The system of objects
By: Jean Baudrillard ; translated by James Benedict.
Publisher: Verso
Published: 1996
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 205
Subjects: Values -- Psychological aspects; Object (Philosophy); Technology and civilization; Consumption (Economics)
Description: Pressing Freudian and Saussurean categories into the service of a basically Marxist perspective, The System of Objects offers a cultural critique of the commodity in consumer society. Baudrillard classifies the everyday objects of the 'new technical order' as functional, nonfunctional and metafunctional. He contrasts 'modern' and 'traditional' functional objects, subjecting home furnishing and interior design to a celebrated semiological analysis.

His treatment of nonfunctional or 'marginal' objects focuses on antiques and the psychology of collecting, while the metafunctional category extends to the useless, the aberrant and even the 'schizofunctional'. Finally, Baudrillard deals at length with the implications of credit and advertising for the commodification of everyday life.
Notes: Includes index.