Abstract

The intuitive and widespread notion of a dualist self (i.e. the tendency to understand ourselves as consisting of two substances: mind and body) in the West has roots in philosophy, history, and developmental psychology. I contend that favoring the expressivist dimension of the self as exemplified in the figure of the artist influences society in a transformative manner. On the one hand, it creates a belief that every person has an individual core that may be excavated for its uniqueness, on the other hand, this belief is generally coextensive with an urge towards expression. These characteristics of the self are crucial in the creation and perpetuation of consumer culture. In this paper I explore how consumer society follows from the shape of the dualist and expressivist modern self.