Morality and Social Theory A Sociological Approach to Morality in Consumption

Author

Assistant Professor of the Institute of Islamic Sciences and Culture

Abstract

 
With the rise of new technologies in the modern era, human life has changed and transformed him into the social world from a simple consumer to a diverse consumer and has made him the purpose of consumption. As much as the consumer and his performance were previously limited to one market, with the creation of new markets and products, the dominant discourse on the consumer also changed. In the meantime, morality as a basic and universal matter found a deeper connection with human actions in the field of consumption, and of course it was not unaffected by such a change. This research answers the question of how morality in consumption can be explained in sociological theory. Examining sociological perspectives with a descriptive-analytical approach shows that morality in consumption has gone through three situations. First, traditional sources such as religion and society have made morality and its effectiveness in consumption a reality. Second, morality is influenced by social structures and the laws, rituals, norms and moral language of a group, instead of considering the individual as the only factor in the construction of ethical actions related to purchasing, is focused on the insights that the structure morally imposes on the individual. Finally, pleasure and personal taste are the two bases for objectifying the consumerist ethics of the modern world and considering the consumer as virtuous at the time of consumption.

Keywords


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