Book I: The paratroopers' paradox -- The Huxleyan crossing -- The Soma medium : its mechanics & messages -- A rearview mirror look at the First Amendment -- Wrestling with the paradox -- The First Amendment in bold relief : a "dialogue" -- Book II: Commerce & communication -- Commerce & its handmaiden : then & now -- Commercial communication & its consequences -- Commerce, communication & the Constitution -- Communication & the capitalist culture -- Absolut protection? : a "dialogue" -- Book III Discourse & intercourse -- The rise of the pornographic state -- The logic of the erotic -- Body politics & the ambivalent citizenry -- War & pleasure in pornutopia -- Rubber, reason & religion in pornutopia -- Respectable stories for an unrespectable state -- How worthy a tradition? : a "dialogue" -- Epilogue: Deliberate lies & deliberative democracy -- The discourse of death.
Summary:
"This book explores one of the most disturbing intellectual dilemmas of our time - that our beloved First Amendment is being exploited in the name of the dumbing of America. It is the first book to examine the popular culture of the First Amendment, specifically with reference to television, advertising, and pornography. Comparing the culture of popular discourse with traditional First Amendment ideals, the authors expose the vast gap between our speech practices and our speech principles. Is the tyranny of the trivialization of discourse a problem? In a dialogue-like way, the authors invite their readers to judge"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.