The dao of the press

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Pascal Bruckner

Happiness today is not just a possibility or an option but a requirement and a duty. To fail to be happy is to fail utterly. Happiness has become a religion--one whose smiley-faced god looks down in rebuke upon everyone who hasn't yet attained the blessed state of perpetual euphoria. How has a liberating principle of the Enlightenment--the right to pursue happiness--become the unavoidable and burdensome responsibility to be happy? How did we become unhappy about not being happy--and what might we do to escape this predicament? In Perpetual Euphoria, Pascal Bruckner takes up these questions with all his unconventional wit, force, and brilliance, arguing that we might be happier if we simply abandoned our mad pursuit of happiness.

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Carolyn Merchant

An examination of the Scientific Revolution that shows how the mechanistic world view of modern science has sanctioned the exploitation of nature, unrestrained commercial expansion, and a new socioeconomic order that subordinates women.

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Shelton A. Gunaratne

"The Dao of the Press attempts to de-Westernize communication theory. It interprets press theory from the perspective of Eastern philosophy - particularly Buddhism, Hinduism, Daoism, and Confucianism - and the emerging theory of living systems, which combines the Santiago School's interpretation of cognition and autopoiesis, and the Brussels School's interpretation of dissipative structures. It also draws from quantum physics, post-Parsonsian systems thinking, and world-systems analysis to derive a more humanocentric theoretical framework that reflects the integration of Eastern ontology with Western epistemology."--Jacket.

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Richard Jackson Harris

"With this third edition of A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication, Richard Jackson Harris continues his examination of mass media's influences on our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us. Updates to this edition include the television shows, films, and telecommunications technologies that have developed throughout the 1990s, with particular consideration of computer-mediated communications such as the internet and the World Wide Web. Harris incorporates a wide variety of recent research studies into this edition and integrates theoretical perspectives more strongly throughout the book, with careful attention to the articulation of the cognitive. Real-world examples offer clear, relevant, and accessible demonstrations of the points discussed."--BOOK JACKET. "Appropriate for coursework addressing mass communication and its effects. A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication provides a unique perspective on mass communication in today's society and enables us to see more clearly how our perceptions of our world can be created and influenced by mass media."--BOOK JACKET.