The last half century has produced an increasing interest in semiotics, the study of signs. As an interdisciplinary field, moreover, semiotics has produced a vast literature from many different points of view. As the discourse has expanded, clear definitions and goals become more elusive. Semioticians still lack a unified theory of the purposes of semiotics as a discipline as well as a comprehensive rationale for the4 linking of semiosis at the levels of culture, society, and nature. As Deely suggests in his preface, the image of the modern semiotic universe is the same as that of astronomy in 1611 as suggested by John Donne: "Tis all in pieces, all coherence gone; / All just supply, and all Relation."

This short, cogent, philosophically oriented book outlines and analyzes the basic concepts of semiotics in a coherent, overall framework.

This text seeks to overcome an imbalance in traditional consumer behavior texts by incorporating biological, sociological, and anthropological theories into the core of the work. The aim is to provide a challenging and interesting book which addresses important issues such as time, space and consumption; consuming needs and values, semiotics, identity, the body, eating disorders and drug-taking. The text looks at consuming behavior in the context of...