to advertising the automobile representing freedom is an easy conclusion. But what about furniture? What about chairs? What about the arrangement of furniture? Watches? Collecting objects? Baudrillard literally opens up a new world and creates the universe of objects.It is not that the critique of a society or objects has not been done before, but Baudrillard’s approach is new. Baudrillard examines objects as signs with a smattering of Post-Marxist thought. In his analysis of objects as signs, he ushers in the Post-Modern age and world for which he would be known. Heady stuff to be sure, but is presented by Baudrillard in a readily accessible manner. He articulates his thesis in a straightforward manner, avoiding the hyper-technical terminology he used in his later writings.

On ne devrait pas agir si cela est plus ou moins clair.Merci.Paul.

This is particularly interesting in his examination of *collections* of objects.

Helpful reading for my project.

Just what my daughter needed for University

Thanks