Konsumpcja jako źródło alienacji w teorii szkoły frankfurckiej

Abstract

The paper presents in detail the views on consumption of the classics of Frankfurt School: Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse. They argued that in capitalist society not only work, but also the market consumption – although taken voluntarily and bringing consumers satisfaction – becomes a source of alienation. They conceived alienation as depriving individuals of some fundamental aspect of humanity (individualism, creative potential, critical thinking). While in Marx’s theory means of production belonged to the capitalist class, which controlled them, on the grounds of Frankfurt School discourse means of consumption are supervised by increasingly anonymous, reified system, whose unwitting creator, and at the same time a victim, is each consumer. In this perspective, all members of capitalist society are subjected to oppressive ideology of consumerism, which is a kind of false consciousness.