Life in Fragments: Essays in Postmodern Morality

by Zygmunt Bauman

Life in Fragments is a continuation of the themes and motifs explored in Zygmunt Bauman's acclaimed study, Postmodern Ethics (Blackwell, 1993). Described by Richard Sennett as a major event in social theory, Postmodern Ethics subverted the pieties of subversion which rule the postmodern imagination, arguing for an ethic of being with the Other, beyond the fashionable imperative of anything goes or the deconstruction of identity through difference.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy, Social, Sociology

293 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Zygmunt Bauman was a world-renowned Polish sociologist and philosopher, and Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Leeds. He was one of the world's most eminent social theorists, writing on issues as diverse as modernity and the Holocaust, postmodern consumerism and liquid modernity and one of the creators of the concept of “postmodernism”.

Reviews

[Julien Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is a mixed-bag. Most of the first half work well, but then it goes downhill. It lacks a bit of coherence, partly due to the fact that it is more or less a collection of articles, and partly due too to the lack of strong concepts that could have carried the whole narrative. Instead you are plagued with analyses that are stretched for each specific topic and the unsatisfactory justification that postmodernity is fragmentary too.

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bauman's analysis of the "post-modern" condition is lucid and readable and i usually enjoy the way he writes.

I don't however agree with his Kantian conclusions. A universal moral order cannot exist in a poly-centric world and re-visioning morals to me seems like a FRUITLESS activity. He's really big on universal systems which doesnt fly with me. The refinement of ethics seems a better fit with the post-modern understanding of the subjective and multi-valent world we live in.