Evolution of Consumption: from Aristotle to Postmodern
The problem of the consumer society is one of the most persuasive and is discussed in today's thought, philosophy, culture in detail. In the article an attempt to generalize the main ideas and concepts which came to modern humanitaristics together with new realities of the consumer society in the end of the XX century is made. Analysing views of modern theorists of society, the author reveals new notionality which is going back to the evolution of the philosophical theory of consumption. Appealing to such concepts of the XX century as «requirement», «ostentatious consumption», «consumerism», «commodification» etc., the author connects them with the sense of those processes, functions, tasks which are in the consumer society. The studied problem is considered as a result of deep contradictions between long centuries of human community, and the cultural crisis of the postmodern era. These drama contradictions penetrate into all communicative and existential experience of the modern person. Nature of changes in the choice of values from the traditional society to the consumer society is analysed. The social system based on consumption is capable to change morphology of the public relations considerably based on traditional hierarchical relationship. The consumer society is led to the fundamental shift in ideas of human nature changing many habitual foundations of the social order.